Job Discussion Forums

[LMS]

Hello!
I hope its ok to talk about this on this forum, but I am just wondering about the cost of traveling from Prague.

Whats the cheapest mode of transportation from Prague to other European countries?

To be more specific....
How much is it to travel from Prague to...

Vienna,Austria?
Brno, CZ?
Berlin, Germany?
Budapest, Hungary?
These are just random cities I thought of, but any examples would help.

Thanks for any input!

[Frizzie Lizzie]

I have travelled by both bus and train and found them similarly priced.

Some examples of bus ticket prices:

Prague - Berlin (return) 1,700 Kc / approx 60 euros (or 80 USD)
Prague - Budapest (return) 2,210 Kc / approx 70 euros (or 90 USD)
Prague - Amsterdam (return) 2,900 kc / approx 100 euros (120 USD)

I can't remember how much I paid for a return train ticket to Vienna last year, but it was fairly cheap.

[housedog11]

do you have any links for bus sites? also, how is traveling in europe by bus?

[spiral78]

I personally far prefer train travel, and as previously pointed out, the costs are comparable. But you can google Eurobus - there are extensive routes.

[Frizzie Lizzie]

www.eurolines.cz

www.studentagency.cz (no option for English, though...)

I find travelling by bus fairly comfortable, but that's because I freak out when I have to fly
Jokes aside, I've been using eurolines for a number of years, from and to various places across Europe, and I have no major complaints.

[spiral78]

Eurolines!! It's been a while since I did the bus thing!!

[ITTP]

Hi Leah.

Hope the following links help:

http://www.spolujizda.cz

http://www.airninja.com
(type in 'Prague' and it shows up a whole list of discount airlines flying into/from Prague)

Of course, there is always the hitch option and although it is never an entirely safe option it is nonetheless a great way to meet locals.
Please note: different countries do sometimes have different hitching etiquette (pointing to road instead of showing thumb, etc).

A note to Spiral: I remember doing the 17+ hour bus journey to London back in the days when Czechs needed a visa to enter the UK. In my opinion, bus travel is one of the worst forms of getting from A to B (except of course if you are in Argentina where they bring round an airline-type meal for you and the seating is leather and spacious!).

If you Google 'airline forums' the first link to come up seems a pretty reliable forum and they also cover discount airlines.
Easyjet.com do a pretty good job (if you don't mind the queue and stampede for seats).
Air Berlin seems to win the day though.

Have a good trip

[spiral78]

I knew a guy who was in Prague long-term (may STILL be there, for all I know) who came by bus from the Outer Hebrides. I picked him up in Florenc. He was RIPE!! If I remember correctly, he had some good reasons not to like flying (maybe was in a near-crash once) so he may STILL be in Prague, simply to avoid bussing it back to the outer limits of Scotland!!

More power to the budget airlines, I say

[ITTP]

Student Agency was mentioned earlier in this thread.

Their service is EXCELLENT and I have caught their Praha-Brno-Praha bus many a time.
They don't serve any food but they do come round with a free drink and magazine/newspaper.
Plus, they have music channels to choose from on your seat (with headphones).
They play movies too.
Their staff are always very polite/very professional and will accommodate English speaking clients.

My only (minor) gripe with them is that a few years ago I booked a bus trip to Sofia through them only to turn up on the day to discover a bus from a different company which looked in a very poor condition.
Passports were demanded (and held onto for an hour or so) and seats had already been 'reserved' with the use of personal belongings draped over seat covers.
At each border crossing the driver's assistant would jump out and give a few bottles of Bulgarian wine to the border guards. I naturally assumed that this wasn't out of generosity but that they were in fact probably bribing the guards for some reason.
Still, I got there in 1 piece and it was an overall good experience.

Moral of the story is to clarify with Student Agency if it will be an actual Student Agency bus which you will be travelling on (concerns only international destinations with the exception of Slovakia - they run a direct route now to Kosice).

The Student Agency busses are VERY comfortable.

Czech railways have actually begun to increase fares and rail travel (although still a bargain) isn't as affordable as it once was.
I often make the trip out to Benesov-which is a 'city' 50km or so from Prague-and in the past year the ticket price has increased by approx 15%.

[spiral78]

I live in a small city near Tabor, about 2 hours from Prague. Because there's going to be a high-speed rail line Praha-Viden, there's a lot of work going on - as I guess TEFL-P is aware.

So, it's not just more expensive, it's also slower for the duration. It takes about 15 more minutes to get to Prague from our town these days, which sounds like nothing, but I have to say I feel every minute. I'm like a child...when are we GONNA GET THERE??!!

[johnnyappleseed]

www.idos.cz

[ITTP]

another excellent link:
http://www.letuska.cz
(Czech only)