Book in Advance Trains/Hostel
New Member
Posted on: Sun, 22/06/2008 - 18:48
Hey All,
Thanks for all the helpful advice. I am flying into Berlin next Sunday (June 29th). I have an overnight train starting the night of July 3rd to Krakow and an overnight train on starting July 6th to Budapest.
I read the posts about rail pass. I would rather just wait to buy my tickets at the train station in Berlin, because I cannot book the overnight trains online. Do I have to worry about these trains being booked? Or will tickets be available to buy for the overnight trains when I get there?
Also, please give me your thoughts on booking hostels in advanced. I know it is optimal to have them booked, but are there hostels available for spur of the moment show up and book considering the travel season.
Thanks for any help.
I don’t think you’ll have any problem booking these trains after you get to Berlin. About 3 days in advance is usually adequate for an overnight train on a weeknight unless there’s something major going on like Euro Cup, major concert, etc. I’d book both trains on your first day in Berlin as it may be easier to book the Krakow/Budapest ticket in Berlin than in Krakow (more likely that the ticket agent has excellent English skills) and overnight trains are sometimes more crowded on Sundays. For the Berlin to Krakow route, there’s only 1 direct train, but there are several options with one connection, so it’s almost impossible that you won’t find something that will work for you on July 3 — even if you wait until that day.
As for booking hostels, you might want to repost this on the “hostels” forum. IMO, it’s a matter of style. If you don’t book in advance you’ll probably still find a bed — assuming you aren’t arriving late in the evening. You may have to try a couple of alternate choices if the first hostel is filled — how much is spending a couple of hours hunting for a room going to bother you? I’d book your first night in advance because it’s no fun looking for a bed in a strange city when you’re jet-lagged, sleep deprived and culture shocked. I also book the last night as most flights home leave in the early morning so I like to have airport transportation nailed down in advance. For the rest of your trip you can totally wing it if you’re adventurous. Another option would be to call or reserve on-line a couple of days in advance.
There’s also a Euraide office in the Berlin Hauptbahnhof, is there not? I’m going to have to reserve my own night-trains and I think that might be the place to do it. Last year I did it all over the phone with Euraide and had them send my tix here and it all worked out pretty good, and also dealt with their office in Munich for a few trickier day-time routes I was doing (this was before I had mastered the Deutsche Bahn website
).
Actually, do they charge any extra fees than the Reiseburo (sp?) in Berlin would? I’m using my pass, so I should only be paying for the sleeper reservation… I’d rather not double it by wacky fees
I think the Euraide office is acting as a travel agent selling reservations, so there may be some fee. However, I think any fees are pretty small. Seems like I only paid a few euros extra when making a whole bunch of reservations at an agency in the Vienna train station.
There are two Euraide offices in or near the Berlin Haupthahnhof: The Travel Center at Europaplatz 1 which is open 6:00 AM to 10
m daily and the Euraide office on the lower level of the station which is open Mon-Fri from 11:00 AM to 7:00 PM. (from www.eurail.com )
Ah okay, thanks for the heads up. I mean, I’m sure I can do the same thing with the regular ticket office, I just always feel like a prick when I have some long involved type question and I have to ask it in English. Doubly so when there’s a line behind me