Epilogue
My return coach home was about 45 minutes late getting me to bed that night. But if one leg of my journey was going to be that late, then I'm glad it was the last one. I fell asleep feeling happy that most of my planning had worked out.
The next day was time to catch up with my emails. My intended accommodation in Bratislava had emailed me on the morning of my arrival informing me about a keypad and code needed for entry. They also told booking.com that I was a 'no show'. I emailed them that I didn't receive their email and so was unaware of any keypad or code. They didn't see that as my fault and refused to refund me. Booking.com have not been any help yet and not published my review.
I hope this isn't naff, but I'll do a good and bad list.
Good points:-
seat61.com
Eurostar trains
ICE trains
Czech Railways and their restaurants
Bratislava
Budapest
Hotel Residence Tabor
Prague station
European rail travel
Bad points:-
Eurostar departure lounges
Art Hostel Taurus
Bratislava Ibis
not sleeping
Eurostar buffet car
booking.com
If you have read this far, please don't consider staying at that place that wouldn't even let me in after taking my money.
Overall it was a great trip.
Prague to UK
Wednesday 30th October 2019
I woke early and didn't really get back to sleep. Another poor night. The hotel was fine though. When I booked it, I said that I would be leaving early, so they offered me a packed breakfast. When I checked out, the same receptionist gave me the package. I walked back to the station. It was chilly. I was at the station with plenty of time in hand and so was able to take a look at the impressive, old part of the station at platform level.
06:45 Praha hl.n. to Cheb 09:26
Another duff photo. There was plenty of space on this early departure. It was daylight as we headed into the countryside and I was able to spread out and enjoy my packed breakfast on a table. I had noticed that when we passed through some of the smaller stations, the man that I assumed to be the station master would stand in a doorway with his peaked hat on, but not necessarily dressed formally below the head. At one such station, we made an unscheduled stop and the station master rushed across the lines towards us. I didn't find out why we stopped, but it made us about 12 minutes late as we approached Cheb. I showed the guard my ticket that displayed my departure as being only 10 minutes after arrival. He seemed to think that wouldn't be a problem. So I wasn't too worried as I disembarked and walked towards a DB train waiting nearby. However, I was overtaken by several people running.
09:36 Cheb to Nurnberg Hbf 11:22
There were quite a few out-of-breath passengers on the train as we left. It was busy and several minutes late leaving. The scenery was pleasant as we wound our way through the hills into Germany. We had made up the time when we pulled into Nuremberg.
This time I had a large cheese pretzel from one of the many fast-food outlets.
12:00 Nurnberg Hbf to Frankfurt Flughafen 14:23
This train was busy and I had to sit facing backwards.
We went past the Wurzburg vineyards. I was booked to change at Frankfurt airport this time, so at least that was a different station. We were a few minutes late.
14:37 Frankfurt Flughafen to Bruxelles-Midi 17:35
Another busy ICE train, particularly after Cologne.
I hadn't managed to sleep on any trains during this trip, so I thought I would try now as I was getting off where the service terminated. No luck. We were a bit late as we pulled into Midi.
18:56 Brussels-Midi to St Pancras 19:57
I joined the check-in queue less than an hour before departure. That part of the process was fine, but it felt like we were being herded into the departure lounge again. The train itself was busy and this time it felt cramped. We were about 10 minutes late leaving. I headed for the buffet car. There wasn't much food available. I picked three of the items in the 'meal deal' advertised in the onboard magazine. The cashier charged me full price as he said that they weren't doing those deals on this trip. He then gave me a handful of serviettes, some plastic cutlery and put them in a large bag. Very eco. There was a large queue by the time I left. We were about 15 minutes late into St Pancras. Just time for one more duff photo.
I woke early and didn't really get back to sleep. Another poor night. The hotel was fine though. When I booked it, I said that I would be leaving early, so they offered me a packed breakfast. When I checked out, the same receptionist gave me the package. I walked back to the station. It was chilly. I was at the station with plenty of time in hand and so was able to take a look at the impressive, old part of the station at platform level.
06:45 Praha hl.n. to Cheb 09:26
09:36 Cheb to Nurnberg Hbf 11:22
There were quite a few out-of-breath passengers on the train as we left. It was busy and several minutes late leaving. The scenery was pleasant as we wound our way through the hills into Germany. We had made up the time when we pulled into Nuremberg.
This time I had a large cheese pretzel from one of the many fast-food outlets.
12:00 Nurnberg Hbf to Frankfurt Flughafen 14:23
This train was busy and I had to sit facing backwards.
We went past the Wurzburg vineyards. I was booked to change at Frankfurt airport this time, so at least that was a different station. We were a few minutes late.
14:37 Frankfurt Flughafen to Bruxelles-Midi 17:35
Another busy ICE train, particularly after Cologne.
I hadn't managed to sleep on any trains during this trip, so I thought I would try now as I was getting off where the service terminated. No luck. We were a bit late as we pulled into Midi.
18:56 Brussels-Midi to St Pancras 19:57
I joined the check-in queue less than an hour before departure. That part of the process was fine, but it felt like we were being herded into the departure lounge again. The train itself was busy and this time it felt cramped. We were about 10 minutes late leaving. I headed for the buffet car. There wasn't much food available. I picked three of the items in the 'meal deal' advertised in the onboard magazine. The cashier charged me full price as he said that they weren't doing those deals on this trip. He then gave me a handful of serviettes, some plastic cutlery and put them in a large bag. Very eco. There was a large queue by the time I left. We were about 15 minutes late into St Pancras. Just time for one more duff photo.
Bratislava to Prague via Budapest
Tuesday 28th October 2019
I was awoken around 5:30 by the trams. My room was overlooking where the tramway came to the bottom of a hill and went around a corner. I couldn't get back to sleep. I eventually gave up and checked out around 7:30. The receptionist said that I should have asked for a different room. The trams don't run overnight. I decided not to have their breakfast. I wasn't enjoying my stay in Bratislava.
Both the hotels that I had paid for a good night's sleep in were near the castle. I went to have a look. It was 8:00 and a bit drizzly.
I'm not sure how old much of it was, but parts were several hundred years old. It was overlooking the Danube and the town. I then decided to head towards the old town as the rush hour kicked in. As this photo hopefully shows.
From this bridge, the castle is up the hill on the right, the old town on the left and a modern road going over the Danube in-between. The old town seemed to have many of the bars etc that a modern, back-packing tourist attraction needs. I soon headed back towards the railway station. Nothing there tempted me for breakfast. I bought an open return ticket to Budapest.
09:57 Bratislava hl.st. to Budapest Nyugati 12:20
It was time to rejoin the Metropolitan on its way from Prague to Budapest. I headed for the restaurant car with breakfast still on my mind. I went for the omelette with ham, mushrooms and peas. The waiter went to check with the chef that he had some eggs left and it was on its way. After leaving Bratislava, we were rolling across some largely flat agricultural land. Breakfast appeared with some bread and a roll. All seemed ok with the world as I sat and watched the world go by. Replenished, I eventually decided to go and find a seat elsewhere. After stopping at Sturovo, we started to run alongside the Danube on right-hand side. We crossed into Hungary at Szob. We stopped at a few stations along the way and it seemed to be local families using the service rather than the international crowd you might expect on a service that connects three capitals. We soon headed south away from the Danube into the suburbs of Budapest.
We were a bit late in. We arrived slightly behind and away from the main entrance. The station had seen better days. The glass roof was very leaky. There were a lot of people around including quite a few beggars outside the station. Once across the road, it felt a bit more cosmopolitan. It was raining and I decided to head towards the river.
I went down a side street. It seemed to be the diplomatic area with large grandiose buildings lining relatively small streets. Not what I was expecting from a former communist country. As I approached the river, the parliament also came into view.
The buildings had become even more grandiose.
There are more across the river in Buda.
So I headed towards the river and the Chain Bridge.
The Danube looking north.
Once across the river into Buda, I decided that climbing the hills would prove too tiring and time consuming, so it was back to Pest.
The Danube looking south.
I was starting to get a bid fed up of all the big buildings and decided to look for an old part of the city where ordinary people might have lived. A few blocks away from the river, things started to look a bit more normal. The smaller streets provided a glimpse of the largest synagogue in Europe.
I was tiring now and my shoe developed a leak as the rain continued. I bought a roll and a pudding in a Spar shop before finding my way back to the station to eat them. Soon after I saw a train on the platform where the Metropolitan was due to leave. It hadn't been cleaned and wasn't showing any signs that it was about to return to Prague, but people were boarding. So I joined them.
15:40 Budapest Nyugati to Praha hl.n. 22:09
As I was onboard early, I had a good choice of seats even after some paper reservations tickets were put in place. The train filled up with commuters before departing. I had sat on the left for a view of the Danube again, but it was getting dark by the time we were there. The train was a lot quieter by the time we arrived in Bratislava, but we picked up quite a few there. I was booked on this service from there to Prague. As we approached Brno, I went to get some dinner. The restaurant was busy with what looked like people having some after work drinks. A seat soon became available though. I ordered some freshly cooked chicken schnitzel and a beer for about £7. Very pleasant.
We pulled into Prague on time. When I had wandered around the station the evening before, I noticed that some people walked off the end of the platform to nearby houses. This seems to be relatively common with the more open stations and rail tracks of Europe. There were signs at the end of the platform though saying no pedestrians. So I decided not to take this shortcut to the hotel.
The Tabor was about a mile uphill away. I was soon checked-in and in my room. One of my feet was still wet. I could hear the trams nearby, but not enough to keep me awake.
Brussels to Bratislava
Monday 28th October 2019
I was back on the streets of Brussels early the next morning. There were quite a few people about for that time of day and it was still dark. Midi station wasn't too busy though. There was time for a wander around before finding my platform.
06:25 Brussels Midi to Frankfurt (Main) Hbf 09:31
There was plenty of seats available, but most were reserved. I had time to select one that was reserved for later in the journey before we left. A member of DB staff distributed paper copies of the timetable with all the connections from the various stations and their platforms, so that gave me something to read.
We were a few minutes late leaving. A few more passengers boarded at Brussels Nord, but there were still plenty of empty seats. Daylight started to emerge as we approached Liege. I made my way to the Bordrestaurant, ordered a breakfast and sat and watched the rush hour. The train seemed fairly full with commuters by the time we left Aachen. Some came into the restaurant to take the final few free seats and ordered a coffee to last them to Koln. It was still busy as we headed on to Frankfurt. First it was the Flughafen and then Hbf. We were about 15 minutes late, but thanks to the paper timetable with connections, I knew which platform to head for.
Above is the ICE train I came in on and below is the ICE train I left on.
I did opt for a bratwurst of some sort before heading for one of the platforms at far end. The Cheb train was connected to a train for Hof. The signs showed the Cheb section to be at the rear, but I wasn't sure which way it was going as it was on a through platform. I asked a member of staff and it seemed like everybody else had to ask as well.
12:37 Nurnberg Hbf to Cheb 14:22
The regional train had the more local feel that you would expect. We made our way into the hills and after the Hof and Cheb sections separated, we went on to a single track line. Some of the stations were quite small. We followed some smaller river valleys and through several small tunnels. Unsurprisingly, it was a more intimate feeling as we saw life in the hills between Germany and the Czech Republic.
We arrived at the end of a platform in Cheb. There was construction work happening on the platforms. The station seemed quite quiet. I went over to the main building and wandered outside to have a look. Not much there either, so I joined everyone else waiting for the Prague train.
14:36 Cheb to Praha hl.n. 17:19
There were very few unreserved seats. I was asked to move at the next two stations before having to stand most of the way to Prague. I was starting to tire by then. I tried to get my bearings around the station as I would be returning late the next night. I was sat on the next train in plenty of time.
17:50 Praha hl.n. to Bratislava hl.st. 21:50
There were only a few spare seats. I decided it was time to visit the restaurant. I had looked at the likely menu online a few days before. I found a window seat even if it was dark outside. Some of the food was unavailable, but I opted for sirloin, sliced dumplings with a cream sauce and cranberries with a bottle of local beer. For pud it was plum cake. All with proper plates and cutlery and waiter service for £8 something. The train was busy as far as Brno, then there was room to spread out and we arrived in Bratislava on time.
I decided to walk downtime. It was a nice enough walk along a fairly busy road before turning off around some the back streets towards the accommodation. There were some nice old buildings here. I soon came across where I was supposed to be staying. The door was shut. I rang the bell, but no-one came. Some other guests told me the staff had gone for the day. I tried ringing the number I had been given for them, but then realised that my phone was not working. I had little option but to seek another hotel. I found an Ibis nearby. I was in no position to argue with the £67 cost after a long day. I still struggled to sleep despite being very tired and didn't fall asleep until the early hours.
PS. Please don't book Art Hostel Taurus.
I was back on the streets of Brussels early the next morning. There were quite a few people about for that time of day and it was still dark. Midi station wasn't too busy though. There was time for a wander around before finding my platform.
06:25 Brussels Midi to Frankfurt (Main) Hbf 09:31
There was plenty of seats available, but most were reserved. I had time to select one that was reserved for later in the journey before we left. A member of DB staff distributed paper copies of the timetable with all the connections from the various stations and their platforms, so that gave me something to read.
We were a few minutes late leaving. A few more passengers boarded at Brussels Nord, but there were still plenty of empty seats. Daylight started to emerge as we approached Liege. I made my way to the Bordrestaurant, ordered a breakfast and sat and watched the rush hour. The train seemed fairly full with commuters by the time we left Aachen. Some came into the restaurant to take the final few free seats and ordered a coffee to last them to Koln. It was still busy as we headed on to Frankfurt. First it was the Flughafen and then Hbf. We were about 15 minutes late, but thanks to the paper timetable with connections, I knew which platform to head for.
Above is the ICE train I came in on and below is the ICE train I left on.
09:54 Frankfurt (Main) Hbf to Nurnberg Hbf 11:59
This
departure was a couple of minutes late too, but I had made my first
connection and had a seat. Another smooth ICE train raced towards
Wurzburg. As we approached, the south facing vineyards lined the hill.
That was the only stop and I kept my seat all the way to a prompt
arrival in Nuremberg. Here is a better picture of the same train.
I
had a bit of time for a wander. It is quite a large station with quite a
few fast food options, but the outside is quite impressive.
I did opt for a bratwurst of some sort before heading for one of the platforms at far end. The Cheb train was connected to a train for Hof. The signs showed the Cheb section to be at the rear, but I wasn't sure which way it was going as it was on a through platform. I asked a member of staff and it seemed like everybody else had to ask as well.
12:37 Nurnberg Hbf to Cheb 14:22
The regional train had the more local feel that you would expect. We made our way into the hills and after the Hof and Cheb sections separated, we went on to a single track line. Some of the stations were quite small. We followed some smaller river valleys and through several small tunnels. Unsurprisingly, it was a more intimate feeling as we saw life in the hills between Germany and the Czech Republic.
We arrived at the end of a platform in Cheb. There was construction work happening on the platforms. The station seemed quite quiet. I went over to the main building and wandered outside to have a look. Not much there either, so I joined everyone else waiting for the Prague train.
14:36 Cheb to Praha hl.n. 17:19
There were very few unreserved seats. I was asked to move at the next two stations before having to stand most of the way to Prague. I was starting to tire by then. I tried to get my bearings around the station as I would be returning late the next night. I was sat on the next train in plenty of time.
17:50 Praha hl.n. to Bratislava hl.st. 21:50
There were only a few spare seats. I decided it was time to visit the restaurant. I had looked at the likely menu online a few days before. I found a window seat even if it was dark outside. Some of the food was unavailable, but I opted for sirloin, sliced dumplings with a cream sauce and cranberries with a bottle of local beer. For pud it was plum cake. All with proper plates and cutlery and waiter service for £8 something. The train was busy as far as Brno, then there was room to spread out and we arrived in Bratislava on time.
I decided to walk downtime. It was a nice enough walk along a fairly busy road before turning off around some the back streets towards the accommodation. There were some nice old buildings here. I soon came across where I was supposed to be staying. The door was shut. I rang the bell, but no-one came. Some other guests told me the staff had gone for the day. I tried ringing the number I had been given for them, but then realised that my phone was not working. I had little option but to seek another hotel. I found an Ibis nearby. I was in no position to argue with the £67 cost after a long day. I still struggled to sleep despite being very tired and didn't fall asleep until the early hours.
PS. Please don't book Art Hostel Taurus.
Prologue
I had caught trains in Europe before, but usually just to and
from airports. These days it is becoming more obvious that air travel is
not sustainable, so I had planned an excursion such as this a few
times. The potential confusion that not being in the EU might cause was a
good enough reason to do it before the end of October.
I must also thank https://www.seat61.com for some inspiration.
I must also thank https://www.seat61.com for some inspiration.
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