Germany/Czech Republic Intinerary Questions
 

Hello,
I'm planning a trip in September and as those on this forum have been so helpful in the past I thought I'd consult here again. I will be travelling for a bit over 2 weeks, arriving and leaving from Berlin (I'm attending a salsa dancing congress there). I'll be there Wednesday through Sunday, then will have about 11 more days to travel around. So far I think I want to go to Prague and vicinity and Munich and vicinity (Bavaria), likely travelling via train. Any thoughts on what order I should do (e.g., Berlin-Prague-Munich or Berlin-Munich-Prague)? Also, for the Prague/Munich time I will be travelling solo - any thoughts on whether I'll feel safe in Munich given that it will be Oktoberfest time? Any other advice on must see places in the vicinity of those cities?

ttt Any advice at all???

Topping for Robin.

Hi R,

> any thoughts on whether I'll feel safe in Munich given that it will be Oktoberfest time?

I guess it will depend on how much beer you have ingested. :)

I suggest that you make reservations for your Munich accomodations real quick.

We like the Hotel Uhland.
http://www.hotel-uhland.de/enwelcome.html

With 11 days, I would train from Berlin to

Rothenburg ob der Tauber - 2 nights

Train to Munich - 3 nights

Train to Vienna - 2 nights

Train to Prague - 3 nights

Train to Berlin

Good luck, and enjoy your visit.

((I))

Robin,

Before heading south, you'd be well advised to spend at least a full day and overnight in Dresden. I was there a couple years ago and very much enjoyed touring this lovely Baroque city. It's a great place for touring museums, eyeballing splendid architecture, and hearing world class classical music. It's also a terrific place for river cruising.

Best of luck.

Robin - I would also second suggestion of working in Dreden if at all possible. We were there in '06. It's a gorgeous city, full of stunning architecture and a wonderful mix of old and new. Center City is very walkable. Lots of nice cafes and views along the river. Well worth seeing.

Another vote for Dresden. Three years ago, we stayed there for 2 nights and then took the train to Prague. Quick and easy. Dresden is a beautiful city.

Thanks so much, all! I will look to work Dresden into the plan...maybe it would then be Berlin-Prague-Munich-Dresden-Berlin??? Or opposite -Berlin-Dresden-Munich-Prague-Berlin? Or maybe I have the order wrong altogether? I'm not sure if it really matters, but sometimes there is a difference in terms of what's available and what's smoother. I was thinking for long haul trips I'd try for an overnight train, but I haven't started to look into that yet. Oh, I'm not planning to go to Austria for personal reasons.

I just looked on the website for the hotel ira recommended and it's already booked - so yes - I need to get on reserving accommodations! If anyone has recommendations in the cities above, I prefer to stay in 2 stars (clean, safe area) to stretch my lowly dollar. I'll also save by taking the advice to watch my beer intake for safety :)

I'd suggest:

Berlin - Dresden - Prague - Munich - Berlin

How About:

Berlin - Dresden - Prague - Wroclaw Poland - Berlin.

If you don't have a room in Munich forget it. The Upland is booked and getting to the Bavarian region out of Prague is wasting time spent on trains. With the weak dollar stay close to Central Europe. All IMO.

Trying out my new screenname.

If you decide to visit Dresden, you'll want to sandwich it between Prague and Berlin. It's about halfway between the two cities (about 2 hr train ride to each). It is a beautiful city and very compact, so one night is all you should need there.

Have fun!

TravelingMan is spot on:
If you don't have a room for Munich during Oktoberfest already, forget it. The remaining few accomodations should be in the €150-200 range (for place which usually charge €50-80). I think you find better opportunities to spend your money. If you want to see some of Bavaria, you can travel to Bamberg and Würzburg, which will be at least as nice as Munich.

Robin,

Dresden's historic core, located on the banks of the Elbe River, is certainly worthy of a couple overnights (part of one day could be spent cruising the river on one of the city's wonderfully nostalgic paddleboat steamers). Dresden is also a world-class classical music destination, so be on the lookout for some early fall concerts (www.dresden.de.). To get a flavor of this, the Hofkirche is host to free pipe-organ concerts, Wednesdays and Saturdays, 11:30AM.

As regards accommodation, a few years ago I stayed at the fine, reasonably priced Hotel Martha Hospiz. It's located in Dresden's New Town, an easy ten-minute walk to the city's major sights. The hotel is tidy, situated in a pleasant neighborhood, and offers good service.

www.vch.de/marthahospiz.dresden

Dresden is a fascinating place. Today, most Americans associate it with the horible firebombings of 1945, but the city has experienced a re-birth, and it's a treat to experience its transformation from a city of rubble and devastation to one of energy and touristic buzz.

Well after a momentary feeling of sadness about bypassing Munich, I figured I'd give it a shot. I was able to find accommodation there at a very reasonable price for the week before Oktoberfest, but I'm not sure if all of the connections will work. Here is what I'm thinking right now:
Berlin: 4 nights (this has to be 1st - and last)
Dresden: 2 nights
Munich: 3 nights
Prague: 5 nights
Budapest????: 2 nights, then perhaps flight back to Berlin if timing works to save on time??? (I've always wanted to go to Budapest, but not sure if this is feasible...any thoughts?

Also, I've found booking accommodations in Germany to be challenging - the sites have English versions until you get to the reservation form, which seems to ask for passwords or some other data. I was trying to use a German/English online dictionary, but sometimes the words just weren't there...e.g., Buchung Stornieren, Anmelden, Zimmeranfrage...I'm lost!

Regarding booking sites, I've been using tripadvisor.com and then they give you links to lots of other sites when you find a hotel of interest to you (expedia, travelocity, venere, etc.). Or, try going straight to venere.com. It's been useful to me in the past and has ratings, reviews, and price quotes.

Thanks very much, Sylvester. I guess I've been looking at some budget options, and many times they are not listed on the sites you mention. I've been using tripadvisor, but thanks very much for the venere.com lead. It's a good site.

Hello, this is me being a nudge, here. Am I way off in including Budapest on this itinerary (see a couple of posts up)? Thank you for any thoughts you may have.

Robin, I normally like to send an inquiry email directly to the hotel. Usually I can find their website by googling. Even if the website is in German, most times I will get a response to my email in English.

However, I have used booking.com and hrs.com with success when booking hotels in Germany and Austria. I have found their rates to be quite good.

Hi, RobinBinNYC -

> Am I way off in including Budapest on this itinerary?

No! Budapest is lovely, and if you want to go, do! You might consider shifting one day from Prague to Budapest in that case (so you have at least 3 nights in Budapest) but that would depend on the timing of transportation and what you want to see and experience.

Hope that helps!

Thanks, Betty and KJA. For some reason it did not occur to me to just email them. I guess I was trying to submit to the process. Now I know it's really time for vacation. And thanks for the words on Budapest. I've wanted to visit for a while, but I wasn't sure if it was too geographically out of the way to include here. I'm not sure how quick the connections are, as I've heard cautionary notes on train travel in Czech Republic. I was actually planning on spending a couple of the days designated for Prague to exploring nearby towns/countryside (similar for all of the cities listed).