sarah_uk
Traveller
1 comments
Posted 17 years ago
In my route i've been planning on using TWO OVERNIGHT TRAINS in Poland. These were from Prague - Krakow and from Krakow - Budapest.. They seemed wonderful value.
Recently however i've been reading information about how unsafe these trains are...
I was wondering if anyone who has used these routes, or Polish trains/or knows anything at all.. could tell me whether i should use these overnight trains???
Thank you!
admin
Traveller
203 comments
i will be using the krakow - prague night train in about 4 days, if i survive i will write back!
if you have already used it, any advice?
admin
Traveller
203 comments
just to say, i got the night train from krakow to prague 2 nights ago. we stayed in a couchette, and had absolutely no problems whatsoever. the conductor chap was great, the passport police people were great too.
no problems except for the couchette itself. comfy wouldnt be the best word to use.
Peter
Traveller
9331 comments
sounds perfect...!! :)
and what was the price supplement for one bed in a 6-bed-couchette per person ....?!? :)
admin
Traveller
203 comments
well, for 4 of us it 37euros, so just over 9euros per person. insanely cheap really!
Peter
Traveller
9331 comments
thanks a lot ... !! :P
will do this route as well in August... :)
admin
Traveller
203 comments
have you done krakow or poland before peter?
atali
Traveller
2 comments
Wow that is really cheap. I will also be using this route in july.
Peter
Traveller
9331 comments
I never stayed in Krakow ...
but isn't it connected now by plane with Ryanair?!?
that makes the city even much more interesting.
most times I went to Poland was only for transit.
:P
when you know nice hostels, pubs in Krakow, then let us know !!! :P
admin
Traveller
203 comments
Thanks Mr B
I'll be taking the Berlin - Krakow night train in a couple of weeks and didn't know the cost. It IS amazingly cheap. Any pubs or eateries you'd recommend for Krakow? And let us know about the Krakow - Prague train price and conditions when you get the chance.
Dekuji vam.
admin
Traveller
203 comments
the price i quoted above was for krakow - prague, bought in krakow. berlin to krakow was €20 for a 4 couchette cabin. in krakow i had a brilliant meal at sioux city, it was cheap and filling, which is all you need really. because of the economy, pretty much anywhere is super cheap though, so its a great place to catch up on much missed meals.
i suppose it goes without saying, but a trip to auschwitz if staying in krakow is pretty vital. its absolutely jawdropping, whether you know too much about the holocaust or not.
admin
Traveller
203 comments
Thanks for that Mr B.
Read your previous post too quickly!
I'm actually going to Krakow mostly for a visit to Auschwitz. My ancestors were Jewish and I did my M.A. dissertation on European Anti-Semitism.
Did you take the train to Oswiciem from Glowny? Is it easy to book; are they frequent?
Keep us posted on your travels and any advice you think useful chum.
Cheers.
anonymous
Traveller
2467 comments
it's about 1:20 - 1:40 h from Krakow to Oswiecim. local trains.
there is only one EC train (to Praha) with reservation, so you need suplement if you have interrail.
admin
Traveller
203 comments
Cheers Kwlka.
stezbot
Traveller
31 comments
wow, having jewish ancestors and going to auschwitz must have been so fascinating! it's like me with irish ancestors going to ellis island i suppose...though i'm sure poland is much more interesting that that mound of rock in NY...
admin
Traveller
203 comments
Hi there,
I suppose the experience was just, in a way, more personal. I have a Central European Jewish name and, after doing some research on the Yad Vashem site, found many people from Poland, Ukraine, Germany, etc, with my name and who had been killed in the Holocaust: many of the details of their lives and deaths were available to me there. I even found the address of one person in Berlin and in seconds I was looking down at it through Google Earth. So, having done some research, my trip really was more meaningful than it might otherwise have been. The other side of my family is Irish (1000 years ago!). So your ancestors are Irish? And landing at Ellis Island, with the dodgy spellings that resulted, explains how O'Reilly became stezbot! Cheers for your post. Have a great one.
iaink
[quote]wow, having jewish ancestors and going to auschwitz must have been so fascinating! it's like me with irish ancestors going to ellis island i suppose...though i'm sure poland is much more interesting that that mound of rock in NY...[/quote]
stezbot
Traveller
31 comments
woah, that must have been intense!
yeah, both irish and northern irish. my surname would have been berry if my dad wasn't adopted (from n.ireland), fitzpatrick/mcdonald (from ireland) but it's actually pretty ordinary - steele. :(
ancestry is interesting stuff!
admin
Traveller
203 comments
Yep, it's a quite difficult day walking round such a terrible place and sometimes it can threaten to overwhelm you. I didn't really process the experience until after I'd got back to Scotland; but you will be glad you went there to see the awfulness and sheer scale of it for yourself.
Steele? Ah, no, that's a good name: Nice connotations: strength, reliabilty, resilience, etc. And, of course, the famous entertainer Tommy Steele! My name derives from the Greek translation - Kalonymos - of the Hebrew - Shem Tov - which means good name.
Have you got a route planned for this year? Did I see you asking about Italy - Greece ferries? I can't remember the details on that crossing to Morocco: I'd planned it some years back but ended up changing my route.
It's a nice short crossing - 7 miles at narrowest point - and there are loads of ferries daily but I don't recall prices. I'd reckon that, as Morocco isn't on the ticket any longer, there won't be an Interrail discount but it is always worth looking into if it'll give you some extra spending money. Just Google that ferry crossing and you'll probably get all the info right there. Don't forget to come back and leave a post advising us about it and how you got on.
Cheers,
iaink
[quote]woah, that must have been intense!
yeah, both irish and northern irish. my surname would have been berry if my dad wasn't adopted (from n.ireland), fitzpatrick/mcdonald (from ireland) but it's actually pretty ordinary - steele. :(
ancestry is interesting stuff![/quote]
stezbot
Traveller
31 comments
yep good old tommy steele!
not looking at italy-greece (o'm not really a fan of greece) but our route so far is: amsterdam, (possibly antwerp), interlaken switzerland, milan/venice, lake bled slovenia, budapest, (possibly vienna), prague, (possibly poland), through denmark & sweden into norway & round into finland. then somehow down to spain for the ferry to morocco! i googled the ferries and someone on lonely planet confirmed them so it's all good!
admin
Traveller
203 comments
Hi,
Amsterdam is a good start. I've started there several times. Last year I commenced from there and finished at Nice for 5 nights before flying back home via Luton. If you go to Interlaken, the scenery is not really fantastic, but, hop onto the train to Grindelwald, just half hour round the mountain, and you will be in the middle of amazing scenery. The HI hostel there is very clean and comfortable and last year I had a room with a balcony looking straight at the north face of the Eiger, which is only a few miles away. I really do recommend it to anyone who goes to that part of Switz. There is a an independent hostel right in town but the HI one is 15 mins walk and up a hill so the views are spectacular. You can check it out here:
www.hihostels.com/dba/hostels-Grindelwald-055013.en.htm
Prague is great. Loads of intersting and crumbly buildings with amazing big wooden doors and classical porticos. It's a good place to be lost and wandering aound. I reckon about 20% of my tours involve being
blissfully lost!
I've never been to Greece - I'm a big Francophile and have been mostly round France looking for a well-off gorgeous divorcee/widow to settle down with: laugh out loud! This time I'm making a larger tour; going further than I've gone before. I tend to go further east and south each trip and unless it's too dangerous, I'll go up though the Balkans to Hungary. I'll be finishing in the Perigord and returning from Bordeaux. My route, so far, goes: Barcelona-Munich-Bari-Athens-Thessaloniki-Belgrade-Budapst-Strasbourg-Marseilles-Perigeaux.
Just downloaded Greek, Serbian and Magyar phrases and I'll be getting some Catalunyan to embarrass myself with. I've been learning French for a long time. I'm still a beginner but quite a good one. I can now have pretty good conversations with French people on my trains. Had great fun with Polish and Czech last year so looking forward to these new ones. It really makes a difference with people if you have a go in their language. How are you with languages? Are you preparing some pages of phrases to take? Swiss German is very interesting: looks like Geman on the page but the pronunciation is very different, though you'll be okay just using regular German.
iaink
[quote]yep good old tommy steele!
not looking at italy-greece (o'm not really a fan of greece) but our route so far is: amsterdam, (possibly antwerp), interlaken switzerland, milan/venice, lake bled slovenia, budapest, (possibly vienna), prague, (possibly poland), through denmark & sweden into norway & round into finland. then somehow down to spain for the ferry to morocco! i googled the ferries and someone on lonely planet confirmed them so it's all good![/quote]
stezbot
Traveller
31 comments
i actually learnt french and german in school and just need to catch up on them as 4 years is a long time not to speak german much apart from the wo ist deine toiletten? every now and then... and my abolishing attempt in paris last year to talk to people in shops! :o i'm having polish lessons at uni too as a taster (along with korean...) and i've started teaching myself dutch, czech and finnish so far. just little phrases but seen as how well i've done so far I may as well keep going! :)
i would have liked to go further east and south but apparently it's cheap enough to just go and pay for local train tickets as opposed to interrailing so maybe next year :|
we've managed to take this thread away from poland...oops.
admin
Traveller
203 comments
Sounds excellent: you really are keen on languages then. I started to learn French in bilingual Canada back in the 70s, but there are rare opportunities to speak it here in Bonnie Scotland. I studied and watch French cinema and that helps my pronunciation, though perhaps I now sound like Gerard Depardieu?
You are right enough about the east being cheaper on the rails. My trip is a big sort of 50/50 east west circumnavigation, with long journeys, so it does work out a fair bit cheaper than normal tickets.
Yeah, we definitely are off Poland topic and now we're onto General Chitchat. I've a degree - MA (Hons) in European Cultural History and Film Studies: not so good in the labour market, but I do find myself much more interesting than I used to!
[quote]i actually learnt french and german in school and just need to catch up on them as 4 years is a long time not to speak german much apart from the wo ist deine toiletten? every now and then... and my abolishing attempt in paris last year to talk to people in shops! :shock: i'm having polish lessons at uni too as a taster (along with korean...) and i've started teaching myself dutch, czech and finnish so far. just little phrases but seen as how well i've done so far I may as well keep going! :)
i would have liked to go further east and south but apparently it's cheap enough to just go and pay for local train tickets as opposed to interrailing so maybe next year :?
we've managed to take this thread away from poland...oops.[/quote]
stezbot
Traveller
31 comments
wow that's a nice mix - film and culture. goes hand in hand. i did film studies at a level off the back of the film teacher looking cool. i'm so glad he did look cool otherwise i wouldn't think i'd have the love of film i do now. speaking of french films, my favourite are amelie, delicatessen, switchblade romance and la haine. astounding they are. learning languages off films is a good idea though. maybe polish ones could help my lessons...(just to bring this back on topic haha). i really want to learn japanese too, mainly because i'm a fashion student and one day will hopefully live and work in tokyo :P but for now, all these european languages is really fun. i'm learning how similar they are but different as well which i guess will shine through when i visit the countries themselves. even if we don't end up visiting poland, learning something new will be brilliant. especially for free! as for korean, i don't know whether i'll ever go there. my aim is to visit every continent and that'll almost be done soon bar 3. so perhaps countries could be next! i definitely have to get myself to ireland though and get myself a piece of that history that you got!
admin
Traveller
203 comments
Ahem, yes, back onto Poland. Some films for you to look out for: Knife in The Water by Roman Polanski, Ashes and Diamonds by Andrej Wajda, oh, and a great Czech comedy, Closely Observed Trains by Jiri Menzel. Cinema is definitely a great way introduction to a new culture.
Yes European languages, with few exceptions, are called Indo-European and share commonalities. Exceptions are Basque (Euskadi) Magyar, Estonian and, I believe, Finnish. I sometimes try to work on Spanish and I've tried Italian when on holiday there, but it makes my French pronunciation deteriorate, but, il faut pratiquer!
Cinema Francaise that you might enjoy: Les Quatre Cent Coups, Tirez sur le Pianiste and, of course, A Bout de Souffle by Goddard. None of the above are easy to find, and on the telly only rarely, but are classics. Yep La Haine is great, and an amazing debut.
One of my half-sisters studied fashion in Leicester, I think, and is now a buyer for M&S; travelling to Milan, etc, for next season's previews. I'm afraid I'm a bit of a fleece and jeans guy myself. Which is useful for when in...POLAND. Whew, managed to squeeze Poland back in there at the end.
[quote]wow that's a nice mix - film and culture. goes hand in hand. i did film studies at a level off the back of the film teacher looking cool. i'm so glad he did look cool otherwise i wouldn't think i'd have the love of film i do now. speaking of french films, my favourite are amelie, delicatessen, switchblade romance and la haine. astounding they are. learning languages off films is a good idea though. maybe polish ones could help my lessons...(just to bring this back on topic haha). i really want to learn japanese too, mainly because i'm a fashion student and one day will hopefully live and work in tokyo :D but for now, all these european languages is really fun. i'm learning how similar they are but different as well which i guess will shine through when i visit the countries themselves. even if we don't end up visiting poland, learning something new will be brilliant. especially for free! as for korean, i don't know whether i'll ever go there. my aim is to visit every continent and that'll almost be done soon bar 3. so perhaps countries could be next! i definitely have to get myself to ireland though and get myself a piece of that history that you got![/quote]
stezbot
Traveller
31 comments
haha nice poland save. is poland cold in the summer? i'm definitely going to struggle packing. i'm sure it would be for any girl, but a fashion student surely has more to choose from?! i am practical though so i will be buying a mac that's both summery and warming. but if i know somewhere will have a colder climate i'll make reservation for that either in buying something in europe or taking something with dual use with me.
cheers for the heads up on the films. la haine was a few years after kassovitz's first films but i've seen none of them so i suppose it's a debut for me! incredibly good actor too.
admin
Traveller
203 comments
The north of Poland has a climate like the UK, really, but the south, around Krakow, is warm and mild; brief thunder in the summer evenings. I had grapes on my hotel balcony; growing there...not from Asda.
Packing is a prob for anyone, I think. I've got a 55 litre pack which weighs just under 20k. It does, however, become much heavier after about half an hour when you are lost and looking for a hostel...in POLAND. I take enough clothes for a week; means I only sit in a laundrette once a week. But being a fashion student probably creates expectations that you'll be chic and tastefully attired. I used to be in bands and so there is a kind of licence to be individual/eccentric/ridiculous...and I was.
Do take a waterproof jacket. I actually had really small, foldup waterproof trousers last year and wore them in the Alps and in Berlin for a day in downpours.
You're right, it wasn't his first: La Haine was actually Kasowitz's second film as director. Often people will ask a cineaste (film fan with a degree) what's your favourite film...including, ahem, Polish ones, of course... and it's really tricky to answer. Film started in 1895 and there are just so many that I love. In 2005, I went to the Lumierre museum in Lyon and so I was in the house of the guy who invented cinema. It was a really thrilling experience for me...got to see the first film ever made too. Lyon is a great-looking place too. As nice as some of the places in POLAND.
[quote]haha nice poland save. is poland cold in the summer? i'm definitely going to struggle packing. i'm sure it would be for any girl, but a fashion student surely has more to choose from?! i am practical though so i will be buying a mac that's both summery and warming. but if i know somewhere will have a colder climate i'll make reservation for that either in buying something in europe or taking something with dual use with me.
cheers for the heads up on the films. la haine was a few years after kassovitz's first films but i've seen none of them so i suppose it's a debut for me! incredibly good actor too.[/quote]
stezbot
Traveller
31 comments
i didn't realise the [b]polish[/b] climate was dual like that. i suppose that means that other places on the same level will be which will be another thing to look into. just got my tent sorted & insurance quote as cheap and good as possible. but yeah, the clothing thing. generally my clothes are eccentric even when i'm only wearing 1 item i.e. a dress so i'll be fine in that department. think i might make a kagoul. they were £30 in milletts! bet they wouldn't be that expensive in [b]poland[/b].
my boyfriend's actually going to study film & literature at uni, and he's going to work with a director tomorrow doing lighting. he watches unusual films. i went to a film museum in paris last year and they had a german expressionism exhibition on - would have been so helpful the year before when i did my exam on that! there was a guy in my class, a good friend actually, from [b]poland[/b]. surname is kreczak. (nice link there)
llwilson
Traveller
4 comments
Hey there,
I will be taking the Krakow to Prague overnight train and wonder if anyone has had any problems while on this train.
I am hearing a few horror stories with this overnight train, therefore, I would appreciated some safety advice from anyone.
One or two people have said on the forum that they encountered no problems. However, I need more convincing that these trains are save.
Do sleeper/couchettes come with locks on the doors? Does the ticket conductor take your tickets and passport off you and give you them back in the morning? Is it safe to hand them over to the ticket conductor?? Will it be the same ticket conductor for the duration of the journey?
Any other advice would be very much appreicated.
Many thanks.
Laura
dmirstek
Traveller
21 comments
[quote]
Do sleeper/couchettes come with locks on the doors? Does the ticket conductor take your tickets and passport off you and give you them back in the morning? Is it safe to hand them over to the ticket conductor?? Will it be the same ticket conductor for the duration of the journey?
[/quote]
Sleeper and couchettes have lockers on the doors. Ticket conductor collects your tickets, but no passport (schengen) and gives you it back in the morning (and wakes you up 30 minutes before your destination station if you travel in sleeper car). Ticket conductor will be the same whole night.
Poland and Czech Republic are quite typical european countries and I cannot understand your anxiety. Train is safe (some years ago there was a problem with pickpockets in seating coaches, but NO in couchettes/sleeper), like every night train in Europe...
Peter
Traveller
9331 comments
I can confirm the information of dmirstek ... :)
llwilson
Traveller
4 comments
Many thanks for the information dmirstek & Peter.
I suppose I am paranoid because this is my first time travelling on an overnight train.
:)
Peter
Traveller
9331 comments
there are two little things which might help you to forget a little bit about your paranoia... ;)
1) you can use a bicycle locker to lock your suitcase or backpack somewhere in your compartment.
2) you can put your money in your socks or underwear... I often travel with two wallets... one you wear like a normal one (with a small amount of money and maybe an old invalid credit card) - like everyday at your home town as well ... the second and important one is the one with the money, credit cards and so on ...
:)
vienhu
Traveller
18 comments
If there would be some more questions about other night-trains in Poland...
dmirstek have right!
always your ticket are collected by the conductor and back to you in the end of your trip, ...
about safty in sleeper-car and couchetes...
in some sleeper-cars are cameras on the corridor(only! ;) ), compartments are locked by inside ...
usually on night-trains where are other cars with sits sleeper-car and couchetes are locked and there are no way to go between sits-car and sleerer-car/couchetes
and one thing about change ticket conductor through the journey...
in all trains is like dmirstek said, with one exept ...
in train 446/447 from Warsow to Amsterdam/Basel/Munchen/Innsbruck there are couchetes CNL and the german conductors from them are changing in Berlin Hbf (what is later? I don't know!)
I say that if anybody goes with this train in couchete and get suprised in the morning!
So enjoy traveling in Poland! :)
kaban
Traveller
4 comments
hi,
next month i'll travel one night in polish trains from Stettin to Warsaw.
26.07.09 22:25
27.07.09 05:30
[b]D 82502
Pospieszny
Number of bicycles conveyed limited, Couchettes, courier service possible [/b]
Does it mean that there are just Couchettes in this train ? Or just some carriages are sleeping and other are seats. There is nothing written about reservations, but do I have to pay to sleep in Couchette ?
Thanks
SiDUDe
Traveller
752 comments
There might be seats, but you always will have to pay a suppliment to sleep in a couchette carriage
Flo
Traveller
10723 comments
I guess the train will consist of couchettes only, however there would be this train consisting of seated accomodation too:
Szczecin 2330 - 0559 Warszawa
vienhu
Traveller
18 comments
So... on that train there are mostly sits and one or two couchettes...
if you want to go with sits-car you don't have to get any reservation, (but you have to keep your eyes on your luggage carefully! - its open for general use night train!)
but on couchette you have to pay in ticket office (2 h before the train leaves its first station... by 6 p.m.!) or from conductor of this couchette if there will be any free places..
it costs 25 zl (~ 6 Euro)