A Guide To Eastern Europe Travel

Anyone who has ever travelled through Eastern Europe by train or coach will probably tell you about the beautiful landscapes and architecture, but not so much about the joy of booking the trip. Most websites aren’t in English and none of the train operators allow you to book online, instead you need to visit their designated stations throughout the region. While researching a trip last year through Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary I found that there were no real sites that helped explain how to go about booking travel throughout the Eastern countries, and that the actual train and bus sites were a lot more confusing than I was used to, owing to them being either not in English, or badly translated into English.

So, to help anyone travelling to Eastern Europe in the future by train or coach, I’ve put together this short guide to help you overcome any issues in the booking process.

Eastern Europe Travel – Train

DB Bahn – This is a German rail booking site, but it also covers journeys for Eastern Europe. It will allow you to search for journeys by time and date, but you are unable to purchase tickets on line. Once you search for a trip between two cities the site will give you the name of the station so you know where you can buy your tickets.

Eastern Europe Travel – Coach

There are two sites for booking coach travel that I used for my trip – Student Agency Bus which has a comprehensive network throughout the region and Orangeways is a Budapest-based company which runs services to other cities in Eastern Europe from their base there. Both companies were good – very comfortable coaches and both inexpensive – for example, I travelled from Budapest to Krakow on Orangeways for around £15. When booking Student Agency journeys you will need to select your destination and date, fill in some details and you will then be contacted by the company if there is availability. If there is, you can then pay and will receive your tickets via email. For Orangeways you can book and pay on their website. Both websites use some English, which I found was enough to adequaltely make your booking.

Eurolines also offer a comprehensive coach travel network across both Western and Eastern Europe, so if you are travelling between the two this might end up being the most convenient and quickest.

If I had to choose between travelling by train or coach in the region, I’d choose a mixture of both. I really enjoyed the train ride from Bratislava to Budapest, and similarly driving along the roads and through small villages in Poland. My advice would be to see what is available for the legs you plan on travelling and then plan from there – you might find that you’ll have only one option for some journeys, while others you can chose based on your preference.

If you’re planning a trip to Eastern Europe in the future and have any further questions, please don’t hesitate to get in touch!

Please note this is not a sponsored post, and I have in no way received benefit from this article. I am sharing only my experiences, opinions and recommendations.

Eastern Europe Train And Coach Stations

If you are planning travel in the region, here is a summary of the train and coach stations in each main city.

Belgrade

Coach Stations  – Beogradska autobuska stanica (BAS) which serves the whole region outside the city, and Lasta for destinations around Belgrade.

Train Station – Glavna železnička stanica.

Bratislava

Coach Station – Autobusova stanica.

Train Station – Hlavana stanica.

Budapest

Coach Stations – Neglipet bus station for all international services and those from Southern Hungary; Stadionok Bus Station which serves destinations east of Budapest, and Arpad hid Bus Station for buses to the Northern Danube bend.

Train Station – Keleti station – International services from Vienna and other countries to the west of the city, plus domestic trains; and the Nyugati train station for Romanian and domestic services to the North and Danube bend. Additionally, there is Deli train station which services Lake Balaton and the south.

Bucharest

Coach Station – The city has several bus terminals depending on your destination –  Băneasa (located in the northern part of town), Obor (east), Filaret (south), Rahova (south-west), Militari (west), Griviţa (north-west).

Train Station – Gara de Nord.

Ljubljana

Coach Station – Avtobusna postaja.

Train Station – Zelezniska postaja.

Kiev

Coach Station – For services to Poland use Dachna bus terminal, all other services depart from the central station near Moskovs’ka Square.

Train Station – Kyiv Pasazhyrs’kyi, the main station is next to the Vokzalna metro station.

Prague

Coach Station – Florenc bus station.

Train Station – Praha-hlavani Nadrazi station.

Riga

Coach Station – Rīgas starptautiskā Autoosta.

Train Station – Centrālā stacija.

Sofia

Coach Station – The main bus station is Tsentralna Avtogara Sofiya, however some services depart from the Yug bus terminal or the Ovcha Kupel bus terminal.

Train Station – Tsentralna Zhelezopatna Gara Sofiya.

Zagreb

Coach Station – Autobusni Kolodvor.

Train Station – Glavni Kododvor.

Tallin

Coach Station – Autobussijaam Station.

Train Station – Balti Jaam Station.

Warsaw

Coach Station – Dworzec Zachodnia for international services and domestic buses heading south, north and west, and Dworzec Stadion for domestic services to the east and southeast.

Train Station – Warszawa Centralna  is the main station, however some domestic services also leave from Srodmiescie station or Zachodnia station.

Krakow

Coach Station -Krakow bus terminal.

Train Station – Krakow Glowny station.

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