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 = 1.15 euros (Slovakia switched to the euros in Jan 2009).  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:

7 January 2010.  Train times valid from 13 December 2009 to 12 June 2010.

	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.

On this page...

London to Bratislava by train, via Cologne & Vienna  This is probably the cheapest & easiest route.

London to Bratislava by train, via Paris & Munich  A useful alternative via Paris with a later departure from London.

Recommended guidebooks

Hotels & accommodation

Sponsored links:

Option 1:  London-Bratislava via Cologne...

This route runs daily all year round.

Train times London ► Bratislava

• 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.

• Direct trains link Vienna Südbahnhof with Bratislava every hour, taking 1 hour 10 minutes  There's one leaving at 10:25 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 17:01 and arriving Vienna Südbahnhof at 17:59.  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, 2 or 3 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 sleepers have a washbasin, deluxe sleepers have a private shower & toilet.		4 & 6-berth couchettes:  The economy option, ideal for families.  Couchettes are basic padded bunks with rug & pillow.  This is a 4-berth couchette.		Seats:  I recommend always booking a couchette.  Non-reclining seats may be used from 13 Dec 2009 onwards...		Above:  The Austrian sleeping-car or 'schlafwagen'. Panorama photo of deluxe sleeper The same deluxe sleeper in evening mode Standard 1 & 2 bed sleepers are similar, but without the toilet & shower.

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...

How much does it cost?

1. London to Cologne  by Eurostar + Thalys:	Fares start at £97 return (£69 London-Brussels + £28 Brussels-Cologne)  or £53 one-way (£39 London-Brussels + £14 Brussels-Cologne)  Fares vary like air fares, so book in advance to get the cheapest prices.  Child, youth & senior Eurostar fares
2. Cologne to Vienna  by EuroNight train (per person):	In a seat	In a couchette		In the sleeping-car
		6-berth	4-berth	2-berth	1-berth	3-berth + shower	2-berth + shower	1-berth + shower
Savings fare one-way from:	€29 (£26)	€39 (£35)	€49 (£44)	€69 (£63)	€129 (£117)	-	-	-
Savings fare return from:	€58 (£52)	€78 (£70)	€98 (£88)	€138 (£126)	€258 (£234)	-	-	-
Normal fare one-way:	€105 (£95)	€126 (£115)	€137 (£125)	€158 (£144)	€210 (£191)	€158 (£144)	€179 (£163)	€252 (£229)
Normal fare return:	€210 (£190)	€252 (£230)	€274 (£250)	€316 (£288)	€420 (£382)	€316 (£288)	€358 (£326)	€504 (£458)
Child under 14 with own berth:	Savings fares for children are the same as adult Savings fares, but child full fare is 50-60% of adult normal fare
Child under 6 without own berth:	Child under 6 sharing a berth travels free...
Savings fare = Special cheap fare, price varies, book in advance, limited availability, no refunds, no changes to travel plans.  Normal fare = fully flexible, refundable, buy any time.
3. Vienna to Bratislava:	About £14 one way, £28 return at www.raileurope.co.uk.  Around Cheaper if bought at the station.

How to buy tickets online at www.raileurope.co.uk...

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 don't live in the UK, or want to book 4-berth couchettes (which for some reason raileurope.co.uk can't do) book using www.eurostar.com & www.oebb.at instead, see the next section.  Bookings open 90 days before departure, you can't book before reservations open.  Before starting to book, I recommend noting down each specific train you want to book using the train times recommended above, and the date of departure.  Obviously, remember that your date of travel from Cologne back to Brussels will be the day after your departure from Vienna!

• Step 1, go to www.raileurope.co.uk, but resist the temptation to enter 'London' & 'Bratislava' as this won't find you the cheapest fares.  Instead, first enter 'Cologne' & 'Vienna' and your dates of travel, look for the direct overnight train from Cologne to Vienna, book the type of seat, couchette or sleeper you want, do the same for the return journey, add these tickets to your basket and click 'continue shopping'.  Thanks to the vagaries of the French reservation system, www.raileurope.co.uk won't book 4-berth couchettes only 6-berth ones, so if you want 4-berth couchettes simply book using www.oebb.at instead, see the next section.

• 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 ticket to your basket and proceed to payment stage.  Tickets can be sent to any UK address (£1.95 fee) and normally arrive within a couple of days.  There's a 2% credit card fee, so use a debit card if you can.  Only UK credit cards are accepted.

• 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.

• Booking tip:  It's worth comparing prices for the Cologne-Vienna EuroNight train at both www.raileurope.co.uk & www.oebb.at (see the section below) as they can differ.  It's also worth checking prices from London to Cologne & back at www.eurostar.com, as sometimes this is cheaper than www.raileurope.co.uk.  Cologne is shown as 'Koln' on the Eurostar site.

• Booking tip:  You can also try the German Railways website www.bahn.de for booking your London-Cologne tickets, as they offer 'London Spezial' fares from London to Cologne from just 49 euros each way.  However, you'll only find these fares on journeys which involve the two or three German ICE trains between Brussels & Cologne, not on those involving Thalys.  In the outward direction that means leaving London much earlier (around 08:27/08:57) and spending some time in Cologne, in the return direction it means spending the morning in Cologne and leaving Cologne at 14:43 arriving London at 19:03.

• Buy a special add-on ticket from almost any station in Britain to London International (St Pancras)

How to buy tickets online using www.eurostar.com & www.oebb.at...

This method involves two websites, so do a dry run on both sites to check prices and availability before booking for real.  Anyone from any country can use www.eurostar.com & www.oebb.at, not just UK residents.

• Bookings open 90 days before departure, you can't book before reservations open.  Before starting to book, I recommend noting down each specific train you want to book using the train times recommended above, and the date of departure.  Obviously, remember that your date of travel from Cologne back to Brussels will be the day after your departure from Vienna to Cologne!

• Step 1, go to either www.eurostar.com or www.raileurope.co.uk and book a ticket from London to Cologne (shown as Koln on the Eurostar website) using the train times on this page as a guide.  It's a good idea to try both websites, as one can be cheaper than the other.  Tickets can be posted to any UK address or collected at St Pancras on departure.

• Booking tip:  If you don't see any sensibly-priced London-Cologne through fares, try using www.raileurope.co.uk to book in two stages, first London-Brussels & back, then Brussels-Cologne & back, as this can be cheaper. 

• Booking tip:  You can also try the German Railways website www.bahn.de for booking your London-Cologne tickets, as they offer 'London Spezial' fares from London to Cologne from just 49 euros each way.  However, you'll only find these fares on journeys which involve the two or three German ICE trains between Brussels & Cologne, not on those involving Thalys.  In the outward direction that means leaving London much earlier (around 08:27/08:57) and spending some time in Cologne, in the return direction it means spending the morning in Cologne and leaving Cologne at 14:43 arriving London at 19:03.

• Step 2, go to the Austrian railways website www.oebb.at, and click 'Englisch' at top right.  Now click 'Online-Ticket' top left.  Now look for the bottom left 'EURO-Night' square and click it.  On the enquiry form, enter departure station as 'Cologne' and arrival station as 'Vienna', your age and dates of travel.  Click 'search for offers'.

• On the results page, you'll see a long list of possible fares.  Ignore the 'flexible' open tickets at the top.  Instead, look down the list of fares shown as 'valid on a specific train' until you see one for 'Ticket to Wien Westbahnhof TRAIN EN 421 from 20:05 to 09:04, for the type of seat, couchette or sleeper that you want.  Select it, don't bother reading about their 'thrift tip'.  You pay by credit card and print out your own tickets.  Easy!  The prices shown on www.oebb.at are in euros, and are the total cost for all passengers selected, not per person.

• Step 3, you can easily buy a Vienna-Bratislava 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 buy  Vienna-Bratislava tickets at www.raileurope.co.uk from £11 one-way, £22 return, tickets sent to any UK address.

• Buy a special add-on ticket from almost any station in Britain to London International (St Pancras)

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.

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Option 2:  London-Bratislava via Paris & Munich...

Train times London ► Bratislava

• 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 15:25 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 13:51 on a direct train for Vienna Südbahnhof arriving at 14:57.  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.

Fares & how to buy tickets...

• See the London to Austria page for fares & how to buy tickets between London & Vienna via this route.

• 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 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:  Winter 2009/10 edition (Dec 2009 to June 2010)   Summer 2010 edition (June to December 2010)

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 the major hotel booking websites at once...
Powered by Hotelscombined.com

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.

Get travel insurance..

Never travel without insurance from a reliable travel 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.

If you live in the UK, get quotes from Columbus Direct, or go to Confused.com to run a price comparison on a whole range of travel insurance providers for your dates of travel, seeing their policy's features at a glance.

Don't expect travel insurance to bail you out of every missed connection, but European international rail conditions of carriage (known as the 'CIV') contain consumer protection provisions that entitle you to travel forward by the next available train if you miss a connection because of a delay to the first train, irrespective of who operates which train, and even if your ticket is in theory train-specific and non-changeable.  Feedback from using insurance for rail & ferry travel is always welcome.

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

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

Get an EU health card...

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 a pre-paid euro currency MasterCard from Caxton FX...

You can save money on ATM charges and exchange rates using a Caxton FX euro currency MasterCard, or indeed the multi-currency 'Global Traveller' MasterCard.   Find out about these cards & sign up here.

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.

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