a are frequent. EC trains operate every two hours from Prague to Bratislava and Žilina. There is one daily train from Prague to Banská Bystrica, Zvolen, Poprad and Košice. All these cities have a direct overnight sleeper car connection from Prague.
Cheap tickets SporoTiket Evropa can be bought at the Czech Railways e-shop, at least 3 days in advance. The price begins at €15 for seat or €26 for couchette. Please note that such e-ticket is valid only on the one specified train!
If you want greater flexibility or cannot buy in advance over the Internet, you can get a significant discount at a railway station if you buy a return ticket called CityStar. Such international return ticket is valid for one month on any train (and cannot be bought over the Internet at all).
From Germany
There are three daytime and one overnight train from Berlin to Bratislava. Cheap tickets can be bought at German Railways e-shop ,when bought at least 3 days in advance. The price begins at €29.
From Austria
Hourly regional expresses operate from Vienna to Bratislava. You can use EURegio ticket for €14 – a return ticket valid 4 days.
From Poland
There is an overnight through car from Warszawa to Bratislava via Czech territory. Direct train connection from Poland is very poor, a bus is generally a better alternative. There are only few local trains going just over the border line – one train Zwardoń (PL)–Skalité (SK). There's no international passenger traffic at Nowy Sącz–Prešov (since Dec 2010) and Lupków-Medzilaborce line (since Dec 2009).
If you really want to travel from Poland by train, prepare for a full-day trip with a lot of train changes. It's cheaper to buy Polish ticket only to border point (Skalité Gr.) and then buy a Slovak domestic ticket at conductor (€1.30 surcharge).
From Hungary
There are EC trains from Budapest to Bratislava running every two hours and two IC
