Superdave 84 and trains

SuperDave84 wrote: [QUOTE=Ballycastle]Quick one for you here SuperDave I've been trying to do a little research on Villegailhenc, South of France as we're going there for a family holiday there this July for 10 days 6th June to the 16th the flights into    carcassonne our mad expensive so I was thinking maybe getting a flight into toulouse and getting the train down from there as it doesn't seem that far? Anyway any advice would be greatly appreciated, cheers

You can do that. If you book in advance, tickets can be pretty cheap. I'm guessing you are looking at the Aer Lingus flight arriving at 16:10 on the 6th June. There are regional trains, with tickets €16.50 per person, even booked at the station, taking about 1h10m. However, there are Intercites trains and TGVs that are quicker and, if booked in advance, potentially cheaper.

For instance, booking now, the 19:49 Intercites (which only takes 38 minutes, in comparison) is only €11.70, albeit that's a train specific ticket. That is easily the cheapest way down, although you may prefer just paying the extra and getting an earlier regional train. The thing is, the Intercites train includes reserved seating and runs non-stop, whereas the regional trains stop at anywhere between seven and fifteen intermediate stops.

Regional trains leave Toulouse at 16:58, 17:15: 17:57, 18:15 and 18:57.

Coming back, it would be similar, although I cannot see any flight from Toulouse to Dublin on the 16th, so I can't give you advice on that. Again, however, advance tickets for the quicker TGVs and Intercites are likely to be cheaper than the regional trains.

The website you need is voyages-sncf.com. However, rather than using the United Kingdom version, I recommend using the Belgian version, in English, as it will then show prices in Euro. Use this link: http://be.voyages-sncf.com/en/.

The train will only take you as far as Carcassonne. There is no train station in Villegailhenc or anywhere closer. I don't know exactly how to get from the train station to there. You would probably need a taxi or else someone to lift you.



Brilliant SD cheers for that info 👍. Your also right there's no flight into Dublin on the 16th July so it's the 6th to the 15th we're going so I'll get the trains booked up in advance

No bother. The 11:31 Intercites train from Carcassonne arriving in Toulouse at 12:12 is probably your best bet for the 15th so, seeing as the flight out of Toulouse is at 15:10. Three hours should be plenty of time. There are buses every 20 minutes taking 20 minutes to the airport, cost €5.50 each, from the train station. Worst case scenario, it will take one hour, if you just miss a bus to the airport. Even if your train is, say, twenty minutes late, and even allowing for extra traffic delays, you'd still be at the airport well before two. Plenty of time.

SuperDave84 wrote: No bother. The 11:31 Intercites train from Carcassonne arriving in Toulouse at 12:12 is probably your best bet for the 15th so, seeing as the flight out of Toulouse is at 15:10. Three hours should be plenty of time. There are buses every 20 minutes taking 20 minutes to the airport, cost €5.50 each, from the train station. Worst case scenario, it will take one hour, if you just miss a bus to the airport. Even if your train is, say, twenty minutes late, and even allowing for extra traffic delays, you'd still be at the airport well before two. Plenty of time.

Perfect cheers SD that's me all booked up well the flight's anyway might be aswell just getting the train tickets over there in case there's any delays and I don't want to miss any that I've pre booked as they don't seem to be too expensive.👍

What was SuperDave's favourite part of playimg football?

Training

@Superdave

Thanks a million pal!

There'll be a pint or two for you the next evening I see ya!

First the bad news:

Night trains from Poland are expensive. However, internal trains should have some cheap advance tickets. That in mind, I'd book the Warsaw to Krakow bit on www.intercity.pl in advance (30 or 60 days, not sure which, although you might have to use the Polish version as the English one is buggy).

Then I'd book the night train from there to Budapest. It is direct from Krakow leaving about 10pm. You cannot book it online directly but you can buy it from an agency: www.polrail.com are probably the best.

The next step is the night train to Zagreb. That is available relatively cheaply (€29 I think) from www.mav-start.hu.

Another option is via Prague and Budapest. You can book cheap (€19 I think) tickets from Prague to Budapest on www.cd.cz but again the Warsaw to Prague bit would have to be booked with Polrail. You can also buy them in the station on the day, they are unlikely to sell out, for the first international train out of Poland. There is, apparently, a limited supply of cheap advance tickets for some international trains out but they apparently have to be bought in person in Poland. I'd book all my trains that are not out of Poland in advance but I would wait and book that one when I get there.... there is also a day train from Warsaw to Prague that you could get. You may be able to pick up a cheap ticket there.

http://www.seat61.com/international-trains/trains-from-Warsaw.htm
http://www.seat61.com/international-trains/trains-from-Krakow.htm
http://www.seat61.com/international-trains/trains-from-Prague.htm
http://www.seat61.com/international-trains/trains-from-Budapest.htm
http://www.seat61.com/international-trains/trains-from-Croatia.htm

I'd actually think about maybe going to Krakow first, especially if you haven't been there before.

I would do something like this, assuming you arrive on Saturday.

Tuesday afternoon: train to Krakow (buy online at www.intercity.pl)
Wednesday night: night train to Prague (maybe buy online at www.polrail.com, but I would buy in person to Poland, as it will be cheaper)
Friday: either night train (Friday) or day train (Saturday) to Budapest (www.cd.cz/eshop)
Monday night: night train to Zagreb (buy online at www.mav-start.hu)
Wednesday: day train to Split (buy tickets at the station)
Thursday evening: bus to Dubrovnik (buy tickets at the station)
Friday: fly home with aer lingus direct.

Croatian tickets cannot be bought online, but tickets are cheap there.

That could be a little too quick, so you could leave out Krakow and take the direct train from Warsaw to Prague, or alternatively even Warsaw to Budapest direct.

In terms of getting home, Zadar to Dublin with Ryanair is actually a fair bit cheaper than Aer Lingus, so there's that option too. Unfortunately, in both cases, Friday 23rd October is actually the last date that either of the airlines fly to or from Croatia, so you can't delay for a few days unless you want to come back with two flights. There are no direct Zagreb to Dublin flights.


Edited by SuperDave84 - 11 Apr 2015 at 7:47pm

I did check out the buses alright. Bus itself will leave me a mile from the K Club but with 4 of us heading out we fancy the train which will be better craic. So Maynooth then? I'm being a right c unt here but what would be your estimate on a taxi then from Maynooth to our destination ?

I'd agree with you on that! Mk3s were comfortable trains and the Mk4s don't come close in that. They're obviously relatively fast but the 3s were definitely nicer for passengers.

But yeah, if you want the train, Maynooth seems to be the handiest, especially given the increased frequency of service to Maynooth as opposed to the Kildare line. Now, it'll be a commuter train in all likelihood, unless you get one of the Sligo trains but you know that already. I'd go with a Sligo train if you can. It depends on what time you have to be out there, of course, but the Sligo one is probably better.

In terms of taxi expense, it's under 10km, so if you're non-premium rate (i.e. between 8am and 8pm and not on Sunday), it's €4.10 initial fare for the first kilometre plus €3 for the extra passengers plus €1.03 per kilometre thereafter, which is €9.27, so €16.37..... basically, call it a fiver a person among the four of you. The train is €3.49 on a leap card or €4.50 cash.... so the total cost is approaching a tenner, and, even if you catch the Sligo train, it will still take about 40 minutes, because the train takes half an hour.

Although it has the big benefit of getting you to the door whereas the bus only leaves you in Straffan village, which is at least a fifteen minute walk, which could be a pain in the rain especially if you are in suits for a wedding..... in which case the taxi option is a decent one.

A taxi from town would probably be about €50 to €60 which is also an option, albeit a pricier one.

Well, if you are trying to book the ones with a change in Poznan, it's probably not going to work booking on DB yet, depending on exactly when and what you are trying to book.

There is a direct train at 08:52 in the morning, you should be able to book that one on DB now (assuming it is less than 60 days away when you need to travel - otherwise, you'll have to wait, even though they are showing as available).... the later ones involving a change, you may be able to book now, you may have to wait until later, 30 days in advance.

You *may* (and I stress may) be able to book the one that takes a "regional" train from Bydgoszcz to Poznan now (showing up as a 14:46 daily departure for me - again assuming it's less than 60 days away, arriving Poznan at 17:08 and departing at 17:30) but you will not be able to book any that involve Polish trains with compulsory reservation *yet* (I mean trains entirely within Poland, i.e. Bydgoszcz to Poznan, that require seat reservation, like "IC" trains). However, if you try again less than 30 days away from the date you need to travel, Polish reservations should have opened, so if you are looking at the 18:37 departure with a 12 minute change in Poznan, you should be able to book that inside 30 days of travel.

I believe that is the most likely issue. However, I also think you are being quite optimistic if you are looking at the one with the twelve minute change. That is the last direct train of the day from Poznan to Berlin. Miss it, and you are screwed, stuck in Poznan with nowhere to stay for the night. I wouldn't risk it. Plus, sometimes the Polish train times on DB aren't 100% accurate. The Bydgosczc 18:37 to 20:16 Poznan connection showing on DB actually shows up as 18:42 to 20:23 on intercity.pl, the Polish website, which makes the 12 minute connection a 5 minute one, assuming the train is on time. The times for international trains are accurate though, meaning the Poznan to Berlin or Bydgosczcz to Berlin direct trains.

I'd take the earlier departure at 14:46 or better yet the direct, so long as you don't mind the early start. If you end up missing the connection in Poznan from the 14:46 train, so be it, as there is still the later one, plus the layover there is about 20 minutes, not 12.

I am assuming you aren't getting as far as the payment page.... most errors should come before that. If you want to PM me the date and the time you want to go, I can have a better look.