Trip Rpt: Krakow+Prague+Budapest by Overnight Train with Christmas Markets
Dec 13th, 2003, 07:12 AM
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Trip Rpt: Krakow+Prague+Budapest by Overnight Train with Christmas Markets
Fabulous Trip completed in 8 days (Nov 28-Dec 5) by a couple in their early thirties.
KRAKOW, POLAND (2.5 days)
HOTEL: Copernicus. Highly Recommend. Great location, Great service, Good breakfast. (Rate 525 PLN)
TOWN: Charming and not touristy (at least in Nov).
FOOD: Disappointing, but incredibly inexpensive. Padva NOT recommended.
XMAS MKT: In fill-swing. Lots of charm. Weak merchandise. Interesting food & drink.
SOUVENIR: None
HIGHLIGHTS (in no particular order):
1) DaVinci's "Lady with and Ermine"
2) Wawel Castle: VERY good. Recommend the Palace Tour. Enjoyed this castle much more than the castles in Prague and Budapest.
3) Auschwitz & Birkenau: On reco of hotel, hired a taxi to drive us and wait for us to see Auschwitz & Birkenau. Cost $100US. Glad we did this (and not a bus tour or mass transit) because Auschwitz is a haunting visit (very hard to describe) and when you want to leave, you want to leave.
DISAPPOINTMENTS:
1) Couldn?t find any local crafts to bring home.
PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC (3 days)
HOTEL: Four Seasons Hotel. Highly Recommend. (Rate 225 E)
TOWN: Incredible. Looks like a fairytale. But it is too touristy.
FOOD: Ate at Barock a lot. It was good.
XMAS MKT: Large and in full swing. Included musical performances by children, ice skating in an ?ice castle,? lots of sweets & drinks, but poor to mediocre merchandise.
SOUVENIR: Ceramic plates from Moravia.
HIGHLIGHTS:
1) Hotel arranged a 3 hour walking tour with Dasha, a resident of Prague. Cost about $100US. It was great (our first try at a private tour, we will definitely do this sort of thing again.)
DISAPPOINTMENTS:
1) Prague Castle: Audio guides were VERY weak. Wish we?d taken a tour.
2) City is very touristy. Too much crystal.
BUDAPEST, HUNGARY (2 days)
HOTEL: Kempinski. Adequate but least enjoyed hotel of the trip. Too big to care about providing good service. Good location. (171 E)
TOWN: Beautiful, but crumbling before our eyes. City is too spread out too see on foot. So, we took a HORRIBLE tour by van of the city (hotel recommended all 4 of the local the bus/van tours). Tour Cost was $60US.
FOOD: GREAT, every single time we ate! Enjoyed Lou Lou, Cyrano, Havana Café, and Christmas Market food.
XMAS MKT: BEST of the three cities. Great Food, Good Merchandise. Not too big.
SOUVENIRS: Down comforter. (Hotel recommended the shop. I don?t think I got a fabulous deal, but better than I can get in the States.) Also bought ceramic plates at the Christmas Market.
HIGHLIGHTS:
1) Food
2) Christmas Market
DISAPPOINTMENTS:
1) Not enough time. Needed one more day to try a spa and see more sites.
2) Hotel
3) City Tour
TRANSPORTATION
Took two overnight trains to save daytime for sightseeing. This decision was based on a fabulous overnight train experience we had in Spain last year. Booked first class sleepers last year in Spain and this year, as follows:
Krakow to Prague:
Departed at 10:45 PM. Station was easy to navigate. Conductor spoke perfect English.
Compartment configuration is identical to Spain?s Train Hotel, but the compartment is worn-out and was notably less comfortable. The ride between Krakow and border was very rough and loud. Ride seemed smoother and quieter after crossing border (1 am). Arrived (slightly early) at 7:15 AM. Got some rough sleep. To avoid taxi concerns, we arranged for a Hotel taxi meet us on the platform.
Prague to Budapest:
Departed at 11:34 PM. Station was easy to navigate. Conductor spoke perfect English.
Compartment configuration same as above. Entire ride was smoother than Krakow to Prague, but still not nearly as comfortable as in Spain. Slept better this time but not especially well. To avoid taxi concerns, we had a Hotel taxi meet us on the platform.
Conclusion: When planning future travel in Central Europe, I will think twice about overnight trains until the sleeper cars are replaced with more modern equipment. Until then, I will look more closely at traveling by car or plane.
Final Thoughts / FYIs:
--We never looked at our phrase books--everyone in every country spoke excellent English.
-- We never encountered ANY safety concerns.
-- We still can?t decide which city was our favorite, it?s between Krakow and Prague.
--Movies in Prague run in their original language (not dubbed into Czech), so we saw a movie to kill time before our 11:34 PM train departure.
--Thanks to all posters that helped with planning this trip, especially Bill Haines (hope you?re not too upset with my thoughts on Central Europe's Overnight Trains.)
Kate
KRAKOW, POLAND (2.5 days)
HOTEL: Copernicus. Highly Recommend. Great location, Great service, Good breakfast. (Rate 525 PLN)
TOWN: Charming and not touristy (at least in Nov).
FOOD: Disappointing, but incredibly inexpensive. Padva NOT recommended.
XMAS MKT: In fill-swing. Lots of charm. Weak merchandise. Interesting food & drink.
SOUVENIR: None
HIGHLIGHTS (in no particular order):
1) DaVinci's "Lady with and Ermine"
2) Wawel Castle: VERY good. Recommend the Palace Tour. Enjoyed this castle much more than the castles in Prague and Budapest.
3) Auschwitz & Birkenau: On reco of hotel, hired a taxi to drive us and wait for us to see Auschwitz & Birkenau. Cost $100US. Glad we did this (and not a bus tour or mass transit) because Auschwitz is a haunting visit (very hard to describe) and when you want to leave, you want to leave.
DISAPPOINTMENTS:
1) Couldn?t find any local crafts to bring home.
PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC (3 days)
HOTEL: Four Seasons Hotel. Highly Recommend. (Rate 225 E)
TOWN: Incredible. Looks like a fairytale. But it is too touristy.
FOOD: Ate at Barock a lot. It was good.
XMAS MKT: Large and in full swing. Included musical performances by children, ice skating in an ?ice castle,? lots of sweets & drinks, but poor to mediocre merchandise.
SOUVENIR: Ceramic plates from Moravia.
HIGHLIGHTS:
1) Hotel arranged a 3 hour walking tour with Dasha, a resident of Prague. Cost about $100US. It was great (our first try at a private tour, we will definitely do this sort of thing again.)
DISAPPOINTMENTS:
1) Prague Castle: Audio guides were VERY weak. Wish we?d taken a tour.
2) City is very touristy. Too much crystal.
BUDAPEST, HUNGARY (2 days)
HOTEL: Kempinski. Adequate but least enjoyed hotel of the trip. Too big to care about providing good service. Good location. (171 E)
TOWN: Beautiful, but crumbling before our eyes. City is too spread out too see on foot. So, we took a HORRIBLE tour by van of the city (hotel recommended all 4 of the local the bus/van tours). Tour Cost was $60US.
FOOD: GREAT, every single time we ate! Enjoyed Lou Lou, Cyrano, Havana Café, and Christmas Market food.
XMAS MKT: BEST of the three cities. Great Food, Good Merchandise. Not too big.
SOUVENIRS: Down comforter. (Hotel recommended the shop. I don?t think I got a fabulous deal, but better than I can get in the States.) Also bought ceramic plates at the Christmas Market.
HIGHLIGHTS:
1) Food
2) Christmas Market
DISAPPOINTMENTS:
1) Not enough time. Needed one more day to try a spa and see more sites.
2) Hotel
3) City Tour
TRANSPORTATION
Took two overnight trains to save daytime for sightseeing. This decision was based on a fabulous overnight train experience we had in Spain last year. Booked first class sleepers last year in Spain and this year, as follows:
Krakow to Prague:
Departed at 10:45 PM. Station was easy to navigate. Conductor spoke perfect English.
Compartment configuration is identical to Spain?s Train Hotel, but the compartment is worn-out and was notably less comfortable. The ride between Krakow and border was very rough and loud. Ride seemed smoother and quieter after crossing border (1 am). Arrived (slightly early) at 7:15 AM. Got some rough sleep. To avoid taxi concerns, we arranged for a Hotel taxi meet us on the platform.
Prague to Budapest:
Departed at 11:34 PM. Station was easy to navigate. Conductor spoke perfect English.
Compartment configuration same as above. Entire ride was smoother than Krakow to Prague, but still not nearly as comfortable as in Spain. Slept better this time but not especially well. To avoid taxi concerns, we had a Hotel taxi meet us on the platform.
Conclusion: When planning future travel in Central Europe, I will think twice about overnight trains until the sleeper cars are replaced with more modern equipment. Until then, I will look more closely at traveling by car or plane.
Final Thoughts / FYIs:
--We never looked at our phrase books--everyone in every country spoke excellent English.
-- We never encountered ANY safety concerns.
-- We still can?t decide which city was our favorite, it?s between Krakow and Prague.
--Movies in Prague run in their original language (not dubbed into Czech), so we saw a movie to kill time before our 11:34 PM train departure.
--Thanks to all posters that helped with planning this trip, especially Bill Haines (hope you?re not too upset with my thoughts on Central Europe's Overnight Trains.)
Kate
Dec 13th, 2003, 07:45 AM
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That is fine: people take different trains with different results, and I agree that the Spanish hotel trains (line the German Night Trains) are something special.
Prague Walks, at http://www.praguewalks.com/intro.htm, offer a six hour tour for 900 crowns or 20 US dollars. Shorter tours with other firms are cheaper. Of course, these cheaper walks are not private, as yours was.
[email protected]
Prague Walks, at http://www.praguewalks.com/intro.htm, offer a six hour tour for 900 crowns or 20 US dollars. Shorter tours with other firms are cheaper. Of course, these cheaper walks are not private, as yours was.
[email protected]
Dec 13th, 2003, 09:03 AM
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Ben, unfortunately 900 CZ Coruna is now $34 USD, but your point is well taken. $100 did seem a bit high.
By the way, there is an excellent world currency converter here:
http://www.xe.com/ucc/convert.cgi
Dec 14th, 2003, 01:02 PM
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Hi JonJon,
I actually like crystal a lot. We registered and received a bunch of it as wedding gifts, and we sometimes still receive pieces for Christmas gifts. However, even if I LOVED crystal, Prague would seem too touristy to me because of the crystal. Think of the largest shopping mall you've ever visited, and then imagine that all its shops (except maybe 3) sell tons of crystal. This is what Prague (the old town) is like.
Hope that helps!
Kate
I actually like crystal a lot. We registered and received a bunch of it as wedding gifts, and we sometimes still receive pieces for Christmas gifts. However, even if I LOVED crystal, Prague would seem too touristy to me because of the crystal. Think of the largest shopping mall you've ever visited, and then imagine that all its shops (except maybe 3) sell tons of crystal. This is what Prague (the old town) is like.
Hope that helps!
Kate
Dec 15th, 2003, 10:29 AM
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Thanks for posting Kate! We are planning a trip to Prague in the summer and would like to add another city. Recommendations on this board have been leaning towards Budapest but we've also considered Vienna. Do you think you would have enjoyed Budapest better without the city tour? Or in retrospect would you have gone somewhere else?
As for Prague, what would you describe as the benefits or pitfalls of each section of the city?
We're also tentatively planning to do a lot of overnight trains between the cities (we're about your age) but may reconsider that now!
As for Prague, what would you describe as the benefits or pitfalls of each section of the city?
We're also tentatively planning to do a lot of overnight trains between the cities (we're about your age) but may reconsider that now!
Dec 15th, 2003, 07:02 PM
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We did like Budapest, and we are glad we went there. There is a lot to see. We just liked Krakow and Prague more.
I think I would have liked Budapest more if it was more of a walking city, like Prague or Krakow.
I'm sure I would have liked it a lot more if the weather had been warmer, but that's the risk we took by going in November.
Maybe I should come clean and admit that we are usually not wildly happy with the last city we visit on any given vacation.
Vienna makes a lot of sense too. We didn't go there on this trip only because we've been there before.
As for areas to stay in Prague, the historic areas are all adjacent to each other and walkable. So, I don't think your hotel location will make a difference in your experience, especially since you are going in Summer. It's all charming. I picked a centrally located hotel largely because we went in winter.
I'm glad you found the overnight train info useful. I really, really wish I had more positive things to say.
I think I would have liked Budapest more if it was more of a walking city, like Prague or Krakow.
I'm sure I would have liked it a lot more if the weather had been warmer, but that's the risk we took by going in November.
Maybe I should come clean and admit that we are usually not wildly happy with the last city we visit on any given vacation.
Vienna makes a lot of sense too. We didn't go there on this trip only because we've been there before.
As for areas to stay in Prague, the historic areas are all adjacent to each other and walkable. So, I don't think your hotel location will make a difference in your experience, especially since you are going in Summer. It's all charming. I picked a centrally located hotel largely because we went in winter.
I'm glad you found the overnight train info useful. I really, really wish I had more positive things to say.
