Navigating train websites is confusing

Question

Hello knowledgeable TA travelers!  I need help understanding the European train system. We are traveling Aug 2025 from Munich to (Prague or Budapest) to Vienna

I went on seat61 to learn about train travel. Here are my questions:

1. The home page of seat61 shows a table with the heading “train times 2025 Munich to Prague” as Mon-Sat. Does that mean that there is no train travel on a Sunday? (But the ticket option shows I can purchase for a Sunday trip).

2. Since my August 2025 travel dates don’t have their schedules released yet, I just used April 19, 2025 as a test date. I checked prices for 2 people and it gave a range of 104-294€ (depending which train i picked). Is this the price for 1 person or 2 people?

3. Under the heading “if you live in USA or Canada buy train tickets” it gives choices like “TheTrainLine”, “Rail Europe”, “train tickets in Germany”.  Am I suppose to use the Germany trains for the Germany to Prague portion of my trip? And if I travel from Czech Republic to Austria, do I use cd.cz only?  Or can I use one travel site like TrainLine or Rail Europe to do all my train purchases?

4. Where can I go to find out if there is a night train from Munich to either Prague or Budapest?

5. Within each big city’s train station, there are multiple train station names. Is it safe to assume the central station at Munich, Prague or Budapest and Vienna is the main station?

Thanks in advance!

W2360ONmartind · Accepted Answer

1. I believe what you are seeing is a train that runs on Mon thru Sat but not on Sunday, the trains shown as daily operate all days of the week

2. You don’t state what site you are viewing the fares; many do show the total. Just check the fare for 1 pers compared to 2 will test if priced individually or total.

3. I certainly wouldn’t use Rail Europe and probably wouldn’t use TrainLine. I prefer to book directly with the operator when possible; Seat61 usually shows the operator to book with but I know they sometimes recommend TrainLine

4. seat61 should show the night train options for a route but I don’t believe there is one from Munich to Prague as it not that long of a journey.

5. For the most part you are seeing the main station, some cities have multiple main terminal stations.

DBahn is a good place to look up schedules, they are the German state railway company but will show schedules for other destinations.

https://int.bahn.de/en/

thevuzoo · Answer

Thanks for the quick and thorough reply, MarD! It’s much appreciated.

Can I double check with you the names of the main terminals I should pick?

Munich (Muchen Hauptbahnhof)

Prague (Praha Hlavni Nadrazi)

Budapest (Budapest Keleti)

Vienna (Wien Hauptbahnhof)

If I pick these stations as a departure/arrival station, then I can easily use public transportation to/from these stations to my potential lodgings within their respective cities?

cubsur · Answer

From each there are metro (subways) trams and buses to all parts.

Budpaest has three terminal stations but Keleti is the main one. In Vienna (Wien) some long distance trains use the Westbahnhof, but that too has all the usual ways to get to where you need to go.

The city transit websites are all available in English should you need them.

There is no night train between Munich and Prague. Daytime direct trains run every two hours, every day.

thevuzoo · Answer

Cubsur, thank you so much for your assistance! I appreciate the time you took to clarify the details for me! 😁. This info is super duper useful.

kristv_wengen · Answer

Generally speaking the best way to start your search is on http://www.bahn.de

That site has the pretty much all trains in Europe, but be aware that data beyond early june may not yet be complete.

If you start typing a city name the main station is usually the first one to come up in the suggestion list.

And if DB shows a price that means you can book your ticket right there. Done.

But on DB you can also see who the operator of the train is that you want to take. So if you cannot book the train with DB, you then go to the operator's site.

Edited: 01 February 2025, 13:33

The810 · Answer

Be careful with DB though. They can sell almost everything, but if the journey doesn't touch Germany, chances are that they will charge you a LOT more than you'd pay when booking direct. Always book direct if possible :)

As for the choice of a station - if you don't have a strong preference, only enter the city. The system will then automatically pick the most central/significant station for each train.

thevuzoo · Answer

Krista and The810: thank you for the good info! I appreciate your help. You arrested giving me good detailed info so I can navigate the train ticket purchasing process.

kristv_wengen · Answer

@The810: The International site of the DB has gotten quite good. And when you book tickets outside of Germany they usually are obtained directly from the operators. Eg. if you book a trip on a French train the ticket will be sourced from SNCF, and will cost the same as if you booked from SNCF.

For example: You can book Trenitalia trains on DB, and the price is the same as on Trenitalia, to the last cent.

In fact, recently I booked a trip that was entirely on SNCF services via DB because SNCF itself could not do it...

But the DB planner tells you who operates a train, so you can indeed always go to the operator...

Navigating train websites is confusing - Train Travel Forum

Navigating train websites is confusing

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