Travelling to Budapest

[orpine]

So, I'm interested in travelling to budapest by rail (from London). I have of course looked at - http://www.seat61.com/Hungary.htm - but I'm having issues actually finding ticket prices.
Specifically, I want to do the "Scenic Route" option (Alberg Pass, Switzerland) one-way - http://www.seat61.com/Hungary.htm#Option 4 And the other way a sleeper.
I don't mind which way is which.

Travelling in Early-Mid March.

I can find the sleeper fairly simply using loco2.com, but the scenic route is being difficult.

Any suggestions? I've tried bahn.de, www.sbb.ch and oebb.at. None want to show my ticket prices for the zurich-to-budapest railjet train.

Also, are there any rail discounts/tricks that may apply (including for internal Hungary travel)? Or any other suggestions.
This is my first try and international rail travel, kinda scary!!

Thanks!

 

[NicholasNCE]

For the Zurich > Budapest Keleti you can split the ticket and buy the swiss segment Zurich > Feldkirch from SBB then buy the Feldkirch > Budapest Keleti from ÖBB.
Here are the calling times for this particular Railjet: http://reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/tr...000&station_type=dep&currentReferrer=tp&rt=1&

No need to worry, rail travel in continental Europe is much more laid back than it can be in the UK.
I would also consider purchasing the European Rail Timetable ( http://www.europeanrailtimetable.eu/ ), well worth the £15.99!

 

[Zamracene749]

If you do the Railjet Budapest to Zurich direction the 'mav start' website is happily coming up with saver tickets for 39 euro 2nd class, 59 euro 1st (worth it IMO). HTH

 

[Searle]

Don't be nervous, rail travel in Europe is simple if you have some common sense! It's very relaxed out there, and well worth the journey. Budapest is a great place as well!

I have to say this (or it will bug me), do not ever try to purchase international tickets at Budapest Keleti station (that's where railjet goes in to). If you don't go at either 4am or 11pm, you'll literally be waiting hours to even be able to speak to someone!

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

Try splitting at Vienna.
You can certainly book Zürich-Vienna on the ÖBB web site for €39 upwards. You can also book via SBB in CHF.
It's then €19 and upwards for Vienna-Budapest (from ÖBB).

At Keleti, it took me 2 minutes to print an international ticket from Budapest I had booked on MAV-START, using one of the station ticket machines - just punch in the code you get via email.
Pictures of the machines on seat61 I think.

Big discounts in Hungary if you are over 65 (free in 2nd class, but you need to "buy" a zero-priced ticket and carry a passport).
You pay supplements (IC, 1st class etc) if needed.
But it doesn't work for cross-border travel.
In the end I bought regular tickets - they're cheap enough.
It's all there on the MAV-START web site but navigation is a little odd.
They always seem to want your date of birth before telling you anything useful.

 

[laird]

Budapest is a great railway journey from London as the destination is nice and offers plenty of railway interest with an excellent museum.

I've tried a couple of the routes now:
Cheapest I found was London to Passau using a DB Spezial fare.
Then an OBB fare from Passau to Budapest Keleti. (Salzburg would have worked equally well although the timings weren't ideal for me)

It was a nice route and very easy to book, the DB website happily sold the London - Passau fare which was printed at home.

Passau to Budapest was a little more challenging but agents such as myrailtrip find it easy. Indeed you could transfer all the work to them.

On another occasion I chose to go via Brussels, Luxembourg, Strasbourg and Basel to Zurich (returning via St. Gallen, Luzern, Basel, Strasbourg and Paris). From Zurich to Budapest I again used an agent to obtain a sleeper berth reservation for each direction. As I had an Interrail pass, I used International Rail but Swiss Travel Centre in Covent Garden would probably be my preference. Although given the current special offers MAV-Start might be a good option.

The overnight sleeper doesn't really afford much of a chance to appreciate Liechtenstein, clearly you could use the excellent OBB Railjet to let you enjoy the scenery over the same route and the same process would apply.

The journey to Budapest is as I've discovered addictive and ended up tempting me to go on further on subsequent visits.

 

[Searle]

Passau to Budapest was a little more challenging but agents such as myrailtrip find it easy. Indeed you could transfer all the work to them.

Similarly, I called the DB UK number (easily found on their website), and they posted all the necessary tickets to me (from Surbiton!). All I ordered was seat reservations, but I'm sure they'd do fully priced tickets as well.

 

[orpine]

Hi All,
Thanks for the information; useful and reassuring.

I've priced up
- Via Zurich (spending the night there)
- Munich-Bedapest sleeper
- Cologne-Vienna sleeper

They all come out remarkably close at about £130 each way (ranging from 120 to 150), from London.

Outward: Any time after late Friday (20:00) 6th March
Returning: By mid-day Sunday 15th March.

Cheap bits: first class on the zurich/budapest (either way) is €71.90 (I figure for an 11 hour journey, it's worth spending £25 more!).
Budapest-munich sleeper = €79.00 (cabin)

Can anyone *significantly* beat this? The most expensive part seems to consistently be getting across the Channel!

 

[30907]

If you are going to use the Cologne Vienna sleeper, you need to split at Cologne.
The Eurostar site MAY be fractionally cheaper than the DB for the first bit, and for some categories of sleeper DB is slightly cheaper than OBB, and should be able to offer a fare through to Budapest.
Might be worth checking out Cologne - Munich sleeper and then Railjet too.

 

[orpine]

So, I've figured out which journeys etc I want, now comes the problematic part: How do I buy the tickets?

London - Munich, then the sleeper to budapest can all be done via DB. I guess their website? Although I could try the number Searle referenced I suppose.

---

The problem is the return. Budapest to Zurich via the railjet. The OBB website doesn't want to sell it in one part (I guess I have to split it at Vienna). Alternately MavStart appear to have the entire thing; I'm not 100% if they'll let me buy it from them though. Furthermore, it says in big red letters:

Please note that home printing of international tickets is not possible. International tickets booked online must be collected at any of the Ticket Collection Points located at railway stations in Hungary before your journey

Which is... unhelpful for those travelling to Hungary. :-/


So my questions, concerns:
- How do I buy my budapest to zurich leg? I was thinking first-class for it which appears to be €59 (only €20 more for an 11 trip!)

- Do all these methods include any/all reservations etc? What about "supplments"? Do they apply? The Hungary site mentions a few but I've no idea what they're about.

- I'm travelling with someone who has a student card (regular university type of card); can that be used in any way for any of these?

- Is loco2.com the best place to get the zurich-london leg, or is there a better option? (TGV-Lyria and then a EuroStar).

Thanks for all the feedback folks!

 

[deltic]

I found for tickets to/via Germany booking by phone with DB the staff were very helpful and it seemed to work out cheaper than on-line (something to do with when various websites charge adult fares 14 or 16)

 

[30907]

So, I've figured out which journeys etc I want, now comes the problematic part: How do I buy the tickets?

The problem is the return. Budapest to Zurich via the railjet.

So my questions, concerns:
- How do I buy my budapest to zurich leg? I was thinking first-class for it which appears to be €59 (only €20 more for an 11 trip!)

- Do all these methods include any/all reservations etc? What about "supplments"? Do they apply? The Hungary site mentions a few but I've no idea what they're about.

Not familiar with MAV but collecting a ticket for Budapest - Zurich from a machine in Budapest shouldn't be a problem.

http://www.seat61.com/international-trains/trains-from-Budapest.htm#Budapest-Switzerland shows you how....

Your DB London Special won't include reservations after Brussels, but it will offer you the option. Same applies on RJ. Lyria includes reservations like all TGVs.
Other than that there should be no supplements.

 

[Zamracene749]

When you buy your ticket from MAV, they give you a ten digit reference number. Take this number with you.
Key in the number at a ticket machine in any major Hungarian station eg Budapest Keleti.
It's really easy, there isn't any queueing and the machines have an English option. There is there is no mucking about with payment cards etc either.

Regarding reservations, you can choose your exact seat during the online booking process. All supplements are included.

HTH. PS Go 1st class, you know you want to

PPS, Off topic, but Budapest has a couple of things of interest to the rail enthusiast too- A really worthwhile trip is to ride the cogwheel railway and the childrens railway, easily do-able in an afternoon. The rack line connects with the childrens railway at Szechenyi hegy (there is a basic restaurant here that sells a cracking bowl of Goulash ), and you can do a nice loop of Buda by using the trams that connect the lower end of the both lines with the transport interchange at Szell Kalman ter (which is the terminus of one of the worlds busiest tramways, with the longest trams).
Also worth a ride is the metro- Line 1 is the worlds second oldest and connects a string of beautifully preserved stations, the whole thing is Unesco listed. Line m3 is worth a go to ride the ancient Russian metro stock still used, some with original tungsten lighting- a real blast from the past but their days are numbered, line 4 is worth a go to ride one of the worlds newest lines. Have fun

 

[pne]

Your DB London Special won't include reservations after Brussels, but it will offer you the option.

PS Go 1st class, you know you want to

If you do go first class, seat reservations should be included in the price of a DB London Spezial ticket, as with all first-class DB tickets since 15 December 2014 (or thereabouts).

So you won’t get an automatic reservation—it’s still an option—, but the option (if you take it) will cost you €0.00.

 

[D6700]

They all come out remarkably close at about £130 each way (ranging from 120 to 150), from London.

Can anyone *significantly* beat this? The most expensive part seems to consistently be getting across the Channel!

In June 2013, I travelled by train from York to Budapest, stopping off overnight in Brussels and Munich, taking some scenic routes along the way and getting plenty of different locomotives - all for a bargain price of £13 York to London and €98 (currently about £78) London to Budapest. London to Munich was €59 and Munich to Budapest was €39, both booked with DB.

This was the plan:

Saturday 8 June
07:00 York-London Kings Cross 09:09 (HST)
10:58 London St Pancras-Brussels Midi 14:05 (Eurostar)
xx: xx Brussels Midi-Brussels Nord xx: xx (Anything loco hauled!)

Sunday 9 June
06:33 Brussels Nord-Cologne Hbf 08:15 ICE 11 (ICE)
09:18 Cologne Hbf-Lindau Hbf 15:54 IC119 (103, 101, 2 218's)
20:16 Lindau Hbf-Munich Hbf 22:45 EC197 (2 218's)

Monday 10 June
08:27 Munich Hbf-Salzburg Hbf 10:09 EC111 (1216)
11:12 Salzburg Hbf-Vienna Westbahnhof 14:00 OIC 863 (1216)
15:48 Vienna Westbahnhof-Budapest Keleti 18:49 RJ65 (1216)

Things didn't fully go to plan, as there was major flooding across Central Europe, but the bulk of the trip was hassle free. My train from Munich to Salzburg was cancelled - the line only re-opened that morning, so I had to take a later Railjet instead of the Eurocity. Between Gyor and Tatabanya in Hungary, I had to take a rail replacement coach, as the railway was closed due to flooding.

Apart from the flapping over whether I would make it south from Munich, this was a very enjoyable trip, with plenty of time to look around Brussels and Lindau on the way. I returned from Budapest by air.

 

[johnnychips]

At Szentendre, 45 mins North on the HEV railway, there is a nice little tram museum, as well as it being a lovely little town on the Danube.

http://www.bkv.hu/en/museums/urban_public_transport_museum_szentendre

 

[leytongabriel]

If you are thinking of doing TGV Lyria on the return leg, the SNCF website often has discount tickets for that route. I don't know why exactly, but it seems to be the subject of promotions and advertising on the Paris metro.