Help! I am leaving for my trip at the end of May and decided to add CK to my itinerary. The only way I can really fit it is is to have us arrive either on a Saturday night or Sunday night. Are things open Sundays and Mondays? I know a lot of things are closed. Also, does anyone have the link to the bus routes from Cesky Budejovice to CK/CK to PRague?

Where did you stay? I'd appreciate any recommendations.

Thank you.

Check http://www.idos.cz/for bus/train timings. We'll be there later this month and we're staying at the Leonardo.

Sorry I cannot help with accommodation links as we always rent a car. I have also not been there Sundays! Even if the castle is closed the town itself is definitely worth a visit. In fact, when we go we just wander the town and take daytrips into the surrounding countryside. It is extremely charming. Don't forget to walk up to the castle gardens where you get lovely views of the little town.

I can recommend many B&Bs. My favourites are in this order:

1. Castle View - gorgeous rooms, central Old Town
2. Kapr - on the river in a quiet area - lovely rooms
3. Kadlec
4. Ve Vezi (a stone tower - lovely)
5. Skala for the stupendous breakfasts (but a bit noisier)

Cesky Krumlov is a very busy weekend get-away for nearby Austrians and Bavarians. So, everything is open. Actually, Monday will be quieter and less hectic.

There are direct buses from Florenc station in Prague ("direct" means no change of bus --- not non-stop).

Otherwise, take a train from the main station to Ceske Budejovice and change to the small spur line to Cesky Krumlov.

Okay, Sharon, I feel really dumb but I went to the idos website and it doesn't understand my trip route. Am I doing something wrong? I build websites for a living so it has me frustrated.

Thanks for the B&B recommendations. They all look great.

Now if I can figure out whether I can coordinate the train with the bus and be able to spend enough time there, I'll be in good shape.

Any clues on how to work the idos.cz website would be greatly appreciated.

For an easy journey and to save time you might want to check www.mike-chauffeur.cz. We used this service last year and were very pleased. We stayed at Hotel Old Inn in CK-on the Old Town square.

Me again, I just put Cesky Krumlov in the search box and got some information that I think would help you. Have a good trip.

We took the bus from the Florenc station to CK. It was about a 3 hour bus ride. I think the first bus of the day is more of an express bus than the later busses. The bus stop is within walking distance from the main square. We stayed at Pension Lobo and it was great. If you don't have to go back to Prague you can take the Pension Lobo shuttle to Linz and take a train from there to your next destination. The drive from CK to Linz was spectacular.

I'll actually be coming from Budapest, stopping in CK and then on to Prague. I'll check out the bus connection (or the Pension Lobo shuttle) from Linz instead.

Thanks!

We did the reverse of what you are planning, taking the train from Linz to Budapest. The train ride was about 5-6 hours (I think the train was a bit late). The driver with Shuttle Lobo told us that they often pick up guests in Linz and take them to CK.

it's a great day trip and im so glad i squeezed it in
we left prague from the main station i think its hlavni nazhdi but do check yourself - everyone would know whos a local
we woke at 430 to get ready and walked to the station to catch the train to cesky krumlov from platform 5 ( the 6:23 am)
we bought the tickets there and then although we checked it all out the night before ( the kind lady at the ticket booth said to come back sunday morning because it was cheaper)
360 czk for two which was about 12 aud each, from memory
at about 8 am a lady ticket officer came aboard to check that we knew where we were going and that we werent going to get off the train but were to stay on it all the way through ( a nice touch !)
the scenery along the way isnt spectacular but pleasant, certainly - lots of green fields and streams a few farmhouses and some small towns with that typical 60s look of council planned housing
by 10 am we were in cesky krumlov, bought a map at the station and walked in the drizzle down to the town itself
it's really beautiful!
try van goghs for coffee - interesting decor and great ambience
we caught the 3pm train back- we'd had enough but we couldve caught a five oclock back and still got back to prague in daylight
enjoy your trip - the photos will be amazing!

internetwiz, sorry i wasn't online the past few days. the idos site is really easy, just click on the flag for english, then click on the bus symbol if you're looking for bus timings and plug in your stops.

i'm in prague already and will be taking the 11am bus (direct) to ck in 2 days. we're going to vienna from ck the next day, so we're taking the lobo shuttle to linz and then the train to vienna.

Sharon,
Doesn't Lobo now go direct to Vienna from CK? I saw that on their website, wondering if it is true, we are looking to do the same thing next year.
Hope you are going to do a trip report!

Sundays are crowded in the summer. Mondays are probably less packed. Castle might be easier to navigate on a day with fewer tourists, but should be open all the time during the spring/summer seasons. Hotel Ruze is an amazing place to stay. There are many other places, also. Saturdays might be more expensive to stay overnight, though.

Maudie,
We were in CK at the beginning of April and wanted to take the Lobo Shuttle to Vienna and were told that it didn't run in the off season. We took the shuttle to Linz and the train to Vienna instead. The shuttle picked us up at 11:00 and dropped us at the Linz train station shortly after noon. We got on a train leaving for Vienna at 12:30 and were in Vienna around 2:30.

internetwiz,
We stayed at Na Ostrove Pension and would stay there again. It is newly renovated, very clean and a good price. We stayed in the apartment on the top floor and had a view of castle. There are lots of steps, so be aware if that is an issue for you. The owners were polite, but not overly friendly. The breakfast was served in their ground floor restaurant. It was a continental spread and it was very generous and more than adequate.

Also, you may want to check out the Student Agency bus from CK to Prague. We used them (in the opposite direction) and were very pleased. You don't have to be a student to use them. www.castleview.cz has good information about connections to/from Prague and that's how we found out about the Student Agency bus service.

We just returned 2 days ago from a memorable trip to Prague and Croatia. Before leaving the US, I researched some day trip companies working out of Prague and found one that sounded great! www.praguedaytrips.com It is run by an extemely well-educated young couple, Rastislav and Catherine, (she is an American)who will do anything needed to make your trip a success. We arranged to have Rastislav take us to Cesky Krumlov. We were the only tourists but the price remained a very reasonable $109 each and Rastislav kept us interested the entire day - 10 hrs. - with the history of the area plus answered any and all questions we had. A wonderful day. In addition, he picked us up and delivered us back to the Prague airport for a modest fee. I tore a tendon in my ankle while in Prague and was hobbling around and Rastislav drove us around to make sure we saw Prague Castle and the surrounding sights. We could not have asked for anything more. email me at: [email protected] for any additional information. Their email address is: [email protected]

Well that is interesting, Grayer, this is a quote from their website "Shuttle LOBO leaves Český Krumlov at 9a.m. every day and goes to Vienna."

We will be leaving CK in late April next year so I wonder if they will be running by then. I will have to email them and confirm what their season is but the transfer through Linz will be ok too.

Grayer, I just checked out that Pension, it looks really nice. Did you find it easy enough to walk too as opposed to staying right in the middle of town? We will be there for only one night.
Thanks.

Maudie,
I saw that on their website too and I emailed to ask questions about the cost and logistics prior to our trip, but didn't have any luck getting the emails to go through. They kept bouncing back. The Vienna shuttle is also advertised on a large sign outside their building, but the manager/driver stated that it wasn't running yet this season and we didn't push the issue. Perhaps if we had enough people to fill the shuttle they would have run it. The Linz connection worked fine for us, so it wasn't a big deal but I was a little annoyed that they advertised that it ran daily and we found out otherwise when we arrived.

The Pension is a 4 or 5 minute (at most) walk to the main square. It's actually right across the river from the castle on the same side of the river as the town center. We really like the location because it was convenient to everywhere we wanted to go and it was quiet because it overlooked the river not a square where there would be people walking and talking under our windows at night. When I read the trip advisor reviews of some of the other hotels in CK it seemed like noise could be a problem. We could hear the river rushing by if the window were open.

I have some photos of the apartment and the pension. If you would like to see them, just give me your email address.

Thanks Grayer, the Pension sounds like just the sort of place we would love. A friend suggested a hotel on the main square but the price was way over our budget and the possible noise was a concern as well. I would love to know where you stayed in Vienna too!
My email is troys at bigpond dot net dot au - many thanks for you kind offer and for sharing your info with me.
Maudie