Eurolines bus??

I have looked at serveral posts, but I%26#39;m still not sure...

My husband %26amp; I want to travel (December)from Munich to Prague to Vienna to Budapest %26amp; back to Munich.

Eurolines busses offers a %26#39;pass%26#39; for EUR 329.00 per person which as I understand covers travel between all the above mentioned cities. This seems quite expensive?

Would it be cheaper to buy 2nd class train tickets?

Do I buy the train tickets in each city before departure?

Please Help :)

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Total for your itinerary: 98.20 euro per person

Munich-Prague: 23 euro per person

follow instructions on Bayern-B?hmen-Ticket (Bavaria-Bohemia-Ticket BBT) + extra czech ticket:

tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g187309-i118-k1702��

Prague-Vienna (about 300km): 12 euro per person

1 euro = 24 czech korunas (CZK)

You%26#39;ll get a group reduction (starting with 2 people it%26#39;s a group): first and second passenger get 25% reduction on common fare

2nd class ticket per 1 person: ca. 280 CZK = 12�

www.cd.cz/static/eng/pricereduction2.htm

www.cd.cz/static/eng/ceniky/pricelist-1A.pdf

Vienna-Budapest: 34.20 euro per person

http://www.oebb.at/en/index.jsp

Budapest-Munich: from 29 euro per person

http://www.mav.hu/english/index.php

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Sorry, 410km from Prague to Vienna, just looked it up in the Czech electronic train timetable: jizdnirady.idnes.cz/connform.asp��

So the new price for the leg Prague-Vienna, taken from the pricelist: www.cd.cz/static/eng/ceniky/single.pdf, row: 410km, column %26quot;2nd class reduction 25%%26quot; (you are a group!), is 375 CZK = 16 euro.

This will bring up your total cost per person to 102.20 euro.

from Budapest forum: tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g274887-i263-k9357��

The cheapest ticket is called Munich Special and it costs 7830 HUF (29 euro) - but this is a limited offer. So if you%26#39;re unlucky you can pick the second option, which is 13000 HUF (50 euro). So, the best way is booking in advance, and then you%26#39;ll get the Munich Special and save some money. Anyway, if you have any further questions, write to the Hungarian train operator: informacio@mav.hu

Information on how to buy tickets at Vienna and Budapest train stations: tripadvisor.com/��4128597

A 1st class ticket costs about 1.5 times the price of a 2nd class ticket, and there is really no difference in comfort between them!

To sum it up, you had better try to buy the ticket Budapest-Munich in advance, all the others you can just buy at the respective train stations (if you leave directly from Munich airport to Prague, you can buy the BBT ticket at Munich airport), since they are %26quot;normal%26quot; tickets which cannot sell out and not special offers with limited availabilty like the Budapest-Munich special.

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Panda..your suggestion is certainly cheaper!!

Another question though: Gate 1 Travel offers an

9-night Budapest, Vienna %26amp; Prague trip by Rail.

It includes:

3 nights Budapest @ the Ibis Budapest V��ci ��t

3 nights Vienna @ the Ibis Mariahilf

3 nights Prague @ the Ibis Mala Strana

Transportation between cities via 2nd Class rail.

The above costs 759.00 USD.

What do you think of the above?

Is it still cheaper, do you think, to travel and book accommodation on my own?

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Ibis hotels are the cheapest in the Accorhotels chain, with very basic comfort (e.g. felt carpet instead of normal carpet, very small bathroom): www.accorhotels.com/gb/home/index.shtml

The tour agency price means about 92 euro per night per double room. I don%26#39;t know whether the offer includes breakfast.

If you look at the Accorhotels web site you get following prices:

3 nights Prague, Ibis Mala Strana: 80� room + 10�/person for breakfast

3 nights Vienna, Ibis Mariahilf=Schoenbrunnerstrasse: 81� room + 9.50�/person for breakfast

3 nights Budapest, MERCURE Budapest City Center V��ci ��t 20 (no Ibis on Vaci street): 72� room + 16�/person for breakfast

The hotels in Prague and Vienna are not in the city centre. I would try to book for myself specials of the better class Mercure or even better Novotel of the Accorhotels or at least Ibis that are nearer the city centre (just click on %26quot;Show these hotels on a map%26quot; on Accorhotels web site. The indicative %26quot;In the city centre%26quot; under the hotel name is not always true, but the map doesn%26#39;t lie). The breakfast at Ibis hotels is utterly forgettable and way overpriced: I took it once and never again. Breakfast at Mercure is better but still too expensive. It%26#39;s always a good idea to go to a local caf�� for breakfast, you pay less and get more.

759 USD = 520 euro

for the two of you = 1040 euro

If you book on your own:

train: 2 x 102.20 = 204.40

money left for 9 hotel nights: 1040-204 = 836 euro

--%26gt; per night budget of 92 euro

For 92 euro you should be able to get a Mercure at special rate, and in Budapest even a Novotel.

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One reason to book a tour instead of doing it on your own is if they do things that are impossible or difficult for you to arrange. (For instance, when in St. Petersburg, Russia, we were able to visit the Hermitage when they were officially closed, just two tour groups in the whole place, what a difference from the jam-packed day before.) You really need to look at what they offer, and then compare what you can do yourself. If all they offer is hotel rooms and train transportation, if you do it yourself you can select the hotels that best suit your needs. If they provide tours with commentary in their cost, that would be a plus, if you are interested in them.

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I%26#39;ve found the hotel they claim is on Vaci ut. (it%26#39;s on D��zsa Gy?rgy Ut 65)

Gate travel: www.gate1travel.com/STW/STWDescription.aspx��

Their hotel:

3 nights Budapest, Ibis Heroes Square: 50� room + 9�/person for breakfast

Ibis Heroes Square (NOT in city centre): accorhotels.com/accorhotels/��

Also the Gate travel offer seems to run only until Oct. 08.

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Panda74...you%26#39;ve been so much help!

I%26#39;m thinking of moving travel plans to January%26#39;09 instead of December, as it is not peak season?

I found this web site: www.czech-tourism.com

vienna-salzburg-hotels.com/tourviennabudapes��

They have a tour:

4 nights Prague @ Hotel Populas

3 night Vienna @ Hotel Capri

3 nights Budapest @ Hotel Unio.

It includes 1/2 day city tours, transfers, all rail.

It costs EUR 680.00 per person.

I think it is convenient having everything organised for me, on the other hand if its much cheaper doing it on my own I will.

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Panda74...

I went to the hotels web sites and worked out that:

4 nights Prague @ Hotel Populas = 58 EUR/night

3 night Vienna @ Hotel Capri = 130 EUR/night

3 nights Budapest @ Hotel Unio = 49 EUR/night

The above TOTAL comes to 769 EUR.

So 769 EUR + 204 (train tickets)= 973 EUR for 2 people.

This is still cheaper than buying 2 tickets of 680 EUR per person = 1360 EUR!

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I have some suggestions:

1. If you can move the trip I would move it to summer or at least spring. If you don%26#39;t you will be looking at a trip with Central European winter temperatures which can easily be freezing and numbing -15��C, day and night!

climate Prague: www.wetteronline.de/cgi-bin/regframe��

2. If you have to travel during the winter do yourself a huge favour and book the best possible and most central hotels you can at your budget, because believe me, with this cold you will need to pop in several times during the day just to warm up, and a central hotel location then becomes and essential. It%26#39;s quite different to be in a city in the summer, then you would be out exploring the town all day anyway and the hotel location and comfort do not matter so much.

3. Hotels used by tours are very often located outside the centre and not the best choice. If they were so ideal they would be booked anyway with normal clients and wouldn%26#39;t have to bother offering to the tour companies the price reductions you don%26#39;t see that make up the tour operator%26#39;s profit margin.

As long as you book long enough ahead you can get the special rate offers even for the better hotels like Mercure and Novotel (these I can whole-heartedly recommend from my own experience). Maybe you should also consider flying into one city and at the end of your tour, flying out of the last city on your itinerary. That would save you the long train ride back to the beginning, just to get on the plane back.

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I must admit with temperatures like that, it does put me off a little. However, I%26#39;ve been thinking of coming in January mainly for the %26#39;January winter sales%26#39;?

Plus I%26#39;ve never been in the snow before which also appeals to me.