Prague: Dresden as a day trip?

I will be staying in Prague for 7 days.
Is Prague-Dresden by train feasible as a day trip?

According to the Deutsche Bahn web site, journey time is only 2 hrs.

Any problems at the border (I am an EC (UK) passport holder).
If I buy a return ticket in Prague is it cheaper than the price paid
in Germany?

Thanks,
Bruce

According to the Deutsche Bahn web site, journey time is only 2 hrs.

You must be rounding-off numbers. DB shows a transit time for an
EC train Prague-Dresden of 2:21. The other problem is that the
train only runs every two hours, 9:31, 11:31, 13:31, etc. 2:21 is
too long for a day-trip, in my opinion. Why not go for two days?


Pete

In message .com,
writes
I will be staying in Prague for 7 days.
Is Prague-Dresden by train feasible as a day trip?

According to the Deutsche Bahn web site, journey time is only 2 hrs.

Perfectly possible, just make sure you go to the right station in Prague
(it's some years since I travelled that route, and as I recall some
trains went to/from hlavni nadrazi and some from Holesovice).

Any problems at the border (I am an EC (UK) passport holder).

I haven't crossed since the Czech Rep joined the EU, but even before
then the border was only a few minutes' halt at Bad Schandau while the
rather scary Bundesgrenzschutz walked along the train checking passports
while having large pistols on their hips, followed shortly afterwards by
much friendlier Czech police. Shouldn't be any problem for EU citizens,
though I have heard of Canadians being thrown off the train for lack of
Czech visas (not sure if that's still a requirement).

If I buy a return ticket in Prague is it cheaper than the price paid
in Germany?

According to the Czech railways fare site, Prague to Dresden is 565 Kc
(€18.50) (may be the one-way fare, my Czech's not too firm!). An
internal Czech fare to Decin (last station before the border) is 100 Kc,
so it may be cheaper to buy a ticket to there, then another from Decin
to Dresden. On the other hand, it's not terribly expensive anyway, and a
bit of a hassle rebooking. Also, most trains between Prague and Dresden
are EuroCity trains to/from Berlin, so I think they still charge a few
euros supplementary fare (I think it used to be about 3DM).

--
Arwel Parry
http://www.cartref.demon.co.uk/

wrote in message
oups.com...
I will be staying in Prague for 7 days.
Is Prague-Dresden by train feasible as a day trip?

According to the Deutsche Bahn web site, journey time is only 2 hrs.

Any problems at the border (I am an EC (UK) passport holder).
If I buy a return ticket in Prague is it cheaper than the price paid
in Germany?

Thanks,
Bruce

I think this day trip is very doable. I did take the train from Prague to
Dresden earlier this year on my way to Berlin. I have a US passport and I
was asked for my passport on the train and had no problems even if I didn't
have a visa. I took the train from the main station, Hlavni Nadrazi, but as
it turns out, the train heads north and also stops at the Holesovice
station, so you can catch it from whatever is closest to you.

I do have to caution you about the train schedule which caused me a little
bit of grief, probably due to a communication problem when I was buying the
ticket at the train station. I wanted to leave in the morning and I was told
that there was an 8am and a 10am train. I chose to 8am and was presently
surprised when I learned about an hour into the journey that it only went as
far a Decin, a small town on the Czech side near the German border. I then
had to wait there for a couple of hours to wait for the train that left
Prague at 10am. In short, I could have gotten a few more hours of sleep if I
had just taken the 10am train to begin with. However, the 2 hours at the
Decin train station went by fast and it was interesting just watching the
people and having breakfast at the cafe. These people drink beer with their
breakfast.

"punktilious" wrote in message
...

wrote in message
oups.com...
I will be staying in Prague for 7 days.
Is Prague-Dresden by train feasible as a day trip?

According to the Deutsche Bahn web site, journey time is only 2 hrs.

Any problems at the border (I am an EC (UK) passport holder).
If I buy a return ticket in Prague is it cheaper than the price paid
in Germany?

Thanks,
Bruce

I think this day trip is very doable. I did take the train from Prague to
Dresden earlier this year on my way to Berlin. I have a US passport and I
was asked for my passport on the train and had no problems even if I
didn't have a visa. I took the train from the main station, Hlavni
Nadrazi, but as it turns out, the train heads north and also stops at the
Holesovice station, so you can catch it from whatever is closest to you.

I do have to caution you about the train schedule which caused me a little
bit of grief, probably due to a communication problem when I was buying
the ticket at the train station. I wanted to leave in the morning and I
was told that there was an 8am and a 10am train. I chose to 8am and was
presently surprised when I learned about an hour into the journey that it
only went as far a Decin, a small town on the Czech side near the German
border. I then had to wait there for a couple of hours to wait for the
train that left Prague at 10am. In short, I could have gotten a few more
hours of sleep if I had just taken the 10am train to begin with. However,
the 2 hours at the Decin train station went by fast and it was interesting
just watching the people and having breakfast at the cafe. These people
drink beer with their breakfast.

Forgot to mention that the train ride from Prague to Dresden is very scenic
as it meanders along the Elbe River. The town of Bad Schandau looked very
interesting and I wish I could have stopped there even for a few hours but
jumping out of the train just didn't seem like a good option.

On 14 Jun 2005 06:11:41 -0700, wrote:

Any problems at the border (I am an EC (UK) passport holder).
If I buy a return ticket in Prague is it cheaper than the price paid
in Germany?

Would you expect a problem at the border considering that the Czech
Republic along with Germany and the UK are all members of the EU?

Hi!

punktilious wrote:

I do have to caution you about the train schedule which caused me a little
bit of grief, probably due to a communication problem when I was buying the
ticket at the train station. I wanted to leave in the morning and I was told
that there was an 8am and a 10am train.

There was a reduced schedule between Dresden and Decin during track
repairs. But that is finished.

brgds

--
Gunter Herrmann
Naples, Florida, USA

In article .com,
says...
I will be staying in Prague for 7 days.
Is Prague-Dresden by train feasible as a day trip?

According to the Deutsche Bahn web site, journey time is only 2 hrs.

Any problems at the border (I am an EC (UK) passport holder).
If I buy a return ticket in Prague is it cheaper than the price paid
in Germany?

Should be doable, but the question is if you want to squeeze Dresden in
one day. You won't need more than 3-4 days for Prague, so you might
easily spend two days in Dresden.
--

Alfred Molon

http://www.molon.de/Galleries.htm - Photos from China, Myanmar, Brunei,
Malaysia, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Nepal, Egypt, Germany, Austria,
Prague, Budapest, Singapore and Portugal

"Alfred Molon" wrote in message
...
In article .com,
says...
I will be staying in Prague for 7 days.
Is Prague-Dresden by train feasible as a day trip?

According to the Deutsche Bahn web site, journey time is only 2 hrs.

Any problems at the border (I am an EC (UK) passport holder).
If I buy a return ticket in Prague is it cheaper than the price paid
in Germany?

Should be doable, but the question is if you want to squeeze Dresden in
one day. You won't need more than 3-4 days for Prague, so you might
easily spend two days in Dresden.
--

Alfred Molon

http://www.molon.de/Galleries.htm - Photos from China, Myanmar, Brunei,
Malaysia, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Nepal, Egypt, Germany, Austria,
Prague, Budapest, Singapore and Portugal

Agree with that. I only spent 1 day in Dresden and it was hardly enough. I
didn't have time to visit the Pillnitz Palace. One thing I did notice about
Dresden is that though they are setup and have the necessary infrastructure
to handle tourists, they still mostly cater to Germans or German-speaking
tourists. For example, the only way to see the interior of the Semper Opera
House was to join a guided tour but the tour was only offered in German.
Unfortunately, my German is not that good. Anyway, about the only thing I
found that catered to English speakers were those hop-on hop-off buses that
had pre-recorded information in English as the bus went along.

punktilious wrote:

Agree with that. I only spent 1 day in Dresden and it was hardly enough. I
didn't have time to visit the Pillnitz Palace. One thing I did notice about
Dresden is that though they are setup and have the necessary infrastructure
to handle tourists, they still mostly cater to Germans or German-speaking
tourists. For example, the only way to see the interior of the Semper Opera
House was to join a guided tour but the tour was only offered in German.
Unfortunately, my German is not that good. Anyway, about the only thing I
found that catered to English speakers were those hop-on hop-off buses that
had pre-recorded information in English as the bus went along.

Hooray!!!

I'm spending October 4-28 in Dresden at the Goethe Institut, learning German.
I picked Dresden because I hoped they would not cater to English speaking
tourists.


--
Julie
**********
Check out the blog of my 9 week Germany adventure at www.blurty.com/users/jholm
Check out my Travel Pages (non-commercial) at
http://www.dragonsholm.org/travel.htm