Where did you find your price? If you were checking a travel agency site like raileurope.com, eurail.com, railpass.com, etc. the quote is “global fare” which is usually 30 to 35% more than standard fare. You’ll pay standard fare if you buy the ticket at the train station or on-line at the national rail company website. Check the Polish and Czech national rail company websites. The links are in a sticky at the top of this forum and under “transportation” on the “travel tips” tab.

Hi there,

Thanks for the information, however, the fares are not available on the national train websites and so I emailed them. Apparently the Polish and Czech rail companies quote differing prices.. about 80 euros for the Polish rail and half the price for the Czech railway.

In any case, do I have to make reservations for the tickets or can I get it when I get to Krakow?

Thanks again!

Buy them at the station. I would try to buy tickets for day trains at least a day in advance — about 3 days in advance for overnight trains. While trains seldom sell out and you can usually get “something” up to an hour before train time, weekends, holidays and popular routes sometimes do sell out.

My standard fare calculator says Prague to Krakow OR Krakow to Prague, single ticket, second class, no discount, no reservation, one way, costs €36.80 or 968 CZK. And that’s the price you pay in any cash desk in any Czech station that sells intl tickets. I doubt the Polish would jack up the price in their cash desks so much.