European Rail Travel - German rail pass to and from Praha

We will be using a twin German rail pass from Dresden to Praha. How do we pay/obtain the Czech portion of the fare?

Also we be going from Praha to Berlin and we would validate the German rail pass for that day. Do we purchase the Czech portion in a Praha station, or onboard, or other suggestion.

You should be able to buy a ticket from Bad Schandau to Prague on board. You can certainly buy a ticket from Prague to Bad Schandau at the train station in Prague.

You may want to consider whether or not this is the best use of your German rail pass. Pre-paid tickets are 19 euros between Prague and Dresden and 29 euros between Prague and Berlin.

Depending on whether the conductor would charge you for the border crossing or not, it may make a lot more sense just to buy the individual tickets. (Prague to Decin, the last Czech stop, is around 7 euros full-fare. The full-fare price to Bad Schandau is 26 euros, which is obviously more than 19 and close to 29...)

No, he can't buy ticket from Bad Schandau to Prague on board as this is international ticket. They would sell him two tickets and surcharges - not a good idea.

Just buy ticket from Bad Schandau to Praha in Dresden. It should be 13,20 EUR. Alternatively, try to buy ticket from Schoena(Gr)* to Prague which is 10 EUR, you should be also able to but it in Dresden.

On return, buy ticket from Prague to Schoena(Gr) at railway station in Prague. This time it will be cheaper** - 135 CZK (5,30 EUR). From Schoena(Gr) your German pass is valid. You may be asked to show this when buying ticket.

* Schoena(Gr) is point on border (not to be confused with station Schoena). It's not a station, but system recognize it that way and can sell ticket to/from that point. Your pass will be valid to Schoena(Gr) and ticket from Schoena(Gr).

** That's because Schoena(Gr) - Praha (and other way) is entirely in Czech Republic and therefore operated by CD. Since CD will be issuing your ticket in Prague, it will cost less than if DB will issue it in Germany (when issued by CD domestic fare applies; when issued by DB international fare applies). It's little confusing, but you don't really need to understand it :)

On your way to Prague, there's yet another option:

1. At Dresden purchase ticket from Schoena(Gr) to Decin (first real station in Czech Republic). This is 1,80 EUR.

2. On board purchase ticket from Decin to Praha when Czech conductor board (show him your ticket to Decin). This would be 124 CZK (5 EUR), but there may be extra fee for buying on board.

I guess this should work, but please wait until someone confirms it :)

I remember someone telling me that the conductor can sell you a ticket from the Czech border to Prague. Is this not the case anymore?

No, he can't buy ticket from Bad Schandau to Prague on board as this is international ticket. They would sell him two tickets and surcharges - not a good idea.

Just buy ticket from Bad Schandau to Praha in Dresden. It should be 13,20 EUR. Alternatively, try to buy ticket from Schoena(Gr)* to Prague which is 10 EUR, you should be also able to but it in Dresden.

On return, buy ticket from Prague to Schoena(Gr) at railway station in Prague. This time it will be cheaper** - 135 CZK (5,30 EUR). From Schoena(Gr) your German pass is valid. You may be asked to show this when buying ticket.

* Schoena(Gr) is point on border (not to be confused with station Schoena). It's not a station, but system recognize it that way and can sell ticket to/from that point. Your pass will be valid to Schoena(Gr) and ticket from Schoena(Gr).

** That's because Schoena(Gr) - Praha (and other way) is entirely in Czech Republic and therefore operated by CD. Since CD will be issuing your ticket in Prague, it will cost less than if DB will issue it in Germany (when issued by CD domestic fare applies; when issued by DB international fare applies). It's little confusing, but you don't really need to understand it :)

OK Thanks for clarifying. It would be two tickets instead of one.

I'm not sure that this is worth all the hassle when pre-paid tickets are 19/29 euros. 10 euros from the border to Prague plus the use of a day of the German pass would be much more than that. (Of course if the German pass has already been purchased I guess there could be a few euros saved, albeit with some hassle.)

On your way to Prague, there's yet another option:

1. At Dresden purchase ticket from Schoena(Gr) to Decin (first real station in Czech Republic). This is 1,80 EUR.

bahn.de won't price out a ticket from the (Gr) but Schoena to Decin is 5,10. Is it really that much cheaper?

bahn.de won't price out a ticket from the (Gr) but Schoena to Decin is 5,10. Is it really that much cheaper?

Grenze (Gr) points are generally little tricky and not available online. But that price should fit.

OK Thanks for clarifying. It would be two tickets instead of one.

It's little more complicated - Czech conductor can't sell you ticket from Germany (although there might be exceptions on journeys close to border, but I don't know much about those). However, Palal is right that conductor would sell you ticket from border (Schoena Gr.) to Prague which should be 140 CZK (5,60 EUR). However, surcharge for buying on board may be payable. But still this seems to be best option.

So just board with your German pass and then buy ticket for Czech portion on board. That's best option when it comes to price/hassle ratio.

It's little more complicated - Czech conductor can't sell you ticket from Germany (although there might be exceptions on journeys close to border, but I don't know much about those). However, Palal is right that conductor would sell you ticket from border (Schoena Gr.) to Prague which should be 140 CZK (5,60 EUR). However, surcharge for buying on board may be payable. But still this seems to be best option.

So just board with your German pass and then buy ticket for Czech portion on board. That's best option when it comes to price/hassle ratio.

It's only 5,60 to Decin, right? (Decin to Praha alone is 170 Kc)

It's a long time since I last did what the OP is thinking of doing (and it wasn't on a journey to the Czech Republic), so this may no longer apply... but there used to be a rule that no surcharges are payable for buying a ticket on board in this situation - i.e., where the passenger has a ticket to the border and needs to buy one from the border to his final destination.

It's only 5,60 to Decin, right? (Decin to Praha alone is 170 Kc)

Schona (Gr.) to Prague is 186 CZK. Sorry, my mistake.

Actually a Berlin-Prague bus runs the same 4.5 hours, and costs EUR 9.00 + 3.00 fee. eurolines.com

All this is to say: if you have not already purchased your rail pass, it would make financial sense to omit these two trips/days from it because the pre-paid fares are themselves much lower than the cost of a day of the railpass, not to mention the supplemental CZ fare.

If you'll go for bus, take Student Agency. They're probably best on that route. http://jizdenky.studentagency.cz/

(for English click EU flag on top of website)

Thanks for all the input.
If I understand Savings Fares (Sparpreis) if you miss your train you are out of luck. We will be starting from Frankfurt airport and have no guarantee of how long it might be to go to trains. So tentatively we are thinking German twin rail pass so can get on first available train from FRA to Dresden.

Are you going to Prague the same day you land in Frankfurt?

I'm not discouraging the purchase of the rail pass generally, just that you not buy/use days for the Dresden/Berlin-Prague portions of your vacation.

Are you going to Prague the same day you land in Frankfurt?

I'm not discouraging the purchase of the rail pass generally, just that you not buy/use days for the Dresden/Berlin-Prague portions of your vacation.
Going from FRA to Dresden and to Prague the next day.

Going from FRA to Dresden and to Prague the next day.

Have you priced out the difference between railpasses and full-fare tickets?

If you're overnighting in Dresden, you could buy the pre-paid ticket to Prague for just 19 euros. Yes, it is tied to a specific train (they run every 2 hours), so if your goal is total flexibility it wouldn't be a good fit.

What I'm trying to say, I'm not sure if we're talking past each other:

If you're OK with booking specific trains for the Dresden-Prague and Prague-Berlin trips, you will save a lot of money by getting the pre-purchase ticket instead of using rail pass.