London to Slovakia . . .

Train operator in Slovakia:

ZSR (Zeleznice Slovenskej Republiky), www.slovakrail.sk.

Eurostar times & fares.  All European train times: All-Europe online train times

Railpasses:

Beginner's guide to European railpasses    Buy a rail pass online

Time:

GMT+1 (GMT+2 from last Sunday in March to last Saturday in October)

Currency:

£1 = approx 39 Koruna.   Currency converter

Tourist information:

www.sacr.sk.   Recommended guidebooks.    

Bratislava bus & tram information:  www.imhd.sk

Hotels:

Find a hotel in Slovakia.

Visas:

UK citizens no longer need a visa to visit Slovakia.

Page last updated:

9 June 2008.  Train times valid from 15 June to 13 Dec 2008.

The simplest route from London to Bratislava is via Vienna, and you can choose to travel to Vienna either via Paris or Brussels.  Right: The Bratislava skyline, with castle and cathedral...

London ► Bratislava  (via the Cologne-Vienna sleeper):

Because of the special fares on the Cologne-Vienna 'City Night Line' hotel train, this route is probably the easiest and cheapest.

• 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..!

• 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 at 11:38.

• 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.

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.

				3-D panorama, City Night Line 2-berth deluxe sleeper 3-D panorama, double-deck sleeper corridor City Night Line sleeper, couchette & seat numbering plans City Night Line website: www.bahn.de/citynightline.
One of the impressive double-deck sleeping-cars in the new City Night Line red & white livery...		A table for dinner in the train's bar-restaurant.  There's also a bar serving drinks & snacks.

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.

From Vienna to Bratislava by train...

Slovakian coaches on the train from Vienna to Bratislava waiting to leave Vienna.  The coaches on these trains are now usually Austrian...

Bratislava  ► London  (via the Cologne-Vienna sleeper):

• Travel from Bratislava to Vienna, leaving Bratislava (Hlavna) at 16:50 and arriving in Vienna Südbahnhof at 17:58.  Take the U-bahn or tram 18 to the Westbahnhof.

• 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 CityNightLine:	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 berth travels free...
3. Vienna to Bratislava	About £9 one way, £18 return.  Cheaper if bought at the station.

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 Eurostar+Thalys ticket from London to Cologne, using the train times on this page as a guide.  On the Rail Europe home page, you simply enter 'London' and '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 Bratislava.  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' top right, and buy a ticket from Cologne (Köln in German) to Vienna and back aboard the "Donau Kurier" City Night Line sleeper train, looking for the cheap 'Savings' 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 for City Night Line open 180 days (6 months) before departure.

• 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 £11 each way online at www.raileurope.co.uk.

How to buy tickets by phone:

You can book the Eurostar, Thalys and CityNightLine train by phone with a number of UK agencies, including Deutsche Bahn's UK office on 08718 80 80 66 (lines open 09:00-17:00 Mon-Fri),  or www.europeanrail.com on 020 7619 1083.  Click here for a list of agencies and more information on how to book.

London ► Bratislava   (via Paris):

This route involves taking Eurostar to Paris, a high-speed TGV to Strasbourg then the Orient Express sleeper train from Strasbourg to Vienna (the real Orient Express, not the expensive vintage tourist one..!).  The Orient Express used to run direct from Paris, but now starts in Strasbourg, making this route no more convenient than the route via Brussels and Cologne, but usually more expensive as there's no cheap deals on the Orient Express, only relatively expensive full fares.

• 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.

• 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 10:28 and arriving in Bratislava at 11:38.  This train service is now hourly, so there's another train to Bratislava (Hlavna) at 10:28, 11:28, 12:28, and so on.  There are additional slower trains to Bratislava (Petrzalka station) but this is in the suburbs so not as useful for visitors.

• You can also travel from Vienna to Bratislava by Danube hydrofoil once a day April-October.  Visit www.lod.sk for times and fares.

From Strasbourg to Vienna on the Orient Express...

You can choose between a bed in the sleeping-car, a couchette, or a reclining seat...

Above:  The standard sleeping-car.  Each sleeper compartment can be used as a 1- 2- or 3-person room.  The centre picture shows a compartment with beds folded away to become a private sitting room.  The right-hand photo shows a compartment set up as a cosy 2-person bedroom.

Left:  The modern air-conditioned Austrian Railways couchette cars.  Couchettes are basic padded bunks supplied with rug, sheet and pillow, in 4-bunk or 6-bunk compartments.  The photo shows a compartment set up as a 4-berth room. Reclining seats

Bratislava  ► London  (via Paris):

• Travel from Bratislava to Vienna, leaving Bratislava (Hlavna) at 17:50 on a direct train for Vienna Südbahnhof arriving at 18:58.  Take local transport to the Westbahnhof.

• 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, there's also an 11:13 Eurostar, arriving London St Pancras at 12:38.

Sample fares:

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
Paris to Strasbourg  by TGV:	Full fare £47 one-way, £94 return.  'Prems' fares from £19 one-way, £38 return (book at least 14 days ahead, limited availability, no refunds, no changes to travel plans).
Strasbourg to Vienna  by Orient Express:	In a seat	In a couchette	In the standard sleeping-car...			In the T2S sleeper (smaller)...
		6-berth	3-berth (T3)	2-berth (Double)	2-berth (Single)	2-berth (T2)	1-berth (Special)
Normal fare one-way	£97	£111	£132	£210	£254	£141	£226
Normal fare return	£194	£222	£264	£420	£508	£282	£452
Vienna to Bratislava:	About £9 one way, £18 return.  Cheaper if bought at the station.

How to buy tickets online:

You can buy tickets for both Eurostar and the Orient Express online at either www.raileurope.co.uk or www.voyages-sncf.com. 

• Follow the instructions on the London to Austria page to book the London-Paris-Strasbourg-Vienna trains.

• 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 £11 each way online at www.raileurope.co.uk.

The Thomas Cook European timetable has train & ferry times for every country in Europe, plus currency & climate information.  Published since 1873 and costing £13.50, it's essential for any serious traveller and an inspiration for armchair travellers.  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 buy the independent traveller's edition from Amazon.co.uk:  Winter 2007/8 edition (December 2007 to June 2008) or Summer 2008 edition (June to December 2008). 

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..!

Click the images to buy at Amazon...

Or buy direct from the Lonely Planet website, with shipping worldwide.

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.

Search all major hotel booking sites at once...

Powered by Hotels Combined

Backpacker hostels...

• 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.

Compare quotes from both Direct Line & Columbus...

Travel insurance..

Travel insurance is a boring subject, but it's a real necessity, so make sure you budget for it.  Make sure you get adequate cover - for example, at least £1m or preferably £5m medical cover, from a reliable insurer.  Remember that an annual multi-trip policy is often cheaper than several single-trip policies even for just two or three trips a year.  Here are some suggested insurers to try.  Seat61 gets a small commission if you buy after clicking these links.

  If you live in the UK, get quotes from Direct Line (whom I've used myself) and Columbus Direct.

      If you live in Australia, New Zealand, Ireland or the EU, try Columbus Direct Australia.

  If you live in the USA or Canada, try Travel Guard USA.

EU health card...

UK citizens travelling in Europe should carry a European Health Insurance Card.  This replaces the old E111 forms as from January 2006.  The EHIC card is available free from www.ehic.org.uk and 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 UK's NHS.

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