Czech Republic/Austria Trip Report
 

This was our sixth trip to Europe and our first to Eastern Europe. We decided that the Czech Republic would be a good<BR>place to get a feel for Eastern Europe. Also, since it was a neighbor, Austria would make a great companion country.<BR><BR>Languages: I speak French enough to understand and be understood and I can read it fairly well. This and English gets<BR>us by in many countries. In addition, we always try to learn Yes/No/Please/Excuse Me/Thank You and basic counting in<BR>the native tongues of the countries we visit. But, for the Czech Republic, we couldn't seem to get the basics of the<BR>language. I believe it was due to all of the different accents on the letters...it threw us off a little. Since the<BR>accents change the pronounciation (i.e., one letter will sound different depending on the accent), it became difficult<BR>for us to speak it for some reason. Probably our linguistically challenged American minds at work. Anyway, this wasn't<BR>a problem as most people spoke English, and where they didn't, pointing and gestures did just fine. For Austria, there<BR>was no problem as we can speak and understand rudimentary German.<BR><BR>Money: We travel with an ATM card and two credit cards. We usually get about $100 in local currency from the ATM and<BR>use the credit cards for everything else. Any extra cash we have we use to pay a portion of our hotel bill. In this<BR>way, we never have to worry about how to get rid of extra local currency.<BR><BR>We are budget travelers so I'll try to give the prices of everything. Please note that all prices listed here are in<BR>USD. Also, all prices include taxes and any other add-ons unless specifically noted.<BR><BR>Iraq War: A few people asked us about it, but in general no one discussed it. We didn't experience anti-Americanism at<BR>any point of our trip.<BR><BR>Driving: Driving was fine in all places. Prague was a little confusing because the streets go in every direction, but<BR>the drivers were all normal European drivers (i.e., drive on the right, pass on the left, courtious). We used Via<BR>Michelin (http://www.viamichelin.com) for driving directions.<BR><BR>Driving Note: In Austria you need to buy a sticker that lets you drive on the Autobahn. If you are stopped without one,<BR>there are stiff fines. The stickers take the place of tolls, and you can buy them in Post Offices (and I'm sure other<BR>places). That being said, we did not buy one and had no problems.<BR><BR>Driving Note Again: In Prague, you may drive for what seems a long time and through tiny, tiny towns without seeing a<BR>sign to indicate where you are going. Do not despair! You will see a clearly marked sign when it is time for you to<BR>turn. Just make sure you stay on whatever road until then and you will be fine.<BR><BR>Food note: As with many areas in Europe, in the Czech Republic bread is put on your table with your meal. This bread is<BR>*not* free, although it is cheap. If you don't like bread, tell the waiter you do not want it and you will not be<BR>charged.<BR><BR>Pictures: For pictures of our trip, go to http://pictures.mathewsweb.net, click on the last link in the upper left<BR>frame (Vacations) and then the first link in the lower right frame (Czech Republic/Austria 2003).<BR><BR>For this trip we went to the Czech Republic and Austria. We also went to London for two days at the end, but that was<BR>just to visit friends so is not covered in this trip report. Suffice it to say that a lot of alcohol was consumed!<BR>

We flew non-stop from Cleveland to London on Continental. We used FF miles, so the trip was, essentially, free. The<BR>plane was small (3 rows on each side...no aisle), but the ease of non-stop outweighed the discomfort on the flight. We<BR>landed at London Gatwick and took a train to London Stansted. Originally we were going to take a bus. The bus was a 3<BR>hour trip and more expensive than the train, but it was direct whereas we would need to take two trains and the tube<BR>otherwise. However, when we were standing in line for the bus tickets the smell of many of the people in line convinced<BR>us to take our chances with the trains. I guess this sounds a little &quot;elitist&quot;, but if you could have smelled what I<BR>smelled. And I *knew* one of them would be sitting next to us. Well...taking the trains turned out to be a very good<BR>move. First, it cut an hour off of our trip. Second, we were able to buy a single ticket at the Gatwick airport for all<BR>three trains we needed to take. FYI, I guess this is standard procedure for riding trains in England. And third, we<BR>never had to go outside...switching trains was very easy. The cost was $65 for two of us and we took the Gatwick<BR>Express to the Tube to the Stansted Express. If you ever need to take a train in London, use<BR>http://www.qjump.co.uk/home/index.html. It will have everything you need.<BR><BR>From Stansted we flew Czech Air into Prague. This was $125 round trip per person. Once in Prague we rented a car from<BR>Auto Europe. The price was only $260 and included a cell phone that was FedEx'd to us in the states before we left (we<BR>had to pay an extra $35 for shipping for the phone). The car was a small 4DR automatic, but more than comfortable for<BR>the two of us and our luggage. The only negative about this was a winter tire and registration tax that was assessed<BR>daily. It we had read every page of the tiny writing on our contract we would have known this beforehand, but... In any<BR>event for the 9 days it was $60 extra.<BR><BR>To refuel your car before dropping it off, drive &quot;through&quot; the airport (i.e., around/past the departures section). As<BR>soon as you leave the airport there will be a gas station. Fill up, get back on the road (heading towards Prague) and<BR>you will shortly see a spot to make a U-Turn back to the airport. Do so and drop your car off with a full tank.<BR><BR>Czech Air was a fine airline. On the way out there were no problems. But on the way back the flight was delayed 5 hours<BR>due to &quot;mechanical&quot; problems. This can (and does) happen on US carriers, so I won't single Czech Air out for that.<BR>Everything was otherwise fine, comfortable and good food was served on the short flights.<BR><BR>We did have two experiences in the Prague airport to break up the boredom while waiting for our return flight. The<BR>first was a casino that is present in the airport. You can gamble in Czech or US currency (the Czech Republic is not<BR>part of the EC, so no Euros). No dress code and all types of games and slots.<BR><BR>The second was a bomb scare that emptied the airport. If this ever happens to you, go to any heated area detached from<BR>the main terminal. For example, many airports (including Prague) have their auto rental counters away from the main<BR>terminal. Head here quickly before the masses figure it out. Once there you will find the airport employees already<BR>relaxing. And, when the &quot;crisis&quot; is over you will know because the employees have walkie-talkies and will start to head<BR>back.<BR><BR>

Part I - Czech Republic<BR><BR>We left on the night of March 5th and arrived in London the morning of the 6th. From there we travelled to Prague,<BR>getting in around 4pm local time. Picking up the car was easy and we were in the city about 1hr after we landed.<BR><BR>The only hotel we reserved on the trip was for Prague - the Botel Albatros. Called a Botel because it sits on the<BR>Vlatva river, we figured this would be a pretty cool experience - and it was. I would highly recommend staying here.<BR>The rooms are spartan, but clean and quiet. There is hot water with excellent pressure. The view (of the river) is very<BR>nice, and the breakfast (included in the stay) is standard European fare (e.g., cold cuts, bread, cheese, cereal). The<BR>staff is friendly and, most importantly, there was free parking next to the ship. It is a five minute walk to the Old<BR>Town (Stare Mesto) from the boat and about a ten minute walk to the Charles Bridge. The latter you can do as a romantic<BR>stroll along the Vlatva. The cost for this is $40/night.<BR><BR>Our first night there we wandered into the Old Town and had the most pleasant surprise. We stopped into a small<BR>restaurant and ordered a large pizza and drinks. When all was said and done the bill was less than $4, including the<BR>tip. Yes, Prague (and the entire Czech Republic) is very, very, inexpensive.<BR><BR>The rest of that night we just wandered around bar hopping. The Old Town is perfect for walking and getting &quot;lost&quot; in.<BR>As an aside, an interesting thing about Czech bars is that the ones with actual bars (i.e., where you can sit at the<BR>bar) don't really serve food. Ones that do serve food usually don't have a bar to sit at.<BR><BR>The next morning we got up and travelled to the towns of Karlstejn and Krivoklat to see the castles there. This was a<BR>major disappointment. To get to the castle at Karlstejn you need to walk up a very long (close to 1 mile?) hill. The<BR>walk itself isn't bad, but you are surrounded by dozens (hundreds?) of shops all selling junk. A few (like the armor<BR>shop near the top of the hill) are pretty cool, but most are selling crystal and T-shirts. We actually didn't go inside<BR>of the castle because we read that you should see the outside of the castle at Karlstejn and the inside of the castle<BR>at Krivoklat. Maybe if we had gone inside, our impression of Karlstejn would have been better, but my advice would be<BR>to stay far, far away. If you want to see cool castles take a day trip to Germany instead.<BR><BR>Krivoklat was the opposite of Karlstejn, but our visit there wasn't any better. The town is very small and I don't<BR>believe there is a single tourist shop there. I can't speak for the castle because it was closed to individuals (only<BR>open to pre-booked groups). However, my impression was that this city (and castle) should be skipped too.<BR><BR>The day wasn't a total waste, though. We did a lot of driving through the Czech countryside, which was very pretty. And<BR>we ended up getting back to Prague much earlier than we had planned. This meant another day exploring the Old Town.<BR>More importantly, it meant we could leave Prague a day earlier. Understand that we loved Prague, but when we travel we<BR>like to keep our itinerary open. We don't want to reach the end of the trip and wish we had an extra day in a certain<BR>spot. So, whenever we can, we move on.<BR><BR>Leaving Prague early was probably the best decision we made on the trip. Our next destination was Cesky Krumlov, the<BR>city that everyone talks about and just south of the home of Budweiser beer.<BR>

When we entered the city, we stopped at what appeared to be a tourist info place. I think it was (still not 100% sure),<BR>but more importantly it had the most beautiful rooms sitting on the river. Picture a large studio type room with a<BR>&quot;country&quot; type interior. All wood, very nice. Thoroughly modern bathroom. Gorgeous view of the river. Breakfast served<BR>in your room. That's right, they ask you what time you want breakfast and it is delivered to your room.<BR><BR>There are only 4 rooms in the pension. We stayed in the most expensive one. It was $38 which included the breakfast and<BR>parking. The next day started the low season and the price dropped $6. The name of the place is the Pension Mysi Dira (<BR>http://www.ceskykrumlov-info.cz). You can email them at [email protected], call them at +420-380-712-853 or<BR>fax at +420-380-711-900.<BR><BR>We walked around the town which is very pretty but I didn't think it was as pretty as people had said. I had images of<BR>a town like Bruges (in Belgium) in my mind and this looked like a run down version of Bruges. That being said, I would<BR>highly recommend this town to anyone going to the Czech Republic. In fact, if you can only visit one city here besides<BR>Prague, I would recommend Cesky Krumlov.<BR><BR>Why? Well, for starters, it *is* pretty...just not as pretty as some hyped it to be. Also, it has a very cool castle<BR>with a moat that is now inhabited by bears. That's right, bears! The entire town is an &quot;old&quot; town and the town square<BR>is pretty nice. We went off season, but in season it gets pretty wild there. We saw lots of advertisements for things<BR>happening in the next few weeks. The shops are small and quaint and the restaurants serve excellent food. Best of all<BR>you can see it in a day and feel satisfied, or stay longer and chill out.<BR><BR>Besides the pension, I highly recommend a bar called the U Joseph. It is a local bar, so you'll just see locals there.<BR>It is very small, but has (and even smaller!) stage and live music. The night we were there the band was singing<BR>American country/western songs with Czech lyrics. In the Czech Republic, it is common to sit at a large table with<BR>others you don't know. We had read this, but were not 100% sure how true it was. When we walked in, all of the smaller<BR>tables were filled, but after standing around looking stupid for a few minutes a young man waved to us to sit down at<BR>his table. He was the only person in the bar who spoke English.<BR><BR>

All language barriers were broken down once the Budweiser (or Budvar as it is called there) started flowing. The people<BR>were warm and friendly and we felt at home. It was a long night, and I can't remember all of the details, but I do<BR>remember these things:<BR><BR>1) At one point I was on the stage singing 2) I drank more beer that night than any night since my college days 3) A<BR>man from Poland who lived in Cesky Krumlov and only knew one word of English (America) kept buying me shots 4) A man<BR>from the Ivory Coast came in and I got to use my French knowledge! 5) At the end of the night the tab (including a meal<BR>my wife ordered) was under $10<BR><BR>One more thing about this bar. The 19th of March is a Czech holiday - St. Joseph's Day. Since the bar is called U<BR>Joseph, that night is a particularly fun night there (or so I am told)<BR><BR>Overall impressions of Czech Republic: 1) Prague is definitely a cool city. Whether you like to eat, drink, sightsee,<BR>or relax, you will enjoy yourself here. 2) The Czech Republic is the cheapest place we have ever been to. It is<BR>possible to spend a lot of money, but this is definitely a budget country. 3) The countryside is very pretty, but not<BR>awe-inspiring. The countryside looks a lot like the American midwest. 4) Very friendly people. 5) The cities are<BR>pretty, but look a little old. The beauty comes more from what you can imaging they once looked like, rather than what<BR>they currently look like. 6) I would recommend the Czech Republic to anyone thinking of visiting Eastern Europe.<BR><BR>Part II - Austria<BR><BR>We left Cesky Krumlov and headed to Hallstatt on the 9th. Austria is an amazingly beautiful country. During the drive<BR>to Hallstatt we passed through many small pretty towns on lakes bordered by mountains. In fact we stopped a few times<BR>just to look and take pictures. This had us pretty excited because everyone talked about how pretty Hallstatt was. And<BR>if the drive to Hallstatt was this good, then Hallstatt must be amazing.<BR><BR>Or not. What a let down. Yes, pretty lake and pretty mountains, but the town itself seemed...blah. And the prices for<BR>rooms were outrageous. Luckily, at this point our itenerary was pretty fluid. We knew in general where we wanted to go,<BR>but didn't have any specifics. We were not impressed with Hallstatt so decided to head to Salzburg (an hour away). This<BR>was an excellent move.<BR><BR>

Salzburg is great. We could have easily spent a week here and not been bored. A lot of people said it was very<BR>touristy, but we did not find that to be the case. We found a great hotel, the Auersperg (<BR>http://www.auersperg.at/en/hotel.htm), for $100/night. For that price we got a very fancy room, parking, free internet<BR>connection, use of sauna and pool, and an amazing breakfast. In addition to normal European stuff they had sausage,<BR>bacon, eggs, croissants, cakes and muffins/pastries. The hotel was a 5min. walk from the Old Town and the walk was<BR>through a pedestrian area lined with shops and restaurants. I can't say enough about how good this hotel was...it felt<BR>like the rooms should have been $150-$200/night.<BR><BR>The Old Town of Salzburg is for walking. Big open squares with vendors selling the Baskin Robbins equivalent of<BR>pretzles (i.e., 32 flavors), beautiful architecture (including a cool Cathedral and Bell Tower!), and good restaurants<BR>and bakeries. Best of all, for me, is that the square in front of the Residence has one of those &quot;life size&quot; chess<BR>boards. People play on it (and around it on smaller boards) throughout the day. I did partake in a game and managed to<BR>squeak out a win.<BR><BR>There is also a beautiful river that runs through the city. You can walk, or bike (as many do) along the banks. Benches<BR>are set up to relax or have a small lunch.<BR><BR>The immediate area around Salzburg is what we wish we had more time to explore. We did manage to go to the Salt Mine in<BR>Hallein. We were expecting something really touristy and cheap, but it wasn't that at all. You can get to the Mine via<BR>car (less than 30min.), train or bus. Once there, you can visit an &quot;authentic&quot; Celtic village while waiting for the<BR>next tour to enter the mine. In case you don't know (I didn't), the Celts settled the area of Austria that Salzburg is<BR>now in and were the first to mine for salt there. My advice...skip the village. Picture the cheesiest museum exhibit on<BR>this subject and you'll start to comprehend how bad this looks.<BR><BR>The mines themselves, on the other hand, are terrific. First, you don a white jumpsuit to protect your clothing. Then<BR>you take a &quot;train&quot; into the mine. Getting off the train you can lick the walls of the mine to taste the salt and then<BR>the tour itself starts. What follows is a fascinating tour. You learn all about the history of the mine from the first<BR>Celtic miners to the modern day miners. This comes in the form of movies, exhibits, the guide, and...a boat ride! You<BR>also take a variety of transportation methods to descend into the mine: 2 trains, 2 slides (very, very long and steep<BR>ones), a boat, and walking. On the tour, you actually pass into Germany and back. Pictures (ala amusement park roller<BR>coaster style) are taken along the way (on the first slide and first train ride) which you can purchase for $5. All in<BR>all the tour truly is amazing and if you only have time for one day trip I heartily recommend it.<BR><BR>We left Salzburg after two days and headed to Melk to see the abbey. I've seen a lot of &quot;cathedrals&quot; in Europe,<BR>including the Vatican and St. Marks. This was the most impressive religeous &quot;site&quot; I've seen period. If you go to<BR>Austria, by all means go here and take the tour. It's really too amazing to describe in this report. The best I can say<BR>is...go here and take the tour.<BR><BR>

From Melk we headed to Durnstein to get a hotel for the night. Unfortunately the *entire* town was closed. But that was<BR>ok. The ride to Durnstein (along the Danube in the Wachau valley) was exquisite and even though the town was closed, we<BR>could still walk around in it. Also, we had bought food in Salzburg to stop and have a picnic with, so we stopped here<BR>and ate on the banks of the Danube. Ducks and swans were walking around, it was a sunny day, and we had the entire town<BR>to ourselves. It was very nice and romantic<BR><BR>However, we still had to find a room for the night! So, we went to the next town, Krems, and found a place there. The<BR>hotel was very nice, and had free parking and an internet connection. It was situated in a vineyard in the hills<BR>overlooking the Danube (which we could see from our room). However, they screwed us on the room rate. We asked several<BR>times what the price was and was told $70 each time. However, when we went to check out they told us the rate was<BR>$70/person! This made it the most expensive hotel on the trip (by far), but not nearly the nicest. Oh well, we weren't<BR>going to let that spoil our trip. The hotel *was* nice...just not that nice!<BR><BR>Overall impressions of Austria: 1) Very, very beautiful country 2) Salzburg is a must see city. Spend as much time as<BR>possible here and see the surrounding area. 3) Regardless of whatever else you do, see the Melk Abbey 4) This is a<BR>country to indulge your carnivorous fantasies. Schnitzle, Sausage, Beef, oh my! 5) The towns in the Wachau valley are<BR>great. 6) I would recommend Austria to anyone.<BR><BR>Part III - Czech Republic again<BR><BR>The next morning, the 12th, we decided to head back into the Czech Republic. We stopped in Telc for lunch because<BR>everyone talked about how pretty the town square was. It was pretty and this town makes a nice lunch stop. I wouldn't<BR>advise spending the night here, but a brief rest is fine. There is also a river running through this town that is nice<BR>to walk along.<BR>

After lunch we headed back to Prague for our final two days. We mostly just wandered around the Old Town again. We did<BR>walk along the river (Vlatva) and take the &quot;Royal Walk&quot; (from the Old Town across Charles Bridge to the Castle). At the<BR>castle we saw the changing of the guards. We stood there for maybe 20min., constantly thinking &quot;ok, now this is when<BR>something cool is going to happen&quot;. It never did, even though the castle courtyard was packed with people like us,<BR>watching, waiting. My advice, skip this! Also, you can see a lot of the castle for free. In fact many of the areas you<BR>can peek into and decide if you want to pay for them or not. Again, my advice, unless you are really into this type of<BR>stuff, just walk along the castle grounds.<BR><BR>Be prepared when you go to the castle for a long walk uphill. However, the path is lined with shops and<BR>bars/restaurants and when you get to the top the view is spectacular.<BR><BR>We also had dinner at a traditional Czech restaurant. Everything from the atmosphere to the serivce to the food rated a<BR>perfect 10. This was a fancy meal in a fancy place so was more expensive than the other restaurants. Still, at $20<BR>total for 2 meals, drinks, and tip, it was pretty inexpensive by Western standards. The name of the place is Staromacek<BR>(http://www.staromacek.cz) and it is near the Town Square in the Old Town (Stare Mesto).<BR><BR>On the 14th we had to head back to London. However, our flight didn't leave until 4pm (well, it was supposed to leave<BR>then...it really left around 9pm!) so we spent the morning in Kutna Hora and visited the Bone Church. This is about 1hr<BR>from Prague and was the best of our day trips from it. The Church is amazing, and its inside walls are covered with<BR>human bones (skulls and all). You even have to walk through a cemetary to get into it! It is very small, though. Mainly<BR>one large room with several small alcoves. You can see then entire thing in 5min., or spend maybe 15min to soak it all<BR>in.<BR><BR>In summary, I recommend visiting both of these countries!<BR>

Thanks so much for taking the time to make this wonderful report. We were in the Czech Republic in March of last year and loved the country. This report brought back many fond memories. Your report is also filled with lots of useful info especially for budget travellers. This is a real contribution to the site.

alyssamma--- it was so much fun to read your trip report! Great trip report! Other than the destinations, few of the great lodging, sights and restaurants/bars you mentioned have been previously mentioned in this forum, so it this one is a keeper! The idea of the botel is a riot!<BR><BR>I love Prague, close to the top on the List of Cities to Go Back to. Again, thanks for sharing in detail. Awesome report.

Thank you so much for this report, I am going to both of these places next month and this is going to help. Felissa

One more question, is a car necessary to do this trip, can it be done by bus or train? Thanks, Felissa

Hi alyssamma,<BR> Thanks for the trip report.<BR><BR> For future reference, IIRC, there is a streetcar that will take you up to the Castle.

Felissa, to properly do the Czech Republic I would definitely recommend a car. Many places are inconvienent to reach via train, often requiring multiple changes.<BR><BR>For Austria, I would recommend a car simply because the countryside is so pretty. You will want the ability to stop and just soak everything in when the mood strikes you.<BR><BR>If you want any more info, feel free to email me at [email protected]

Very interesting - especially the part on your view of CK. I was also under the impression it would be a GREAT town to visit.

Loved your report!! We are going to Vienna and Prague in October. Please tell me that you are young!!!!! Our trip will be quite different....not better, just different.<BR><BR>Was the weather comfortable? And do you think the weather in early October will be about the same as March?