Magic monk travel logistics v1.2
travel·@magicmonk·
0.000 HBDMagic monk travel logistics v1.2
 Addition from previous version: - Dresden to Berlin - more info on Prague train station - more info on Prague currency exchange This is a live document, documenting how I got from one place to another, and how to buy the tickets for each form of transport, costs etc. I will be updating this as time goes on. # Europe ## <a name="austoeuro"></a>From Australia to Austria Eva Air flight from Australia to Taipei, then from Taipei to Vienna, total cost $1250 aud. Purchased directly from eva air website using PayPal. Stop over in Taipei for about 16 hours, plan to visit a couple of places on this day using the metro. ### Transport from Vienna airport into Vienna city center CAT (city airport train) plus 3 day unlimited public transport. Cost around 20 euro. Buy from ticket machine at airport.  ### Vienna to Prague Flixbus, install app from play store, buy ticket within app (via PayPal), cost about 25 euro. Within the app you can see the station from where you are departing. For me it was Vienna Erdberg. You can click to navigate to the station from the app. ### Prague Public Transport Public transport costs are timed. You can get 30 min ticket, 90 minute ticket, daily ticket etc. Works on busses, trams and metro. Daily ticket costs 110 czk (that's right, not euro). Don't bother trying to work out the ticket machine, it takes Einstein to do it, plus it also only takes coins which is a hassle. Just buy a daily ticket from a tobacco store at the metro station. I discovered later after withdrawing some czk from an ATM that most stores will take Euro if you ask them. ### Prague to Cesky Krumlov and back You can get Flixbus there in the morning, walk around for 3/4 hours then come back to Prague at night. About 15 euro each way depending on your departure times.  #### Currency exchange in Prague On my arrival in Prague, the hostel receptionist told me that I needed to have Czech Korona in cash as that is all that they accept in shops, not Euro. Then I panicked. I quickly went to an ATM to withdraw some CZK. When the ATM asked how much I wanted to withdraw, I chose the smallest option, which was 10000 CZK. In Australia the smallest option on an ATM would be something like 100 aud, so I thought it would be something similar to that amount. Little did I know that the smallest default amount, 10000 czk was about 600 dollars Aud, or about 400 euro. I suddenly had too much cash that I needed to convert back into Australian dollars. There is one particular currency exchange store that had a good reputation. Photo of the shop below. I was there lining up in the morning that I was leaving Prague and there were many others also lining up. They managed to have enough Australian dollars for me to convert back and offered an exchange rate very similar to Google. (insert photo of currency exchange) ### Prague to Dresden I bought a train ticket from Prague to Berlin from the http://www.bhan.de website. It's not easy to change the language into English on the website. After a bit of fiddling around, here is the [link I found](https://reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/query.exe/en?ld=41124&protocol=https:&seqnr=1&ident=n6.07770124.1545900937&rt=1&newrequest=yes&&country=GBR) which takes you to the reservation page in English. Now here is the trick. I did not buy a ticket from Prague ending at Dresden. Instead, I bought a Prague to Berlin ticket with Dresden as a 48 hour stop over. It appeared that I did not pay any extra for this. 44.4 Euro including seat reservation. To set Dresden as a stop over here is the screenshot of the reservation page:  The maximum amount of hours is 48 for the stop over. I personally think I could have done Dresden in one day but I guess I needed a bit of a break. After you purchase the ticket, you have the option of loading the ticket onto the app DB Navigator, which can be downloaded from Google Play (and I assume Apple Store too).  Once you load the ticket into the app, it can be accessed without going online. Much easier. Unlike many people suggest, you don't need to print your ticket. Just make sure to show them the ticket bar code on your phone via the app when the ticket inspector comes. I spent an extra $4 euro to book a seat but it was unnecessary as there were many spare seats (on this date 2018-12-26). If it was peak time I would suggest you book a seat though.  On the day of departure, I walked from my hostel to the train station. I arrived the station an hour prior to departure time, which I thought might be necessary as I was not familiar with the station. I was right, as soon as I got there I saw a tourist frantically asking for help because she didn't know where to go. Here is the map of the train station.  There are basically 3 floors: * floor -2 where you buy tickets and connect to the metro. * floor -1 where you eat at restaurants and buy stuff from shops, and * floor 0 where you get on the train. There is a big screen on both floor 0 and -1 showing you when each train arrives and which platform, as shown below: (insert screen picture here) Don't panic if your train doesn't have a platform number. It doesn't show up until about 15 minutes before the train arrives. Once you see the platform number it won't take you long to get there. You will see that the platform info is made up of a number and a letter. For example, 3S or 2J or something like that. If it says 3S, it simply means the Sever(north) section of platform 3. So when you are ready to catch the train, go up to floor 0, then keep walking forward until you get to l platform 3. Then there will be arrows showing which stairs you walk up to the Sever part. Likewise for any platform number and section. Once you get on the train, head to your compartment or seat. It should be quite easy to find as everything is well labeled and in order. There is space to put your luggage Also. ### Dresden Public Transport After I got here I discovered that public transport is quite similar to Prague, except there are also machines at tram stops and they are much easier to use, plus they accept credit card as well. I used my card to buy a daily ticket (6 euros) and used the tram about 3 times within a day, which just makes it more worthwhile than a one hour ticket (2.4 euros). Make sure after you get the ticket from the machine, you validate it as you get on the tram, as you would do in other European cities. Once validated you don't need to validate it again.  ### Dresden to Berlin As I arrived in Dresden hbf I discovered the layout of the station is totally different to Prague. You just get a number for which platform the train is arriving and you simply go to that platform in the station (e.g. Platform 16). The whole station is clearly labeled with which platform is where so you won't have trouble finding your platform. ### Berlin public transport Similar to Dresden, you van either get a 2 hour ticket or daily ticket which lasts until 3am the next day. There is one thing that makes Berlin's public transport unique, and that is you can buy all your tickets in an app called BVG Tickets.
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