Auto touring in Czech Rep,w/oPrague
 

My wife and I are [planning to travel by auto through the Czech Rep for 10 days at the end of Sept. to the beginning of Oct. We've been to Prague before so this time we are planning to bypass it. Our interests are medieval towns, cities, castles, and Jewish sites.We are looking to incorporate ideas. We figure 10 days should be sufficient. We will be entering from Vienna. Thanks alan

Message: · We found that if you want to do the Czech Rep beyond <BR> Prague, then driving is the best bet. We did do a day tour with a local <BR> bus company to Karlovy Vary, we found that it hardly gave us an hour to <BR> see the place! (most of the time went in getting there, the Moser <BR> exposition and then the lunch). The roads are good and there isn’t that <BR> much traffic. Trains connections on the other hand are quite bad. <BR> <BR> · We loved Cesky Krumlov. Beautiful, peaceful and inexpensive. The <BR> views from the castle are breathtaking. The shopping (especially the <BR> porcelain) is also much better value than in Prague. <BR> <BR> · We then drove from C. Krumlov to Krakow. It is quite a long way off but <BR> we loved the drive on the Czech side. Thankfully its only 130 km into <BR> Poland. On entering Poland, the roads were bad and excessive traffic as <BR> well. <BR> <BR> · We stopped at Telc and Olomouc on the way. Telc is great for a short <BR> stop. Exquisite center and great prices at the Bohemia crystal shop in <BR> center (the best prices I saw in the country). Olomouc too has a nice <BR> center. <BR> <BR> · Krakow was good though one has the habit of expecting another <BR> Prague in every big city in eastern Europe (the one thing we missed was <BR> all the lovely musicals /concerts that one can watch everyday in <BR> Prague). But it was different and we liked it very much. The castle is <BR> beautiful. <BR> <BR> · Hotel Pod Roza (recommended through this forum) was wonderful <BR> (excellent location as well) but do check if you can get a better room. At <BR> first they gave us a really small shabby room but when we complained <BR> we got a really nice one. The food and the atmosphere was great. And <BR> the buffet breakfast enormous. <BR> <BR> · We then drove back to Prague (in all we drove almost 2000 km on this <BR> trip!) and stopped at Kutna Hora. It was much quieter than we expected <BR> but quite nice. I think Telc, Kutna Hora and Olomouc were great for 1-2 <BR> hours stops. Karlovy Vary deserves much more. We drove back there <BR> again on our last day and loved it. <BR> <BR> ALl in all this was a great trip and excellent value for the amount we <BR> spent compared to our other holidays in western Europe. <BR> <BR>

ALAN, Let me reinforce not to miss Cesky <BR>Krumlov.We were there in May and loved it. The next time they do a remake of <BR>" Frankenstein" I suggest they film it <BR>here---a most unique place. <BR>Be careful driving in Czech Rep. The cops are looking to ticket tourists and <BR>they will expect payment on the spot. <BR>Tell them you are your way to Poland or <BR>somewhere and only have 100 Korunas on you and they will take that as the fine. <BR>No kidding, it happened just that way.

I am born in the Czech Republic and visited there five times in the last years. Czesky Krumlov is of course very beautiful... I always go to my birth town, Liberec, in North Bohemia, 2 hours drive from Prague. A beautyful town, surounded by mountains, with many tours in the near Mountains Jested and Jizerske Hory. Nearby the "Czech Paradise", the castle of Frydland. In the town (for rainy days) is a Museum, a modern Botanic Garden, a big Zoo and a good theater. There are good hotels and restaurants too. You can travel from there also to Terezin Concentration Camp. <BR>I can give you many very detailed advices for Liberec. <BR>Greetings from Israel <BR>Zwi Schnabel

Don't forget Lednice and Valtice and the "lakes" area. The Rosenberg and Lichtensteins built estates in this area and they are wonderful to tour. And Brno has terrific beer!