Interrail Wiki

Wiki about Interrailing in Europe

Interrailing in Czechia

Czechia is a great country for interrailing, it has the densest railway network in the world, with relatively frequent service on most lines. Most trains don’t require reservations, so you usually don’t have to worry about those. However regular tickets tend to be cheap, so an Interrail pass may not always pay off. Students with an ISIC card and seniors over 65 have a 50% discount, regardless of the country of residence.

Live map of passenger trains in Czechia including current delays

Pass validity

Interrail is valid with the three main intercity train operators in Czechia:

If you’re trying to look at schedules, you can use IDOS for all public transit in Czechia. If you use the website of one train operator, they usually don’t show open access trains of their competitors.

All other companies, for example Arriva, GW Train, Die Länderbahn etc. do not accept Interrail, these are mostly regional operators.

You can check in the Rail Planner app which trains accept Interrail. If you need to take one of the trains that don’t, it is possible to buy the tickets online, at ticket offices, or from the conductor in the train if your station doesn’t have a ticket office. The tickets are usually cheaper when bought directly from each train operator.

Seat reservations

In general most trains don’t require reservations, and even if they do they are usually very cheap.

ČD

Most ČD intercity trains only have optional reservations for about 1.5€. You can easily get them online. International trains are a bit more expensive at 3€. That means if reservations are sold out and you can’t find a free seat, you are allowed to stand.

You can buy tickets and reservations at https://www.cd.cz/en/spojeni-a-jizdenka/api-hp/, in the Můj Vlak app (which is also very handy for searching connections) or at a ticket office, or from the conductor if you get on in a station without an open ticket office. Reservations or tickets bought online don’t need to be printed, except for sleeper trains.

First class is usually much less crowded than second class. If you have a 2nd class Interrail pass, you have the option of paying the difference between 2nd and 1st class ticket to use 1st class. The price is about 1/3 of a regular 2nd class fare – for example between Prague and Brno it’s about 5€. You can just get into 1st class, and ask the conductor to pay the supplement once they come to check your ticket. It’s better to have cash for this, CZK or EUR. Payment by card is possible but doesn’t always work. Alternatively you can also pay it at a ticket office.

The exceptions that require reservations are:

  • SuperCity (SC) Pendolino, and InterCity (IC) on the Prague – Ostrava (- Košice) route have mandatory reservations and can cost around 2-10€ or more, depending on demand. These trains can get sold out a few hours before departure. SC and IC trains also run on some different routes such as Prague – Cheb, on those reservations are optional.
  • ČD Night: sleeper trains also require reservations like everywhere in Europe, and supplements for bed or couchette compartments. Beds or couchettes can get sold out weeks in advance, especially in summer, so don’t leave booking your bed for the last minute.
    • Sometimes night trains will show up twice in the schedule with the same departure time – as EN XXX for the part with beds and couchettes, and EC XXX for the part with seats, similar to some Nightjets.

Regiojet

  • RJ trains: these are both daytime intercity trains and sleeper trains. They require reservations, the price varies by class, the reservations are available online here https://regiojet.cz/. With a 2nd class pass you can reserve seats in the 3 lower classes (Low cost, Standard, Relax) while the highest Business class is restricted to 1st class pass holders. Interrail is valid on all RJ trains except for the seasonal Prague – Rijeka/Split train.
  • R trains: In these trains a 2nd class pass holder without a reservation can use Low Cost class. Higher classes require reservations.
  • Buses: Interrail isn’t valid on any RegioJet buses except for the Ostrava – Krakow route.

Leo Express

Leo Express runs regular service between Prague and Ostrava, and a few trains on different routes, and reservations are mandatory. They are free with Interrail, you can get them at https://www.leoexpress.com. Rail Planner might try to sell it to you for 6€, don’t fall for that.

Connections to other countries

Map of ČD sleeper train connections from Czechia form December 2022

Regiojet also runs sleeper trains: Prague – Košice, Prague – Przemysl(with a guaranteed transfer to Kyiv) and seasonal Prague – Split.

Germany

Prague is connected to Hamburg, Berlin and Dresden by an EC line with a 2 hour interval, with Bmz compartment cars, ran by ČD and DB. Some trains continue past Hamburg to Flensburg and Kiel, two trains from Berlin continue past Prague to Vienna and Budapest. The other EC line (ran by ČD and Die Länderbahn) runs to Munich also with a 2 hour interval, however it is highly unreliable and the train is often cancelled in Schwandorf, so don’t schedule any short transfers. After the timetable change in December 2023 it may become more reliable, because it will no longer couple to another train in Schwandorf. There are several regional train connections, most notably a RE line between Nuremberg and Cheb, which is often a more reliable alternative to the Prague – Munich train. A daily night train runs from Prague to Zürich via Dresden, Leipzig, Frankfurt and other cities in Germany.

Austria

Prague is connected to Vienna via Brno by both ČD/ÖBB (with Railjet trainsets, 2 hour interval) and Regiojet trains. An EC line runs between Prague and Linz via České Budějovice with a 4 hour interval, with additional regional trains between Linz and České Budějovice. A regional line connects Vienna to Znojmo. A night train runs between Prague and Zürich via Austria.

Slovakia

Connections between Czechia and Slovakia are frequent, ČD/ZSSK runs 3 main intercity routes: Prague – Košice, Prague – Púchov, and Prague – Bratislava (which continues to Budapest.) Two daily night trains runs to Košice/Humenné: one via Žilina and Poprad, one via Bratislava. The night trains are popular and may be sold out weeks ahead of departure in summer. Regiojet runs their own day and night trains between Prague and Košice, and between Prague and Bratislava. Leo Express runs between Prague and Košice.

Poland

Fairly convenient but infrequent options with ČD/PKP direct trains exist on the Prague – Warsaw and Vienna – Warsaw routes, sleeper trains run on both routes as well. Reservations are mandatory for all intercity trains to Poland. Regiojet also runs a night train to Przemysl via Krakow.

More on interrailing in Poland here.

Hungary

An Eurocity ran by ČD/ZSSK/MÁV runs between Budapest and Prague via Bratislava every two hours, some trains continue to Berlin. Reservations are not mandatory. Regiojet runs trains to Budapest via Vienna. ČD runs a daily sleeper train to Budapest (only beds/couchettes are available on that trip, no seats).

Switzerland

Two daily ČD sleeper services runs between Zürich and Prague, one via Austria and the other via Germany. During the day, there’s a connection available every two hours with one transfer in Munich.

More on interrailing in Switzerland here.

Ukraine

Interrail and Eurail passes are not valid in Ukraine.

A daily Regiojet sleeper train runs to Kyiv, with a transfer to an Ukrainian railways train in Przemyśl. ČD also runs trains to Przemyśl and Košice, where you can transfer to trains to Lviv/Kyiv and to Chop.

Airport connections

The Prague airport has no direct rail connection. The cheapest option of reaching the train station is a combination of bus line 119 and metro line A + C. A more expensive direct bus line called Airport Express connects directly to the train station. Interrail is not valid for any of these. The Vienna airport has a couple of direct trains to Brno and Prague, and easy connections to trains to Prague at Wien Hbf. Other airports such as Munich or Berlin are also reachable by rail from Prague with a transfer to the local S-Bahn.