Hi,

we would like to go to CR this august (dates aug 26 - sept 7 preferred). We want to got to Prague, possbily southern bohiema(czesky krumluv and environs) and possibly another nieboring country. but we can not find any good air fares at all!!! We will be leaving from chicago and I would like to fly into one city (not sure yet) and leave from prague. Does anyone have any ideas on what other country-city would be fun and interesting to start in and how to get decent airfare? I have tried the following so far:

In: Munich Out: Prague - at least $1000
In: Salzburg Out: Prague - at least $1000
In: Vienna Out: Prague - at least $1100
In: Venice Out: Prague - at least $1100
In: Berlin Out: Prague - at least $1100
RoundTrip Prague - at least $1000

I am also getting really crappy schedules
I have tried Travelocity, Expedia, Orbitz

Thanks

I just don't think you are going to find any great bargains for air fare this summer, there aren't any, and that part of Europe costs more to fly to than western Europe.

I recently went through this, and found the cheapest places (for me) in that area were Zurich and Vienna (and probably Frankfurt or Munich) -- also, try Copenhagen for a change, as SAS has some good fares and that isn't too far from your desired routes. Also, Icelandair goes to Copenhagen from the US.

Hi dg,

Boy, air fares really are lousy right now.

www.volareweb.com has RT Milan Malpensa/Prague for about 80E pp.

Now you have to find a cheap flight to Milan.

Have you considered flying into London and then taking a flight from London to Prague? Flying into London would most certainly be cheaper, but keep in mind the luggage weight allowance on the cheaper no-frills lines.

Assuming I am going to pay at least 1000 ( I am keeping my hopes up though) , I still am not sure what is the best iterneray? which cities(or areas) are the best to visit paried with Prague. I don't mind renting a car, or taking trains. But this is my borthers first trip to Europe so I would like to go to more than one country

Check out Paul Laifer Tours (google it) -- they have city arrangements and they specialize in Eastern Europe. They could help.

You might want to combine Poland with the Czech Republic. We flew into Warsaw, trained to Krakow and then trained to Prague. Paul Laifer Tours booked our air, hotels and transfers. He only serves Central Europe and offered better air fares with Czech Airlines than we were able to get. I suggest you give him a try at www.laifertours.com or [email protected]

Hello,
Last fall we traveled to Prague and combined it with a trip to Poland. First we flew to Prague, spent 3 days there; then we took a train to Krakow, spent 3 days there. We also rented a car for 2 days and drove around the Polish countryside and stayed in a castle. Then we took the train back to Prague for one more day before we flew home. If you don't want to return to Prague, you could fly home from Warsaw. We returned to Prague for an extra day because our daughter was studying there last fall. It was an awesome trip!!! We loved both Prague and Poland. I highly recommend these two destinations.

Also, we found the lowest fare on Delta (codeshare with Czech Airlines flying there, and Air France returning home). We enjoyed our flight on Czech Air, no problems at all. I notice that someone on this board did not have a good experience with them but we did. Hope this helps.

It's easy to pair Prague with vienna, budapest or Germany (esp Berlin). Have done all of these and they provide a nice trip with good contrasts. All are easily done by car or train - or even flying if you check out some of the cheapo airlines.

Thanks for all your responses. They gave me some good Ideas. My first choice was to to fly to SalzBurg stay a few days, then train into Czech And rent a car, drive around Bohemia. then stay in prague. But as you can all see that I am having hard time getting good flight times and prices for this trip.
It is frustrating for me because I usually like to fly non-stop (even if it costs a little more) and I usually can do so from chicago . you can fly to Hong Kong, Toyko, Paris,london,milan,rome,Franfert, amsterdam,hawaii,etc not stop - why not eastern europe?? It seems like Poland is the only place from chicago you can fly non stop(which is not surprising considering the enormous amount of pols here)

I might consider the Poland - czech combo

thanks again for the responses

Kwoo,

Where was the castle you stayed at?

Sorry for the late reply. We stayed at the Krasiczyn Castle in the village of Krasiczyn, located near the Ukraine border. I found it in my Lonely Planet travel guide. We stayed right in the castle, not in the Hotel Zamkowy (which is on the same grounds). $125.00 per night for a suite, incl breakfast. This was in Oct.

The idea to fly to London and then go on to Prague may be a good one. We were in Prague last month and met many ppl from the UK. They all got deals that would be about 40 bucks in USD.
Good luck.