Dennis

I have been in Europe for 3 weeks and got back October 1. I flew from the U.S. to Amsterdam on KLM and from Amsterdam to Prague on Czech Airlines. The flights were on time and ok. I took the airport minibus into Prague. The traffic is bad in the city, but the minibus made the trip in about 15 minutes. I have been to Prague before. The flooding did not affect anything that I did in Prague. Most of the metro stations are closed. There are a few of the stations at the ends of the metro routes that are open that were on higher ground. They have extra trams that run the metro routes. They have an X-A tram that runs the metro A route and an X-B tram that runs the metro B route. They have a X-C bus that runs the metro C route. The trams were crammed with people. There is a steady stream of trams going through the city.

Dennis

I would not recommend driving in the city. There are some streets closed near the river. They have a police officer and an army person paired together throughout Prague to patrol the city. There are some streets that the vehicles require a special sign in the window. Normally taxis and delivery vehicles can only use these streets. The street that runs along the river on the Old Town side is closed in some spots. I walked in front of the InterContinental Hotel down to Charles Bridge. It was like a ghost town. This section is closed. There are no trams running in this area. They have the street tore up. Where you normally cross the street at Charles Bridge over to Old Town, they have dug out street and there is about a four foot drop-off. You have to go up the street to get across. The walkway along the street that is on the right as you come across Charles Bridge on the Old Town side and has all the shops was closed. They say that the Hilton Hotel has just reopened. Also they say that the InterContinental Hotel should be open by the end of next month and the Four Seasons maybe by end of the year.

Dennis

You can tell where the entrances to the metro are when you are walking in Prague. The smell coming out of the metro tunnels is overwhelming. I don't see how anyone could work in these tunnels. They say that they will have metro C open in November before the NATO meetings and the others before the end of the year. For those people planning to visit Prague in November, they should be aware of the NATO meetings in November 21 and 22. Not only will it be hard to get a hotel, but the security will be very tight. You will probably get your passport checked numerous times. There will also probably be demonstrations. The weather was very nice in Prague. Most of the time required a light jacket. Most of the Old Town square was open and all stores on street to Charles Bridge and the street across the Charles Bridge was open. Most of the Kampa and Karlin area is still closed. The Holesovice train station was closed.

Dennis

I flew from Prague to Budapest on Malev Airlines. The flight was on time and snack on plane was good. I took an airport minibus into the city. The driver berated all the passengers when he let them off and they did not give him a tip. He would chase them all the way to the door. I did not give him tip because of this and I also got chased to the door. I stayed at the Hotel Budapest. I got a good deal. You should be wary of these hotel deals. There is usually a reason for the deal and the reason is usually bad for the person getting the deal. Around 99.9 percent of the Hotel Budapest business is the tour companies. The hotel has around 19 floors of which 15 are for guests. They have 2 small elevators for all these floors. Each evening there are around 10 tour buses that pull up and unload. They don't all come at the same time. As soon as 1 unloads another pulls up and unloads. The lobby is instantly wall to wall people and luggage. I was on the 15th floor, which was the top floor. You don't plan on using the elevator during this time. It was usually late at night before I could get back up to my room. The 1st thing that the tourist from the buses did was take a bath. I did not have any hot water for 4 days. I finally could not take it any longer and had to check out and go to another hotel. Breakfast was included, but the buffet breakfast was not very good. The glasses that they had for the orange juice was about the size of a shot glass. It was really an experience trying to get down to the dining room in the morning, which was on the 2nd level. All the tour bus people would bring down their luggage and load on the buses in the morning. Again the elevators were hard to get. I had a very nice room, but would not use the hotel again.

Dennis

There was a metro line that ran in front of the Hotel Budapest, but you would need to transfer a couple of times if you were going to the Vaci utca area. The hotel was too far out of the city. While I was staying at the hotel, I went out with another hotel guest looking for a restaurant near the hotel. We had gotten 2 blocks from the hotel when 4 police officers walked out of a doorway in front of us. They wanted to see our passports. I had mine, but the person that I was with did not have theirs. They would not let the person go back to the hotel to get their passport. They took the person to the police station. I had to go back to the hotel and get the persons passport and then try to find the police station, which was on a side street. After I took the persons passport to the police station, we were there for around an hour before they let the person go. There is a law in Hungary that all foreigners must carry their passport(not a copy). The place that is happening now in Budapest is the westend City Center Shopping Mall. This mall is next to the Nyugati train station. It has an entrance from the Nyugati metro stop. I did not see as many people in the Vaci utca area as I used to. This mall is a modern shopping mall and their food court has about any kind of food that you would want. It is worth a visit.

Dennis

I flew back to Prague from Budapest on Czech Airlines. The flight was on time and the snack was good. I took the airport minibus into Prague. When the driver dropped me off, I gave him some money which required change back. He gave me some small change back and kept a nice tip for himself. He did not ask me. He jumped back in the minibus before I had time to react. I stayed at the Hotel Expres. They have a very friendly staff, but they were tearing down a building beside the hotel and there was a jackhammer going all day. There was also a church nearby. Not only did the church bell ring every hour, but it rang every quarter hour. Every quarter hour there were 2 short rangs. One thing that I found useful was that I tore off a page for the month that I was traveling from a full size calendar and wrote details on the page for my travel. This was very useful in hotels. I folded it up and carried in my pocket. Most hotels have a set rate for taxi service. I have never seen a taxi driver use these rates when he drops you off. They are usually 100 crown more than the hotel advertises. When I left Prague for the airport, they advertise 300 to 350 crown. When we got to the airport, the driver said 475 crown. I said no. That is not right. He gave me a piece of paper and said to write down what I wanted to pay. I wrote 350 crown and he said ok.

Dennis

I took a train from the Prague main train station to Krakow. It left 07:52 in the morning and arrived at Krakow at 16:13. I had to switch trains at Prerov. The train to Prerov was very rough riding. The train from Prerov was a better train and provided a better ride. The train from Prague to Prerov was scheduled to arrive at Prerov at 11:25. The train from Prerov was scheduled to leave at 11:56. I did not get to Prerov until 12:00. I had to rush to our train. The new train was 15 minutes late leaving the station. I was a little late to Krakow, but not much. I stayed at the Hotel Polonia, which was across from the railroad station. It is an old hotel, but had a nice room that faced toward the railroad station. They had a restaurant in the hotel. The breakfast buffet cost extra. They did not offer much on the breakfast buffet. I did not see much business for dinner. I did not eat dinner at the hotel. It rained and was cold while I was there in Krakow. I had to buy a heavy sweater. The prices were higher in Krakow than Prague.

Art

Dennis, doesn't sound like you had a very good time in those wonderful cities. I went to both 2 years ago, spent a week in each and could have spent a month in Budapest alone. The only time someone tried to rip me off was a rogue taxi driver. I found both cities to be beautiful and people very friendly. I also used the airport shuttles in both cities with no problems at all. Your experiances must have left a bad taste for you but I hope that you will try them again.

Christina

Dennis, I think this was a very useful trip report for people by reporting on the current conditions in Prague, especially regarding public transportation. I new they were cleaning up but haven't really read specific details on what it's like now, so I think this will be useful to folks going in the near future.

I am surprised you thought Krakow was more expensive than Prague because that sure wasn't my experience (although Prague is not expensive compared to other major cities in Europe), but I did not shop for a sweater, either.

Dennis

It may sound like I had a bad time, but no, I had a great time in all 3 cities. I just mention the bad things so that others can be wary of these. I think that the prices to me were higher in Krakow is that I did my shopping in the old town square. I suspect that the prices are higher there. One other comment on the train from Prague to Krakow. It was not clear where to buy international tickets at the Prague main train station. The information window was very good though. They spoke english and was very helpful. When I went to the window to buy my ticket, the agent spoke english and was very helpful. The ticket cost $31 U.S. for a 2nd class ticket. While in Krakow, I visited Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp, Wieliczka Salt Mine and St. Mary's Basilica.

joe-g

Up for Mina.

Mina

Informative report, thank you! Lots of things that I'm sure I will need to know.

Joe, thanks for topping for me.