2 week Central Europe vacation starting in Prague
 

I am flying into Prague in September, and after a few days there, my iwfe and i wish to head out for 12 days to see the area. We love large cities for 2 days, but especially love the mountains and small historic towns.
We usually rent a car but this time plan on using trains or bus (if not too long a trip).
We do not have to return to Prague to fly home (Canada) so can end our 12 days anywhere....as long as there is a large airport nearby
I understand this is a very general request, but any suggestions for an itineracy? Vienna and/pr Budapest are definite possibilities, but any suggestions for smaller places, places with mountain views, etc? Is it feasible to think about getting to the ocean via Croatia?
All suggestions are welcomed.
Thank you.

>Vienna and/pr Budapest are definite possibilities, but any suggestions for smaller places, places with mountain views, etc? Is it feasible to think about getting to the ocean via Croatia? <

I think you should pick up a map and narrow down your planning and put it into a more realistic perspective. Given that your start in Prague, go from there to Vienna and move toward the Adria with an intermediate stop in Graz (a really beautiful city): still, the fastest train from Graz to Rijeka would be 7:17, so you would lose an entire day just for train riding. You might get more out of your days by concentrating your journey to Czech and some adjacent countries, e.g. Austria and Hungary, or Austria and NE italy (Trieste, Grado ..., flying out of Venice), or Austria and Bavaria (flying out of Munich). You can check timetables a www.bahn.com, which covers most fo European trains.

If you want to go to Croatia, I suggest flying from Prague or Vienna to say, Split, instead of taking a train. There are fairly cheap direct flights. Check Kayak.com .

I absolutely loved Prague, though it is extremely touristy now. I visited more of Czech Republic on a second trip a few years after my first visit to Prague and was less excited about it. Southern Bohemia (Cesky Krumlov and a number of other nice little towns) seem like summer destinations; I was also there in September, and I got the feeling I was there a few weeks or a month too late, unlike other parts of Europe (e.g. Croatia) where September is still a great time to visit.

Twelve days isn't a lot of time. You could try something roughly like this:

Prague (2 nights)
train/bus to Cesky Krumlov
Cesky Krumlov (1-2 nights)
train/bus to Vienna
Vienna (2 nights)
Fly to Split
Split (2 nights)
Bus to Mostar, BiH
Mostar (1 night)
Bus to Dubrovnik
Dubrovnik (2 nights)
Fly home.
I added Mostar because it is a nice old town with mountain views - you might really like it.

Maybe this is more time in Croatia/BiH than you wanted, but I'm not sure it's worth the effort just to get down there for only a few nights then fly home.

Budapest is very worth seeing too and makes an easy grouping with Prague and Vienna by train, if you just want to skip Croatia. I don't see a direct/quick way to get to Croatia from Budapest. You could also try to add Krakow (a wonderful city) but the connection between Krakow and Budapest either involves a night train or a long daytime bus ride.