Travel from Poland to Germany

Danyalaziz

10 Dec 2014 #1

Hi. I am a Pakistani working in ostrowiec Poland and I plan to visit Heidelberg, Germany for Christmas. I am planning to travel from Warsaw to Germany on 24th December and I want to be back to Poland on 28th December.

Can anyone please suggest me the cheapest mode of transport. Plane tickets seem to be expensive.

Monitor 14 | 1,818

10 Dec 2014 #2

Here you can find direct bus connection. 400zł for return ticket, but it takes probably around 19h each way and I don't think anybody drives on 24th December - it's a holiday.

biletyautokarowe.pl

What are BiletyAutokarowe.pl? Coach tickets for nearly 300 000 connections. We offer you tickets to all routes from Poland to other European countries. Use of such low prices, as when purchasing tickets directly with the carrier. We do not charge for any commission. Compare all offers of every possible line and choose the cheapest and shortest route. You can choose from all the discounts and promotions. Save money and a lot of time! Buy a ticket even in 5 minutes. We give the opportunity to search the two largest hotel reservation systems with a single, simple-to-use search engine. Take advantage of the system and pay your order over the Internet, and tickets will be sent via e-mail immediately after the payment. Print them on any printer or collect it on the bus! You can also order tickets by phone and pay for it in the nearest traditional bank or Polish Post office.

kpc21 1 | 763

10 Dec 2014 #3

There is many different possibilities. By coach, by train, by plane. Plane tickets are expensive because 24th December is in two weeks time from now. It's short time.

There exists a direct train to Heidelberg from Praha in Czech Republic. Unfortunately, it seems to be quite expensive. On the webpage of the Czech Railways the price is 1953 CZK, so about 300 PLN / 70 EUR.

The train from Praha to Germany goes at 18:30 and reaches Heidelberg at 4:58 (it goes further on to Zurich in Switzerland).

To Praha from Poland you can get inexpensively by PolskiBus coach. It goes from Warsaw through £ódź and Wrocław. There is one that reaches Praha at 17:50 - the bus station "Florenc", quite close to the main railway station from which the train to Germany goes. One station by the underground, according to Google Maps. But still 40 minutes might be a bit risky when you have to move within the city.

The earlier one reaches Praha at 13:20, but goes from Gdańsk through Bydgoszcz, Poznań, Wrocław.

Earlier you have to get from Ostrowiec to one of these cities in Poland. There are some coaches, but no direct trains. And still it is quite complicated and there is a few stages where something may go wrong. I wouldn't recommend this idea.

By PolskiBus from Poland (or also by train) you may get directly to Berlin. What is better here, you can get directly from Ostrowiec to Kraków, from where there is a PolskiBus coach to Berlin.

In Germany from Berlin there is no direct train to Heidelberg and generally speaking the trains in Germany are pretty expensive, especially if you don't book your ticket in advance (I mean a bigger "advance" than 2 weeks, when the journey is at Christmas time). But there are some buses, that are not so expensive and go directly. I could find buses of two different companies, two leaving Berlin at 7:00 and 8:30 (journey lasts for about 8 h 40 min), and another one, more expensive and slower one, at 7:30. It would fit to go by PolskiBus that leaves Kraków at 23:15 on December, 23rd and reaches Berlin in the morning at 7:00.

To Kraków from Ostrowiec - there is a train.

It would look so:
- Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski - Kraków:
16:48-20:40 Regio train (Przewozy Regionalne) 31,20 PLN
Warning - this train has no seat reservation, so it might be crowdy, especially that day, but it starts in Ostrowiec, so just be earlier on the station to have a seat

- Kraków - Berlin ZOB:
22:15-7:00 PolskiBus coach 120 PLN
- Berlin ZOB - Heidelberg
8:30-17:05 MeinFernBus.de coach 33 EUR (let's say that it's about 150 PLN)
Together it's about 300 PLN one-way (coaches would be probably cheaper with return tickets, in case of the train there is no price difference). The coach from BiletyAutokarowe.pl costs one-way 260 PLN, so it's cheaper and much more convenient because without changing vehicles. But according to a search engine on that webpage, it does not go on December, 24th. Only on the 22th. And then on 26th. The buses and train that I have found go all on December, 23rd/24th.

JollyRomek 7 | 475

11 Dec 2014 #4

If you are willing to be stressed over Christmas, take the bus option.

From Warsaw, this train connection appears to be the easiest and perhaps most relaxing option to me:

24.12.14

Warsaw - Berlin
Dep. 05:55 - Arr. 11:15

Berlin - Heidelberg
Dep. 12:48 - Arr. 17:48 (which change in Mannheim).

Total cost: 148 EUR one way (620 PLN)

The Berlin - Warsaw Express is quite a comfortable train. I have taken it many times. From Berlin you would be travelling on the ICE to Mannheim and the last 10 minutes from Mannheim to Heidelberg on the Regional Express (even those are quite comfortable in Germany).

The train option is twice as expensive as the bus option mentioned abvoe, but you will be more relaxed upon arrival. Going by bus, i would be afraid to need a week holiday just to recover from the bus journey.