I'm planning to visit Austria and Czech in mid May. I plan to arrive in Salzburg from Munich by train, spending 1.5 days there, then take the train to Vienna for 5 nights.
Also, I plan to visit Ceský Krumlov from Vienna before making it to Prague. Does anyone know about the train situation? I would love to spend a night there before getting to Prague for another 6 nights. Any recommendations or comments on hotels and the travel plan?

I love museums and music so plan to make good use of my time day and night. Anyone who's familiar with the music scene in Vienna? Should I purchase tickets now for the music festival for Vienna and the spring festival in Prague now? Or can I still get those tickets when I get there? Thank you for the feedback!

"music scene" = do you mean classical music? Or jazz or pop or ?

for train schedules go to www.bahn.de -the German Rail site that has schedules for all of Europe and to me at least is the easiest to use and most reliable info i've seen.
For Cesky Krumlov it would be best to rail there from Salzburg via Linz- Cesky Krumlov is just a few hours from Linz and from C Kr then you can go onto Prague-but not in the same day - these are slow trains and to get to C Kr you have to take a spur line off the main Linz-Prague route - so plan to stay overnight in that gorgeous gorgeous old town.
For lots on rail travel in these countries i always spotlight these super info-laden sites: www.ricksteves.com; www.seat61.com; www.budgeteuropetravel.com - the latter lets you download their free (and superb IMO) European Planning & Rail Guide that has chapters on Austria and Czech Republic with itineraries - travel times, maps, etc. You may also investigate the European East Railpass, good in Austria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovenia- even though you are only going to Austria and Czech it could be of use since trains in Austria are rather expensive. Though if you go to the Austrian railways web site www.obb.au (i think- Google Austrian Railways if not) you may be able to nab some online discounted tickets if you act far enough in advance and lock yourself into aspecific train on a specific date. the pass lets you board any train anytime in Austria and i think Czech Republic too - but i do not offhand think you are traveling enough by train as yet indicated to make the passpay off. If however you were also going to Hallstatt, that Alpine Wonderland between Salzburg and Linz then perhaps yes-or doing a day trip from Vienna to the Wachau Valley (Melk,Durnstein, etc).

OK if you want to go to Vienna then Cesky Krumlov you would best take a train back towards Salzburg to Linz then to Cesky Krumlov - and then Prague

But if you can i'd do Salzburg - C Krumlov - Prague - Vienna - much more economical use of your time - but if you want to do C Krumlov as a day trip from Prague then check out buses as trains are far too slow to make it a leisurely day trip. I think buses go more direct and are faster but not sure

In any case do not plan on stopping by Cesky Krumlov in the same day going between Vienna and Prague - ain't feasible.

spend more time in Salzburg at the expense of either Prague or Vienna, you really do not need that much time in Prague especially

I'd take one night away from Prague (which is my favorite city!!!) or Vienna to spend in C. Krumlov.

The Salzkammergut region of Austria (Salzburg and surrounds) is some of the prettiest in the country. I would try to see some of it.

http://www.salzkammergut.at/en/4-00-...rt/sommer.html

Thank you all for the great advice, especially palenque, who provided such details for the trip planning! I do plan to spend a night in Cesky Krumlov, but due to the need to have prague as my last stop (meetings friends there), it seems I won't be able to take the most logistic route as palengue recommended. I'll have to decide the sequence of visit then - Salzburg-Cesky Krumlov-Vienna, or do a two-day trip from Vienna or prague? Which route do you think makes more sense?

You have other alternatives to train transfers and these may fit your plans.
Look to the following site

www.shuttlelobo.com

They offer good , fast and economical service betweeen the cities you visit .
They make the trip to Cesky Krumlov easy from several places making your planning and overnight there much easier.

I aasume that you refer to the Vienna Festwochen during middle May to June.
Many offerings and purchasing tickets before arrival is essential, especially for the major events.

You can refer to this site for information
www.festwochen.at

Note that venues have various times and ways to obtain tickets
you can also use these sites

www.staatsoper.at
www.volksoper.at
www.musikverein.at
www.wienerkammeroper.at

For added enjoyment - some of the museums in Vienna have evening hours on various days.
For example the Kunsthistorishes Museum/ Fine Arts Museum is open Thursdy evening.
Many tourists are not aware of this and with many fewer visitors makes for added enjoyment.
They have an evening buffet also- reservations needed-
View the rooms between courses.

www.khm.at

Hi Molker, Thanks so much for the wonderful information! I am very interested in the operas and concerts, however, from the websites I realized that I won't be able to purchase tickets for the opera until one or two months in advance. I've already made a note to make sure I don't miss it when advance sales begin. And many tickets are no longer available - such as Vienna Philharmarnic... what a pity.

Also, the museum information is greatly appreciated. I just spent three full days in the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg last August. That tells you how glued I am to museums... I wonder which other museums I should visit in Vienna? If you or anyone who are familiar with the museum scene, which others would you recommend? Thanks in advance, museum lovers!

francoiselee, the reason I asked in my previous post if you meant classical music, is that I was successful in the past in getting tickets for Staatsoper & Vienna Philharmonic.

Basically, that means getting up in the middle of the night on the day that sales opens (usually 8am central european time) and going online to buy tickets.

Fodorite MFifi posted her recent experience on buying tickets for Staatsoper
:
<i>MademoiselleFifi on Dec 17, 09 at 7:59pm
Update: at exactly 8am CET, the number of available seats for each price category appeared on the website, but there was no "purchase" link. For the next 45 minutes, the numbers decreased slowly but steadily (more at the cheapest sections), which means they must have either begun selling somewhere or were filling the waiting-list orders. I was too sleepy to stay up until 3 or 4 am my time so I never found out exactly when the "Purchase" link appeared-- sometime between 9:00 and 13:30 CET, when their website became too busy to log in (lunch time rush?); took another half hour or so to finally log in and get some Manon tickets.

What was confusing was that the website says they start taking telephone orders one day after tickets go on sale.</i>

For Vienna Museums, what's your interest?
KHM is a must IMO
Belvedere
Leopold if you like Egon Schiele & Klimt
MAK is a must if you're a fan of Wiener Werkstätte

Also, there are many composer houses/museums you can visit in Vienna, such as those of Haydn, Schubert, Beethoven, Strauss, & Mozart.
http://www.wienmuseum.at/en/location...partments.html
http://www.mozarthausvienna.at/en/

You are welcome to take a look at my Vienna trip report from Spring 2009 where I visited many museums and went to the opera:
http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...pring-2009.cfm

Liechtenstein Museum is often overlooked by touirsts.

one of the best private collections in the world in a former summer palace now fully restored . be certain to look up in the stairways and rooms in addition to viewing the art.

www.liechtenstein.at

Belvedere - both upper and lower palaces with a fine garden in between.
Open Wednesday evenings

www.belvedere.at.

Museum Quarter

www.mqw.at
fine varied museums , cafes and restaurants.

Mumok- if you like modern

www.mumok.at

fine restaurant there too.

Neue Burg

www.khm.at

varied collections - musical instruments , arms and armour , items from Ephesus - austrians did much work there.

Schatzkammer ( Treasury )
in an old part of the Hofburg Palace.

www.khm.at

Royal collection of crowns - including Holy Roman Empire, vestments, orbs , etc.


Albertina - also in the Hofburg nerest area of the Palace to the State Opera.
Fine graphics , prints in a fine setting - good cafe in the building area - Do and Co.

For Opera tickets - check their website - you can write in advance to be placed on a stand by basis before tickets go on sale. This often works.

Philharmonic- very hard as much is taken by subscriptions-
a good hotel concierge can normally find tickets - of course you pay a premium.

Often missed and with good quality are the offerings at the Volksoper- much less expensive - best ticket is less than 80 euro but good especially the operettas of Strauss, Lehar, etc.

Hi yk, thanks for checking again my interest in music. I'm more for classical music these days, and am planning to understand more of Austrian/German composers and musicians before I get there. So I'm really glad to learn of the musicians' houses. Also, fortunately, I'll be in Europe since early April, so same time zone when the one-month advance sale begins for the opera tickes. Based on the experience of Mfifi, I need to make sure I get up in time!

As for museums, I'm an avid learner so all kinds of arts interest me. I'm happily overwhelmed by the wealth of museums shared here, thank you yk and molker! There are so many things to see, now I start to feel maybe five nights is not enough. This is definetely a city to come back to many times. And the suggestion of Volksoper is a great one. It doesn't seem I'll have time for dinner at all, since there are so many concerts/operas going on in this incredibly cultured city.

I can't wait to read yk's report, then maybe come back with more questions! Thank you!

If you do choose the Volksoper- just down the street is the Weimar Cafe- Old Vienna with good food and drink in a nice atmosphere - many go there after the Volksoper - they usually have good piano music into late in the evening.

Also look to eat a bigger meal at midday - many places have fixed menu specials then of 2- 3 courses , served quickly as many working locals use them and an excelent price.

One such place in city center partner places Hopferl and Bierhof . Their website will show current menus and prices.

www.bierhof.at

There is a new railpass - the Central Europe Triangle Pass that covers a Vienna-Salzburg-Prague itinerary (and one that covers a Budapest-Vienna-Prague routing) -ricksteves.com says "the pass is a good value for the route it covers - cheaper than tickets or the Eastern european pass. It is a 3-day pass good for any train anytime.

Thank you, molker, for the tip on the food scene. Weimar cafe sounds like a must-visit after the opera.

I'm also taking the advice from cuffnlx to spend two nights in Salzburg now. I would have nearly days in Salzburg. Any suggestions for the two-day itinerary for Salzburg? Again, museum/music scenes will be much appreciated!

www.cafeweimar.at

fine piano music in the evening also-

If you want to add another day to Salzburg then you could take the fantastic IMO day trip into the Sound of Music country, just east of Salzburg - Lake Wolfgang and fairy-tale St Wolfgang town on it- boat rides on it -a bucolic region used as a set in the film. Lots of mini-bus tours from Salzburg or easy to do on your own by postal bus and lake boat to St Wolfgang.

Spent 2 nights in St. Wolfgang. St. Wolfgang/St. Gilgen area is beautiful! And Hallstatt is also worth a visit if you can fit it in! Might be easiest from a time standpoint if you rent a car from Salzburg.

Hallstatt IMO is exceptional - smack up in the Alps and set on a pristine lake - if you come by train you take a boat across the lake to town (or bus around the lake) - there are sweet excursions like to Salt Mine tours thru caves, etc.

Hallstatt is so so Wunderbar IMO - you could yes base in the St Wolfgang area and day trip, via Bad Ishcl, to Hallstatt easily