this was what someone posted on fodor
if its not like this i would be v happy as i like the train,but i got a bit worried as with kids
The only ticket we purchased ahead was the sleeper train from Budapest to Venice. I purchased the tickets on raileurope. The price was the same as other websites I checked out. We wanted to be sure we had reservations for that night.
The rest of the train tickets we purchased along the way. I found that for the tickets we needed it was cheaper to purchase them as we went.
Last fall my sister, my niece and myself took the sleeper train from Budapest to Venice. This train was very, very old. What an experience. From around 9 or 10pm to around 2am it was a steady stream of customs and passport people - all wanting to see your face and your passports etc.
The toilet was horrible and scary. We walked through several coach cars - which was not a pleasant experience - to get to the dining car which was dirty and full of men smoking. Be sure to bring food with you and not think there is a dining car. We were able to buy a sandwich to go with fruit and snacks that we had.
Not sure what a day train would be like on this route. We wanted to fly Budapest to Venice but it was in October and a lot of European flights ended on Sept 28.
Just being in the Kleti train station in Budapest was an experience!