Austria and Prague- help?
 

Need advice- have 8 days in Austria and Prague. We will have no rental car. we want to see as much as possible and don't mind amazing race style. we love churches, castles, and history. some of my favorite cities are Brugge, Ghent and Florence, Italy. not a romantic trip just 2 friends that love to travel. we are not looking at sitting in restaurants or coffee houses instead we would prefer to be seeing the sights. flying with American ff miles so limited to cities we can fly into -Munich, Vienna, Dresden, Berlin, Prague, etc. Already have flights home from Prague arranged. I was just in Munich but have never been to Austria or Prague. sample itinerary below: (we are going last week of October)
fly into Vienna spend the day and night -leave luggage in the room
head to Salzburg for 2 days
back to Vienna spend the night
head to Prague 3 days with day trip to Cesky Krumlov?
would you change anything? we don't mind night trains and we can sleep on them with no problem.
I appreciate any insight/suggestions you have. also, last year I noticed that in some of the smaller cities on Sunday/Monday the stores were closed - would this be the case in any of these areas.

Why not fly into Munich instead of Vienna? Then you can train immediately to Salzburg (about two hours, easy, don't have to spend time in Munich again) and skip the backtrack to Vienna.

All of these places you want to visit are very touristy though by late October things may be slowing down; still, I doubt you'll have trouble with stores closed on Monday. On Sunday? Could be, but restaurants will be open.

You could try to stop in Cesky Krumlov en route from Vienna to Prague. You can take a train to Linz and get a shuttle from there. I'm not sure how much time that really saves you. I didn't particularly care for Cesky Krumlov that much, and by late October the place will probably be dead (it was getting that way late September 2012). Still, it may feel more charming at night, and a day stop or day trip may be a push.

Go immediately to Salzburg rather than splitting the time in Vienna.

Salzburg
Vienna
Prague

The night train from Vienna to Prague gets you in at 4:00am. It's only 6 hours so you won't get much sleep and I would not want to be wandering around at 4:00am.

There's a westbahn bus+ rain which ta you to Prague from Salzburg in 5-6 hours.And with just 3 days in PRague, I would concentrate on Prague itself rather than do a day trip. You can have a look at my Austria + Prague trip report here: ashwinbahulkar.wordpress.com/my-travels-2/central-europe-austria-and-czech-republic/austria-and-prague/
Spending a day in Vienna is not the optimal thing, but not a bad idea.

You can cut this any which way...

But use www.oebb.at for trains in Austria and starting in Austria - Vienna to Prague from 29 euros, Vienna-Salzburg from just 9 euros (though it's only 25 euros on the day with competitor www.westbahn.at).

Use www.cd.cz/eshop for trains in Czech Rep, Prague to Vienna from 19 euros.

I'm assuming you're flying from the U.S., which means your flight into VIE won't arrive until 10:00 or so. Factor in luggage time (VIE is surprisingly slow) and transport into the InnerStadt (where I presume you are staying), and it will be midday. However, an afternoon in Vienna will barely scratch the surface, as most tourist sights close around 17:00.

I would proposed flying into Vienna and out of Prague, with day trips from each, if possible. Or, if you are committed to Munich, adrienne's plan to head to Salzburg, then Vienna, and to fly home from Prague is rather sensible.

If you arrive into VIE on a Sunday all shopping will be closed (and across Austria--state laws), but most if not all sightseeing will be available. On Monday many of the major museums are closed. You will find most everything open in Prague on Sundays; museum closures will be a factor on Mondays in Prague, as well.

There is a lot more to see and do in Vienna and in Prague than in Salzburg but if you are absolutely insistent on keeping Salzburg in the itinerary then you should, as suggested, fly into Munich and take the train immediately to Salzburg; train to Vienna and train to Prague.

I love Salzburg but I think you really need to decide whether or not it is as important to visit as the other two cities.