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London to Budapest
by train...
|
Budapest: Fisherman's Bastion, Castle Hill. |
The train
journey from London to Budapest is easy and takes just 24
hours, by Eurostar and high-speed Thalys train
from London to Cologne, then overnight to Vienna aboard the excellent
City Night Line hotel train for a fast EuroCity train to
Budapest. Or there are connections via Paris and
Munich, or Paris, Strasbourg and the (real) Orient Express.
All three options are explained here.
London-Budapest via Brussels & the
Cologne-Vienna City Night Line sleeper
London-Budapest via the Paris-Munich
City Night Line sleeper
London-Budapest via Paris, Strasbourg &
the Orient Express
London
► Budapest
(via the Cologne-Vienna sleeper):
This is probably the cheapest, easiest and most
comfortable route.
-
Travel
from London to Brussels by
Eurostar,
leaving London St Pancras at 12:57, arriving in
Brussels Midi at 16:03.
-
Travel from Brussels to Cologne by high-speed
Thalys
train, leaving Brussels
Midi at 17:25 and arriving in
Cologne Hauptbahnhof at 19:45.
-
Alternatively,
if you'd prefer a safer connection in Cologne (and
perhaps time to climb Cologne cathedral towers and
have a meal), you can leave London earlier, at 10:00,
changing in Brussels to arrive Cologne at 15:45.
-
Travel
from Cologne to Vienna on the excellent
City Night Line hotel train 'Donau Kurier', leaving
Cologne Hauptbahnhof at 20:06 and arriving in Vienna
(Westbahnhof) at 08:35. The 'Donau Kurier' has
sleeping-cars, couchettes, reclining seats & a
bar-restaurant car, see the photos & information below. The train travels along the famous Rhine Valley
between
Koblenz and Frankfurt, so if you are in a sleeper and
your compartment happens to be on the left-hand side
of the train, switch off the lights and watch the
Rhine pass by, mountains and castles lit by moonlight,
while sipping a glass of Riesling.
Wonderful..!
-
Travel from Vienna to Budapest by air-conditioned InterCity
train the 'Avala', with restaurant car and bar,
leaving Vienna
at 09:52 and arriving Budapest Keleti station at 12:53.
3D virtual tour of a 2nd class car on the 'Avala'.
Map of Budapest showing Keleti station.
On
board the
City Night Line hotel train from Cologne to
Vienna...
The City Night Line 'Donau Kurier' is a travelling hotel, with
bar-restaurant-reception car, distinctive
double-decker sleeping-cars with 1 & 2-bed deluxe
sleepers with private shower & toilet, 1, 2 & 4
bed standard sleepers with washbasin, single-deck couchette
cars with 4 & 6 berth compartments, and
reclining seats. A wonderful way to
travel..! The
sleeper berths come fully made up with sheets and
duvets. All
sleeper passengers get mineral water in the evening
and a light breakfast served in their compartment next morning, deluxe sleeper
passengers also get a complimentary glass of wine in
the evening. Towels and toiletries are
provided, including shampoo and shower gel in the
deluxe sleeper. Couchette passengers get
mineral water, each couchette is provided with
clean sheets, blanket and pillow. The bar-restaurant is
open to all passengers, and it's normally open to
about 2am. If you like, you can book a table
for dinner in the restaurant car before you travel,
by emailing
service@citynightline.ch or using the online
form at
www.bahn.de/citynightline.
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
Deluxe sleeper:
Compact rooms on top deck, 1 or 2 berths, table &
chairs, shower & toilet.
3-D panorama. |
|
Standard sleeper:
Very compact 1 or 2 berth rooms with washbasin.
Mainly lower deck. |
|
4-berth couchettes:
Ideal for families. Much more space per person
than 6-berth, so worth the extra few euros. |
|
6-berth couchettes:
Shown here with middle bunks lowered to form
sofa. Very economical, far better than a
seat. |
|
Reclining seats:
The cheapest way to travel, but a couchette is a far
better option. |
On
board the InterCity train from Vienna to
Budapest...
|
 |
|
|
|
Above: 2nd class
seats on an air-conditioned InterCity train from Vienna
to Budapest... |
|
Above: The
Hungarian restaurant car on a Vienna to Budapest
InterCity train. The set menu costs around 15
euros, a small bottle of wine about 2.80 euros.
Treat yourself..! |
Budapest
► London (via
the Cologne-Vienna sleeper):
-
Travel
from Budapest to Vienna by
air-conditioned InterCity train, the 'Avala', leaving Budapest Keleti
station at
15:10 and arriving Vienna Westbahnhof at 18:08. The train has
a restaurant car & bar.
-
Travel
from Vienna to Cologne overnight, leaving Vienna
Westbahnhof at 20:35 and arriving at
Cologne at 08:42 next morning. This train is the
excellent City Night Line hotel train 'Donau Kurier',
with double-deck sleeping-cars (1 or 2-bed deluxe
sleepers with en suite shower & WC, 1- 2- or 4-bed
standard sleepers with washbasin), couchettes (4-bunk
or 6-bunk), reclining seats and a bar-restaurant car.
See the information & photos above.
-
Travel from Cologne to Brussels by high speed
Thalys
train, leaving Cologne at 10:14 and arriving
Brussels Midi 12:35.
-
Travel
from Brussels to London by
Eurostar,
leaving Brussels
Midi at 14:59 arriving London St Pancras
at 15:56.
Fares (via the Cologne-Vienna sleeper)
|
1. London to
Cologne
by
Eurostar + Thalys: |
London to
Cologne by Eurostar+Thalys or Eurostar+ICE starts at just £79
return.
Book in advance to get the cheapest fares, as the
fare rises as cheaper seats are sold.
One-way fares usually cost more than a return,
so for one-way trips buy a return and throw away the return half. |
|
|
|
2. Cologne to
Vienna
by
City Night Line: |
In a
reclining
seat: |
In a
couchette |
In the
sleeping-car |
|
6-berth
|
4-berth |
4-berth |
2-berth
|
single |
deluxe
2-berth |
deluxe single |
|
Savings
fare
one-way * |
£21 |
£36 |
£44 |
£51 |
£58 |
£103 |
£73 |
£140 |
|
Savings
fare
return * |
£42 |
£72 |
£88 |
£102 |
£116 |
£206 |
£146 |
£280 |
|
Normal fare one-way: |
£88 |
£99 |
£106 |
£114 |
£129 |
£159 |
£172 |
£201 |
|
Normal fare return: |
£176 |
£198 |
£212 |
£228 |
£258 |
£318 |
£344 |
£402 |
|
Child
under 14 with own berth: |
£44 |
£49 |
£53 |
£58 |
£60 |
£78 |
£65 |
£100 |
|
Child
under 6 without own berth: |
Child under 6 sharing a berth travels free... |
|
|
|
3. Vienna to Budapest
by InterCity train |
Around
£24 one-way, £48 return 2nd class
Around £38
one-way, £76 return 1st class |
Savings fare =
Special cheap fare, book in advance, limited availability,
no refunds, no changes to travel plans.
Normal fare =
fully flexible, refundable, buy any time.
Note that couchettes are sold individually in shared 4 or 6
berth compartments, but as from December 2007, only whole
sleeper compartments on this route can be booked, it will no
longer be possible for solo passengers to book one sleeper
berth in a 2 or 3 bed compartment and share with other
passengers.
How to buy
tickets online:
The cheapest way to book this trip is online. It involves two websites, so do a dry run on each
site first to check prices and availability before booking
for real.
-
First,
go to
www.raileurope.co.uk
and buy a combined
Eurostar+Thalys ticket from London to Cologne, using the
train times on this page as your guide. On the
Rail Europe home page,
you simply enter 'London', 'Cologne' and your dates of travel.
The further ahead you book, the more likely you are to see
the cheapest fares. Tickets can be posted to any UK
address.
Obviously, remember that your return date of travel from
Cologne to London will be the day after your
departure from Budapest. One-way fares are usually more expensive than a cheap return
fare, so for one-way trips buy a return ticket and throw
away the return half. Bookings for Eurostar+Thalys open 90 days (3
months) before departure. Note:
You can also book London-Cologne tickets at
www.eurostar.com, but the fares returned by this system
can be more expensive than those found by
www.raileurope.co.uk.
-
Then
go to
www.bahn.de/citynightline, select 'English' at top
right, and buy a ticket from Cologne
(Köln in German) to Vienna aboard the "Donau Kurier" City Night Line sleeper train.
Your simply book online and print out your own ticket in
.PDF format using your PC printer. Easy! Make
sure you select the type of couchette or sleeper that you
want. Bookings for City Night Line open 180 days (6
months) before departure.
-
You can easily buy a Vienna-Budapest ticket at the station
when you get to Vienna, as no advance reservation is
necessary, you just buy a ticket and hop on. Or to
save time at the ticket office you can
buy a ticket online at www.oebb.at,
the Austrian Railways website, printing out your ticket in
.PDF format. Alternatively, you can easily buy
Vienna-Budapest tickets at
www.raileurope.co.uk
for £27.50 one-way, £55 return, tickets sent to any UK
address.
How to buy
tickets by phone:
The best agency to call
to book this trip is probably
Deutsche
Bahn's UK office on 08718 80 80 66 (lines open 09:00-17:00 Monday-Friday, no
booking fee). Alternatively, call www.europeanrail.com
on 020 7619 1083 (lines open 09:00-17:00
Monday-Friday, £20 booking fee but may have more time to
help).
Click
here for more information on how to buy European train
tickets.
...via the Paris-Munich
sleeper...
|
You may prefer to travel via Paris, with a convenient
early-evening departure from London. This route is
equally easy and convenient, with some good fares available.
Feel free to stop off in Paris for a while if you like..!
Train times London ► Budapest (via the Paris-Munich
sleeper):
-
Travel from
London to Paris by Eurostar, leaving
London at 18:00 (17:31 on Saturdays) arriving Paris 21:20
(20:53 on Saturdays). The Eurostar arrives at the
Gare du Nord, from where it is a
10 minute walk
to the Gare de l'Est.
-
Travel from Paris to Munich
overnight by the City Night Line sleeper train
'Cassiopeia', leaving
Paris Gare de l'Est at 22:45 and arriving in Munich at
08:58 next morning. This train has sleeping-cars,
couchettes and seats, see the photos & information
below. Important: On certain dates
the Cassiopeia leaves Paris earlier, at
21:45, so double-check times for your date of travel
using
www.bahn.de/citynightline. On these dates,
you'll need to catch an earlier Eurostar from London, at
16:25 arriving Paris 19:47.
Click for more pictures and information about this train.
-
Travel
from Munich to Budapest by
air-conditioned EuroCity train 'Bartok Bela',
with restaurant car, leaving at 09:27 and
arriving in
Budapest (Keleti station) at 16:53. The sleeper
from Paris normally arrives at Munich Hauptbahnhof at
platform 11, the EuroCity to Budapest leaves from nearby
platform 14, so it's an easy connection.
Map of Budapest showing Keleti station.
Introducing
the City Night Line Paris-Munich sleeper ...
The Paris-Munich overnight train is one of the German Railway's excellent
City Night Line sleeper trains. Called the
'Cassiopeia', it has brand-new 'Comfortline' sleeping-cars
(1, 2 & 3-berth deluxe rooms with private shower and
toilet, 1, 2 &
3-berth standard rooms with washbasin. There is a shower at
the end of the corridor for passengers in standard rooms,
and all rooms have power-points for laptop computers),
modern air-conditioned couchettes
(choose between a berth in a 4- or 6-berth compartment),
and ordinary seats (not recommended).
Inclusive fares are charged covering travel plus
sleeping accommodation. The sleeping-car fare includes
a light breakfast.
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... |
|
Above: One of the new
'Comfortline' sleeping-cars on the Paris-Munich City Night Line sleeper train.
More pictures... |
Train times Budapest ► London (via the Paris-Munich
sleeper):
-
Travel from
Budapest to
Munich by air-conditioned EuroCity train, leaving
Budapest at
13:10 and arriving in Munich at 20:34. Earlier
connections are available if you would prefer a more
leisurely connection, see
http://bahn.hafas.de.
However, this train normally arrives at Munich
Hauptbahnhof platform 14 and the sleeper to Paris leaves
from platform 13, so it's an easy connection.
-
Travel from Munich to Paris by
the City Night Line sleeper train 'Cassiopeia', leaving
Munich at 20:53 and arriving at Paris Gare de l'Est
between 06:46 & 09:38 next
morning. Arrival times vary on different dates, so
check times for your date of travel using
www.bahn.de/citynightline. Couchettes (6-bunk and 4-bunk) and
sleeping-cars (1, 2 or 3-bed rooms, deluxe with shower or standard
with washbasin)
are available.
Click for more pictures and information about this train.
Walk from the Gare de l'Est to the Gare du Nord.
-
On dates when the
Cassiopeia arrives in Paris at 06:46, a Eurostar leaves Paris Nord at 08:07 and
arrives London St Pancras at 09:34. When it arrives
at 08:15, a Eurostar leaves Paris Nord at 10:13 arriving
London at 11:28. On dates when it arrives at 09:38,
a Eurostar leaves Paris Nord at 11:13 on Sats & Suns
(arriving London 1228) or 12:13 on Mon-Fri (arriving
London 13:28).
Fares:
|
1. London
to Paris
by
Eurostar: |
Return fares
start at £59 2nd class, £149 1st class.
One-way fares start at £44 2nd class.
Advice on one-way Eurostar fares. Child, youth & senior fares
|
| |
|
2.
Paris to
Munich by
sleeper train (per person) |
In a
seat |
In
a couchette |
In
the sleeping-car (standard room) |
|
6-bunk |
4-bunk |
3-bed |
2-bed |
1-bed |
|
Savings fare, one way: |
29 euro (£21) |
39 euro (£28) |
49 euro (£35) |
- |
- |
- |
|
Savings
fare, return: |
58 euro (£42) |
78 euro (£56) |
98 euro (£70) |
- |
- |
- |
|
Normal fare, one-way: |
110 euro (£79) |
122 euro (£87) |
127 euro (£91) |
139 euro (£99) |
156 euro (£111) |
258 euro (£184) |
|
Normal fare, return: |
220 euro (£158) |
244 euro (£174) |
254 euro (£182) |
278 euro (£199) |
312 euro (£222) |
516 euro (£368) |
|
Child 0-14 with own berth: |
55 euro (£39) |
61 euro (£44) |
64 euro (£46) |
70 euro (£50) |
78 euro (£56) |
- |
|
Child 0-5: |
Child 0-5 sharing berth travels free... |
|
|
|
3. Munich to Budapest |
About £60 one way or £120 return 2nd class
About £90 one
way or £180 return 1st class. |
Savings fare =
Special cheap fare, book in advance, limited availability,
no refunds, no changes to travel plans.
Normal fare =
fully flexible, refundable, buy any time.
Couchettes are sold individually in shared 4 or 6 berth
compartments, but as from 9 December 2007, only whole
sleeper compartments on this route can be booked, it will no
longer be possible for solo passengers to book one sleeper
berth in a 2 or 3 bed compartment and share with other
passengers. Call DB's UK office for prices for
sleepers with private shower.
How to
buy tickets online...
The cheapest and easiest way to book this journey is online,
although you have to use three different websites. Do
a 'dry run' first on all three sites to check prices and
availability before booking for real.
-
Step 1, go to
www.bahn.de/citynightline, which is the German Railways official sleeper
train website. Select 'English' top right, then click
through to the online booking system. Or if the
English button has disappeared again (!) you can click 'buchung' on the left, then 'fahrkarten
buchung', then 'buchen sie jetzt ihre nachtzugreise', and a booking window then appears which
definitely has an English language
button.
-
Book from Paris Est to
Munich Hbf and back on the overnight sleeper train.
Availability of cheap 'sparnight' special fares and
fully-flexible full fares will be shown, for each type of
seat, couchette & sleeper. You pay by credit card and print out
your own tickets in .pdf format. Easy! Note that
the prices shown on
www.bahn.de/citynightline are in euros, and are the total cost for
all passengers selected, not per person. Top tip:
If the 29/39/49 euro special fares are sold out on
www.bahn.de/citynightline so only full fares are available, you
can sometimes find a 55-80 euro couchette fare for this
train using
www.raileurope.co.uk
or
www.voyages-sncf.com, which is still cheaper than the
full fare.
-
Step 2, 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. Return fares start at £59,
for one-way fares on Eurostar
see this
advice. Eurostar tickets can be sent to any UK
address, or picked up at the station if you're travelling at
short notice or booking from overseas.
-
Step 3, now go to the German
Railways main website
http://bahn.hafas.de, use the journey planner to bring
up the connecting Munich-Budapest trains shown in the train
times above, and buy the ticket. It will show if any
cheap special fares are available. Tickets can be sent to any address,
or in some cases printed out yourself.
How to buy tickets by phone...
If
you'd prefer to book by phone, just call
Deutsche
Bahn's UK office on 08718 80 80 66 (lines open 09:00-17:00 Monday-Friday, no
booking fee, £3 credit card fee), or a booking agency such
as
European Rail
on 020 7619 1083 (lines open 09:00-17:00
Monday-Friday, £25 booking fee applies).
...via Paris & the Orient Express
|
This used
to be the simplest and most convenient route until
June 2007, when the Orient Express (the real one, not
the expensive tourist one, see the Orient
Express page) was cut back to run
Strasbourg-Vienna instead of Paris-Vienna. You
can still travel this way, but there are no cheap
deals via this route making it usually more expensive
than the other two options.
Train times
London ► Budapest
(via Paris & the Orient Express)
-
Travel
from London to Paris by
Eurostar, leaving London
St Pancras at 14:04, arriving
at Paris Gare du Nord at 17:26. Walk from the Gare du
Nord to the nearby Gare de l'Est.
-
Travel from Paris
to Strasbourg by high-speed TGV, leaving Paris (Gare
de l'Est) at 19:24 and arriving Strasbourg 21:43.
The TGV has 1st and 2nd class seats and a buffet-bar.
-
Travel from Strasbourg to
Vienna on the Orient Express (the real one, not the
expensive tourist one, see the Orient
Express page), leaving Strasbourg at 22:20 and arriving next morning in
Vienna at 08:35. The Orient Express
has reclining seats (not recommended), comfortable modern Austrian
couchettes
(6-berth),
and two sleeping-cars,
one with very narrow 1 and 2-bed compartments
(described in reservation systems as 1st class
'special' and 2nd class 'T2'), and another with larger
1, 2 and 3-bed compartments (1st class 'single', 1st
class 'double' and 2nd class 'T3'). There's no restaurant car, so take your
own food and maybe a bottle of wine, although the
sleeper and couchette attendants can sell you snacks, tea and coffee.
For sleeper passengers, a light breakfast is included
in the fare. Note: The Orient Express used
to start in Paris, but has been cut back to run
Strasbourg-Vienna with the opening on the new TGV-Est
High Speed Line in June 2007.
-
Travel
from Vienna to Budapest by air-conditioned InterCity
train the 'Avala', with restaurant car and bar,
leaving Vienna
at 09:52 and arriving Budapest Keleti station at 12:48.
3D virtual tour of 'Avala' 2nd class,
3D virtual tour of 'Avala' restaurant car.
From Strasbourg to Vienna on the Orient Express...
You can
choose between a bed in the sleeping-car, a couchette, or a reclining seat...
 |
|
 |
|
Left:
Couchettes. These modern air-conditioned
Austrian Railways couchette cars have padded bunks with rug, sheet and
pillow, in 4- or 6-bunk compartments. The
photo shows a 4-berth compartment.
More information about couchettes.
Reclining seats |
Train times
Budapest ► London (via Paris & the Orient Express):
-
Travel
from Budapest to Vienna by
air-conditioned InterCity train, the 'Avala', leaving Budapest Keleti
station at
16:10 and arriving Vienna at 19:09.
-
Travel
overnight from Vienna to Strasbourg on the Orient Express,
leaving Vienna
(Westbahnhof) daily at 20:28 and arriving Strasbourg at 06:43 next morning.
There are reclining seats (not recommended),
couchettes (6-bunk compartments) and two sleeping-cars,
one with very narrow 1 and 2 bed rooms (referred to as
Special & T2) the other with larger 1, 2 and 3 bed
rooms (referred to as Single, Double & T3). For sleeper passengers, a light
breakfast is included in the fare
-
Travel from Strasbourg to Paris by high-speed TGV,
leaving Strasbourg at 07:15 and arriving Paris (Gare
de l'Est) at 09:34. The TGV has 1st
& 2nd class seats and a buffet-bar. Walk from
the Gare de l'Est to the Gare du Nord.
-
Travel
from Paris to London by
Eurostar, leaving Paris Nord at
12:13 and arriving London St Pancras at 13:28.
On Saturdays & Sundays (daily 6 July-6 September), there's also an 11:13
Eurostar, arriving London St Pancras at 12:38.
Fares
(via Paris & Orient Express):
| |
