Songdoc

I’ll be visiting Prague in mid-March and will have six full days, not including travel days. Jetlag won’t be an issue because, although I live in the U.S., I’ll be coming after ten days in the U.K.

I was thinking about including visits to places such as Cesky Krumlov, Bohemian Switzerland National Park, Terezin Concentration Camp, Kutna Hora, Dresden, and Wild Šarka Natural Reserve.

My question is whether it would be preferable (and easy) to do any of these on my own. Not speaking the language, the idea of having someone handle all the logistics and transportation is appealing. But I also like not being part of a herd and having time to wander and explore.

FYI, while I love architecture and castles, I am also a nature/landscape photographer, so I’m looking for scenery to photograph, as well.

Thanks for any thoughts and suggestions.

marvelousmouse

I haven’t been to the other places, but I wouldn’t do Dresden as a tour. Language isn’t much of an issue. Less English than other German cities maybe, but still very easy. I would also want plenty of time to visit the Green Vault and other museums and I think being on someone else’s schedule in Dresden would drive me bonkers.

Maybe if the tour included places outside of Dresden though. There were day trips I would have taken but they weren’t convenient without a car.

nukesafe

We did Cesky Krumlov on our own, using the Student Agency Bus for a day trip from Prague, and had a lovely time. The bus was fine, and we got to see everything we wanted to on our own. I would not have been happy being herded about with the crowds, as there were so many neat things and twisty streets to explore on our own.

kja

No need to take a tour unless that's your preference. But do get a good guidebook or two.

Andrew

Don't let the language barrier be an issue to going places yourself. I didn't know any Czech beyond a few words when I visited for a few days, on a solo driving trip, and I managed just fine. Many younger people especially will know at least a little English if not be fluent. If you can't communicate with someone right away, take your time. A smart phone with Google Translate on it would make it even easier to communicate somewhat in a pinch.

I had a car, but I understand there's now one direct train a day between Prague and Cesky Krumlov. There also direct buses which might drop you closer to the center of town than the train station (Student Agency has a new name - you can probably dig it up).

Man_in_seat_61

Easy enough on your own. How many German, Austrian, Polish, Ukrainian, British, American, Australian, French, Indian, Hungarian, Singaporean, Malaysian, Brazilian, South African, Irish, Spanish, Portuguese tourists to Prague & Czech Republic speak Czech? ;0)

Just buy a train ticket! https://www.seat61.com/places-of-int...ky-krumlov.htm

Man_in_seat_61

...Taxi driver who drove us 5 minutes from station to old town in Cesky Krumlov spoke perfect English. With a LANCASHIRE ACCENT!!

We asked the obvious question, answer, "15 years living in Preston!".

unclegus

I agree with what other have said most trips are easy to do on your own,Terezin is about an hour by bus from Holesovice and the bus stops right outside the small fortress,also stops outside the main museum .Kutna Hora is an hour by train though depending where you are going you may have to use the local taxis or buses. You will be suprised how widely english is spoken,I always get amazed that even in the most outlyingplace when I order things in my stragulation of the Czech language I am usually replied to in perfect english

unclegus

Regiojet is the new name for Student agency.

Songdoc

Thank you all so much for the info.

It sounds like it should be easy to do Cesky Krumlov, Terezin, and Kutna Hora, by public transportation.

I'm guessing it might be easier to do Bohemian Switzerland National Parkand and Wild Šarka Natural Reserve by tour.

Christina

I think it really depends what you want. I took a day bus tour to both Cesky Krumlov and Kutna Hora. First, those day bus tours are very cheap in Prague, so good value. Second, they do handle everything and make it easier than dealing with the train stuff. And both visited places you wouldn't probably see if you did it on your own (such as a stop in a church just outside CK first, and Kutna Hora, also). I also suspect they save time, as the train station in CK isn't even in the main town center, it's about 1.5-2 km walk away, or a bus. It's not as bad at Kutna Hora, say only about 1 km from the Italian Court.

I just thought it was a very efficient and cost-effective way to get a lot out of a day trip, easily, one of those day bus tours (I like Prague Sightseeing Tours but have also used Martin Tours). Both of them had excellent local guides who were multilingual.
http://www.pstours.cz/

I wouldn't to Dresden, though, given it's a major city and that would take up more time just getting there, also. It's not hard to get from the train station to the main area you will probably want to sightsee in Dresden.

In fact, I would highly recommend the Hluboka and HOlesovice tour by PS Tours as a day trip instead of Dresden. Those are places you cannot easily get to on your own. They stopped a few hours in Ceske Budejovice, also, which was interesting.
http://www.pstours.cz/tour/t8-hlubok...ke-budejovice/

see that entire 9-10 hr tour is only about USD67.

Ingo

As for National Park Bohemian Switzerland - I live just across the border in Germany and know this region pretty well. Not much is easily accessible in winter. Tiske steny would be a good idea (busses run frequently from Usti nad Labem), and with some effort you can get to Decinsky Sneznik (the highest flat-top mountain).

Keep in mind that the canyons of the Kamenice river are closed, though, famous Pravcicka brana (the sandstone arch) is only open on weekends until 2 pm, closed if the weather is lousy.

So, my advice is to do the excursion to Tiske steny on your own.

bakerstreet

On our trip to Prague in August we used the services of a local guide company called Personal Prague Guide and our guide, Lenka, was outstanding. We had her for the better part of three days -- two days touring different sections of the city, and one day trip to Terezin. For the day trip she brought transportation and driver.

The reviews of the company on Tripadvisor are excellent and, more important, our experience was excellent. There is no way we would have gotten as much out of our visit if we had not used this guide. She saved us a huge amount of time and showed and told us about things we would not have seen on our own (or appreciated what we were looking at).

I cannot recommend her highly enough. Have a great trip!