Ever since I discovered it while I was poking about on Vagonweb, the one thing I absolutely, positively, definitely had to do on this trip was have a ride on the Railjet.
All trains should be like the Railjet. All. Of. Them.
Before we opted for Zagreb as our first destination, the plan was to visit Ljubljana, then to go to Bratislava via Villach, giving us a four-hour go on the Railjet. This plan changed, obviously, so I had to make other plans to ensure we had at least one journey where we took the Railjet. So this morning, rather than take the direct service from Budapest to Prague, we took the Railjet to Vienna and again on to Prague.
I started the day with a severe case of wine-flu because of an accident with had some pálinka, after some cider in what became our favourite bar in Budapest. I forced my way through it, just, and after some coffee we took a bus to Keleti and got to the lounge in time for me to have more coffee and a bottle of the Red Doctor, and steal some peanuts.
The 09:40 Railjet Xpress 62 left Budapest-Keleti slightly late, but was lovely. I was very excited when I got on because I’d seen the seating plan online and booked us individual seats in Business Class either side of the aisle, in the little private mini-compartments and they were lovely. There were some Americans in our Quiet Carriage which meant that it wasn’t – for the full two hours and forty minutes – but they weren’t on the second train which meant for a much more peaceful and enjoyable three hours and fifty-seven minutes.
In Vienna we had time to sit in the lounge drinking more coffee and sparkling water, then boarded the 13:10 Railjet 76 to Prague. We were served a complimentary welcome drink, so I had a dinky bottle of sparkling wine – to see whether the hair of the dog actually works or not. Sort of, I think.
The train crew changed at Břeclav and the Czech guard gave us discount vouchers for the restaurant car, which we took advantage of later on in the journey when we had lunch at our seats. On proper plates. With shiny knives and forks. All very civilised. I had Hendlbrust nach Wiener Art mit Petersilerdäpfeln, and companion had Rindsuppe mit Fleisch, Nudeln und Gemüse.
We watched the world go by, but I also had to work on curing my stupidity of the night before with some little snoozes, so I didn’t see it all. This journey was more about the train than it was the view, so it didn’t matter, even if both combined to make for a fantastic journey. And if we did want to enjoy the view in between ours naps, we had our own private windows.
Although the Railjet can do up to 230kph, ours didn’t exceed 160kph, but it really didn’t matter one jot. In fact, I think I’d have been upset if the journey had been shorter. I wanted to take up residence in that seat.
Considering the class of service on this train and that it’s included in the pass, it’s an Interrailer’s wet dream; the ÖBB doesn’t insist on compulsory reservations – SNCF take note – but if you choose to book a seat in advance, the fee is only 3,50€. To book a seat, including the upgrade to Business Class, is 15€ which, for the journey and the experience, is a bargain. I reserved the Zagreb, Bratislava and Oradea trains over the phone through the ÖBB customer services and they were brilliant at every stage.
I took a quick walk along the train – to see how the other half live – and it was also really nice. In the back half of our coach through the galley was the first class quiet zone, then first, then second. The seats looked lovely in both; leather and comfy in first, fabric and comfy-looking in second. Importantly, there was lots of legroom throughout.
We arrived in Praha Hlavní Nádraží approximately fifteen minutes late due to engineering works somewhere unpronouncable. We cheated and took an Uber to the Airbnb because rush hour and bags, then went out in the evening and found a local restaurant where I feasted on Guláš – completely by chance, as my food-selection method was to close my eyes and point – and companion on Spaghetti Carbonara.
With drinks, the meal for the two of us came to about 16€, which can’t be sniffed at.
