astein

Hi all- Getting a very late start planning a trip at the end of August to early mid september for 2 to 2.5 weeks. We are traveling from the US. We would like to use frequent flier miles and it looks like I can get an outbound to Vienna and a home bound from Prague fairly easily. Vienna was not on my radar at all. Krakow was. But perhaps we can squeeze that in too? Would love to travel from city to city by trains, overnights if possible or by air if necessary due to time constraints. Besides the capitals, Prague and Budapest what other small towns should we see. We are an active couple, love to hike and explore out of the way places. Any help would be much appreciated. Thanks, Alice

astein

Sorry, I am looking for advice to build an itinerary. I am thinking 3 days in Prague, 3 in Budapest, 3 in Vienna. Does that leave enough time to do day trips to Brno, Karlovy Vary, Olomouc, Cesky Krumlov?

Andrew

Brno could easily be done as a detour, almost a stop, off the train between Vienna and Prague; it's almost in between them. Olomouc is not far from Brno. It would be easier to spend a night say in Brno or Olomouc in between then head on to Prague the next day, instead of back-tracking from Prague later.

You could also rent a car in Brno, drive to Olomouc, drive back toward Cesky Krumlov, then up to Prague and drop the car. This is almost what I did in 2012 - you can read my trip report by clicking on my name. Actually, I started in Poland, headed by train from Krakow to Olomouc, bus to Brno, then picked up the car there. Driving in Czech Republic was easy.

You can stop in any number of small towns between Brno and Prague: Telc, Cesky Krumlov, Trebon, etc. Karlovy Vary is a bit out of your way between Cesky Krumlov and Prague - I didn't do it, had plans to day trip from Prague to Karlovy Vary once I dropped the car but I never did. It seemed like quite a detour unless I drove through Prague.

It's harder to fit Krakow in if you start in Vienna; even to get to Budapest requires some backtracking from Vienna. You could: start Vienna, train to Budapest, then either take a long train ride to Krakow or a 6hr bus ride (much shorter than the train as I recall, never taken either one). If you picked that option, you could basically follow my itinerary - with whatever towns you wish to stop in - from 2012 from Krakow if you wanted to. (But I would only do one night in Olomouc - I did two which was a mistake, not much going on there when I was in town). Let's see:

Vienna - 3 nights
Budapest - 3 nights
Krakow - 3 nights
Olomouc - 1 night
Bus to Brno; leave bags at train station, explore Brno; pick up car
Telc - 1 night
Jindrichuv Hradec - 1 night
Cesky Krumlov - 2 nights
drive back to Prague drop car in Prague
Prague - 4 nights (including day trip to Karlovy Vary - or drive up there instead)

That's...18 nights. Of course, you could modify to your heart's content.

kja

"I am thinking 3 days in Prague, 3 in Budapest, 3 in Vienna."

It really depends on YOUR interests. For mine, that would not have been enough in Prague OR Budapest OR Vienna -- but we all differ in what we want to see and experience. I recommend that you get some good guidebooks (or spend some time with a few in your local library), identify the things you most want to see in each location, note their opening/closing times, and mark them on a calendar. Then pencil in your transportation, add some time on either side (for getting to/from your lodging, checking in/out, packing/unpacking, getting oriented, etc.). Then see how things fit together.

There are some wonderful things to see in this part of the world -- enjoy!

trebex

I did 5 days in Prague and 3 in Budapest. An additional day for Budapest might have been nice, but otherwise both were enough.

robertcoon

We visited Prague, Vienna, and Budapest on a recent trip. Krakow is on our list too, but it was just hard to fit that into a 10 day trip with the other three being much closer. We enjoyed all three in different ways, but I'd highly recommend Budapest - one of our favorite cities in Europe.

Christina

3-3-3 sounds fine. But then you want to add in a lot of other stuff, so then I don't get it. You name about four OTHER places in the CR that you want to see, in addition to Prague, as day trips from Prague. So that is impossible, I'm not understanding. If you meant 4 day trips in addition to 3 days in Prague, that would be 10 days in Prague-3-3, and I guess that would work in 2.5 weeks.

But as noted, I would perhaps go to Olomouc on the way to Prague, not do it as a day trip, although you can. I stayed 1-2 nights in Olomouc on the way from PRague to Krakow as that works on well (the train to Krakow goes through Prerov which is just one stop from Olomouc). The problem is the train to Krakow is very long from Prague, but it is reasonable if you go from Prerov (I think it comes up from Vienna there). YOu don't have enough time to do Krakow along with those other cities, though.

Flying into Vienna and out of Prague, I think Krakow has to go.

PalenQ

Would love to travel from city to city by trains, overnights if possible or by air if necessary due to time constraints>

Overnight trains roll between Krakow and Budapest and Krakow to Prague - save time and the cost of a night in a hotel. But overnight trains ain't for all - there is always a modicum of noise from outside (and perhaps snoring on the inside!) - get a private compartment and you can bring on any food and drink you want and just chill!

For lots of good info on trains in that area and night trains check www.budgeteuropetravel.com; www.ricksteves.com and www.seat61.com. Also check out the Eastern European Railpass for covering trains in Austria, Slovakaia, Czech Republic, Poland and Hungary - hop on virtually any train anytime (pay a sleeping berth supplement on night trains but basic rail fare is covered by the pass.)

astein

thank you all for your comments and suggestions. I am using seat61 and have found it very useful for information on trains since this is how we want to get from city to city. I have 2 options I am considering. Fly into vienna landing in the morning. Spending 3 days there with a day trip to Bratislava. Train to Budapest for 4 days. Overnight train to Krakow. 3 days in Krakow, overnight train to Prague. Stay for 6 days. Rent a car in prague and do trips to Olomouc, Brno, Telc, Cesky Krumlov. Fly home from Prague. Is this too ambitious?
The other option is to fly into Warsaw but I am not sure how to schedule the rest of the trip. Suggestions?
Also, is there any good hiking in the areas we will be in? I would trade out some days or cities if so. Thanks again for your help!
Alice

Andrew

If you were to fly into Warsaw, you'd still have to make that long trek from Krakow to Budapest. I don't see it saving you any time from flying into Vienna - maybe even longer that way.

You're thinking of doing day trips from Prague to all of those places - Olomouc, Brno, etc.? That sounds like an awful lot of extra driving - 3-4 hours of driving a day? Although it would be nice to avoid changing hotels so often, I'd much rather change hotels a few extra times and skip the extra driving. You could take a day train from Krakow to Olomouc (looks line one leaves at 10:00, change in Katowice, Olomouc at 15:14)...

kja

"Is this too ambitious?" -- again, it depends. It would be FAR too ambitious for me -- and I travel HARD! -- but ONLY you can decide what will work for you. Good luck!

Andrew

I don't think it would be too ambitious for me, generally.

fourfortravel

I live in Vienna and have driven to all of the places in the Czech Republic on your itinerary. There is a fair amount of road work underway along many of those routes within CZ, so drive times could be impacted.

The options for road food are limited, so perhaps pickup picnic supplies at the grocery.

There really is no need to drive to Brno (2hrs one-way) or to Olomouc (3hrs one-way); road construction delays and the time needed to find parking can take away from sightseeing.

For Cesky Krumlov, plan to arrive early; the parking lot close to the city fills quickly.

astein

Sorry, i was unclear. If I were to start in Warsaw, it would not be to save time but to choose to see that city over Vienna. So I would have just a day or 2 in Warsaw over 3 in Vienna. Also, part of diving in CZ is to see countryside and maybe have more flexibility than using trains. If we want to see just a few small towns in CZ beside Prague what is recommended and would train be better than car because of road work?
Thanks again!

PalenQ

Roads in Czech Republic are just fine - what road work - do you mean bad rods in general - well IME of driving there a long time ago the roads then were just fine and presume they still are.

Andrew

Vienna wasn't the favorite city on my original Prague-Vienna-Budapest trip. But because it's roughly between Prague and Budapest, you might as well visit anyway in my opinion. The two cities that are worst connected are Budapest and Krakow; it's easiest to drop one of those, even though I prefer both of them to Vienna.

I last drove in Czech Republic 2012. There was some road construction for sure, but the biggest problem with that was that it messed up my GPS. I had to detour a few times, but it wasn't the end of the world. You just follow signs and take extra time. I certainly wouldn't avoid driving there just because of that. However, I must admit that driving in Czech Republic (in Southern Bohemia and Moravia) wasn't quite the idyllic experience I was hoping for. It's certainly not ugly (like a lot of the Polish countryside is) but not something I'd seek out again. I'd call it "ordinarily pretty." But there are some really nice towns and castles to see.

Some of the towns are easier to see by car - like Telc. Others Brno and Olomouc are right on the train line between Prague and Poland so are easy to see by train - the day train from Poland to Prague would stop at them anyway. You can also take buses to see the other towns if you don't want to drive. Cesky Krumlov can be seen by train from Prague but bus is more direct - there are a lot of daily buses between Prague and Cesky Krumlov, because it's a huge tourist attraction. The buses in Czech Republic are overall good. I took only one from Olomouc to Brno - a Student Agency bus - and it was quite nice, though I'm not crazy about long bus rides.

If you drive, you will be able to see more towns. If you can live with seeing only say Brno, Olomouc, and Cesky Krumlov I'd probably skip driving. If you want to see a few more, rent a car - as I said, you'd have to drive only one way from Brno or Olomouc back to Prague with stops in between.

fourfortravel

PalenQ, perhaps the roads were fine "a long time ago" when you were driving, but those concrete slabs the Communist regime threw down and called "highways" have long become washboards in many stretches. The worst segments are being replaced, with traffic diverted to the opposite side and reduced to one lane in parts. Even our Czech friends grouse about the condition of the roads and the construction delays at times.

astein, Warsaw versus Vienna is a decision you'll have to make based on your interests. You'll find lovers and haters of both on this forum. We spent a long weekend in Warsaw in May and enjoyed our time; though, we are into history (and Polish food, the cuisine of my heritage). The Vienna that most tourists see is oh-so Imperial and after a couple of days can leave one schloss-weary, but it does give you a sense of the grandeur of being the former capital of an empire.

PalenQ

44travel - I can relate to that - our Michigan roads are the worst ever - thanks for updating me on that.

kja

"So I would have just a day or 2 in Warsaw over 3 in Vienna." For my interests, a few days in Warsaw were sufficient; for my interests, 5 days in Vienna were not sufficient. Your call.

"part of diving in CZ is to see countryside and maybe have more flexibility than using trains. If we want to see just a few small towns in CZ beside Prague what is recommended and would train be better than car because of road work?" I have no objection to rental cars and use them when they suit my needs better than public transportation, but IMO, it is far easier to see and appreciate scenery when one is not driving. So if your goal is to see the countryside and a few towns that are accessible by public transportation, that might be the way to go. Just my opinion.

astein

Our flights are set. We are flying into Vienna and departing Prague. Does anyone have suggestions for hiking in the general area? We would love to experience a multi day moderately challenging hike and would design the itinerary around that if possible.