PRG-DRE České dráhy EuroCity ‘Canopus’ 1st Class

Having had a great day exploring the city of Prague, it was time to head back to our base in Dresden and so we were back at Praha Hlavní Nádraží (Prague Main Station) ready to catch a train back across the border. As with the journey to Prague, this service would be operated by České dráhy (Czech Railways) as a EuroCity service, however instead of running to Berlin like many of the Prague to Dresden services do, this one would instead run to Zurich overnight as the ‘Canopus’ sleeper train. Whilst the journey overnight to Zurich takes over 14.5 hours, our journey to Dresden would take around two and a half hours, with us due to arrive at 2059.

Prague – The City of a Hundred Spires

Our journey from Dresden and through northern Czechia down to Prague with České dráhy (CD) had been relaxing, with us getting to enjoy some beautiful scenery as we followed the Elbe valley. Arriving at Praha Hlavní Nádraži (Prague Main Station) just before 1130 meant it was time to do some exploring with us having around seven hours in the Czech capital before our train back to Dresden. With our arrival into Prague coming just before lunch, we decided first to find some food and so headed to somewhere less than 10 minutes’ walk from the station that I’ve always wanted to visit.

DRE-PRG České dráhy EuroCity ‘Berliner’ – 1st Class

With our base in Dresden providing good connections across Saxony and into Czechia, we had decided to have a daytrip to another city partway through our stay. As such, on our third full day in Dresden, rather than jump on a tram from the Haupbahnhof into the city centre, we headed up to the high level through platforms ready to jump on a service to Prague. This journey would be with České dráhy on one of their Eurocity ‘Berliner’ services which, as the name suggests connects the Czech and German capitals via Dresden.

Dresden – Florence on the Elbe – Part 1

For our two-week holiday in Germany, we had decided to split our time between two base locations and, having travelled from Peterborough by train, ship and more trains, we had arrived in our first destination onboard the European Sleeper. The city of Dresden is the capital of the German state of Saxony and third largest in the former German Democratic Republic after Berlin and Leipzig. As the historic seat of the Electors and Kings of Saxony, since the reunification of Germany in 1990 Dresden has become a cultural and educational centre of the country and is one of the most visited cities in Germany.

ROO-DRE European Sleeper – Comfort Plus

After a day exploring the Dutch city of Rotterdam, it was time to continue our journey east to Germany and our final destination of Dresden. However, before we could head east, we needed to head south as I had made a slight error when booking our tickets. So, after a quick journey with Nederland Spoorwegen, we were at Roosendaal and ready to start the next leg of our journey, an overnight trip on the European Sleeper.

Rotterdam – The Gateway to Europe

Having arrived at Hoek van Holland on the overnight ferry from Harwich, its really simple to get into the city of Rotterdam itself, with the ferry terminal having its own stop, Hoek van Holland Haven, on the Rotterdam Metro’s line B. From here there is a train every 20 minutes, with the journey to Beurs in the city centre taking around 40 minutes. If you want to head to Rotterdam Centraal, you can either change at Beurs for lines D & E, or change at Scheidam Centrum for rail services to Rotterdam Centraal. You can get a day ticket for the Rotterdam transport network for €17, or as with most major cities these days, pay as you go with a contactless enabled bank card.