Have to choose: 10 days in Prague and outlying or Ardennes/Bastogne/Spa
Jul 4th, 2012, 12:45 PM
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Apr 2003
Posts: 2,560
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Have to choose: 10 days in Prague and outlying or Ardennes/Bastogne/Spa
Hello - we are in early stages of planning a 10 day trip to either Prague or the Ardennes. We plan to go mid October. We are late 50's, active, have travelled a lot in Germany, France, Italy and Spain. We love history (especially WW2 for me), culture, countryside and it goes without saying...good food and wine. We tend to immerse ourselves in the culture and love finding small pubs, out the way sights and engaging the locals constantly for their tips and ideas (eg: where would you take your future mother in law to dinner?) I'm fairly good with a route if we choose the Prague/Cesky/Karlovy trip but less sure of how to attack the Ardennes idea. I would like to include Spa as we are big F1 fans if possible..maybe just a day there. We've been to Ipres and Brugges twice so this would be a different look at Benelux. Would love to hear from others who've done either of these trips for ideas on lodging, food, sights and the inevitable what to avoid. Thanks much!!
Jul 4th, 2012, 03:53 PM
#2
Join Date: Jan 2007
Posts: 3,123
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
While I love the Ardennes, I think Prague trumps it for sheer spectacular architectural magnetism. But to clarify: the time I went, I spent 3 days in Prague seeing old friends of ours who live there, in a variety of food settings, and we were not able to do the tourist thing properly, just a little bit between meeting up (and we had our young daughter with us, which is always a brake on events). Had I seen the sights properly, I don't know how many days I'd devote to it. Ten days is probably too many. I've also only seen Brno outside of Prague and that was for work, so I wasn't so wowed by it, nothing like Prague.
Restaurants in Prague: we went to the Hard Rock Café, which is a chain and stock-standard everywhere; Marina, which is a floating restaurant on the river, near the Rudolfinum, with lovely food and good views (yes, that would be suitable for the MIL): http://www.grosseto.cz/en/marina-about-us
The other restaurant was another Italian, this time with all-you-can-eat pizza and pasta; servers come around and give you samples of the pastas they have on their trays, and the palette is constantly changing. I liked that one too - all-you-can-eat sounds gross, but it really wasn't, it was interesting and the pasta was great. And also quite good for families. The series of smallish portions you get would stop people being pigs, I would think. I would not hesitate to go there with the MIL but it's not quite as splashy as Marina. Now for the name: I don't remember. However, it's next to the Kotva department store just on the right hand side when you are facing it, and we were upstairs.
If you do decide to go down the Ardennes pathway, you could follow a river or just pick a few towns and meander on through. Camping is very popular there. I like Dinant (spectacular cliffs and a citadel) and La-Roche-en-Ardenne; Han-sur-Lesse is less interesting but there are caves there; Bouillon has an imposing castle. I would also like to see Durbuy and Namur. Liège is a little grotty, I didn't like it so much but maybe that was just when we were there. If you read French, Redu-Transinnes is apparently a town full of bookshops and the Euro Space Centre is also located there. I've not been but it was recommended to me on the basis of the bookshops. Belgians really care about their food so even if you are in a small town you will find something good to eat, even if it's just a steak-frites.
Lavandula
Restaurants in Prague: we went to the Hard Rock Café, which is a chain and stock-standard everywhere; Marina, which is a floating restaurant on the river, near the Rudolfinum, with lovely food and good views (yes, that would be suitable for the MIL): http://www.grosseto.cz/en/marina-about-us
The other restaurant was another Italian, this time with all-you-can-eat pizza and pasta; servers come around and give you samples of the pastas they have on their trays, and the palette is constantly changing. I liked that one too - all-you-can-eat sounds gross, but it really wasn't, it was interesting and the pasta was great. And also quite good for families. The series of smallish portions you get would stop people being pigs, I would think. I would not hesitate to go there with the MIL but it's not quite as splashy as Marina. Now for the name: I don't remember. However, it's next to the Kotva department store just on the right hand side when you are facing it, and we were upstairs.
If you do decide to go down the Ardennes pathway, you could follow a river or just pick a few towns and meander on through. Camping is very popular there. I like Dinant (spectacular cliffs and a citadel) and La-Roche-en-Ardenne; Han-sur-Lesse is less interesting but there are caves there; Bouillon has an imposing castle. I would also like to see Durbuy and Namur. Liège is a little grotty, I didn't like it so much but maybe that was just when we were there. If you read French, Redu-Transinnes is apparently a town full of bookshops and the Euro Space Centre is also located there. I've not been but it was recommended to me on the basis of the bookshops. Belgians really care about their food so even if you are in a small town you will find something good to eat, even if it's just a steak-frites.
Lavandula
Jul 4th, 2012, 05:31 PM
#4
Join Date: Oct 2003
Posts: 57,890
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
We spend several days in the area you're talking about - 4 nights in Spa with day trips (including Liege and Aachen) then headed further south. I must admit the area was interesting with a lot to see and do - and we happened on several small WW II museums - one a larger one with all types of WW II vehicles and another in a small hilltop town - which consisted of every single item that could be collected from any of the troops in the area - on both sides. It told the tale of what had happened to locals and troops on both sides. We were the only visitors (had no idea the museum was there - just fell on it) until two elderly British couples - the men telling their wives how they had served in the area and reminiscing about brands of cigarettes and all sorts of memorabilia. I must admit I was very glad we had seen it. Oh - and you must have a car and time to wander to do this type of trip.
However, to me Prague is one of the most wonderful cities in Europe - and though it sat out much of WW II - having been handed to the Germans before the war - there are a lot of incredibly moving exhibits in the jewish area - as well as architecture that you can't see in any other major city in europe (since it was physically untouched by WWII - although obviously the inhabitants weren;t.)
To me Prague - no contest. (But I would try to do the other trip later. We ended up combining it with a visit to Luxembourg, Trier and the MOselle.)
However, to me Prague is one of the most wonderful cities in Europe - and though it sat out much of WW II - having been handed to the Germans before the war - there are a lot of incredibly moving exhibits in the jewish area - as well as architecture that you can't see in any other major city in europe (since it was physically untouched by WWII - although obviously the inhabitants weren;t.)
To me Prague - no contest. (But I would try to do the other trip later. We ended up combining it with a visit to Luxembourg, Trier and the MOselle.)
Jul 5th, 2012, 06:40 AM
#5
Original Poster
Join Date: Apr 2003
Posts: 2,560
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
If we do Prague, we'll spend three days there, three in cesky krumlov and 2 in Karlovy. That will give us a travel day on each end and sufficient time (I hope) to meander between the overnight stops. My plan is to drive from Karlovy to the Prague airport the night before we leave, stay there and fly out the next day.
Jul 5th, 2012, 07:13 PM
#6
Join Date: Oct 2003
Posts: 657
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I can't help you with your question but I do have a Czech story which may be of interest.
In 1992 I took the train from Prague to Budlejovice, simply because I like Budweiser. About 8pm, it was dark. I wandered the steets of downtown. Totally quiet until I came across a typical "American looking" movie theater. Raucous laughter from inside. No one at the ticket window and no one at the the door so I just wandered into the balcony and found a seat. It was a live comedy presentation. My sense is that it had a political edge. I had no idea what was going on but the laughter from the audience was infectious.
Finally, the "little old lady" next to me said someting in German, then French, and finally in English. She had worked for Brits in Prague after the war [for my generation there was only one war] and learned English. She took me downstairs to get coffee, intro'd me to friends, and was a gracious hostess.
It was a wonderful evening. I am not enough of a historian to say with confidence that it reflected one of a peoples' early chances to be free, and laugh, but in my mind, it will always be so.
In 1992 I took the train from Prague to Budlejovice, simply because I like Budweiser. About 8pm, it was dark. I wandered the steets of downtown. Totally quiet until I came across a typical "American looking" movie theater. Raucous laughter from inside. No one at the ticket window and no one at the the door so I just wandered into the balcony and found a seat. It was a live comedy presentation. My sense is that it had a political edge. I had no idea what was going on but the laughter from the audience was infectious.
Finally, the "little old lady" next to me said someting in German, then French, and finally in English. She had worked for Brits in Prague after the war [for my generation there was only one war] and learned English. She took me downstairs to get coffee, intro'd me to friends, and was a gracious hostess.
It was a wonderful evening. I am not enough of a historian to say with confidence that it reflected one of a peoples' early chances to be free, and laugh, but in my mind, it will always be so.
Jul 6th, 2012, 12:21 PM
#7
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 3,199
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Just in case you are looking for a nice little hotel at only 2 kms from Prague Airport, check out Auberge de Provence. The owner (also chef of the Belgian-French restaurant of the auberge) is a Belgian man, former architect. This could be the perfect combination of Prague and fine Belgian cuisine.
Here's the website: http://www.tuchomerice.cz/en.html
Here's the website: http://www.tuchomerice.cz/en.html
Jul 8th, 2012, 07:15 PM
#9
Original Poster
Join Date: Apr 2003
Posts: 2,560
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Well,DH has thrown out the Ardennes and added Greece(Athens) and the Greek Islands. I pointed out that this would take 13 days instead of 10 and he's good with that. So, now I'm looking at doing Athens, Mykonos, Santorini and perhaps Folegandro. I'm hoping we can hit the highlights of Athens in 2-3 days and then spend the other 10 between islands. He will already be in Europe so the jet lag won't be a killer for him...my concern is that with a 20 hour set of flights, the first day or so will be a blur.
