I also love the trains - travelling across Germany into Czech (and then Poland or Hungary) is a great way to watch the gradual change from Western to Eastern Europe. Experience the difference between the London-Paris supertrain with all the security of an airport and the 1950s Czech train, much more stark than the globally identical airorts. And you can observe locals of every social class commuting and holidaying. And maybe even start a conversation (babies are great for that).
Berlin to Prague by train is a great idea - because of the trip from Dresden (which is a fantastic city) to Prague along the river. Make sure you do it in the daytime. Look out for castles. If six hours seems long, stay a night somewhere along the way (Dresden is convenient, but any little town with a Unesco World Heritage tag is worth visiting). The train might be a bit old and clunky, but you get a proper dining car with doilies on the tables. Then step off the train right into the Prague old city.
But I agree that the trains can often be late. You'll probably have to change at least once - missing that connection is quite possible, and while your ticket will still get you on the next train it can mess up your plans. So it's worth planning some time off anywhere you have to change. If you're nervous about buying tickets (it can be really hard if you're buying a cross-border ticket in languages you don't know), +1 for Jeffrey Dobek's Polrail service
Polrail Service-Rail travel in Poland and beyond.... And another +1 for
the man in seat 61.
Great post totally agree except for the West East divide which is getting harder and harder to spot. Depends on the train you catch. You can old pre- historic trains running in the Old West too. BTW Geographically speaking Poland ( Capital -Warszawa) is smack in the centre of Europe.
East West divide is more a Political statement! And ever since Berlin Wall came down travel has been very free of those Politics! Ie the iron curtain.
The placement of the iron curtain was decided in at the Yalta conference. That conference in Yalta is located where Geographically ? Yes ....in Crimea ......Crimea until recently belongs to Ukraine. Surrounded by the beautiful Black Sea.
Who held fake elections and basically overtook everything for Mother Russia? Putin and who also shot down MH-17.
So the East or the iron curtain is now located at the Crimean Peninsula!
Look at Estonia they don't want history repeating its self and especially being called a suburb of Saint Petersburg or the prospect of new fake elections conceding the whole country to Russia. This is the modus operandi of Tyranny. How many western leaders have changed out and yet this KGB agent is still there.
Hey completely off Topic ....... if travelling to these iron curtain locations train train train train .
Flying is not terribly safe over rebel held areas