We (a family of 3 - my wife, my 2 year old son and myself) are planning a holiday from 7 August to 15 August 2011 (9 days) - can extend by a day or so. My preference is somewhere in Central Europe though am also considering Turkey. I have seen a lot of UK, Ireland and Italy but have not done much of rest of Europe. I was hoping to get some suggestions for a possibly itinerary. My biggest constraint is that i would like a holiday which would not be too taxing on my toddler son and possibly which he might enjoy.

1. I have been considering Austria possibly (cheap flights from India during that week). If it were Austria which cities would you suggest besides Vienna?

2. Prague has been a city I have been fascinated by - have heard so many rave reviews about it. If it is Prague, what should i combine it with?

3. Croatia (esp - Dubrovnik) is another location that i have been eying and would have been my first choice but there are no flights from India to it. So if it is Croatia, i would need to club it with another city (as my first and last stop) that offers cheap (flight or otherwise) connections to it.

We are not too much into Museums. We like Natural Beauty and architecture.

We enjoy walking around and thus prefer such places which are a joy to explore on foot. We do not like driving on our holidays.

Are there any language barriers in these places? I only understand English.

What would be your suggestions? Also what would you suggest i budget a per day cost on accommodation, food, travel, etc in these places? I prefer good hotels but not the fancy ones. I am open to holiday apartments as well. Rather what would you suggest would be a better bet in these places.

Best deals usually into VIE from India

August will be hot and crowded in major tourist areas/cities

In 3 weeks might do around robin over to Praugue

Venice-tourism.com Florence Rome Porotfino Italian Lake

country back up into Austria via Switzerland Germany

seat61.com regional train like a local cheapest pass is a rip

eurocheapo.com great guide als Fodors and ricksteves.com

Happy Planning,

Of those three areas I would say Austria has the best scenery. Prague has the best architecture. Dubrovnik (old town) is so small that you can cover it in half a day and I wasn't thrilled by the scenery in Croatia.

In 9 days you could see Prague and Vienna and something of the Austrian countryside. You can add Salzburg and Melk Abbey which is between Vienna and Salzburg. You can stay outside Salzburg in a small town and take the bus into the city.

English is widely spoken in tourist areas. If you go to Prague, know the Czech names for places you want to visit as there are directional signs throughout town but only in Czech.

There is such a huge range in pricing that you should determine your budget and then look for hotels/apartments and restaurants that match your budget. I spent about 100USD per day last year in Prague for sightseeing, food, transportation,and lodging. Keep in mind that lodging is more expensive for 1 person than for 2 or 3 (per person). I stayed in a Pension outside old town Prague and ate moderately priced meals. Breakfast was included with the room.

@Adrienne, i was thinking of approx Euro 2000 (Excluding cost of flights from India). Do you think that is reasonable? This would include expenses on sight seeing, accommodation, travel between cities, food, and other misc costs.

Croatia seems more and more difficult as i do my research.

Yes, open to the idea of doing Vienna, Prague and one country side town in Austria - preferably in the alps.



@qwovadis - wish i had both the time and money for 3 weeks . i can at best expand to 10 days.

If you want to see the Alps, you can easily spend all your time in Austria. Vienna, Salzburg, and then a smaller city in the Alps would easily fit into 9 days. Or even just Vienna and the Alps.

2000 euro for 3 people might be cutting it a bit close, you will have to budget pretty decently on hotels and food, but with patience I'm sure you can do it.

Croatia and Slovenia!!! The toddler will love it. It is chalk full of natural beauty and it is more affordable than many parts of Europe.

Fly into Dubrovnik, explore the city and rent a car. Drive N up the coastline (a bit tricky but doable). You could also explore some of the islands e.g. Korcula and Hvar before embarking north. Drive into the interior a bit and visit Plivitce. Then, head into Slovenia and go to Bled, Bohinj, Soca River Valley and/or Logarska Dolina. You can do farm stays or pensions to save money. Fly out of Ljbuljana where you can drop the car. You could even fly out of Vienna which is 4 hours away from Ljubljana.

@lindy - what small town in the Alps would you recommend?

Also what budget would you suggest? I had initially thought of about Euro 225 per day - Euro 125 per day on hotels and Euro 100 on misc expenses. If it is Austria, i can stretch my budget as I save on flights (Emirates is offering a very good fare for that week at about Euro 1200 for all 3 of us to Austria vis-a-vis at least 1600 for any other destination in Europe)


@SloJan - I am struggling to get a flight to Dubrovnik (or for that matter anywhere in Croatia and Slovenia) - it is not connected to Delhi at all. Some airlines are offering 3 hop options and are exorbitantly expensive - working out close to Euro 3500.

If you add the E400 that you save on airfare then you could probably stay in Austria the whole time. It's more expensive than Czech Rep or Croatia.

Here's where I stayed in Vienna. A double is E120 (including breakfast). They are charging E35 for an extra bed and breakfast but I would email them and ask how much extra for a 2 year old. The price may be less. The hotel is right on the pedestrian area and very convenient to sights, trams, ubahn.

http://www.pension-nossek.at/default.htm

I think your hotel budget is good. For two of us, we always have a budget of 90 euros and have never had to go over it. You will probably have to pay a small increase for your child.

I would mainly be worried about going over the misc expenses. We always budget 10 euro per person for lunch, 5 euro per person for snack/drink, 15-20 euro per person for dinner. That's about 60-70 euro for food for 2 adults per day. You also have inner city transportation, maybe 10 euros a day for both of you. Then admission into anything, 20 euros per day for both of you. You're at 100 euro per day without any expenses for your child.

So in short, I think you can do that budget if your remove the train transportation within Austria (if you go there) and add that as an extra cost which will vary based on where you decide to go.

As for towns in the Alps, I personally don't know any, as I've never stayed in one. I do know Hallstatt is very pretty. It is on a lake, but is in more of small mountains/hills. Innsbruck is pretty popular in the Alps, and I have heard to people staying in villages near there.

I think i can Budget Euro 2500 plus transportation between cities for 10 days. What would be the cost for travel between cities?

I checked www.booking.com and found most 4 star (and some even 5 star) hotels at about Euro 125 a night. So i guess, as Linda suggested, be Ok with my hotel budget of Euro 125 per day.

How many days would you suggest per city? Vienna would be where I fly in to and fly out off. So how would you suggest I plan my Itinerary?

Anyone has any suggestions for villages in the Alps?

Dear All,

What would you suggest, I do both salzburg and Innsbruck or either? I would definitely do Vienna and was thinking of basing myself in one other city and doing day-trips out of that. With a kid I thought it would easier travelling on day trips (thus no luggage) than move between cities.

Do the towns around Salzburg (St Giglen, Strobl, St. Wolfgang) give a good feel of the Alps? or one should visit Innsbruck and its adjoining towns?

If it is Salzburg, is it better to base myself in one of the above towns or Salzburg City? How easy is to explore the area based out of these towns - train, bus connectivity? Or would being based out of Salzburg offer better connectivity? also what is the cost of travel between towns/Salzburg?

http://www.oebb.at/en/index.jsp will give you prices for train and some bus transportation within Austria. Vienna to Salzburg looks to be 48 euro per adult. Vienna to Innsbruck 58 euro.

I would stay at least least 4 days in Vienna. You could fly into/out of Vienna or into Vienna and out Munich (which will be closer to either Innsbruck or Salzburg).

Croatia Air is having a special from Vienna to Dubrovnik for 164Euro. Dubrovnik will be hot and crowded. A better suggestion is the mountain area which are cooler. There is much walking in Croatia. You may want to consider a trip to one of the islands where it is relaxing. Dubrovnik beach area on one of the islands is close to the city and the old town may be an option.

Here is my website that includes a trip in 2008 o Czech Republic, Poland, Croatia and Slovenia. Check out the trip report with photos and you should get some good ideas.

http://www.travelswithmaitaitom.com/...nice_2008.html

I'd suggest you not hop around too much. No more than two hubs and you can take day trips from there. Traveling with a toddler will have its own difficulties.

In such a brief visit I would forget Dubrovnik. If you had more time I would suggest JetAir to Milan, then rail to Venice and ferry to Dubrovnik.

In your timescale and with your preferences I'd suggest flying into Vienna as your hub and take a rail or air return trip to Prague. See http://www.oebb.at/en/index.jsp for train fares; it takes about 5 hours direct.

You may also be able to do a day trip to the Austrian Alps or Bratislava.

Cheers, Alan
http://loraltravel.blogspot.com/