The recurring topic is here again! Please share your tips on unusual travel to and from the RIPE Meeting in Prague. Let me start with some tips from me:
For the train travel, I can recommend buying tickets all the way to the station Praha-Vysočany, which is within walking distance of the venue. It might be a bit more convenient than using the metro and it will probably don’t change the cost of the international ticket.
Since this year there is European Sleeper, a private railway carrier operating sleeper trains between Brussels/Amsterdam and Berlin/Prague. The schedule is unfortunately not very well aligned to the RIPE Meeting schedule: on the way there, there is only a train running from Friday to Saturday or from Monday to Tuesday, which is too late. On the way back, there is a connection from Thursday to Friday and then only from Sunday to Monday.
There are daytime trains arriving to Prague from all possible directions; these might be significantly cheaper and also more modern than the sleepers. If train is not an option, there are also international busses/coaches by RegioJet and FlixBus - the former is running busses on a somewhat higher level of service than usual.
I stuck that in, and I just get a 20 minute wait at Praha hl.n. followed by a 6 minute trip on another train. Vs a 25 minute metro ride. I am travelling from Berlin, I think.
My travel: London for IoTSF conference before, and IETF121 (Dublin) afterwards.
I will take a single direct flight to Paris (from Ottawa), and then Eurostar to London.
On Saturday October 26, I will take Eurostar to Brussells, and ICE/DB to Berlin, and do some stuff Saturday and Sunday in Berlin, and then Monday morning, take the RJ257 to Prague, arriving at 11am. I could be persuaded to go via Vienna instead, and I could be persuaded to travel on Sunday to Prague.
On evening of Thursday Oct.31, I will take the European Sleeper from Praha to Brussells, where I catch the Eurostar to London, and then from London Euston a train to Holyhead (in Wales). Then a Ferry to Dublin.
18:04 Praha hl.n. (main station) 09:27 Bruxelles Midi/Brussel Zuid Friday 1 November
Eurostar: 10:23 Arrives: London 11:57
London → Holyhead 13:02 arrives at 17:18 4h 16m
Holyhead->Dublin Fri, 1 Nov, 20:30 - 23:45
(After IETF I return to London by Ferry/Train for a few days, and then Eurostar/AF back to Canada)
I could perhaps be persuaded to skip IETF Saturday Hackathon and travel Friday/Saturday instead of Thursday night/Friday. The European sleeper is certainly more pleasant if you book three people in a three bed roomette. I haven’t booked yet, but I will book at the end of next week.
well, perhaps that’s not possible if the sleeper does not run on Friday night.
A route via Vienna/Paris/London might also work, I haven’t found the right planning magic.
I did choose the European Sleeper (Amsterdam-Prague) anyway, because I like night-trains! I will arrive on Saturday, and then stay a few days longer to catch the return train. And they gave me 20% discount, so I think it’s a great deal!