What's the best website for planning international journeys?

[anti-pacer]

For example, London-Budapest, with prices?

Thanks in advance.

 

[sarahj]

www.bahn.de

 

[Barn]

For example, London-Budapest, with prices?

Thanks in advance.

Try Loco2.com for booking, bahn.co.uk for comprehensive timetable searching and seat61.com for great advice on journeys.

 

[Greenback]

Seat61 has excellent information about journeys from the UK, railpasses and the like. But for detailed information on journeys such as Zurich to Venice, it's hard to beat Deutsche Bahn.

For booking I usually try and use the website of the train provider, or the railway administration of the origin country.

 

[harry42]

Seat61 has excellent information about journeys from the UK, railpasses and the like. But for detailed information on journeys such as Zurich to Venice, it's hard to beat Deutsche Bahn.

For booking I usually try and use the website of the train provider, or the railway administration of the origin country.

Agree...seat 61

 

[tony_mac]

I did Budapest - London by booking two separate 'savings' tickets on DB (which also allowed for more stopovers en-route).
You can't usually seem to get prices on a through journey that both starts and ends outside Germany.

One of the things that may help is to specify a short stopover in Brussels - you need to get routed on an ICE train (and not a Thalys) to get the fares from DB.

 

[Greenback]

I've found that too. The DB website will allow you to book if there is a German component at the start or end of the journey, but you can't do something like Milan to Barcelona on it.

 

[wellhouse]

DB is great for schedules, and you can put in two via points if you wish with lengthy stopovers.

As is said above, you will get fares info only for internal German journeys or international journeys where DB run through services. (e.g. Munich Verona)

You can book from St Pancras through to any German station, but as mentioned previously, these are valid only on ICE between Brussels and Cologne, so you may have to play with the stopover time there to get a fare.

If you are going via Germany to another country, you may be able to combine a London Spezial with a Europa Spezial to take you all the way through.

The restrictions are similar to UK advances, but you can specify indirect routes, and you can put in lengthy stopovers up to 48 hours, giving a tour through Germany on just two tickets.

e.g. London Spezial London - Nuremberg with one stop in Liege and another in Hannover, followed by Europa Spezial Nuremberg - Verona, with overnight stops in Munich and Innsbruck.

DB have a UK office, and if you email them, they are very helpful quoting international fares (including domestic fares in other countries) which aren't available on the website.

 

[Greenback]

i have always found DB very good, and thoroughly enjoyed travelling first class all the way from Basel to London with a stop in Cologne for only 109 euro.

 

[317666]

Another thing with DB's saver fares, you are allowed to alight from the train at an earlier station if you so wish (not sure about joining the train at a later station though).

Came back from Berlin a few months ago on a €59 ticket, apart from the Berlin - Cologne ICE running 25 minutes late, and being held on the Hohenzollernbrücke for the connecting Brussels ICE to go in front, it was a very pleasant journey! (Luckily the Brussels ICE was running slightly early and it was only a cross platform interchange so made it easily.)

 

[nw1]

DB is great for schedules, and you can put in two via points if you wish with lengthy stopovers.

As is said above, you will get fares info only for internal German journeys or international journeys where DB run through services. (e.g. Munich Verona)

You can book from St Pancras through to any German station, but as mentioned previously, these are valid only on ICE between Brussels and Cologne, so you may have to play with the stopover time there to get a fare.

If you are going via Germany to another country, you may be able to combine a London Spezial with a Europa Spezial to take you all the way through.

The restrictions are similar to UK advances, but you can specify indirect routes, and you can put in lengthy stopovers up to 48 hours, giving a tour through Germany on just two tickets.

e.g. London Spezial London - Nuremberg with one stop in Liege and another in Hannover, followed by Europa Spezial Nuremberg - Verona, with overnight stops in Munich and Innsbruck.

DB have a UK office, and if you email them, they are very helpful quoting international fares (including domestic fares in other countries) which aren't available on the website.

I've used DB to travel from London to Austria (Salzburg and Innsbruck) and the overall fare seemed good enough as it was (about £80 each way) but wasn't aware of the stopover option. I stayed overnight in Cologne with a London-Spezial to Cologne and a Europa-Spezial beyond, but if I'd have realised you could stop over, I'd have booked to somewhere nearer Austria and combined that with a local ticket!

Add that to the cheap accommodation (IMX - in 2009 and 2011) in places like Garmisch and Berchtesgaden and, if you book far enough in advance (e.g. booking in April for a July holiday) the Bavarian Alps become quite a cheap option for a mountain-walking holiday, possibly rivalling Scotland!

 

[30907]

1. Starting short is fine, unlike with a UK Advance (I once used a ES-Poland ticket for an internal German journey as it was cheaper than the internal Sparpreis as well as having the additional flexibility)

2. The Czech site http://jizdenka.idos.cz/IT.aspx?Lang=69 is good for traditional-style international tickets on more obscure routes where per-kilometer "tariff" prices still apply (typically Eastern Europe) - but not for special prices like the DB ones.

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

I would always check the operator web site for the best deals within one country.
For example, Milan-Ventimiglia is only €9 on Trenitalia.com (€19 First Class) if booked long enough in advance (print ticket at home).
Basel-Nice is FAR cheaper booked as Basel-Milan, Milan-Ventimiglia and Ventimiglia-Nice sections on sbb.ch and trenitalia.com with a local ticket from Ventimiglia to Nice.
Similarly Stockholm-Oslo is only SEK 210 (£20) on sj.se (SEK 300 First Class).

They all have English language pages (though the English is a bit French widow at times), and with most you can print your ticket at home.
It seems to be getting harder to buy return tickets across borders - you often need singles booked from the operator you start the journey with.
DB is a shining exception.

 

[philjo]

Is there a journey planner which shows the booked platform numbers for French services?
I'm changing from TGV to local service at Narbonne in October to get to Carcassonne. the connection on my ticket is a bit tight (arr 17:05, dep 17:12) so trying to see if i need to change platforms though there is another local service at 17:32

 

[30907]

You can get arrivals and departures for the immediate future here: http://www.sncf.com/fr/rechercher-gare so checking it out at 16:00BST on the same day of the week should be a good guide.

 

[Electrostar]

I echo the sentiments above. The DB iPhone app is fantastic. And of course seat61 is wonderfully laiden with information.

 

[Gordon]

Is there a journey planner which shows the booked platform numbers for French services?
I'm changing from TGV to local service at Narbonne in October to get to Carcassonne. the connection on my ticket is a bit tight (arr 17:05, dep 17:12) so trying to see if i need to change platforms though there is another local service at 17:32

Narbonne is not a big station, so 7 minutes is probably the official connection.

There is one platform on the station building side, plus two islands, giving 5 main platform faces

http://www.gares-en-mouvement.com/fr/


(interestingly 7 minutes if the official minimum connection at Zurich HB in Switzerland where you sometimes have to walk a long way between surface and/or sub surface platforms - far further than at Narbonne.)