train ride prague to krakow

hi there! i am looking at traveling from prague to krakow in september i have heard the train ride is more scenic and slightly quicker than a bus,just wondering if anyone could give me some advice on the cheapest train travel,a rough price,an estimate on how long the journey is and if it is possible for me to purchase tickets online,any help would be greatly appreciated,cheers!

Rail Europe will sell you a ticket in advance, but it's easier to just turn up at the station and buy one. Look at Rail Europe's website and you can get all the times and prices without buying.

I don't know if Rail Europe which Redpaddy mentioned is the same organization as Eurail, but according to their site, you have three options, namely High Speed Trains, Scenic Trains and Hotel Trains. The planning tools should help you decide which one to go with.

Rail Europe and Eurail are two different companies. Both OK though and good websites too.

awesome,thanks heaps for your help guys i will check out both websites and hopefully be able to find something,cheers!!!

Both Rail Europe and Eurail suck IMO.

Prague to Krakow bought in Prague should be around 37 EUR (1000 CZK). It can be a bit more if you use a fast EC train or a sleeper (10-40 EUR), but this is a good estimate. I found the price using http://www.jizdenka.cz/ . The cheapest connections (for 37 EUR) are via Bohumín. Trains that go via Katowice should be around 40 EUR (1070 CZK), other connections will be even more expensive. (The longer the journey in kilometers the higher the price.)

You can find an online schedule for the trains at

http://jizdnirady.idnes.cz/vlakyautobusy/spojeni and

http://www.reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/query.exe/d

Both sites have English language option.

I prefer the German site www.bahn.de for online schedules as they have the best search engine for international travel in Europe. The czech site is good if you want trains in Eastern Europe and the exact distance in kilometers the train travels.

I've used Rail Europe since they first started - and they have been 100% excellent every time.
Each to their own, but I would still suggest that the enquirer looks them and Eurail up to see times and prices. It costs nothing.
Incidentally, when I've had problems with one or two journeys that I booked with Rail Europe, they were just superb at helping me resolve things. Unlike DB and Dutch Railways were.