po_dourado

Hi!
I'll be leaving Budapest on my way to Prague, and, since its a long journey i thought about stopping in Cesky, have some time and then make my way to Prague.

I've been searching for some ways to make this possible, but the only option that i found was
- rent a shuttle in Budapest, but, from what i read, it can take 6 hours til Cesky!

- leave Cesky by the end of the day on a Student Agency Bus on my way to Prague.

Well, here are my questions:
1. Do you guys think this is a good option? I'm not planning to sleep in Cesky, since i wanna enjoy my saturday night in Prague.
2. If so, Im also concerned about my luggage. Is there a locker in the city/bus station that i can leave my stuff and pick it when i leave town?
3. If my idea is no reasonable for some reason, is there a faster way to jump from budapest to prague? the fastest i found was a 7 hour train, and i'm not considering taking a night bus, since i wanna enjoy the night in budapest.

Thanks in advance, pple =))

Andrew

How about a direct train from Budapest to Linz, Austria, then a shuttle to CK from there?

Here's a Linz shuttle: never used it but I was considering this option once upon a time:

http://www.shuttlelobo.cz/4/en/shutt...cesky-krumlov/

Looks like you could train from Budapest to Linz (4:41 travel time, arrive 11:51), and pick up the above shuttle at 12:30, get you to CK about 14:00 - still about six hours but perhaps cheaper than a shuttle. (I dislike long bus rides and would personally prefer most of the way on a train.)

Having been to Cesky Krumlov last year, I personally wouldn't go to all of this trouble just to spend a few hours there. The place is worth visiting for sure, but it's a bit overrated in my opinion and not worth a lot of hassle to see.

po_dourado

thanks, Andrew. sounds like a little too exhausting for me also, since i'm also visiting vienna, salzburg and munich on this trip.

but i was dreaming about visiting cesky for so long that i was trying to find a way to fit it in on my trip.

you're the first person that i saw on the internet saying that cesky is overrated. why do you think that?

adrienne

He's only the first person you've encountered but not the only person who feels that way. Sometimes people don't want to admit that they weren't thrilled with places that many others claim to love.

CK is a quirky small town but not worth spending hours going out of your way to get there for just a few hours. It is quite over hyped. I went there but had a car and was doing a tour of southern Czech Republic so it was not out of my way. I stayed 2 nights (arrived mid afternoon the first day) and thought that it was more than enough time. I also went to a monastery just outside CK and liked that more than CK.

It sounds like city night life is one of your priorities and CK would not fit in as it's dead at night (at least when I was there).

Andrew

Yeah, I agree with adrienne. I had a car as well and drove around to other towns and liked other towns better than Cesky Krumlov. It's just a bit tainted by tourism in my view; some places can absorb tourism without losing their charm and others struggled to do that - and I'd say Krumlov is one of the latter. Too many businesses seem geared to tourists. It isn't the kind of place you can imagine locals spending much time, unless they work at one of the tourist-oriented businesses there.

Prague is very, very touristy as well but it is better able to withstand the tourists. (It's also obviously a large city and Krumlov is just a little town.) I still love Prague and find it charming and fun, and I've been there twice.

Some people still love Cesky Krumlov, though and maybe they'll pop into this thread to differ with me. (and again, it's not a BAD place, but if you read all the hype, you expect some sort of wonderland...which it isn't.) It's just one of those places people disagree over due to different preferences and tastes.

Snowflake25

We did the reverse to what Andrew mentioned. We took the ShuttleLobo from CK to Linz and then the train from Linz to Budapest and spent most of the day in transit. I think you can plan on the reverse trip taking up most of your day, and then you would still have to take the bus from CK to Prague. I loved our visit to CK, but we spent most of a day and evening, also spending the night there. If you are only planning on visiting for a couple hours I would think it is not worth it.

centraleurope

Oops... Sorry, I responded to your other post of this question.

Cesky Krumlov is a tourist trap. ... I would not execute this plan if it was the nicest town in Europe.

When I go from Budapest to Prague, I go thru Bratislava ... Not sure the order of your cities and when you are in Vienna.

quokka

Cesky Krumlov is a very pretty old town, worth visiting for itself but ruined by mass tourism during the day. Between 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. it is one big crowded mess. Plan an overnight stay so you can experience and enjoy it in the evening and in the morning when the day trippers and tour buses are gone.

po_dourado

guys, thanks for all of your replies! i was feeling this way about CK, but i was afraid to admit it. i don't really enjoy cities that are have this mass of tourists - i was disappointed in Toledo, Spain last year. so many tourist, gift shops, over priced (and not so good) restaurants.

Christina

ha ha, well then don't go to CK, it's all about tourism. It's really not worth a special trip. I went for a day trip when staying in Prague and I really enjoyed it for a day trip but I would not recommend making some special trip to go there if it is difficult. Even if the day trippers are gone, it's still mainly a tourist town, you can't escape that. It's very small and not that authentic IMO.

po_dourado

thats a great review, Christina. i'm coming from Brasil to eastern Europe, and i don't like to spend my precious time in places that are tourist traps. in fact, i wasn't considering going to Prague for this reason, but i think the city's beauty and history are worth it.

centraleurope

In which case, I actually used to live in Bratislava... It has a charming old town which you can see in a few hours. It does not take you out of your way at all.

Wander the old street behind St. martin's, and you will see no tourists...