Hi,

My wife and me, both in our mid 50s and avid walkers, are doing a 13 night trip to central Europe.

We land in Budapest, spend 4 nights there, then 5 nights in Vienna, and finally 4 nights in Prague.

The train from Vienna to Prague will eat up half a day, so we essentially get 3.5 days in Prague. We could dedicate the entire 3.5 days to explore Prague at leisure, or give 2.5 days to Prague and do a day trip to Cesky Krumlov. We are keen to visit CK due to its medieval beauty.

We understand that it takes 3 hours one way to/from CK. Question is, can we fit in CK into our itinerary, or should we concentrate on just enjoying Prague for the full 3.5 days?

Keen to hear from you all. Thanks.

Mohan

Prague to Cesky Krumlov is 2-1/2 hours, though you have to figure at least 3 hours (each way) with time to get to the station. Bus is better than train. Cesky Krumlov is definitely worth visiting, but that only leaves you 2-1/2 days in Prague, not much time. You would need to be very selective with what you want to see in Prague. Although I really liked Cesky Krumlov, with your short time, I would probably spend it all in Prague.

I found it easy to fill 4 days in Prague, but your interests might be different. Do you have to decide now? Maybe you can wait until you are there to see whether you want to take a day trip.

We had 3 nights in Prague and were desperate for a 4th. But we had other commitments. There's little that can prepare you for the beauty of Prague. Check out Kampa Island while you are in Prague, even if you don't stay there (though I think it's a good idea)..

If Cesky Krumlov is a "must see," you could take a bus or bus/train combo from Vienna on your way to Prague. Looking at Rome2Rio, it shows 2.5 to 3 hours for the journey. However, if it's your first time visiting Prague, your time will likely be better spent just going there and saving Cesky Krumlov for another trip.

Thanks to everyone who responded. So the general consensus seems to be to stay in Prague for all 3.5 days. Noted. And as someone mentioned, there is no hurry to decide. So will take a call later.

There's one possibility that we do Vienna - CK - Prague. It means we get 3 full days in Prague. Is this doable?

This also means we will have to store luggage at CK station. Any tips on this? Are lockers available at CK station?

if you are low on days try to prebook tours operated from prague to cesky krumlow, they are full day tour of arround 9 hrs but you will have to visit with group and will have fully guided tour instead.

yup understood

I found that Budapest was my least preferred city of the 3. In fact, the least preferred city we visited in Europe. We will revisit it one day just to see if we missed something as everybody else I know who has been there liked it.

Consider taking days from it and adding to Prague. Prague and Vienna were wonderful and some of the best cities we have visited.

When we were in Prague coming up on 20 years ago, we didn't make it to Cesky Krumlov as we opted instead to do tour that took us to Theresienstadt. Our tour guide was excellent and it was so worth the time to visit and we saw several things we likely wouldn't have known about had we made our way there by public transportation. In Prague when you go up to the Prague Castle it is not a far walk to the amazing monastery where you can look into the room with the incredible library.

We are visiting the same area in the fall only in the reverse order. We are using CK Shuttle for transportation. This is only transportation, not a tour. They have many options, a shared van with a maximum of 6, a private sedan or a private sedan with as many stops as you would like to pay for. We are going from Prague to Cesky in the group van, spending the night, and then using the private sedan for a customized drive with a stop in Melk, then on to Vienna.

You would flip the order and make your choice about group vs. private. So you you would go Vienna to Cesky, visit and then take another van Cesky to Prague. You would still have the luggage issue in Cesky, but I can't believe they don't have luggage storage lockers there. This really isn't taking that much longer than the train and then once you get to Prague you are just there.

We are thrilled to see Cesky Krumlov and how much of the Danube we are seeing on the drive. Enjoy!

The website for the CK train station indicates that there is luggage storage.