SV45

Hi,

I am planning to spend 2 weeks in April in Europe. Fly into Berlin and fly out of Munich. I am planning to rent a Car in Berlin and visit Prague, Vienna, Munich. I will be travelling with my wife and 2 kids - 11 and 15.

Any suggestions on how long I should stay in these places and suggestions for day trips. Also any tips on driving and parking in these cities.

This is my current plan:

Stay in Berlin for 3 days
1 day in Dresden
3 days in Prague and
3 days in Vienna
4 days in Munich

Ingo

Why renting a car? Driving in cities is a hassle, parking is expensive. As long as you only plan to do sightseeing in the cities and the close surroundings (and you won't have time for more) you're better off with trains from one city to the next one.

From Berlin one day trip is obvious - Potsdam. Easily doable by train. But with only three days (that's nights, right?) I am not sure if you'd do it.

From Dresden there's no time for a day trip, too bad.

From Prague I would probably NOT do a day trip, the time is too short. If you're keen on it, try Kutna Hora, which can be done in an afternoon. Again, easily done by train.

From Munich I'd go to Garmisch-Partenkirchen and go up to Zugspitze mountain, just to experience the Alps. That's also a perfect train excursion.

PalenQ

Munich to me is the one that for me at least would deserve less time and add days to Dresden, yes to do the fantastic boat trip down thru Saxon Switzerland, along the Elbe - one of Europe's prettiest river valleys - or drive along it and take your time.

I ditto Ingo if only going to spend time in large cities where cars are just not that practical or needed take the train city center to city center.

In Vienna a great day trip goes by train or car to Melk, visit the famous abbey there and hop on the boats thru the gorgeous Wachau Valley to Durnstein and Krems, return to Vienna from there by train or take the boat or buses back to Melk to get your car.

Anyway yes consider the fantastic train system as Ingo, who lives in Dresden suggests - great sites for planning a rail trip in this area - www.seat61.com; www.budgeteuropetravel.com and www.ricksteves.com. www.bahn.de - the German Railways official web site has schedules for all European trains and for trains involving Germany fares and special online discounts which however have to be book far in advance to guarantee - otherwise for full fare tickets there will be NO problem buying those as you go along.

SV45

Thanks Ingo and PalenQ for your feedback.

I will reduce my stay in Munich to 3 days and stay in Dresden for 2 days. Any idea how long is the boat trip thru Saxon Switzerland, along the Elbe. It sounds really good.

I was planning to rent for a car for convenience and also thought it could be cheaper for a family of 4 people. I am thinking now to take train from Berlin to Dresden, from Dresden to Prague and rent a car when I am about to leave Prague and return when I come to Munich.

Ingo

Renting a car in Prague and dropping off in Munich? Did you check the (usually hefty) drop-off fee for a different country?

You could take the paddle steamer from Dresden's old town to Bad Schandau the day you leave for Prague. Departure is 10.15 am, arrival in Bad Schandau 3.45 pm. Grab a table on the upper deck, order a glass of wine, coffee, lunch, cake and enjoy the scenery. That would be a great way to start the journey to Prague!

In Bad Schandau you'd have a bit more than an hour time before you take the ferry across the river to the train station where you would catch the train to Prague at 5.38 pm, arrival 7.26 pm. The tourist office in Bad Schandau is just a minute up the cobbled alley from the boat stop, they will keep your luggage while you're walking around in the old town and along the river promenade, have an ice cream etc.

Check the saver tickets for Berlin - Dresden and Dresden - Prague. If you book some weeks in advance you can get tickets for 19 Euro per person. Kids up to 14 years are free in this case. Means you'll pay 57 Euro (3 adults) for each trip.

SV45

Thanks for the information.

Agree car rentals are expensive compared to US. Price for an automatic car for is about $360 with full insurance for 5 days.

Prague to Vienna by train seems to be about Euro 160 and from Vienna to Munich is about Euro 250 for 4 people. Adding parking and fuel cost will make car little more expensive.

Ingo

Oops, I noticed you'll travel in April. This is still shoulder season, the paddle steamers run on reduced schedule. So it's like this:

Dep. 10 am in Dresden, arrival 2.30 pm in Königstein. From there take the bus 244 to Bad Schandau train station (takes only 10 minutes, departure right on the main square next to the boat station). EC train from Bad Schandau (dep. 3.38 pm) to Prague (arr. 5.26 pm).

For Prague - Vienna did you check http://jizdnirady.idnes.cz ? It came up with several connections, one even without changes, and the fare for all of you was 1938 CZK, about 78 Euro.

For Vienna to Munich I searched on www.bahn.de and found the 10.14 am train "RailJet", for which you can get saver tickets - 29 Euro for each of the three adults, the 11 year old is free.

I.

PalenQ

Fuel prices promise to steadily increase just as forecast at home so factor in $10/gal gas instead of the current $7-8 - price of oil being universal around the world.

easytraveler

I second the train idea. The train gets you into the middle of each city without all the hassle of having to drive through all that heavy city traffic in each city. Trains in Germany and Austria are frequent and very safe; for the segment to/from Prague, watch your luggage and personal possessions. Unfortunately, petty theft is possible for that segment. Travel light and you'll have less things to worry about.

Ingo is a wonderful resource for Europe and Germany and I'd usually follow his advice; however, in place of Kutna Hora, I'd suggest Cesky Krumlov. CK is on the way to Vienna and you could spend a night there. Since the rest of your trip is in big cities, you and your family will enjoy the medieval feel of CK.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C4%8Cesk%C3%BD_Krumlov

I also second the idea of going to Melk Abbey as a side trip from Vienna. Awesome architecture.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melk_Abbey

In Vienna itself, take a ride on the city's yellow TRAM (not the yellow bus, which is a private company) which takes you around the famous Ring. One circuit takes about half an hour and you can go round and round as many times as you like on one ticket. This circuit will show you just about every major sight along the Ring road. After you have gone around on the tram, you can decide which specific sights you want to visit in depth.

http://www.wienerlinien.at/eportal/e...rogramId/19580

There are two imperial palace complexes: Schonbrunn in Vienna and Lymphenburg in Munich. Choose to visit one or the other, but, on such a short trip, you don't have time to visit both. You'll need at least half a day to give one complex its full due. Choose a nice day as you will want to wander around the gardens to the various structures.

Gute Reise! and have a safe trip!

SV45

Thanks all for your valuable feedback. I decided to drop the idea of driving and instead take the train.

Read lot of reports about being safe in Prague. Hope I am doing the right going to Prague. Is it relatively safe within the city.

PalenQ

Prague is like any big city - like Paris where if you are naive like my friend just was and had his I-phone stolen by some young girls right inside a McDonalds - who distracted him by trying to sell some poster to him whislt one gal was swiping the I-phone - well it can happen anywhere - being vigilant and knowing there are folks out to victimize tourists who look the most vulnerable and who are carrying expensive phones, cameras, wearing gold, etc

So unfortunately just be leery of anyone coming up to you and in crowded areas - leave the gems at home and keep common sense in mind.

SV45

We had a wonderful time on our vacation and thanks to everyone for all the help.

We really liked the travel by train and didn't needed to rent any car. Trains were quite comfortable and always on schedule. We met new people on the train and was a great opportunity to interact with locals and tourists.

Vienna and Prague were great. We liked Berlin and Dresden as well but it was quite cold and rained in Dresden on both days we were there. We took the paddle boat in Dresden and also went to Meissen.

In Vienna we spent a day at Schonbrunn but didn't get a chance to see Lymphenburg in Munich.

We didn't face any problems in Prague. I pre-booked a taxi to pick us from train station since we arrived in the night. Some people were trying to sell things but we just politely declined. Overall everybody was quite helpful.

Our kids wanted to see Neuschwanstein Castle and we made a day trip from Munich. Castle was alright but we liked the journey and there was light snow fall.

PalenQ

ttt - sounds like a great trip!