liesel

My sister and I are taking our dad to Europe this coming summer (July). We are in the beginning stages of planning but would love some help. We do know that we are flying into Prague and spending a day or two there. We then plan to take a train to either Vienna or Graz (a day or two stay). We aren't sure which to visit and would love to get others opinions/suggestions based on their own experiences.

Our final destination is Croatia. We plan on taking a train from Prague through Austria and into Zagreb. From Zagreb we will rent a car and tour Croatia. We have been to Salzburg and loved it. None of us have been to Vienna or Graz or anywhere in Eastern Austria. As far as interests, we are up for anything. Some museums, architecture, history, shopping. We do prefer more of the old parts of town vs the newer, more modern parts. Since Vienna is the largest city in Austria and Graz is the second largest, I'm not sure which would have more of an old feeling to it.

Any suggestions regarding these 2 cities or even a town in between (as long as its accessible via train and on route towards Croatia) would be appreciated. I am sure I will have more specific questions once we get further into our trip planning. Thank you for your time.

wanttogo

Vienna without question. By the way, both Vienna and Prague deserve more than two days each. Prague is one of the most beautiful cities in the world and Vienna one of the most interesting.

Pst

thursdaysd

Well, I really liked Graz, but if you only have time for one it has to be Vienna, no question. Vienna has more of everything, except that Graz makes better use of its river. Don't miss Plitvice NP in Croatia.

bobthenavigator

Vienna, of course.
I agree that Prague deserves more time.

liesel

Thank you for your responses. I've been reading a few trips reports as well as checking out a few contributors travel sites and I'm beginning to think that maybe our travel plans are extremely aggressive. My sister and I are aggressive travelers but for this trip we are taking my dad who is 67 and may not be as aggressive as we are.

To give you a a bit of background, my dad is Serbian and the last time he visited this part of Europe was back in the 70's when it was Yugoslavia. He is 2nd generation and most of his family is from around the Zagreb area so we decided to pass on visiting Serbia and stick to Croatia. Then we thought it would be OK to fit in Prague as well as Austria. I'm more of a countryside, quaint, bavarian type person - not a real beach, coastal area type person so we were trying to get a good mix of both worlds. I've been to Germany, Switzerland and Salzburg (in Austria) and love these countries/areas/culture, etc.

So we put together Prague, one area in Austria, and then Croatia. Zagreb is a must in combination with Northern Croatia (Varazdin area) to visit a few of the castles. We were then going to drive to Srpske Moravice, which is where my great grandmother was born and lived for awhile before moving to the States. After that we were going to head to Trigor/Split and Dubrovnik. Fly out of Dubrovnik - this was up in the air.

After reading trip reports and some personal travel sites it seems that this is a bit crazy. Our trip is 10 days max and I don't consider the travel days as part of the touring so really only 8 days, allowing 2 for travel. So a few options I've been thinking of are below:

1) forget Austria and Prague. Focus on Croatia (rent a car). I'm really hoping one of my other options below work out as this is my least favorite option.

2. Forget Prague - fly into Vienna and then hit Croatia or fly into prague, forget austria (other than to train thru on way to zagreb).

3. Fly into Prague - head to Cesky Krumlov, then head to Zagreb, northern croatia and then take a flight down to dubrovnik. I feel as if you've seen one coastal part of Croatia, then you've seen them all so no need to see Split.

I realize these options are still a bit aggressive - and we won't see nearly all there is to see in this time. We basically like to see the main sites/museums, experience some of the culture, sightsee, shop and move on. I don't see my dad wanting to really go into a ton of museums.

Thank you for your help and keep the suggestions/advice coming!

thursdaysd

Sorry, but with only eight days on the ground I'd vote for option 1, especially if your father is revisiting his birthplace! You don't go to Split for the coast, you go for the Roman palace with the town inside it. For beaches you go to the islands. And again, you really should see Plitvice!

You need to lay this out on paper, allowing for travel time, and bearing in mind you lose at LEAST half a day every time you move, likely longer.

BTW, I'm 64 and I wouldn't consider slowing down a trip on account of my age, but on account of wanting to be able to appreciate the places I'm visiting.

nytraveler

Vienna has about 10 times as much to see as Graz and IMHO less than 4 days (5 nights) in either one is really doing it a disservice. I wold pick one and actually see it rather than skimp both.