The overnight train journey from Budapest was very comfortable since I had all the compartment to myself. I had a quick shower in the bathroom at the end of the coach and was ready for my last day visiting cities in Central Europe. A small breakfast box was handed out around 7:30 AM. I ate a little and packed the rest as we were about to reach Prague. Our train arrived around 8:30 AM.
After reaching there, I looked for the luggage storage and dropped off my duffel bag there and took my backpack and walked into the Old Town.
I had some time so I had my breakfast box from the train sitting outside a little park walkway outside the Church of Saint Henry and Saint Cunigunde. I roamed around some more and saw the Apple Museum and Hard Rock Cafe.
Walking back towards the Powder Tower I saw the Smetana Hall and the Hybernia Theatre and I joined the Old Town and Jewish Quarter Free Tour 🔗 at 11:00 AM.
After finishing the tour, I walked back to the Prague Train Station for my journey back to Frankfurt.
I would be following the same route as I did on the first day when I got Prague from Frankfurt in reverse. I boarded the Ex 559 for Cheb. I changed to regional train Sp 5290 there bound for Nürnberg. And from Nürnberg I took train ICE 22 to Frankfurt (Main) Hbf.
| Train / Service | Depart | From | Arrive | To |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ex 556 | 14:33 | Praha hl.n. | 17:27 | Cheb |
| Sp 5290 | 17:36 | Cheb | 19:22 | Nürnberg Hbf |
| ICE 22 | 19:30 | Nürnberg Hbf | 21:36 | Frankfurt (Main) Hbf |
The journey from Prague to Cheb was comfortable and passed through yellow fields of the Czech countryside. Changing the train at Cheb was as easy as getting down from the train arriving from Prague and boarding the train to Nürnberg, which was across the same platform.
Changing the train at Nürnberg turned out to be more tricky than I had anticipated. It was a much larger station and there were multiple ICE trains arriving and departing at the same time. I tried to find the right platform and boarded a train that had arrived. Just to make sure I asked someone if this was ICE 22 heading towards Frankfurt, it wasn’t. I quickly got off and went back to the display board to see where ICE 22 would be arriving and luckily I made it to the correct platform and correct train this time.
That was a close call. Had I been on the wrong train I don’t know when I would have realized it and how I would have made it back to Frankfurt that night because I had to catch my flight home the next day. Luckily everything worked out and I made it back to Frankfurt at around 9:30 PM.