Christina,

Yes, I too remember being stunned that I could find no classical radio station in Vienna, which seems perfectly insane to me. However, this is just possibly my one criticism of Vienna. It truly is a grand mecca for culture and history buffs. Unlike a previous poster, I also found it to be very clean and the museums that I saw there interesting. The people were not as friendly as they are in London, but I did find them a bit friendlier than the Parisians.

Judging by the rave reviews here, it does seem that I should add Prague to my list of places to see!

Yes Elaine it is bad for obsessive planners, like myself. I want to check out everything, and usually want the best deal since finances are not unlimited and repeatedly keep checking on things to make sure I have not missed something.

Anyways, back to Prague. I mentioned above that we were there in 1999. We used information from Rick Steves which he does have on line. A little old now (1998 data) but for the historic aspects it is good and he does have a drawn map that shows some of the key areas. See below. This may help for figuring our locations. It does have in his discussion info about transportation and walking tours.
In his Austria area he does have some comments.
Hope it helps, regards, Mary Ann

http://www.ricksteves.com/update/prague.htm

We were in Prague and Vienna last November. I agree with most comments. Prague is more medieval and architectually interesting with great little streets and shops. The people are a little more glum in Prague but friendly when you talk with them. I also agree that English is more prevalent in Prague. There are more signs in English and people are more likely to know English. Be sure to spend time in the Jewish quarter.

Vienna is a bit formal, but, again culturally exciting. We had rainy weather in Vienna and that always colors your impressions and memories.

Hi Elaine

In Prague we stayed at the Pensione Dientzenhofer, which we loved. http://www.dientzenhofer.cz/

In Vienna we stayed at the Kaerntnerhof, which we liked a lot. http://www.ivacation.com/hotels/hotel.asp?HotelID=20196

Having been to both I'd have to agree with the pro-Prague group. After all, they don't call it "The Golden City" for nothing...if you like the baroque and like the feel of actually being transported back to the Middle Ages you'll enjoy the "older" parts of Prague a great deal. Probably aalso the reason so many movie exteriors such as "Amadeus" are filmed there. Be prepared for gold leaf because it is everywhere inside churches, etc.
As to the train connection, there is a lot of service between the two cities and I wouldn't think you'd have any trouble getting tickets. Enjoy.

I just returned from visiting both cities and must say that I thoroughly enjoyed both. The one difference that I noticed is that Vienna has more "green space" in the downtown area than Prague, which is something that appealed to me. This may not matter in March, when you will be traveling. Prague's relative lack of traffic compared with Vienna, on the other hand, was a pleasant surprise. I thought the architecture was comparable, with Vienna's being on a grander scale. Also, I would observe that Prague isn't as cheap as it used to be - the $7 concerts that people mentioned only a couple of years ago are now $16 - $18 and that is for sometimes an hour long performance. I could easily return to either city - lots to see and do, no problem with English, good food.

elaine - comparing Prague and Vienna as cities is like comparing apples and oranges as fruit. I prefer Prague (and apples) because the sites are closer together and it has a more quaint and almost medieval look. My wife, however, much prefers Vienna (and oranges) because it is more open with more green spaces to relax in and its architecture is more on the Baroque side - and perhaps "grander".

Hi
.
CharlieB, I know they are apples and oranges, that's exactly what I was hoping for, comments on how the two are both different and similar.
Both cities, both in central Europe, both with long histories. Then the differences come in.
The comments have been great, thanks to all.

Just returned last month with my daughter from Vienna and Prague. Definitely we liked Prague better than Vienna. The 2 young people would enjoy going up to Petrin hill on the funicular and then climbling to the top of the tower( An elevator for us older ones) to view Prague. Such a beautiful view. We daughter was so excited to find a TGI Friday restaurant in Prague after eating European food for 2 weeks before. The Jewish Cemetery and old synagogues are not to be missed. We found much English spoken and met some very nice young people-one operating the elevator on top of the Perin Hill and the other a waitress in TGIF. The subway system is very easy to get around on. We stayed at the Don Giovanni which is a good hotel not right in the center,but a subway stop almost at the door of the hotel. One night we went to a folk music show in one of the hotels which was very entertaining and refreshing with its young performers. As everyone mentioned the architecture is so unique at every turn in the city. You will enjoy Prague and find its magic.

elaine - let us know which you choose and why. Apples - crisp and tart, or oranges - sweet and luscious. Both are enjoyable fruits. No way will you choose the wrong city. Enjoy!

I think Elaine decided to go to both, which I think is a good idea. Actually, I did like that wedding cake architecture of Vienna -- it is something to see as I have never seen another city with so many large grand buildings like that. As I said, I didn't fall in love with Vienna, but I'm glad I saw it. I realize one reason it was not so exciting for me was that I was there in July when not much was going on (which I hadn't known) in terms of concerts. Also, it rained a lot which kind of put the damper on things, literally. I did like the green space, also, in the center but would have preferred less trash and more scenery in the area around St Stephans, for example.

As for cost, not many places are as cheap as they used to be due to inflation, unfortunately. Prague prices are rising as they become more adapted to tourism and costs go up (I've noticed hotel costs have gone up a lot in the last 5 years, at least the good ones). However, I think it's still cheap by any reasonable measure compared to other major European cities, including concerts and opera. Part of the reason it may seem so much more expensive is due to the falling value of the USD, not the prices. The USD has fallen more in the Czech Republic than in W. Europe in the last few years in comparison to the USD, although you don't hear people talk about that so much. When I was there in 2000, I got 40-42 CK for one USD; the current exchange rate is only 26 CK for one USD -- a drop of about 37 pct.

I was just there last year and concerts are still pretty cheap, except for the tourist concerts, of course. I remember paying only about US$12-15 for a ticket at the door at the National Museum for the Stamic Quartet, who are superb and internationally known. It lasted longer than an hour, also, it was a regular chamber music concert. Chamber music at the Clementinum's Hall of Mirrors is not to be missed IMO, if you like classical music (also, I think you cannot go in and view that room otherwise, but I'm not sure). Again, those are only about 400-500 CK for a regular concert (about US$15) that lasts about 2 hrs or more, but their tourist concerts (players in period costumes, playing Vivaldi's Four Seasons) are about 33 euro. You can see a nationally recognized opera company doing Rusalka at the National Theatre (and IMO the Czechs do Dvorak better than anyone) for only about 25-30 euro for top seats. Paris, London, etc charge double to triple that rate.

So, I don't complain about prices in Prague because I think they are still very reasonable in comparison to other places.