AnneO

You are right to leave Venice for another trip. I included it on my first trip (2 years ago), and as much as I loved it, we spent too much time getting from place to place. We did overnight trains from Salzburg to Venice, then from Venice to Vienna, and arrived exhausted in both cities. Next trip (in Sept) is 5-6 days in Venice, then 5-6 days somewhere in Austria (Salzburg area, seeing the surrounding country that we missed last time).

We loved Pension Pertschy in Vienna. Very centrally located, about 120/night for a twin. Great breakfast buffet, free internet in the lobby, by far the nicest place we stayed in Europe. I don't know if it meets your criteria for a 3 star, but I'd stay there again in a heartbeat. As I recall, they had a family apt on the top floor which might be perfect for your family.

Sounds like a great trip! Enjoy!

Anne

elaine

Hi
On Thursday I'm leaving for a 9 day trip with family (including 2 younger teenage boys) to Vienna and Prague.

I have trip files set up already, but if you email me at the end of this month I'll have updated my files and would be happy to share my information.
[email protected]

MaureenB

Thank you all for your comments. This is so helpful, to get feedback from other travelers, who have already been there/done that. Especially re: train vs car.
We are also thinking we'd rely on the trains for the most part, so all four of us can move about and relax. And the route suggestions are immensely helpful-- only so much can be discerned from a book on railways there. Please keep the comments coming, for sights to see and how long to stay.
For example, how many nights in Prague? We're thinking five nights in Vienna, three in Prague, then that would leave four nights to split between Munich and/or Salzburg.
Elaine, thanks for your offer to see your trip files. I'll e-mail to you. And Anne, I'll investigate the Pension you mentioned. I've been communicating with the Hotel Kaiserin Elizabeth, which looks marvelous, and has a suite to accomodate four people-- it's Euro 260, so is a bit pricey. But in Vienna, we might splurge. And, yes, our kids are musical, playing the violin and the guitar, so we'll try to catch a Mass with the boys choir, if that's the best way to hear them. Vera and Thomas, your comments on transport are good ones.
Thanks to everyone! Keep posting...

Riffic

Maureen,

<<We're thinking five nights in Vienna, three in Prague, then that would leave four nights to split between Munich and/or Salzburg.>>

That sounds like a pretty good mix, but I might trim one day off from Vienna so that you have more time for Munich. Ok, I'm partial to Munich, but I think you will really enjoy Bavaria in the summer.

MaureenB

We have booked the Hotel Kaiserin Elisabeth for five nights. They have just one suite that accomodates four, and we were able to get it. From what we've read, this hotel sounds great for us in its location and service. So maybe we'll do 5 nights in Vienna (because of jet-lag, and the fact that my husband will be busy at the conference for a lot of the time, too), 2 or 3 in Prague, 2 or 3 in Salzburg, 2 or 3 in Munich. It's fun to hammer out the details and look forward to the trip. Thank you all for your suggestions. Keep them coming, please.

MaureenB

We just returned from our wonderful visit to Eastern Europe. Our itinerary was ideal: five nights in Vienna, three in Prague and four in Munich. We arrived by plane in Vienna, traveled by train to Prague, train to Munich, then flew home from Munich. Euraide.com was very helpful, and saved us money on the Prague pass and other train fares.
We were very happy with our hotels, mostly discovered with help from fodors.com.
In Vienna, the Hotel Kaiserin Elisabeth, a four-star boutique-type hotel very near the Stephansdom and the U-bahn, is hard to beat. The price was higher than other places, but well worth it for the elegance, the service, the location and the more sumptious breakfast buffet, even with hot eggs made to order.
We saw the Lipizzaners' morning "exercise with music", a three-hour event that my daughter and I enjoyed as we are horse people. The riders dress in full military livery, the horses in full show tack, they salute as they enter the ring, so it's still something to see when the performances aren't available. (Performances are Sundays and were not an option for us.) A few men in the audience looked bored, and we knew better than to invite our men along, but we loved it. Then we returned for their stables tour the next day and enjoyed seeing the horses up close.
We bought the "combi" pass at the train station for the train trip to Melk, monastery tour tickets, boat to Krems, return train trip to Vienna. Definitely a good way to do the trip and worth seeing it all. It was just 39 Euro apiece for the day.
In Prague, we stayed at the Pension U Lilie, right near the Charles Bridge, in the Old Town area. It was nice enough, nothing special, but clean and friendly. Next time, we might choose a place in Lesser Town by the Bridge, as it seemed to be less hectic than the Old Town side. But we did love Prague.
In Munich, we stayed outside the city center, near the Oktoberfest park, at the fabulous Hotel Uhland. It has been operated by the same family for over 50 years, and appears to be a renovated mansion. It sits in an upscale neighborhood of similar buildings, very quiet and charming. The hotel was delightful, the breakfast room and buffet charming, the people friendly. Even free parking and use of their bikes. One evening we all took a bike ride down to the river and it was a lot of fun. We felt very safe walking about in the neighborhood at all hours. At least three nice restaurants close by to walk to. The main train station is about a 10 minute walk, so very convenient for our day train trips to Salzburg and Fussen.
We liked Fussen a lot, even more than Salzburg. It's smaller, more charming, more specular scenery. Its Ludwig II castle tour is well worth it. Look into the Bayern pass. It was just 22 Euro for all four of us, round trip, each day. I believe it's good for up to five people on the same pass.
So, that's it. Thanks for all the help!
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