(no subject)

[unbibium]

OK... I just looked at the big map. Adding just Prague to my trip will be ten hours on the train and about $110.

Adding Krakow costs only about $15 more, BUT I'll end up spending another FIFTEEN hours on trains.

In theory, I could sleep on the trains overnight there. Yeah, that's it. To be unconscious on a train with all my stuff in Eastern Europe.

Comments

[infrogmation.livejournal.com]

15 hours to Krakow (from where?)? Hm, trains there seem a LOT slower than in Western Europe if so. Did you check just one schedual or all? There are often trains that make lots of local stops that take much longer than "InterCities" that go express between major cities.

Yes, sleeping on trains is an excellent thing to do when you need to cover long distances.
For added comfort & security, you can usually get a "couchette" for a reasonable additional fee (usually much less than you'd spend on a room/hostel). These are little rooms of 4 to 6 bunk beds.

" Yeah, that's it. To be unconscious on a train with all my stuff in Eastern Europe."

Yes indeed.
Though there's some sarcasm there, eh?
Is there some reason you think you shouldn't?

You can have your bag locked, and additionally tie or lock it to a rail/seat arm/your leg/your arm. Do you have a problem that you remain unconcious if someone comes up to you and grabs and shakes you?

Re:

[pentomino.livejournal.com]

Berlin to Prague is 5 hours, meaning 10 hours round-trip. Not bad. Slightly more if I go from elsewhere in Germany.

But, Prague to Krakow is 11 hours, and then Krakow to Berlin is 9 hours. Which I suppose isn't so bad just as long as I get couchettes for both trips. I do hope there are either day hotels where I can change in the morning, or that getting to the hostel is easy enough that I don't mind checking in with bed head.

Also, I've really only allocated about two days for each country. So I wouldn't get to sleep two nights in the same bed.

[infrogmation.livejournal.com]

"But, Prague to Krakow is 11 hours, and then Krakow to Berlin is 9 hours. Which I suppose isn't so bad just as long as I get couchettes for both trips."

Yep. You should be able to reserve couchettes in advance-- if you're sure of when you wish to leave a place when you arrive, you can make the reservation at the station then.

Another usefull tip (I encountered a gal from New Zeeland who kicked herself for not knowing this in advance): Train stations almost always (some small towns may be exceptions) have lockers &/or a safe storage area for luggage. When visiting places for short amount of time, you can leave your big bag there, carrying just what you need for the day with you.

[azazelle.livejournal.com]

Krakow to Warsaw is ~3 hours. And there's this new express train from Berlin to Warsaw, too, so maybe a schedule of Berlin-Warsaw-Krakow-Prague would be better. Whaddya think?

Re:

[pentomino.livejournal.com]

Ah, a new express train? Hmmm.

You obviously have more recent information than I do. I still don't think I can make two cities in Poland. Suppose I had to choose between Krakow and Warsaw?

I've never been to either, but my little sister and her friends say

[vardissakheli.livejournal.com]

Prague yes, Krakow no. Prague is a gorgeous, unspoiled city (the only never-bombed great old city of Europe) and well worth a five-hour trip through nice countryside. Krakow is just cold and depressing, they tell me, even our friend who is from there and refused to learn English for 10 years as a kid because they were going to move back home any day now.

Re: I've never been to either, but my little sister and her friends say

[pentomino.livejournal.com]

I had originally considered it thinking there would be a swing-by-say-hi sort of thing with azazelle, not to mention it's probably on the way to Prague from Stockholm. But now that I'm not going to Stockholm anymore, it's looking like more of a 50/50 sort of thing.