UK
citizens no longer need a visa to visit Slovakia.
Page last
updated:
10 November 2009. Train times valid from 13 December
2009 to June 2010.
To Slovakia by train...
Above:
The Bratislava skyline, with castle and cathedral...
It's no problem to reach Bratislava by train from the UK.
Take Eurostar & a connecting Thalys train to Cologne, then the
overnight sleeper to Vienna and an onward train to Bratislava. This page explains how to plan, book & make such a trip.
Travel
from London to Brussels by
Eurostar,
leaving London St Pancras at 12:57 (11:57 on
Sundays), arriving in
Brussels Midi at 16:03
(15:03 on Sundays).
Travel from Brussels to Cologne by high-speed
Thalys
train, leaving Brussels
Midi at 16:28 and arriving in
Cologne Hauptbahnhof at 18:15. You've time for
a meal in Cologne.
Travel from Cologne to Vienna by daily EuroNight sleeper train, leaving
Cologne Hauptbahnhof at 20:05 and arriving at Vienna Westbahnhof at 09:04
next morning.
This modern Austrian sleeper train has a sleeping-car
(1 & 2 berth compartments, including two deluxe
compartments with private shower & toilet), couchette
cars (4 & 6 berth compartments) &
reclining seats. 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!
You
arrive at Vienna Westbahnhof, so take local transport to
the Südbahnhof. Tram line 18 links the Westbahnhof and
Südbahnhof direct.
Click
here for a Vienna U-bahn map, although the U-bahn
does not links these stations directly.
Hourly
direct trains link Vienna Südbahnhof with Bratislava,
including one leaving at 10:28 and arriving in
Bratislava Hlavna (main station) at 11:25.
Alternatively, you can also
travel from Vienna to Bratislava by Danube hydrofoil,
which runs once a day April-October, allowing day trips
or longer stays. See www.lod.sk
for times and fares.
Train times Bratislava
► London
Travel
from Bratislava to Vienna, leaving
Bratislava (Hlavna) at 17:00 and arriving Vienna Südbahnhof
at 17:58. Take the
U-bahn or tram 18 to the Westbahnhof.
Travel from
Vienna to Cologne by daily EuroNight sleeper train, leaving Vienna
Westbahnhof at 19:54 and arriving at Cologne at 08:42 next morning.
This modern Austrian sleeper train has a sleeping-car (1
& 2 berth
deluxe sleepers with private shower & toilet, 1 & 2
berth sleepers with washbasin), couchettes
(4-berth or 6-berth) & reclining seats.
Travel from Cologne to Brussels by high speed
Thalys
train, leaving Cologne at 10:45 and arriving
Brussels Midi
12:32.
Travel
from Brussels to London by
Eurostar.
On Mondays-Fridays,
leave Brussels
Midi at 14:29 and arrive London St Pancras at
15:26. On Saturdays & Sundays, leave Brussels
Midi at 13:59 and arrive London St Pancras at
15:03.
Introducing the Austrian Railways EuroNight train from Cologne to
Vienna...
This was originally a City Night Line train, but
from 13 December 2009 it will become an
Austrian Railways (ÖBB) 'EuroNight' sleeper train,
with sleeping-car, couchettes & seats. The
sleeping-car has very compact 1 & 2 bed
compartments with washbasin, plus two deluxe
compartments (still very compact) with 1 or 2 beds
plus private shower & toilet. The
sleeper berths come fully made up with sheets and
duvets, and all sleeper passengers get mineral
water in the evening and a light breakfast served
in their compartment next morning. Towels & toiletries are
provided, including shampoo and shower gel in the
deluxe sleepers. In the more economical
couchettes, you can book a couchette in a cheaper
6-berth compartment or a less-crowded 4-berth
compartment. Couchette passengers get
a small bottle of mineral water, and each couchette is provided with sheet, blanket and pillow. When waiting for
the northbound sleeper train at Vienna
Westbahnhof, if you have a sleeper ticket (as
opposed to couchette or seat ticket), you can use
the first class ÖBB Club Lounge, with
complimentary drinks.
1 or 2 bed sleeper:
The most comfortable & civilised option. Standard
compartments have washbasin, deluxe ones a shower & toilet.
4 & 6-berth couchettes:
Ideal for families. Couchettes are basic padded
bunks with rug & pillow. This is a 4-berth
compartment.
Above:
Reclining seats. A couchette is far
better for sleeping! Ordinary non-reclining
seats may be used from 13 Dec 2009.
The easiest way to book train tickets from London to
Bratislava
is at
www.raileurope.co.uk,
because all the trains can be booked as a single
transaction on one UK-based website. If you live
outside the UK, or want to book 4-berth couchettes (which
for some reason raileurope.co.uk currently won't do) use
www.eurostar.com &
www.bahn.de
instead (see the next section). It's a good idea to
compare prices for the Cologne-Vienna train between
www.raileurope.co.uk
&
www.bahn.de
as they can differ.
Step 1, go to
www.raileurope.co.uk,
but resist the temptation to enter 'London' & 'Bratislava' all
in one go as this won't find you the cheapest fares.
First, enter 'Cologne' & 'Vienna' and book the direct overnight
train from Cologne to Vienna and back. Obviously, in the
search results simply look for the direct train with no
changes. For some reason it won't book 4-berth
couchettes, and may struggle with 2-berth sleepers with
shower, but if you have any difficulties like this simply
book using
www.bahn.de
instead, as described in the next section. Add this
ticket to your basket and click 'continue shopping'.
Step 2, still at
www.raileurope.co.uk,
now book the train from Brussels to Cologne & back, using
the train times above as your guide. Add this ticket
to your basket and click 'continue shopping'.
Step 3, still at
www.raileurope.co.uk,
now book the Eurostar from London to Brussels & back, using
the train times above as a guide. By all means take an
earlier Eurostar outwards, or a later one back, if it has
cheaper seats available or if you'd like to stop off in
Brussels. Add this to your basket.
Step 4, you can buy a Vienna-Bratislava open ticket at
www.raileurope.co.uk
for £11 each way, but it's just as easy (and a pound or two
cheaper) to buy this at the station in Vienna. No
reservation is necessary, you just buy a ticket and hop on.
Tickets can be sent to any UK address and normally arrive
within a couple of days. Only UK credit cards are
accepted.
This method involves two websites, so do a dry run on both
sites to check prices and availability before booking for
real.
Step 1,
go to either
www.eurostar.com or
www.raileurope.co.uk
and using the train times on this page as your guide, book a ticket from London to Cologne
& back (Cologne is listed as Koln on the Eurostar website).
It's a good idea to try both of these websites, as sometimes
one is cheaper than the other, for some strange reason. Bookings
for Eurostar+Thalys open 90 days (3 months) before
departure, and the further ahead you book, the more likely you are to see
the cheapest fares. Tickets can be posted to any UK
address or collected at St Pancras on departure.
One-way London-Cologne fares are usually more expensive than
a cheap return, so for one-way trips buy a return ticket and
throw away the return half. Make sure you allow plenty of
time for the connection in Cologne, preferably between 1½
& 2 hours when connecting with a sleeper train.
It's obvious, but remember that your return departure date from Cologne will
be the day after your departure date from Bratislava!
Top tip: If you don't see any sensibly-priced
London-Cologne through fares, go to
www.raileurope.co.uk
and try booking in two stages, first London-Brussels & back,
then Brussels-Cologne & back, using the train times above as
your guide. This can be cheaper!
Step 2,
go to
www.bahn.de
and buy a ticket from Cologne (Köln in German) to Vienna and
back aboard the direct EuroNight sleeper train,
looking for the cheapest fares.
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 open 180 days (6
months) before departure. I recommend registering when
it asks you before completing the purchase, so you can
easily retrieve any bookings.
A ticket from Vienna to Bratislava can easily be bought at
the station when you get to Vienna. No advance
reservation is necessary, you just buy a ticket and hop on.
How to buy
tickets by phone...
You can book the
Eurostar, Thalys and EuroNight train by phone with a
number of UK agencies, including
Deutsche
Bahn's UK office on 08718 80 80 66 (lines open
09:00-20:00 Mon-Fri, 09:00-13:00 Sat & Sun, no booking
fee, 2% credit card charge), or
www.europeanrail.com on 020 7619 1083 (lines open
08:30-18:00 Mon-Fri, 09:00-13:00 Saturdays, £35 booking fee).
Click here for a list of agencies and more information
on how to book.
Travel from
London to Paris by Eurostar, leaving
London St Pancras at 16:02 (15:32 at weekends), arriving Paris Gare du Nord at
19:17 (18:47 at weekends).
It's then 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 Munich
overnight by the City Night Line sleeper train
'Cassiopeia', leaving
Paris Gare de l'Est at 20:20 and arriving in Munich at
07:16 next morning. This train runs daily in
summer, but only 4 times a week in winter. It runs
on Mondays, Fridays, Saturdays & Sundays until 18 March 2010, then daily for the summer until
8 November 2010, then on Mondays, Fridays, Saturdays &
Sundays again until March 2011.
It has sleeping-cars (1, 2 & 3 bed compartments,
standard with washbasin or deluxe with shower),
4 & 6-berth couchettes & ordinary seats, see the photos & information
below.
Click for
more pictures & information about this train.
Travel
from Munich to Vienna by
air-conditioned Austrian
RailJet train
with restaurant car, leaving Munich Hbf at 09:27 and
arriving in
Vienna Westbahnhof at 13:40.
Take local transport to
the Südbahnhof - tram line 18 links the Westbahnhof and
Südbahnhof direct.
Click
here for a Vienna U-bahn map, although the U-bahn
does not links these stations directly.
Travel
from Vienna to Bratislava, leaving
Vienna Südbahnhof
at 15:28 and arriving in
Bratislava at 16:37. This train service is now hourly. You
can also travel from Vienna to Bratislava by Danube
hydrofoil once a day April-October. Visit www.lod.sk
for times and fares.
Train times Bratislava ► London
Travel from
Bratislava to Vienna, leaving Bratislava Hlavna at 13:50 on a direct train for Vienna Südbahnhof arriving at
14:58. Take
local transport to the Westbahnhof.
Travel from Vienna to Munich by
air-conditioned Austrian
RailJet train, leaving Vienna
Westbahnhof at
16:20 and arriving in Munich at 20:34. The train has
a restaurant car & bar.
Travel from Munich to Paris by
the City Night Line sleeper train 'Cassiopeia', leaving
Munich at 22:43 and arriving at Paris Gare de l'Est
09:23 next morning. This train runs daily in
summer, but only 4 times a week in winter. It runs
on Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays & Sundays until 17
March 2010, then daily until 7 November 2010, then on
Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays & Sundays again until
March 2011. The trains has ordinary seats, couchettes
(4 & 6-bunk) and
sleeping-cars (1, 2 or 3-bed rooms, deluxe with shower or standard
with washbasin).
Click for more pictures
& information about this train.
Walk from the Gare de l'Est to the Gare du Nord.
Travel
from Paris to London by
Eurostar, leaving Paris Nord at
11:13 and arriving London St Pancras at 12:29.
A ticket from Vienna to Bratislava can easily be bought at
the station when you get to Vienna. No advance
reservation is necessary, you just buy a ticket and hop on.
You can also buy a Vienna-Bratislava open ticket for £12
each way online at
www.raileurope.co.uk.
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.
You
should take a good guidebook. I think that the Lonely
Planets and the Rough Guides are about the best out there
for the independent
traveller. Both guides have everything you need - plenty
of background historical and cultural information, and lots
of
practical information. You won't regret buying one of
these guides..!
Find a hotel in
Bratislava or anywhere in
Europe...
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.
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...
Get travel insurance..
Never go abroad without travel insurance from a
reliable insurer, with at least £1m or preferably £5m medical cover. 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.
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.
Feedback from
using insurance for rail & ferry travel is always welcome!
If you're a
UK citizen travelling in Europe, you should apply for a free
European Health Insurance Card, which 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 NHS. This replaced the old E111 forms
as from January 2006. The EHIC card is available from
www.ehic.org.uk. It doesn't remove the need for
travel insurance, though.
Get an international SIM card...
Mobile phones can cost a fortune to use abroad, but if you
buy a global SIM card for your mobile phone from a company
such as
www.Go-Sim.com you can slash the cost by up to 85%. It
cuts call costs in 175 countries worldwide,
and you can receive incoming calls and texts for free in 75 countries. It's pay-as-you-go, so no nasty bills
when you get home. It also allows cheap data access for laptops
& PDAs. A Go-Sim account and any credit on it doesn't
expire if it's not used between trips, unlike some
others, so a Go-Sim phone number becomes your 'global phone
number' for life.
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
