louky52

Looking at taking a September 2018 transatlantic cruise from Copenhagen to NYC. We would like to do some traveling before boarding the cruise. I am thing of maybe flying into Budapest for a few days, then on to Vienna, Prague and on up to Copenhagen.

We plan to spend about 2 weeks, but are flexible. Do you think 2 weeks is enough time to do that route justice?

I have a myriad of questions, and am trying to formulate some kind of a plan. What mode of travel should we use, I know the trains are inexpensive, but can I use them if I want to visit smaller places like Cesky Krumlov?

Would we be missing lots of off the beaten path stuff by doing it all by train? We are novices at European travel and speak nothing but English and a little Spanish. Will we be overwhelmed trying to do this on our own? I would love to rent a car and head out as we do in the states, but my husband is a nervous oversees traveler and I don't think that would suit us very well.

I have done lots of reading, but get more confused the more I read. I just need somewhere to start this planning. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

thursdaysd

For all the info you need on European train travel, see seat61.com

If you are mainly doing cities you don't need or want a car. From Prague you could go via Dresden or Berlin, maybe fly to Copenhagen if it's Dresden. Four cities in two weeks would be the most I would want to do.

If you have done no European travel I recommend reading "Europe Through the Back Door".

greg

>>> I just need somewhere to start this planning.

Prioritized goals would be a good starting point. Energy spent on activities not contributing to achieving the goals would be best left alone. You "get more confused the more I read" if you don't have a filter to sort out which are relevant to you. You will be "overwhelmed trying to do this on our own" if you run around in a circle or being blown from one place to another by divergent thoughts from different contributors with different tastes and constraints.

>>> Do you think 2 weeks is enough time to do that route justice?

This depends on the scope of your goals. If your scope is big, probably not. If your scope is small, it is a piece of cake. Unless you subscribe to belief that there is one universal fixed answer to this question for everyone with divergent backgrounds, no one can rationally answer this without knowing the scope - what are you trying to accomplish in these two weeks?

>>> I know the trains are inexpensive, but can I use them if I want to visit smaller places like Cesky Krumlov?

You can trivially answer this question yourself. Look at the google map. Look at Cesky Krumlov on the map. Do you see a train station? Find the name, plug in from which city you want to get to Cesky Krumlov into a train site such as www.bahn.com. You will be provided with the frequency and the travel duration.

>>> I would love to rent a car and head out as we do in the states.

You are not traveling in the states. Your goals and constraints determines the mode of transportation. In case you have not even looked at a car rental, plug in your proposed itinerary into pickup and dropoff boxes and be stunned by the cost.

>>> Would we be missing lots of off the beaten path stuff by doing it all by train?

The places mentioned are HIGHLY visited tourist sites.

louky52

thursdaysd, thanks for the reply.

I had taken a quick look at seat61 and it seems to have most of the info on trains that I will need. It looks like I may have to decide on leaving out one of the big cities, Vienna or Budapest or not visiting smaller ones unless I can add another week to the trip. Lots of planning to do. Thanks for leading me to that site.

greg,

"Prioritized goals would be a good starting point. Energy spent on activities not contributing to achieving the goals would be best left alone. You "get more confused the more I read" if you don't have a filter to sort out which are relevant to you. You will be "overwhelmed trying to do this on our own" if you run around in a circle or being blown from one place to another by divergent thoughts from different contributors with different tastes and constraints."

Our goals are to see a little of the interior of Europe, and as I have never been to this area before, I just picked the ones I have seen pictures of and seem to be on most itineraries of first time travelers.

>>> Do you think 2 weeks is enough time to do that route justice?
"This depends on the scope of your goals. If your scope is big, probably not. If your scope is small, it is a piece of cake. Unless you subscribe to belief that there is one universal fixed answer to this question for everyone with divergent backgrounds, no one can rationally answer this without knowing the scope - what are you trying to accomplish in these two weeks?"

My husband and I are amateur photographers and love walking the streets of historical areas, so I guess you could say that would be our priority. The problem is, we don't know where to start to get that experience, so I thought asking for some advice on this forum might help me get started.

<<<< I would love to rent a car and head out as we do in the states, but my husband is a nervous oversees traveler and I don't think that would suit us very well.

"You are not traveling in the states. Your goals and constraints determines the mode of transportation. In case you have not even looked at a car rental, plug in your proposed itinerary into pickup and dropoff boxes and be stunned by the cost."

I have not looked at rental car prices, because I figured that would be the least viable option. And yes, I know we are not traveling in the states, that's why I asked.

Greg, I am sorry you feel my questions are too broad, but after reading trip reports and looking at train schedules, I felt like I was getting nowhere to formulate an itinerary and thought I would ask for some help getting started here from those that live in the area, or have done trips before.

Thanks for the lecture though. I feel better now.

PalenQ

Yeh renting a car in one country and returning it in another -especially far away can have dauntingly steep drop-off fees.