barliano

Hello, We have little time for a vacation this summer (12 days). Our family loves history/culture and relaxing. In the past, we've rented a house in the countryside and spent a week visiting a city. I would like input on Prague vs. Berlin and personal GUIDES you recommend, who were knowledgeable and had a good sense of humor. ( I know its hard to choose one, thats why i am inquiring) Also, any smaller cities, villages or towns in between the two cities that were not touristy. The second option is to stay in one city for a few days, and drive to the other one, visiitng a few viilages along the way. We would like to bicycle around Berlin with a guide. Thank you !

barliano

Also, I wanted to add that our sons are high school and college aged, and the vacation would be at the end of August.

adrienne

Have you ever cycled in a large, busy city before? It's different than cycling in small towns or cities (such as Amsterdam or Bruges) where cars are familiar with lots of cyclists. It is prudent to cycle with a guide.

You can easily find villages or small town that are not touristy by eliminating anything that is listed in guide books. I've driven through quite a few villages in Europe (other than those in guide books) and there is nothing in them that would entice me. Houses, sometimes a small grocery store or cafe.

If you would like to change your criteria about touristy cities/towns/villages, there are quite a few posts here on Leipzig and other towns in the area that seem interesting. I've been researching my destinations of Dresden and Potsdam along with Berlin and have found that Potsdam needs a couple of days (it's very close to Berlin) and Dresden needs a week or more. Both are between Prague and Berlin and both are very interesting.

I've been to Prague twice but my trip to Berlin is coming up in the fall. Just by reading about Berlin and looking at maps I can tell that Prague is much more compact with the things a tourist would want to experience. Berlin is larger and there are more sights which are spread out over the city.

I've scheduled 7 days in Berlin and I'm hard pressed over what to eliminate from my itinerary. Sights in Prague can be seen in 2 to 3 days, depending on your interests and sightseeing speed.

My recommendation is to visit both Prague and Berlin since they are different enough to give you cultural diversity and then choose one other location between the two.

Take trains rather than rent a car because 1) it will give you a chance to relax and enjoy the countryside (the driver never gets to do this), you can bring a picnic lunch (including wine or beer) on the train if the journey is long enough. 2) there are huge drop off charges for renting in one country and dropping off in a different country; the charges can be up to E500. The train will be substantially cheaper than renting a car.

If you book train tickets now you can take advantage of discounted rates. Do not buy a rail pass if you choose to travel by train; book tickets on the national rail sites.

Dukey1

Frankly, I am never sure what a person means when they say "not touristy" and they are planning to BE a visiting tourist.

People visit certain places for often very good reasons BUT:

Dresden as a place between Berlin and Prague comes to mind but I suspect the real draw for many is/are the museums.

Berlin and Prague are IMO VERY different; take away the cars and trams from <B>parts</B> of Prague and it looks rather medieval which may explain why it has been used for several period piece movies.

You say you want information for Berlin <B>vs</B> Prague but it sounds as if you are very definitely going to visit the former. Berlin contains many things: museums, palaces (in town and nearby), and the entire WWII-Nazi regime stuff. For contrasts I think visiting both Berlin and Prague might work for you.

treplow

I would pick the second option, spending some time in Prague and some in Berlin. But skip the car, eccept perhaps to drive for one day from Prague to Cesky Krumlov, but you could do that trip also by train. In both cities a car is just a nuisance. When we were in P. for 4 days, our car was in the hotel garage the entire time. Prague was just part of a longer trip and we used my family's car, so drop-off was no problem. .

Besides, driving a German rental to Prague, or a Czech renbtal to Berlin is very expensive because of the cross border drop-off charge.

I suggest you book an "open jaw" flight to one of the two cities (whichever has the best connections from your home) and take one of the fast trains between the two cities. Buy your tickets on the Internet (www.bahn.de)92 days in advance of your travel date, and you save a whole lot of money. The tickets get more exepnsive the closer you get to the day of departure.

bilboburgler

Another vote for Dresden and Leipzig. Maybe even Magdeburg (where the spheres come from)

Ingo

You mentioned that "In the past, we've rented a house in the countryside and spent a week visiting a city."

You could do the same or something similar this year and even do day trips to the cities from there. The National Park Saxon-Bohemian Switzerland is right on the German-Czech border and only less than one hour from Dresden and two hours from Prague - by train. Commuter trains from Dresden back to the National Park run quite frequently till late night. The National Park is also great for cycling (you could cycle to Dresden, actually, and back by train). The college kids could easily check out the nightlife in Dresden.

Here are a few links for more info on the National Park region:

http://members.virtualtourist.com/m/4166c/12ca7/

http://members.virtualtourist.com/m/4166c/ab24/

http://members.virtualtourist.com/m/4166c/b100/

http://members.virtualtourist.com/m/4166c/634fb/

barliano

This is very helpful advice.
So I will research Prague and Berlin, with a day trip to Cesky Krumlov. And maybe time in Potsdam, where a friend's aunt lives.
Will rent apartments in both cities.
I have the one in Prague already.
For Berlin; I was thinking of the Mitte neighborhood. Are there other neighborhoods you like?

As far as bike riding in Berlin. I was thinking of hiring a guide to ride along the Berlin Wall --not thru the city.

Thank you!

nytraveler

I think you have made two good choices - fairly inexpensive and tons to see and do in both places. Prague is unique in terms of architecture - thanks to the British prime minister who handed it over in Hitler to get "peace in out time - HA!). But it did ensure the city was not bombed out in WWII and has the full variety of architecture that you find in few other places.

We don;t ordinarily do tours/guides so can't give specific help. But we did pick up an Old Town Prague architecture tour in the Town Hall led by a university student who really knew his stuff - and only 7 people total,

barliano

Has anyone visited a spa town in the Czech Republic? If so, what was your experience?

Mainhattengirl

The very best guide you could get for Berlin would be "Jeremy, the Berlin Expert"

http://www.theberlinexpert.com/

Rhea58

Just spent 3 days in an apt./hotel in Prague and we used
www.neweuropetours.eu who were excellent. They also have tours in Berlin. Just tip the guides at the end of the tour