December trip Budapest to Katowice

[derbybusdepot]

Hi.

We're planning a trip in December travelling from Budapest to Katowice.

Current thinking is Budapest - Bratislava - Vienna - Brno - Katowice.

I can see the train services and coach services between these cities are pretty good.

Does anyone have and tips on what to avoid or travel reccomendations?

Many thanks in advance.

Matthew

 

[30907]

How long have you got for this and are you going for history, culture, Advent markets, trams and trolleybuses, or the train travel?

Meanwhile - make sure you sample the restaurant cars en route (there's a Slovakian IC at lunchtime from Bratislava to Wien, so you could do Hungarian, Slovak, Czech and Polish with careful timing).

If you have slack in the schedule, then I believe Olomouc is a nice city and only just off route.

Happy to recommend hotels in Brno and Bratislava, .

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

Presumably you will be buying tickets as you go?
Budapest-Bratislava is only €9 booked on line via the MAV site, but you have to pick up your ticket from the ATM in Budapest (ie no e-tickets).
Also trains on that route now leave from the original station, Nyugati, rather than Keleti, avoiding the slow loops through the suburbs.
The timetable might change on December 9.
There is currently a through day train Budapest-Katowice (-Warsaw) at 0841, but it sounds like you won't want that.
I found it quite difficult to book saver tickets on that route, and ended up with one from Budapest to Ostrava and another from ČD forward to Katowice.
Bratislava-Vienna has a special ticket giving a return rail ticket and city transport in Vienna for the day.

 

[Zamracene749]

I'd recommend booking seats on the Vienna to Brno service. Even in 1st they can get absolutely wedged. Sit on the left between Budapest and Bratislava or you will miss lovely views of the Danube bend!

 

[rg177]

I'd recommend booking seats on the Vienna to Brno service. Even in 1st they can get absolutely wedged. Sit on the left between Budapest and Bratislava or you will miss lovely views of the Danube bend!

+1 on the Vienna to Brno getting wedged. I hopped on one at Brno in First Class for a short journey to Breclav and it was rammed. Elected to get the stopper instead...

 

[derbybusdepot]

Thank you for all the replies and the helpful info.

We are travelling to see the different cities, architecture, cultures and the various transport systems.

Unable to book most trains at the moment due to the timetable change.

We land in Budapest on 12th. Thinking of stopping 3 nights then traveling further on Saturday. I see there is the transport museum and Christmas trams too.

Will likely stay in Bratislava a few days and have a day trip to Vienna from there, on the Skoda double deck trains, then travel to Brno from Bratislava - less busy trains compared to Vienna to Brno?

 

[derbybusdepot]

Hotel reccomendations gratefully received too

 

[johnnychips]

I spent three days in Katowice, and it reminded me of many decaying North England towns, and I don't mean that in a bad way. It does have a nice cathedral and if you are interested in architecture, the sports stadium really looks like a flying saucer. Of course the main reason to come to Katowice is its proximity to Auschwitz: if you haven't been it is unmissable and unforgettable.

Whatever you do, check the weather forecast and take a large coat and furry hat: it can be ridiculously cold compared to what we are used to in England.

 

[Adlington]

Katowice [...] does have a nice cathedral and if you are interested in architecture, the sports stadium really looks like a flying saucer.

A nice cathedral - a matter of opinion. Stadium is located, strictly speaking, in Chorzów which technically is a separate adjoining town.

 

[dutchflyer]

ALSO check regiojet.com for cheaper non-state railway trips, also many buses on these lines.

 

[30907]

Hotel reccomendations gratefully received too

Two emphatic recommendations. Some forum members would find these too expensive but here goes:

Perugia, Bratislava - very central and civilised. https://www.aplendcity.com/en
Or there's a Mercure IIRC near the main station.

VV Hotel Brno. http://www.vvhotel.cz
Right by main station (the wrong side of the tracks, at first sight a grotty area) - note, though, that a lot of trains are using Dolni station as Hlavni is being rebuilt.

Bookable through the usual sites.

Loadings on the EC Bratislava-Brno are potentially just as busy as from Wien, but you can do the trip on a full price ticket for £10 which gives you the option of using stopping trains if you don't want to commit.

 

[Zamracene749]

The interurban trams in Katowice are fun, if you like that kind of thing! Look up route 38 in nearby Bytom, it's worked by a genuine 1949 Konstal 416 wooden tram! Also, if you are into buses, there are still workings in Katowice using aged Ikarus 280 bendies- something of a classic euro bus Brno transport app has a rather interesting useful feature for transit enthusiasts- a real time map that lists every vehicle by fleetnumber with type details, age etc, iirc you can even search for the location of a particular vehicle/tram.

 

[CC 72100]

Two emphatic recommendations. Some forum members would find these too expensive but here goes:

VV Hotel Brno. http://www.vvhotel.cz
Right by main station (the wrong side of the tracks, at first sight a grotty area) - note, though, that a lot of trains are using Dolni station as Hlavni is being rebuilt.

Bookable through the usual sites.

Loadings on the EC Bratislava-Brno are potentially just as busy as from Wien, but you can do the trip on a full price ticket for £10 which gives you the option of using stopping trains if you don't want to commit.

Was going to post on here for Brno but you've beaten me to it.

+1 for VV hotel - super friendly staff, good breakfast, room quiet. Don't let the area put you off - yes it is opposite a 'gentlemen's club' and the station front attracts some undesirables (but doesn't the main transport hub in every city going!) but I couldn't rate it highly enough.

I stayed there back end of September, so can't imagine much had changed since 30907's visit. City centre is 10 minutes walk away, main station 5 minutes. Oh and the post office next door to the station with the cool lift...

 

[70014IronDuke]

A point to note: as a Slovak woman expressed to me a month or two back, the trains with Czech stock have better buffet-restaurant fare, at very affordable prices, and with staff that speak English (not that she needed that). eg a coffee in Czech crowns, with milk, was 20 koruna, less than EUR 1.
The MAV trains have western European buffet prices with eastern European quality fare, and replete with grumpy staff who don't usually speak English. We were on the CD train that left Budapest at around 11.40.