Lonely Planet™ · Thorn Tree Forum · 2020

Hallstatt or Bust!

Country forums / Western Europe / Austria

I have a week long trip planned during the time that I will be studying abroad next Spring of 2013! My "home base" is Cannes, France where I will be studying. I planned to take a train from Nice (right next to Cannes) to Prague, but found it to be astronomically expensive and difficult to find. After that I decided I would just stop somewhere inbetween, that place being Hallstatt, Austria! What I'm curious about is how to find train tickets from Cannes to Hallstatt or a connecting train to get from A to B and then from Hallstatt to Prague!

Thanks!

http://www.bahn.co.uk will give you a timetable (short version, somewhere around 17 hrs).
They won't sell you a ticket though, cos too many changes are involved. Instead, simply break the journey up into pieces and buy a ticket for each. Refer to http://wwww.seat61.com for further info. That said, note that train tickets are not available that far in advance, usually only up to 90 days ahead. If you're using raileurope.com, don't, it charges insane mark ups.

Alternatively, speed things up and make them cheaper by going to Malpensa airport and then flying with Easyjet (but Malpensa's still 10 hrs away).

Then there are indirect flights, but you're looking at circa 170 euros. Smartwings.com fly it direct, but they have a monopoly and know it and charge accordingly, so they're no cheaper.

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Hallstatt is not exactly on one of the more direct routes.
.
I assume cheapest will be to buy a ticket from SNCF from Nice to Strasbourg or to Basel/Bâle (Basel SBB). And a second ticket from DB (German Rail)
Start: Kehl
Start: Basel Bad Bf
Destination: PRAGUE
If you buy these in advance - possible from 92 days in advance - you can get Kehl/Basel Bad Bf to Prague from EUR 29. To get from Strasbourg to Kehl by train or bus is just a few Euro. Same with Basel SBB to Basel Bad Bf by train or tram.

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