Prague OR Budapest to Bratislava

[alex397]

In August, me and a friend are planning a trip to Bratislava for a few days (where you can easily get to Vienna).
I am thinking of going somewhere else before on my own, and then meet my friend in Bratislava.

I am thinking of Prague or Budapest, and catching a train from there to Bratislava.
A quick look on loco2 shows direct connections from both (2-hourly trains from Prague, and hourly from Budapest). Quite cheap too by the looks of it (about £60 from Prague and £30 from Budapest).

Has anyone here travelled between those places by train? What were the journeys like, and how do they compare? Ideally I'd like a scenic journey with a loco-pulled train, the older then better!

Also how do the cities of Prague and Budapest compare from a transport enthusiasts POV? I've been to Budapest before, and it's probably been my favourite place to visit for transport - with the old trams, trolleybuses, cog railway etc. I know Prague has old trams, but is there anything else worthwhile? I'm also hoping its reputation as a place for stag parties isn't as bad as I've heard!

You're help would be much appreciated! Thanks

 

[30907]

The Prague-Bratislava-Budapest service is mostly operated with CD air conditioned stock with restaurant car. The Hamburg-Budapest is MAV stock (and the Warsaw-Budapest). The First Minute fare starts from about £12.
Regiojet compete on the route and may have slightly older stock, but still a/c.
You will get older hauled stock, with opening windows, on internal services in CZ.

Not been to Budapest so can't compare, but:
If you can be in Prague at a weekend you've a wide choice of loco hauled excursions with class 749 and 754 diesels - and you could consider getting a Jizdenka na Leto (summer ticket) which would cover you from Decin to Břeclav as well, costs about £29. Prague city centre will be very busy, but that's with ordinary tourists.

 

[70014IronDuke]

From Budapest to Bratislava - you start out on the Danube east bank and have reasonably interesting views about 35 km north of Budapest through the Danube bend. After entering Slovakia, it's the northern part of the Hungarian plain, and a pretty flat, featureless journey to the capital - but you do get nice views of Brat coming into the city.

Prague - Bratislava is more interesting IMO, but it's a longer trip.

From Prague, the way out from the city has some nice urban views, and the section from Koiin gets better and better to just north of Brno, going through woods and by lakes - personally I think there are some lovely scenes on this route. Nice city views of Brno from the line. From Brno to Bratislava is fairly flat and featureless, save for the Palava hills, to the south. There is a steep descent into Bratislava, which must have been fantastic in steam days on trains heading north from Bratislava - not sure when it was electrified, but probably in the early 60s at a guess.

Slovakia has some beautiful mountains, villages and old towns - but you don't really get even a hint of this on either of the routes you are considering taking.

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

The Budapest-Bratislava route in HU is rather slow, but decently fast in SK.
You get some views of the Danube around the "bend" near the Slovak border, and of Estergom on the south bank.
MAV have also started using Nyugati rather than Keleti as the Budapest terminus for these trains.
Nyugati (west) was the original station for Bratislava and Vienna, but for many years MAV sent all international trains on a long loop through the suburbs to reach Keleti (east).
It complicates things if you have to connect between international services (eg to Romania), but actually shortens the local journey to Bratislava.
It's generally a mix of Czech, Slovak and Hungarian stock and locos, but the CZ stock is likely to go over to Railjet kit with Taurus locos before long (ČD has just bought another tranche from Siemens).
You can buy advance tickets for as low as €9 from the MAV web site, but you have to print them in person on an ATM in Hungary (any large station) before travel, much like ToD here.
There will usually be a restaurant car on board.
https://www.mavcsoport.hu/en

I'd agree with IronDuke on the Prague-Bratislava route - lovely scenery over the hills to Brno and approaching Bratislava.
Plenty of ranger/rover tickets if you have more time in CZ, but Prague is pretty irresistable.
You can get cheap advances on the ČD web site.
https://www.cd.cz/en/default.htm

 

[D6700]

I concur with pretty much everything written above.

If you choose Prague, definitely heed the advice to buy direct from Czech Railways, rather than Loco2. I don't know what type of ticket Loco2 are trying to sell for £60, but from the CD website, advance tickets (which are train specific) are about £11 or £14 for everything I looked at in August, whilst a flexible ticket (valid on any train) is about £28.

 

[alex397]

Thanks very much for your replies! I think it looks like Prague for me. As much as I loved Budapest, it might be good to try somewhere new.

Looking at prices, I can get the trains about £9.74 which seems incredibly cheap.

One thing I want to check is if there will be any engineering works - as it won't be the weekend I will be travelling, I doubt there will be a problem, but where is the best place to check if there will be any? Thanks

 

[30907]

https://www.cd.cz/jizdni-rad/omezeni-provozu/#trresults

Only in Czech, but the auto-translation is just about understandable.
Check in the week before you travel, as CD don't always give much notice- though for the EC to Bratislava the worst you should experience is a bit of single line working.