Hi!

Thank God I have a nine-day vacation from Apr 9- 17, 2005. I look fwd to a trip to Prague, Karlovy Vary, and Cezky Krumlov. I have to fly into and out of Prague.

My question is - Should I base myself in Prague and day trip to KV and Krumlov?
Or should I go from one place to another like below?
Apr 9 ? 11: three days in Prague
Apr 12 ? 13: two days in Karlovy
Apr 14: train to Cezky (looks like I have to cut loss the whole day)
Apr 15 ? 16: two days in Cezky
Apr 17: travel back to Prague to catch the plane

It?s gonna be my first time in Czech and my first time traveling on my own. Are the three places generally safe for solo female travelers?

Pls advice.

janepost

Despite the fact that we don't know of your particular interests I would recommend at least three FULL days in Prague, if not four.

It kind of depends on your style and preferences but I dont like traveling around a lot, checking in and out of hotels, packing up etc so would never do the major traveling that itinerary suggests for a nine day vacation. At the least,I would probably make Karlovy Vary a day trip from Prague, I dont think its that far as I recall. I havent been there because Im not that interested in spa towns. I would think train travel to CK would be easier from Prague, also, but I might be wrong on that. It still takes considerable time from Prague as you must transfer at least once. I went to CK as a day trip and liked that choice for a short vacation as it is easier and doesnt take up two days in transport. One of the day tour companies makes it easy and you can still see the highlights in a day trip. Im sure these places are safe, but since this is your first time in CR and first time traveling alone, the complicated itinerary you propose might not be a good idea.

Personally, I would look into a three-day car rental, upon leaving on Prague, or on leaving K Vary.

Best wishes,

Rex

JanePost: Depends on your preferences. Judging by your proposed itinerary, these are places you really want to see. On that basis, your plan is not at all unreasonable.
Like Rex, I prefer to travel by car for the flexability to "see" and stop at whatever and wherever I want. I do understand that some travelers prefer bus/train.
You will be perfectly safe. Just use the same common sense you would use while traveling st home. If you do travel by car, do so only in daylight hours.
Just as an observation, I believe it Cesky Krumlov, not Cezky and the more commonly used abbreviation is CK, at least on this Board.
Have a great trip.

Let me suggest a route, which we have driven (although on two separate trips)

You don't want a car in Prague, it's just a nuisance. So, you may wish to do the trip after you have visited Prague.

Drive from Prague to Cesky Kr. in one day, going on the Autobahn E50/65 toward Brno, but get off about 22km out of Prague onto the E55, heading toward C.Budejovic. From there on take the unumbered, but good road to Cesky Kr. If you have a good road map of the country, you will see that you can by-pass C.Bude., although parts of it are very nice. This whole trip from P. to C.K is about 150 km. Takes you about 3-4 hrs., leisurely driving.

You probably want to spend 2 nights in C.Kr.. We stayed at the Hotel Ruze (Sp.?), a converted Jesuit Monastery. Very nicely located; only their chairs in the rooms probably fit mideaval Jesuits perfectly. They are a bit tight and hard for American senior bottoms. But the public rooms are great.

Obviously, the C.K.castle is well worth seeing, but also eat in one of the restaurants along the river.

Leave C.K., taking backroads (they are in good shape) to Route 22/E49, going by way of Smedec, Netolice.

Take Route 22 as far as Nepomuk, and then take Route 21 as far as Marianske-Lazne (Marienbad).This routing takes you around Plzen (Pilsen) Poke around ML a bit. It's fun. We stopped in one of the Cafes along thye main drag and had sinful pastry.
From C.K to M.L. is about 200km. Allow yourself about 50km/hr.

Frm M.L to Karlovy V ary is about 40km, on Rt.20.

In Karlovy Vary, we stayed downtown in the Hotel Dvorak. But the Grand Hotel is also well located, but had more tour groups and business travellers when we were there. Either hotel is fine.

Now,the next stretch we did not travel, but as an "E" route, you can rest assured that it is a good road. Take the E48/Rt6 back to Prague, about 110km.

To travel on the Czech autobahn you have to have a toll sticker. I don't know how much it is now, with the current Euro exchange rate. But figure on $40. It's a pain for such a short distance. Perhaps someone knows of a good routing from Praha to C.Budovice (Budweis) that avoids the autobahn.

treplow: Curious! We stayed at Hotel Ruze in 1999. Had a top level room; all angled stone walls and heavy timbered beams and furniture much like a Medieval Castle. Desk, chairs, bed, wardrobe, tables, etc. in heavy carved wood. Very Medieval. Even the toilet was encased in a heavy, handcarved enclosure like a throne. Is it still like that? Delightful!

Thank you for all wonderful pieces of advice, plus the clarification on the abbrevation (I spelled the name wrong that's why the search results came up so few). I thought of train trips at first, but now it seems that driving will be more flexible and interesting and easily doable.

Have a great time yourselves, everyone : )

I, too, am trying to work out how to get from one place to another. I will be going to CZ in May and from there to Salzburg and Vienna. I was thinking of renting a car because I had wanted to see other towns along the way, but I am hesitant about driving alone. I will be taking day tours from Prague to castles in the area, etc. I was thinking of either taking a bus from Prague to Ceske Krumlov, which is faster than the train, or taking a tour bus down and staying overnight, and then continue on to Salzburg by train. Even though I would like to go to the spa -- I am a spa person -- I think I am going to have to forego it. I would be interested to know how you are going to work this out. At least we both have time on our side to do our homework.