UK
citizens no longer need a visa to visit Poland.
Page last
updated:
25 June 2009. Train times valid from 14 June to 12 December
2009.
Travelling to Poland by train...
The main square & cathedral, Krakow
It's
easy to travel from the UK to Poland by train. You
take
a lunchtime Eurostar to Brussels and a high-speed train to
Cologne, then the overnight sleeper train 'Jan Kiepura' from Cologne to Warsaw with
connections for Krakow.
Alternatively, take a mid-afternoon Eurostar to Paris, the excellent sleeper
'Perseus' train from Paris to Berlin, then an air-conditioned
express from Berlin to Warsaw, Krakow, Poznan, Wroclaw or Katowice. The journey from London to Warsaw or Krakow
is safe and comfortable, with couchettes and sleeping-cars for the overnight
part. An
experience in itself!
There are two
good options for travelling from London to Warsaw by train.
Option 1 is to leave London at lunchtime, change in Brussels
& Cologne onto the 'Jan Kiepura' sleeper train to Warsaw
arriving next morning.
Option 2
is to leave London in mid-afternoon, take the City Night
Line sleeper train from Paris to Berlin and then a daytime
'Berlin-Warszawa Express' to Warsaw arriving early
evening.
Both options are described below.
Option 1:
London to Warsaw by Jan Kiepura sleeper train...
This is
the fastest & most convenient option between
London & Warsaw.
Train times
London ► Warsaw
Travel
from London to Brussels by
Eurostar,
leaving London St Pancras at 14:34, arriving in
Brussels Midi at 17:33.
Travel from Brussels to Cologne
(Köln in German) by high-speed
Thalys
train, leaving Brussels
Midi at 18:59 and arriving in
Cologne Hauptbahnhof at 21:15.
Travel
from Cologne to Warsaw overnight on the 'Jan Kiepura'
EuroNight sleeper train, leaving Cologne at 22:28 and arriving next
morning at Poznan at 07:33 and Warsaw
Centralna
at 10:35. The Jan Kiepura has modern
air-conditioned Polish
sleeping-cars (1 & 2-bed deluxe rooms with private toilet
& shower plus TV/DVD player, 1, 2 & 3-berth standard rooms
with washbasin, hot shower at end of the corridor, CCTV
security, highly recommended),
couchettes (basic sleeping accommodation in 4-berth & 6-berth
compartments) & reclining seats (not recommended). The sleeper fare
includes complimentary toiletries pack and morning tea or
coffee and croissant. There's no restaurant car in the
evening, so feel free to take you own picnic
and bottle of wine aboard, but a restaurant car is attached
for breakfast.
Train times
Warsaw ► London
Travel
from Warsaw to Cologne on the 'Jan Kiepura' sleeper
train,
leaving Warsaw Centralna at 17:55 or Poznan at 21:15,
arriving in Cologne at 06:14 next morning. The Jan
Kiepura has modern
sleeping-cars (1, 2 & 3-bed standard
rooms with washbasin, 1 & 2-bed deluxe rooms with
private shower & toilet, highly recommended),
couchettes
(basic sleeping accommodation in 4-berth & 6-berth
compartments) and reclining seats (not
recommended). There's a restaurant car in the
evening for dinner, with waiter-served meals at
affordable prices, alternatively feel free to take you own picnic
and bottle of wine aboard!
Travel from
Cologne to Brussels by high-speed
Thalys
train, leaving Cologne daily at 07:45, arriving
Brussels Midi at
10:01.
A
Eurostar
leaves Brussels
Midi daily at 11:29
and arrives London St Pancras at 12:26.
Introducing the
Jan Kiepura sleeper train from Cologne to Warsaw...
1, 2 or 3
bed sleepers: The EuroNight 'Jan Kiepura'
has two modern air-conditioned Polish sleeping-cars,
with 1, 2 & 3 bed compartments, either deluxe with shower & toilet or standard with washbasin...
3-bed sleeper with beds
folded out... Photo courtesy of Tobias Köhler.
3-bed sleeper with beds
folded away. Photo courtesy of Tobias Köhler
4-berth couchettes: Ideal for families.
Much more space per person than 6-berth couchettes.
6-berth couchettes: A very economical
option, far better than a seat for just a few euros
more...
Above: The
Jan Kiepura also has two couchette cars, with 4 & 6
berth compartments. There are toilets &
washrooms at the end of the corridor...
How much does it cost (by Jan
Kiepura sleeper train)?
1.
London to Cologne
by Eurostar+Thalys:
Fares start at £87 return (£59 London-Brussels +
£28 Brussels-Cologne)
or £65 one-way (£51 London-Brussels + £14
Brussels-Cologne)
Fares vary like
air fares, so book in advance to get the cheapest
prices.
Savings fare =
Special cheap fare, price varies, limited availability,
no refunds or changes to travel plans.
Normal fare =
fully flexible, refundable, buy any time. Youth =
under 26, Senior = over 60.
How to buy
tickets online...
Booking online
is the cheapest way to buy tickets, with no booking fee and
all the cheap deals there for you to see. However, it
requires two websites, so do a dry run on both sites before
booking for real.
Step 1, go to
www.bahn.de, the German Railways website, and
book the overnight
sleeper train from Cologne to
Warsaw & back (obviously, it's the one shown as having 0
changes).
Bookings open 90 days before departure from Cologne to
Warsaw, but only 60 days before departure for Warsaw to
Cologne. The search results will show the cheap 'Savings' fares
(if available) and
fully-flexible normal fares for each type of seat, couchette
& sleeper. You pay by credit card and print out your
own tickets. Easy! The prices shown on
www.bahn.de are in euro, and are the total cost for
all passengers selected, not per person. If you have
any difficulty booking this train online, book by email or
phone instead, as shown below. I recommend registering
when it asks you before completing the purchase, so you can
easily retrieve any bookings later.
Step 2, go to
either
www.eurostar.com or
www.raileurope.co.uk
and book a
London-Cologne Eurostar+Thalys ticket, using the train times
on this page as a guide.
Cologne is shown as 'Koln' on the Eurostar site.
Book early to see the cheapest
fares. Make sure you allow plenty of
time for the connection in Cologne.
It's obvious, but remember that your return departure date from Cologne will
be the day after your departure date from Warsaw!
If there are
no affordable through fares shown, go to
www.raileurope.co.uk
and try
splitting the journey into separate London-Brussels and
Brussels-Cologne sections, looking for cheap fares for
each leg.
First, ask for
'Brussels' to 'Cologne' and your dates of travel. After booking the Thalys from Brussels to
Cologne, click 'continue shopping' and book a Eurostar
from London to Brussels and back to connect. Make sure you allow for
the 30 minute Eurostar check-in at Brussels on the return
journey.
How to buy tickets
by email...
If you'd prefer to have someone book it for you,
just click here and a booking form will appear which lists
all the
trains you
need to book. Fill
it in & email it to
sales@europeanrail.com. European Rail will make
the reservations and call you back to confirm the cost.
If you're okay with the price you can give them your credit card details and
they'll send you
the tickets. European Rail is an experienced agency
equipped with the German Railways reservation & ticketing
system, so they have access to all the cheap fares for travel via
Germany. They charge a £25 booking fee which includes
postage to any UK address, or they can send to any address
worldwide if you pay the courier fee. Seat61 gets some
commission if you buy tickets using this form.
How to buy
tickets by phone...
The best people to call to book
this trip are
Deutsche
Bahn's UK office on 08718 80 80 66 (lines
open 09:00-20:00 Monday-Friday, 09:00-13:00 Saturday & Sunday, no booking fee,
2% credit card charge, no charge for debit cards), or www.europeanrail.com
on 020 7619 1083 (lines open 08:30-18:00
Monday-Friday, 09:00-13:00 Saturday, £25 fee per booking, but can have more
time to help you).Click
here for a list of
agencies and other useful information on how to book.
This is a
slower option than the 'Jan Kiepura', but can be handy if
you want to stop off in Paris, or can't find any cheap fares
available via Cologne. This option runs daily between
26 March & 2 November 2009, but only runs on
Mondays, Fridays, Saturdays & Sundays outside this period.
It runs via Brussels, not Paris, until 13 December 2008.
London ► Warsaw
Travel from
London to Paris by Eurostar, leaving
London St Pancras at 15:29, arriving Paris Gare du Nord at 18:56.
It's a
10 minute walk
from the Gare du Nord to the Gare de l'Est. By
all means take an earlier Eurostar if you'd like to spend
some time in Paris, or if it has cheaper seats available.
Travel from Paris to Berlin
by the City Night Line sleeper train 'Perseus', leaving
Paris Gare de l'Est at 20:20 and arriving at Berlin (Hauptbahnhof)
at 09:02 next
morning. This train runs on Mondays, Fridays, Saturdays & Sundays
until 26 March 2009, then daily from 27 March to 2 November 2009, then
on Mondays, Fridays, Saturdays & Sundays again until
March 2010. The 'Perseus' has sleepers, couchettes, seats
and a bistro car,
see the photos & information below,
or click for more pictures and information about this train.
Travel from Berlin to Warsaw on the 'Berlin-Warszawa Express',
leaving Berlin Hauptbahnhof at 12:29 and arriving Poznan at 15:27 and Warsaw Centralna at 18:20. The Berlin-Warszawa
Express is a modern air-conditioned 'EuroCity' service with
comfortable seats, a trolley refreshment service
and a restaurant car serving drinks, snacks and full
meals. Treat yourself to a meal in the restaurant:
Three courses, a beer and a coffee come to less than £9.
Credit cards accepted.
Warsaw ► London
Travel
from Warsaw to Berlin on the 'Berlin-Warszawa Express',
leaving Warsaw Centralna at 11:35 or Poznan at 14:27, arriving at Berlin
Hauptbahnhof
at 17:27.
Travel from Berlin to Paris by City Night Line sleeper
train 'Perseus', leaving Berlin Hauptbahnhof at 19:58 and
arriving Paris Gare de l'Est at 09:30 next morning.
This train runs on Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays & Sundays
until 25 March 2009, then daily from 26 March to 1 November 2009,
then on Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays & Sundays again
until March 2010. The
'Perseus' has ordinary seats (not recommended), couchettes (4-bunk or
6-bunk) and modern sleeping-cars (1, 2 or 3-berth standard
rooms with washbasin or
deluxe rooms with private shower & toilet, highly
recommended), plus a bistro-restaurant car,
see the photos & information below.
Breakfast is included in the fare for sleeper passengers.
Click for more pictures and information about this train.
Travel
from Paris to London by
Eurostar, leaving Paris Nord at
11:13 and arriving London St Pancras at 12:29.
Introducing the Paris - Berlin City Night Line sleeper
train:
The Paris-Berlin
overnight train is one of the
German Railway's excellent 'City Night Line' sleeper trains.
Called the 'Perseus', it
has modern 'Comfortline' sleeping-cars
(1, 2 & 3-berth deluxe rooms with private shower &
toilet, 1, 2 &
3-berth standard rooms with washbasin, shower at
the end of the corridor, all rooms with power points for
mobiles & laptop computers),
modern air-conditioned couchettes (choose between a berth in
a 4- or 6-berth compartment), ordinary seats (not
recommended, as a couchette is far better) and a bistro-restaurant
car. Inclusive fares are charged covering
travel plus sleeping accommodation. The
sleeping-car fare includes a light breakfast in the
restaurant car.
Click for more pictures and information about this train.
1, 2 or 3 bed sleeper: The most comfortable &
civilised option, with proper beds & washbasin.
4-berth couchettes: Ideal for families,
much more space per person than 6-berth couchettes.
6-berth couchettes: A very economical
option, far better than a seat for just a few euros
more...
Bistro-bar car:
The bistro
car serves meals, snacks & drinks in the evening,
breakfast in the morning.
This is the
simplest way to book, as
www.raileurope.co.uk
is the easiest website to use and you can book the Eurostar,
the Paris-Berlin sleeper and the Berlin-Warsaw train
together as one transaction. It's also backed by a UK
call centre if you need any help. However, it's also
worth checking prices for the Paris-Berlin sleeper using
www.bahn.de, as this accesses the German
reservation system and prices sometimes vary from those on
the French system.
www.bahn.de
also tends to be a pound or two cheaper for the
Berlin-Warsaw train.
Go to
www.raileurope.co.uk.
Tickets can be sent to any UK address or can be collected at
the station. Only UK credit cards are accepted.
Bookings for all trains open 90 days before departure,
except for the inward Warsaw to Berlin leg, where bookings
only open 60 days before departure.
Step 1, book the sleeper from Paris
to Berlin. Enter 'Paris' to 'Berlin' and your dates of
travel. It's best to book the Paris-Berlin sleeper
train first and check its exact timetable before
booking the Eurostar connection, in case times vary from the
ones shown above. For some reason,
www.raileurope.co.uk
won't book 4-berth couchettes on this train. And if you've
a child aged 4- 5 or 12-14
please read this note.
Step 2, after booking
the Paris-Berlin train, add it to your basket & click 'continue shopping'.
Now book
the Eurostar from London to Paris and back, using the recommended Eurostar times above as a guide.
By
all means book an earlier Eurostar outward or a later
Eurostar on the way back if these have cheaper seats
available or if you'd like to stop off in Paris.
Step 3, click
'continue shopping' again and book the train from Berlin to
Warsaw & back.
Tickets are
sent from Rail Europe's UK office and generally arrive
within a couple of days.
This involves
two websites, so do a 'dry run'
first on both sites to check prices and availability before
booking for real.
www.bahn.de can book all accommodation, including 4-berth
couchettes, though for some reason won't offer 3-bed
sleepers to solo travellers (though raileurope.co.uk will!). If you book using the bahn.de site,
children under 6 go free, children under 14 can get the
child rate, which are the correct age limits for this train.
Step 1, Go to
www.bahn.de, the German Railways website, and book from Paris to
Berlin & back on the direct overnight sleeper train.
The search results will show cheap 'savings' fares (if
available) and
fully-flexible fares for each type of seat, couchette &
sleeper. You pay by credit card and print out your own
tickets. Easy! The prices shown on
www.bahn.de are in euro, and are the total cost for all
passengers selected, not per person. I recommend
registering when it asks you before completing the purchase,
so you can easily retrieve any bookings. Always book the
sleeper train first and check its exact arrival & departure
times before
booking the Eurostar connection, as times can vary.
Allow at least 90 minutes on the outward journey and 1 hour
on the return to make the connection in Paris.
Step 2, still on
www.bahn.de,
now use the journey planner to bring
up the connecting Berlin-Warsaw trains shown in the train
times above, and buy the ticket. It will show if any
cheap special fares are available. You can simply
print out your own Online Ticket. Alternatively,
if you have any problems, Berlin-Warsaw trains can also be
booked very easily at
www.raileurope.co.uk,
although this usually costs a pound or two more than using
Deutsche Bahn.
Step
3, go to
www.eurostar.com to book your Eurostar
tickets between London and Paris, using the Eurostar times
above as a guide. By all means book an earlier
Eurostar outwards, or a later Eurostar on the way back, if
this has cheaper seats available of if you'd like to stop
off in Paris for a while. Eurostar tickets can be sent to any UK
address, self-printed, or collected at the station.
How to buy tickets
by email...
If you'd prefer to have someone book it for you,
just click here and a booking form will appear which lists
all the
trains you
need to book. Fill
it in & email it to
sales@europeanrail.com. European Rail will make
the reservations and call you back to confirm the cost.
If you're okay with the price you can give them your credit card details and
they'll send you
the tickets. European Rail is an experienced agency
equipped with the German Railways reservation & ticketing
system, so they have access to all the cheap fares for travel via
Germany. They charge a £25 booking fee which includes
postage to any UK address, or they can send to any address
worldwide if you pay the courier fee. Seat61 gets some
commission if you buy tickets using this form.
How to buy tickets by phone...
If
you'd prefer to book all these trains by phone, just call
Deutsche
Bahn's UK office on 08718 80 80 66 (lines open 09:00-20:00 Monday-Friday,
09:00-13:00 Saturday & Sunday, no
booking fee, 2% credit card charge, no charge for debit
cards), or a booking agency such
as
European Rail
on 020 7619 1083 (lines open 09:00-18:00
Monday-Friday, 09:00-13:00 Saturday, £25 booking fee).
London to
Wroclaw, Katowice, Oswiecim (Auschwitz) & Krakow
Regular InterCity
trains link Warsaw Centralna with both Krakow & Katowice.
A fast air-conditioned InterCity train leaves Warsaw Centralna
at 12:05 arriving Krakow Glowny at 15:00, with a restaurant
car available for lunch (treat yourself!). An
air-conditioned EuroCity train leaves Warsaw Centralna at
13:10 arriving Katowice at 15:50, also with restaurant car.
Train times
Katowice & Krakow ► London
Regular InterCity
trains link both Krakow & Katowice with Warsaw Centralna.
An air-conditioned InterCity train leaves Krakow Glowny at
13:55 arriving Warsaw Centralna at 16:50, restaurant car
available. An air-conditioned EuroCity train leaves
Katowice at 14:00 arriving Katowice at 16:40.
You can buy
your Warsaw-Krakow ticket online using
www.raileurope.co.uk,
price £22 each way 2nd class, £31 each way 1st class.
Alternatively, it's easy enough to buy your ticket to Krakow
at Warsaw Centralna when you get there.
If you'd like someone book it
all for you,
just click here and a booking form will appear which lists
all the
trains you
need to book. Fill
it in & email it to
sales@europeanrail.com. European Rail will make
the reservations and call you back to confirm the cost.
If you're okay with the price you can give them your credit card details and
they will send you
the tickets. European Rail is an experienced agency
equipped with the German Railways reservation & ticketing
system, so they have access to all the cheap fares for travel via
Germany. They charge a £25 booking fee which includes
postage to any UK address, or they can send to any address
worldwide if you pay the courier fee. Seat61 gets some
commission if you buy tickets using this form.
Option 2:
London to Wroclaw, Katowice & Krakow
via Berlin...
This is a
slightly slower option than the 'Jan Kiepura', but can be
handy if you want to stop off in Paris, or can't find any
cheap fares available via Cologne & Warsaw. This
option runs daily between
26 March & 2 November 2009, but only runs on
Mondays, Fridays, Saturdays & Sundays outside this period.
It runs via Brussels, not Paris, until 13 December 2008.
London ► Wroclaw, Katowice & Krakow
Travel from
London to Paris by Eurostar, leaving
London St Pancras at 15:29, arriving Paris Gare du Nord at 18:56.
It's a
10 minute walk
from the Gare du Nord to the Gare de l'Est. By
all means take an earlier Eurostar if you'd like to spend
some time in Paris, or if it has cheaper seats available.
Travel from Paris to Berlin
by the City Night Line sleeper train 'Perseus', leaving
Paris Gare de l'Est at 20:20 and arriving at Berlin Hauptbahnhof
at 09:02 next
morning. This train runs on Mondays, Fridays, Saturdays & Sundays
until 26 March 2009, then daily from 27 March to 2 November 2009, then
on Mondays, Fridays, Saturdays & Sundays again until
March 2010. The 'Perseus' has sleepers, couchettes, seats
and a bistro car,
see the photos & information below,
or click for more pictures and information about this train.
Travel
from Berlin to Southern Poland by direct air-conditioned
EuroCity train, leaving Berlin Hauptbahnhof at 09:41 and arriving Wroclaw at 15:37, Katowice at
18:20 & Krakow at 19:56. This train is
called the 'Wawel',
named after the royal castle in Krakow. It has modern German coaches.
The train normally has a bar car, so treat yourself to a few beers,
but it's also a good idea to bring your own picnic
with wine or beer and enjoy the ride!
Travel from Southern
Poland to Berlin by direct air-conditioned EuroCity
train, the 'Wawel'. It leaves Krakow at 07:23, Katowice at
08:54, and Wroclaw at 11:32, arriving Berlin Hauptbahnhof at
17:30. A
bar car is available, but why not bring your own picnic
on board with wine or a few beers?
See 3D virtual tour inside the German intercity
coaches used on this train.
Travel from Berlin to Paris by City Night Line sleeper
train 'Perseus', leaving Berlin Hauptbahnhof at 19:58 and
arriving Paris Gare de l'Est at 09:30 next morning.
This train runs on Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays & Sundays
until 25 March 2009, then daily from 26 March to 1 November 2009,
then on Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays & Sundays again. The
'Perseus' has ordinary seats (not recommended), couchettes (4-bunk or
6-bunk) and modern sleeping-cars (1, 2 or 3-berth standard
rooms with washbasin or
deluxe rooms with private shower & toilet, highly
recommended), plus a bistro-restaurant car,
see the photos & information below.
Breakfast is included in the fare for sleeper passengers.
More pictures
& information about this train.
Travel
from Paris to London by
Eurostar, leaving Paris Nord at
11:13 and arriving London St Pancras at 12:29.
Introducing the Paris - Berlin City Night Line sleeper
train:
The Paris-Berlin
overnight train is one of the
German Railway's excellent 'City Night Line' sleeper trains.
Called the 'Perseus', it
has modern sleeping-cars
(1, 2 & 3-berth deluxe rooms with private shower &
toilet, 1, 2 &
3-berth standard rooms with washbasin, shower at
the end of the corridor, all rooms with power points for
mobiles & laptop computers),
modern air-conditioned couchettes (choose between a berth in
a 4- or 6-berth compartment), ordinary seats (not
recommended, a couchette is far better) and a bistro-restaurant
car. Inclusive fares are charged covering
travel plus sleeping accommodation. The
sleeping-car fare includes a light breakfast in the
restaurant car.
More
pictures & information about this City Night Line train.
1, 2 or 3 bed sleeper: The most comfortable &
civilised option, with proper beds & washbasin.
4-berth couchettes: Ideal for families,
much more space per person than 6-berth couchettes.
6-berth couchettes: A very economical
option, far better than a seat for just a few euros
more...
Bistro-bar car:
The bistro
car serves meals, snacks & drinks in the evening,
breakfast in the morning.
On board the Berlin-Krakow
EuroCity train, the 'Wawel'...
Above: An air-conditioned
German InterCity train, as used on the EuroCity 'Wawel' from Berlin to Krakow
Above: Comfortable seats in the EuroCity
train 'Wawel' from Berlin to Krakow...
Oswiecim (Auschwitz)
If you are visiting the museum at
Oswiecim (better known by its infamous German name,
Auschwitz), change trains at Katowice. A local train leaves
Katowice at around 18:50, taking about an hour to reach
Oswiecim.
Alternatively, continue to Krakow, as regular local trains
link Krakow with Oswiecim every hour or two. See
www.bahn.de
(English button top right)
to check train times. Once in Oswiecim, there are two camps
to visit, Auschwitz I which is an ex-Polish army barracks in
the town itself about 10 minutes walk from the station (turn
right outside the station then veer left), and Auschwitz-Birkenau II which was a
purpose-built concentration camp a little way out of town,
about 30 minutes walk from the station (turn right, then
turn right again at the first major road bridge across the
railway). There are also regular buses between Krakow
and Oswiecim, see
www.pksoswiecim.pl/strona.php?grupa=9.
Alternatively, you can visit Auschwitz on a one-day tour
from Krakow, try
www.isango.com.
www.raileurope.co.uk
is the easiest way to book the London-Paris & Paris-Berlin
trains, then the cheapest way to book the Berlin to Krakow
train is at the German Railways website,
www.bahn.de.
Do a dry run on both sites first to check prices &
availability.
Go to
www.raileurope.co.uk.
Tickets can be sent to any UK address or can be collected at
the station. Only UK credit cards are accepted.
Step 1, book the sleeper from Paris
to Berlin. Enter 'Paris' to 'Berlin' and your dates of
travel. It's best to book the Paris-Berlin sleeper
train first and check its exact timetable before
booking the Eurostar connection, in case times vary from the
ones shown above. For some reason,
www.raileurope.co.uk
won't book 4-berth couchettes on this train. If you've
a child aged 4- 5 or 12-14
please read this note.
Step 2, after
booking the Paris-Berlin train, add it to your basket &
click 'continue shopping'. Now book the Eurostar from
London to Paris and back, using the recommended Eurostar
times above as a guide. By all means book an earlier
Eurostar outward or a later Eurostar on the way back if
these have cheaper seats available or if you'd like to stop
off in Paris.
Step 3, now go to the German
Railways website
www.bahn.de and use the journey planner to bring
up the connecting Berlin-Krakow trains shown in the train
times above, and buy the ticket. It will show if any
cheap special fares are available. You simply print
out your own Online Ticket. I recommend
registering when it asks you before completing the purchase,
so you can easily retrieve any bookings later. Alternatively,
if you have any problems, Berlin-Krakow trains can also be
booked very easily at
www.raileurope.co.uk,
although this may cost more than using
Deutsche Bahn.
Alternatively, you can book London-Paris using
www.eurostar.com, then book Paris-Berlin & Berlin-Krakow
using the German Railways site,
www.bahn.de. Do
a 'dry run' first on both sites to check prices and
availability before booking for real.
Step 1, go to
www.bahn.de, the German Railways website, and book a
ticket from Paris to Berlin Hbf and back on the overnight
sleeper train. The search results will show cheap 'savings' fares
(if available) and
fully-flexible fares for each type of seat, couchette &
sleeper. You pay by credit card and print out your own
tickets. Easy! The prices shown on
www.bahn.de are in euro, and are the total cost for all
passengers selected, not per person. I recommend
registering when it asks you before completing the purchase,
so you can easily retrieve any bookings. Always book the
sleeper train first and check its exact arrival & departure
times before booking the Eurostar connection, as times can
vary.
Step 2, stay on
www.bahn.de and use the journey planner to bring
up the connecting Berlin-Krakow train shown in the train
times section above, and buy the ticket. It will show if any
cheap special fares are available. You can simply
print out your own Online Ticket. Alternatively,
if you have any problems, Berlin-Krakow trains can also be
booked very easily at
www.raileurope.co.uk,
although this may cost more than using
Deutsche Bahn.
Step 3, go to
www.eurostar.com to book your connecting Eurostar
tickets between London and Paris, using the Eurostar times
above as a guide. By all means book an earlier
Eurostar outwards, or a later Eurostar on the way back, if
this has cheaper seats available of if you'd like to stop
off in Paris for a while. Eurostar tickets can be sent to any UK
address, self-printed, or collected at the station.
How to buy tickets
by email...
If you'd prefer to have someone book it for you,
just click here and a booking form will appear which lists
all the
trains you
need to book. Fill
it in & email it to
sales@europeanrail.com. European Rail will make
the reservations and call you back to confirm the cost.
If you're okay with the price you can give them your credit card details and
they'll send you
the tickets. European Rail is an experienced agency
equipped with the German Railways reservation & ticketing
system, so they have access to all the cheap fares for travel via
Germany. They charge a £25 booking fee which includes
postage to any UK address, or they can send to any address
worldwide if you pay the courier fee. Seat61 gets some
commission if you buy tickets using this form.
How to buy tickets by phone...
If
you'd prefer to book all these trains by phone, just call
Deutsche
Bahn's UK office on 08718 80 80 66 (lines open 09:00-20:00 Monday-Friday, 09:00-13:00 Saturday & Sunday, no
booking fee, 2% credit card charge, no charge for debit
cards), or a booking agency such
as
European Rail
on 020 7619 1083 (lines open 08:30-18:00
Monday-Friday, 09:00-13:00 Saturday, £25 booking fee).
It's also
possible to use daytime high-speed trains between London &
Berlin (changing trains at Brussels and Cologne), as
shown on the London to
Germany page. You need to leave London at 08:34 on
Mondays-Fridays, 07:57 Saturdays, no service on Sundays. Then use the overnight sleeper (with
1, 2 & 3-bed sleepers and 6-bunk couchettes, sleeper
recommended) between Berlin
& Krakow. The sleeper leaves Berlin (Lichtenberg
station, a short S-bahn ride from Berlin Ostbahnhof or
Hauptbahnhof) at 21:04 and arrives in Krakow at 09:18 next
morning. Allow at least 60 minutes to change trains and
stations in Berlin.
www.bahn.de will confirm train times.
Book London-Berlin at shown on the London to
Germany page, then book the Berlin-Krakow sleeper at
www.raileurope.co.uk.
Travelling to
Krakow via Prague takes only a bit longer and costs only
marginally more than going via Warsaw or Berlin as shown
above, so why not combine Prague & Krakow in one flight-free
trip?! By all mans travel via Prague in one direction,
via Warsaw in the other.
Train times
London ► Prague ► Krakow
Travel from
London to Prague via the Cologne-Prague sleeper train
'Kopernikus', as shown on the London to
Prague page. You leave London by Eurostar at
14:34, change at Brussels and Cologne onto the Kopernikus
sleeper train arriving Prague Hlavni station at
09:56 next morning. Enjoy the morning exploring
Prague, or stay a night or two if you wish, all trains are
ticketed separately anyway, so it makes no difference to the
price.
Travel from
Prague to Krakow by modern air-conditioned EuroCity train 'Comenius',
leaving Prague's Hlavni station daily at 14:09 and arriving Krakow
at 21:46. A restaurant car is available for dinner, so
treat yourself! Or there's a daily Prague-Krakow
sleeper train, the 'Silesia', leaving Prague Hlavni at 21:09 and arriving
Krakow Glowny at 06:33. A safe & secure sleeping-car
with 1, 2 & 3 bed rooms is available (the recommended
option), also
couchettes (6-berth) and ordinary seats (not recommended).
Train times
Krakow ► Prague ► London
Travel from
Krakow to Prague by modern air-conditioned EuroCity train 'Comenius',
leaving Krakow at 06:53 and arriving at Prague's Hlavni
station at 13:54. Spend the afternoon exploring
Prague. Alternatively, there's a Krakow-Prague sleeper
train, the 'Silesia', leaving Krakow daily at 22:15 and
arriving Prague Hlavni station at
06:54 next morning. A safe & secure sleeping-car with 1, 2 & 3 bed
rooms is available (the recommended option), also couchettes (6-berth)
and ordinary seats (not recommended).
Travel from
Prague to London via the Prague-Cologne sleeper train
'Kopernikus' as shown on the London to
Prague page. You leave Prague Hlavni station at
18:29 by sleeper to Cologne, change in Cologne & Brussels to
arrive London St Pancras at 12:26 next day.
You can buy
Prague-Krakow train tickets online using
www.raileurope.co.uk.
Prague-Krakow by EuroCity daytime trains costs £43 each way
2nd class, £63 each way 1st class. Prague-Krakow by
sleeper costs £57 each way per person including a bed in a
shared 3-berth sleeper or £86 each way with a bed in a
2-berth sleeper. You may get a cheaper rate if you
book by phone with DB's UK office, call 08718 80 80 66,
lines open 09:00-20:00 Monday-Friday, 09:00-13:00 Saturday &
Sunday.
Of course, you can take a train up
to London and travel from London to Poland as described
above, and this can be the easiest option.
Here's some advice on buying
connecting train tickets to London. But the Jan
Kiepura sleeper train to Warsaw actually starts in Amsterdam,
and
DFDS Seaways run an excellent daily
overnight cruise ferry from Newcastle to Amsterdam.
P&O Ferries
also sail overnight from Hull to Holland, and there's an
overnight Stena Line ferry from Harwich in Essex to Holland,
too. So why not
by-pass London, and have a day in Amsterdam into the
bargain before travelling on to Poland?
Above: By-pass London with the DFDS Seaways
cruise ferry from Newcastle to Amsterdam (or P&O from
Hull to Rotterdam). Direct
sleeper trains run from Amsterdam to Warsaw, Prague, Vienna,
Copenhagen, Milan, Zurich, Munich and even
Moscow...
Photo courtesy of DFDS
Scotland, north of England, East
Anglia ► Poland
Day 1, Take an afternoon train from your local station
to either Harwich, Hull or Newcastle, whichever is most
convenient for where you live. Transfer to the daily
overnight cruise ferry from Harwich/Hull/Newcastle to
Holland, with bars, restaurants & comfortable en suite
cabins, arriving next morning (day 2). For details
of timetables, fares & how to buy tickets for travel to
Amsterdam via each of these ferry routes,
see the UK-Netherlands page.
Day 2, spend the day
in Amsterdam, all the sights are easy walking distance from
Centraal station. Left luggage lockers are available
at Centraal station, 4-6 euro for 24 hours, paid for with
Maestro or Visa cards.
Day 2 evening,
take the EuroNight sleeper train 'Jan Kiepura' from Amsterdam
to Warsaw. The Jan Kiepura leaves Amsterdam at 19:01
daily and arrives at Warsaw Centralna at 10:35 next
morning (day 3). Sleeping-car, couchettes & seats are
available, for details of what
this train is like see here.
Day 1, evening: The
EuroNight sleeper
train 'Jan Kiepura' leaves Warsaw Centralna at 17:55 daily, arriving Amsterdam Centraal at 12:29
next morning. Sleeping-car, couchettes & seats available,
for details of what this train
is like see here.
Day 2: Spend the day in Amsterdam.
Left luggage lockers are available.
Day 2, late afternoon/evening: Travel overnight by cruise ferry from
Holland to either Harwich, Hull or Newcastle, whichever is
most convenient for where you live, arriving next morning (day
4). Transfer to the station and take a train home.
For details of timetables, fares & how to buy tickets for
travel via each of these ferry routes,
see the UK-Netherlands page.
To check
Amsterdam-Warsaw sleeper train fares & book online, go to
www.bahn.de (look for the direct train with 0 changes).
You can book by phone with DB's UK office on 08718 80 80 66.
It's not difficult to buy train tickets for domestic journeys
within Poland at the station ticket office. It can help
to write down what you want, in case staff don't speak English
very well. UK agencies such as
DB's UK office on 08718 80
80 66 (open 09:00-17:00 Mon-Fri) or
www.europeanrail.com can usually get you reservations on
international trains starting in Poland. However, if
they have problems, or if you want to see if buying locally
would be cheaper, try contacting the following agency in
Poland:
Polish train ticketing agency
www.polrail.com comes highly recommended if you want to
arrange train tickets within Poland in advance, or book
international train tickets starting in Poland, for example,
from Warsaw to Prague, Vienna, Budapest, Moscow, Kiev, Lviv or
Vilnius, or from Krakow to Prague, Budapest or Vienna, etc.. You should
arrange tickets between 10 & 60 days before travel (because
Polish train reservations open 60 days before departure, but
10 days is necessary for the agency to buy and send tickets).
Tickets can be couriered to your home address in any country,
or they can arrange ticket collection within Poland, for
example, at your hotel. If you use their services,
feedback is
always welcome!
The Thomas Cook European Timetable...
The
Thomas Cook European timetable
has train & ferry times for every country in Europe plus currency
& climate
information. Published since 1873, it costs £13.99.
It's essential for any serious traveller
and an inspiration for armchair travellers. Still
not convinced you need one? More information
on what the Thomas Cook Timetable contains. You can
buy the latest monthly edition online at
www.thomascooktimetables.com with worldwide delivery or
buy it in person from any UK branch of Thomas Cook (ask at the
bureau de change), or from W H Smiths in Victoria or Kings
Cross stations in London.
Or
buy the twice-yearly independent traveller's edition with
laminated cover from Amazon.co.uk:
2009 edition (June to December 2009)
The Thomas Cook Rail Map of
Europe is the best and most comprehensive
map of train routes right across Europe, from Portugal in the
west to Istanbul, Moscow & Ukraine in the east, from Finland
in the north to Sicily & Crete in the south. High speed
&
scenic routes are highlighted. Highly recommended!
Buy online
at www.amazon.co.uk
(worldwide delivery).
See an extract from
the map.
Definitely take a good guidebook.
For the independent traveller, I think this means one of two
guidebooks, either the Lonely Planet or the Rough Guide. Both
series are excellent. You can buy an in-depth guide for Poland
or a guide covering all the countries in Eastern Europe. My
own book, an essential handbook for train travel to Europe based on
this website called "The
Man in Seat 61", is due to be published in June 2008, and Amazon
will let you pre-order now.
It's
easy to book hotels online to go with your train tickets.
Just use the search box below. This links to
www.hotelscombined.com, a free search tool
which checks all the main hotel booking sites (Expedia, Travelocity, LateRooms, Opodo, Venere,
Asiarooms and many
others) to find just about the widest range of hotels with the cheapest rates on the net. Set
up in 2005, it's an amazing system and probably the best place
to start for booking any hotel online in any country,
worldwide.
www.laterooms.com negotiates discounts for hotel rooms booked within
3 months of travel, so it can be good for anyone booking train
travel within the normal 90 days booking horizon. These
discounted prices are shown in orange.
www.tripadvisor.com
is a good place to browse independent travellers' hotel reviews.
Backpacker hostels...
If you're on a tight budget,
don't forget the hostels. For a dorm bed or an
ultra-cheap private room in backpacker hostels in most
European cities use
www.hostelbookers.com.
Travel insurance & health card
Travel insurance..
Travel insurance is boring, but a necessity, so
never travel without it. Make sure your cover is adequate, at least £1m or preferably £5m medical cover,
from a reliable insurer. It should also cover loss of
cash (up to a limit) and belongings, and cancellation. An annual
multi-trip policy is usually cheaper than several single-trip
policies even for just 2 or 3 trips
a year (I have an annual policy myself). Here are some suggested insurers.
Seat61 gets a small commission if you buy through these
links.
If you live in the UK, get quotes from
Direct Line,
Columbus Direct & the Environmental Transport Association
(click the banner below).
I've used Direct Line myself and on one occasion, successfully
claimed back the cost of non-refundable Eurostar & trainhotel
tickets to Spain when we cancelled the trip because my mother
fell ill. ETA offer discounts on insurance for
non-flying trips, so give them a try too although I have yet
to use them myself.
Feedback from
using insurance for rail & ferry travel is always welcome!
UK citizens travelling in Europe should carry a European
Health Insurance Card. This replaces the old E111 forms
as from January 2006. The EHIC card is available free
from
www.ehic.org.uk and entitles you to free or reduced rate
health care if you become ill or get injured in many European
countries, under a reciprocal arrangement with the UK's NHS.
If you live in the UK, get quotes from
If you live in Australia, New Zealand, Ireland or the
EU, see
If you live in the USA or Canada, see