Planning a 3 weeks trip to Prague, Austria & Budapet in Oct. Pls help.
Aug 31st, 2007, 10:38 AM
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Planning a 3 weeks trip to Prague, Austria & Budapet in Oct. Pls help.
Sorry, I am re-posting w/ a diff subject line, hoping to get some response from the experts here...
Dear all : I am finalizing our Oct trip to EE. The itinerary is as follow:
- 5 days in Prague (includes a day in Karlovy Vary)
- Rent a car & drive to Cesky Krumlov (if possible, we'd like to stop at Ceske Budejovice). Spend 1 nite in CK.
- Drive to Vienna (3.5 days there)
- Drive to Salzburg. Would like to stop in Melk & Durnstein on the way.
- 3 days in Salzburg, includes 1 day trip to Munich (via train)
- Drive to Graz (2 nites)
- Then to Budapest for 4 days.
I've been reading many posts from this forum, and I thank you for such valuable & great postings from many people here. However I still would like to get some more advise from the experts before finalizing our itinerary.
Here are my questions:
1. We are thinking to rent a car from autoeurope. Many seem to have good/better experience w/ them than w/ Hertz, etc.
Where is a good location to pick up a car in Prague ?
2. Has anyone been to any of the spa in KV?
There are so many choices there, I wonder if anyone has good experience w/ any particular one ? I'm thinking of Castle Baths...
3. Is it doable to visit Melk & Durnstein (a couple of hrs in each town) on the way to Salzburg (from Vienna). We'll depart the hotel around 9am.
If it is, will it be too pushing if we'd like to rent bikes (in 1 of the towns) to stroll around the area?
I also read a/ Krems...which is a better town to visit, Krems or Durnstein ?
4. We’ll use 1 day in Salzburg to go for the scenic drive & visit St. Gilgen, St. Wolfgang & Hallstatt. Is this doable (visit 3 towns in 1 day)?
5. Is there any other (cute) town that we can visit on the way from Salzburg to Graz ?
6. Graz to Budapest. Should we drive & drop off the car in Budapest? Or should we just take the train, if there's any..?
For price & convenience sake, which is better? Has anyone done this route ?
Pls kindly help. Many thanks in advance !
Dear all : I am finalizing our Oct trip to EE. The itinerary is as follow:
- 5 days in Prague (includes a day in Karlovy Vary)
- Rent a car & drive to Cesky Krumlov (if possible, we'd like to stop at Ceske Budejovice). Spend 1 nite in CK.
- Drive to Vienna (3.5 days there)
- Drive to Salzburg. Would like to stop in Melk & Durnstein on the way.
- 3 days in Salzburg, includes 1 day trip to Munich (via train)
- Drive to Graz (2 nites)
- Then to Budapest for 4 days.
I've been reading many posts from this forum, and I thank you for such valuable & great postings from many people here. However I still would like to get some more advise from the experts before finalizing our itinerary.
Here are my questions:
1. We are thinking to rent a car from autoeurope. Many seem to have good/better experience w/ them than w/ Hertz, etc.
Where is a good location to pick up a car in Prague ?
2. Has anyone been to any of the spa in KV?
There are so many choices there, I wonder if anyone has good experience w/ any particular one ? I'm thinking of Castle Baths...
3. Is it doable to visit Melk & Durnstein (a couple of hrs in each town) on the way to Salzburg (from Vienna). We'll depart the hotel around 9am.
If it is, will it be too pushing if we'd like to rent bikes (in 1 of the towns) to stroll around the area?
I also read a/ Krems...which is a better town to visit, Krems or Durnstein ?
4. We’ll use 1 day in Salzburg to go for the scenic drive & visit St. Gilgen, St. Wolfgang & Hallstatt. Is this doable (visit 3 towns in 1 day)?
5. Is there any other (cute) town that we can visit on the way from Salzburg to Graz ?
6. Graz to Budapest. Should we drive & drop off the car in Budapest? Or should we just take the train, if there's any..?
For price & convenience sake, which is better? Has anyone done this route ?
Pls kindly help. Many thanks in advance !
Aug 31st, 2007, 10:57 AM
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Hi p3,
I posted a response on your other thread.
Re: AutoEurope, we rented 2 cars from them this past May/June in Germany. Our rental brokered by AutoEurope was with EuropCar. We ended up being overcharged by close to $400 and it took numerous phone calls, emails, faxes, and more then 2 months to get it straightened out. If you go with AutoEurope, you might ask them to avoid EuropCar and book you with Avis or Hertz instead.
I posted a response on your other thread.
Re: AutoEurope, we rented 2 cars from them this past May/June in Germany. Our rental brokered by AutoEurope was with EuropCar. We ended up being overcharged by close to $400 and it took numerous phone calls, emails, faxes, and more then 2 months to get it straightened out. If you go with AutoEurope, you might ask them to avoid EuropCar and book you with Avis or Hertz instead.
Aug 31st, 2007, 11:27 AM
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TexasAggie:
I wasn't aware that AutoEurope acts only as a broker for the car rental...?
Thx for the tip!
Btw, do most people pay extra to get rental insurance coverage (for rental in Europe), or do they have coverage already from the CC company?
I wasn't aware that AutoEurope acts only as a broker for the car rental...?
Thx for the tip!
Btw, do most people pay extra to get rental insurance coverage (for rental in Europe), or do they have coverage already from the CC company?
Sep 4th, 2007, 08:45 AM
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Hi again,
We have always used the insurance provided by a credit card, but fortunately, we've never had need of it. There are countries where the credit card coverage isn't applicable... Ireland, Italy, and a few others I believe. I know it does work for Germany and Austria but you might need to call and check about Hungary and the Czech Republic. You have to decline the CDW coverage or the credit card coverage isn't effective. There are also some limitations on certain types of luxury vehicles and off road vehicles. Your CC company should be able to send you a little brochure with all the relevant info.
AutoEurope is a broker and I believe they broker rentals through many rental companies... certainly, I know they use Hertz and Avis as well as EuropCar (avoid).
We have always used the insurance provided by a credit card, but fortunately, we've never had need of it. There are countries where the credit card coverage isn't applicable... Ireland, Italy, and a few others I believe. I know it does work for Germany and Austria but you might need to call and check about Hungary and the Czech Republic. You have to decline the CDW coverage or the credit card coverage isn't effective. There are also some limitations on certain types of luxury vehicles and off road vehicles. Your CC company should be able to send you a little brochure with all the relevant info.
AutoEurope is a broker and I believe they broker rentals through many rental companies... certainly, I know they use Hertz and Avis as well as EuropCar (avoid).
Sep 4th, 2007, 08:58 AM
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We've used Autoeurope several times without any problems--and at considerable savings over dealing with the car rental companies directly. But when you pick up your car, you go to the rental car company, not an Autoeurope office, so there's always a chance that an Avis or Eurocar or whatever clerk can make an error when punching keys at the computer. Autoeurope will help straighten it out if there is a problem.
Sep 4th, 2007, 09:08 AM
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question 3: Yes, it's perfectly doable, and it's absolutely worth it. However, you won't have much time left for Salzburg that evening.
4: Yes again, that's doable as well. But consider that if you're doing one day trip to Hallstatt/St. Gilgen/St. Wolfgang, and one to Munich, you'll have but one day for Salzburg proper, and that's not enough. I would skip Munich, though I like Munich, but it's not really sooooo important to visit, and it's kind of exhausting as a day trip. The Salzburg-Munich highway is definitely no pleasant driving (an old highway, rather narrow, with loads of traffic and high probability of jams), and Munich is a big city, it takes considerable time to drive in and out.
4: Yes again, that's doable as well. But consider that if you're doing one day trip to Hallstatt/St. Gilgen/St. Wolfgang, and one to Munich, you'll have but one day for Salzburg proper, and that's not enough. I would skip Munich, though I like Munich, but it's not really sooooo important to visit, and it's kind of exhausting as a day trip. The Salzburg-Munich highway is definitely no pleasant driving (an old highway, rather narrow, with loads of traffic and high probability of jams), and Munich is a big city, it takes considerable time to drive in and out.
Sep 4th, 2007, 09:10 AM
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Sorry, I noticed you want to go to Munich by train, so what I wrote above was nonsensical in fact. Still, I'd skip it in order to allow for a complete visit of Salzburg, which is a hundred times more interesting and artistically more important than Munich.
Sep 4th, 2007, 11:47 AM
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Hi p3 -
Depending on how you do the drive, you can stop in Hallstatt on the way from Salzburg to Graz. A very nice way of breaking up the trip.
Although I strongly though respectfully disagree with franco about the relative merits of Munich and Salzburg, I agree that it would be wiser to concentrate on Salzburg, St. Gilgen, Mondsee, maybe Berchtesgaden for your 3 days there rather than trying to squeeze in Munich. And again, stop in Hallstatt on your way to Graz.
On your Vienna to Salzburg drive, you could stop in Duernstein (yeah, Krems is nice too, but Duernstein is smaller and prettier), have lunch, and then put some people on the boat bound for Melk, and meet up there. Since the boat takes longer than the drive, the person or people who aren't on the boat get to stop at Weissenkirchen, which is a plus. We did that, only in the opposite direction, and it worked out really well.
Depending on how you do the drive, you can stop in Hallstatt on the way from Salzburg to Graz. A very nice way of breaking up the trip.
Although I strongly though respectfully disagree with franco about the relative merits of Munich and Salzburg, I agree that it would be wiser to concentrate on Salzburg, St. Gilgen, Mondsee, maybe Berchtesgaden for your 3 days there rather than trying to squeeze in Munich. And again, stop in Hallstatt on your way to Graz.
On your Vienna to Salzburg drive, you could stop in Duernstein (yeah, Krems is nice too, but Duernstein is smaller and prettier), have lunch, and then put some people on the boat bound for Melk, and meet up there. Since the boat takes longer than the drive, the person or people who aren't on the boat get to stop at Weissenkirchen, which is a plus. We did that, only in the opposite direction, and it worked out really well.
Sep 6th, 2007, 06:10 AM
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We hired a car through AutoEurope picking up in Prague and dropping off in Budapest in May this year. It ended up being with Budget which was located in the Hotel Intercontinental. Like you our first destination was Cesky Krumlov and it was very easy to get from the Hotel onto the main road to CK. It was only a matter of 2 to 3 turns and in less than 5 minutes we were on the road to CK. We did find dropping off the car in Budapest quite stressful as we had to drive across the entire city but with your itinerary you would probably be entering the city from a completely different direction so perhaps would be much nearer the drop off point. When getting quotes be aware of the one way drop off fees and there can be a huge difference depending on what town you intend to drop off.
We also did a day trip to Karlovy Vary which we loved but didn't try out a spa. Did try out the baths in Budapest which I really enjoyed. If you are interested, my trip report is on http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...andy&fid=2. It is split up into the names of towns so you can easily find those towns that correspond to your destinations.
We also did a day trip to Karlovy Vary which we loved but didn't try out a spa. Did try out the baths in Budapest which I really enjoyed. If you are interested, my trip report is on http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...andy&fid=2. It is split up into the names of towns so you can easily find those towns that correspond to your destinations.
Sep 6th, 2007, 06:25 AM
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Sorry, p3t0t, I gave you the wrong threadselect if you want to check it out. It is http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=35010692
Sep 6th, 2007, 06:49 AM
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I think your trip sounds very nice! Here are some of my answers:
1) We've rented through Auto Europe several times and luckily we had no problems at all. We are planning on renting through them again next year. Unfortunately I can't comment about Prague because I have yet to visit. Just one thing; have you looked into the prices? Its often extremely expensive to pick up the car in one country and drop off in another.
3) Visiting Durnstein and Melk on the way from Vienna to Salzburg is definitely doable and a fabulous idea. The towns are lovely and make for a great day. Be sure to visit the Melk Abbey. We too rented bikes. We did this by dropping our car off in Krems, picking up our bikes at the gas station across the street from the boat dock. We biked down to Spitz, stopping at various points along the way. In Spitz we hopped on the boat back to Krems, dropped off our bikes, and drove to Melk.
4) Visiting all three towns in one day is definitely doable, as they are all fairly small. I would start early enough in the morning. We had a lovely dinner in St. Gilgen. I forgot the name of the restaurant but it was right on the main square. If you have time I would suggest a visit to Berchtesgaden and the Konigssee as a daytrip from Salzburg as well. This area is only about 20 minutes or so from Salzburg.
Best wishes and happy planning!
Tracy
1) We've rented through Auto Europe several times and luckily we had no problems at all. We are planning on renting through them again next year. Unfortunately I can't comment about Prague because I have yet to visit. Just one thing; have you looked into the prices? Its often extremely expensive to pick up the car in one country and drop off in another.
3) Visiting Durnstein and Melk on the way from Vienna to Salzburg is definitely doable and a fabulous idea. The towns are lovely and make for a great day. Be sure to visit the Melk Abbey. We too rented bikes. We did this by dropping our car off in Krems, picking up our bikes at the gas station across the street from the boat dock. We biked down to Spitz, stopping at various points along the way. In Spitz we hopped on the boat back to Krems, dropped off our bikes, and drove to Melk.
4) Visiting all three towns in one day is definitely doable, as they are all fairly small. I would start early enough in the morning. We had a lovely dinner in St. Gilgen. I forgot the name of the restaurant but it was right on the main square. If you have time I would suggest a visit to Berchtesgaden and the Konigssee as a daytrip from Salzburg as well. This area is only about 20 minutes or so from Salzburg.
Best wishes and happy planning!
Tracy
Sep 12th, 2007, 12:33 PM
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Thanks so much for the replies.
Due to train schedule to Budapest, I've recently changed the travel route.
From Prague/CK, we will be driving to Salzburg - Graz - last to Vienna, so we can take the train to Budapest
(this seems like a better route than the orig one).
We will also be renting from AutoEurope (from Avis). Hopefully no issue w/ the rental
Based on the new route, I now have some new questions :
1. What is the best (scenic) route to go to Salzburg from CK ? How long is the driving time ?
Is there another great town that is worth a detour ?
2. I will re-consider going to Munich (after we get to Salzburg) now that many people suggested to just stay in Salzburg for 3 days.
3. Out of these towns : Berchtesgaden, Konigssee, St.Gilgen,Hallstatt, St.Wolfgang -
which ones should we save for stopping on our way to Graz (from Salzburg) ?
ANd which ones should we visit during our 1 day scenic drive ?
4. From Graz to Vienna, is it a good detour to stop in Melk/Durnstein/Krems on our way ? Or should we do this as a separate 1 day trip?
Right now, here is our itinerary:
Oct 11-15: Prague (w/ a day trip to KV and possibly Kutna Hora)
Oct 16 : pick up a car..on way to CK (spend 1 nite)
Oct 17 : around noon, leave CK to Salzburg.
Oct 18 : explore oldtown Salzburg
Oct 19 : scenic drive (visit cute towns)...open to suggestions here...
Oct 20 : Undecided : stay in Salzburg or take a train to Munich
Oct 21 : drive to Graz
Oct 22 : explore Graz
Oct 23 : drive to Vienna
Oct 24, 25 & 26 : Vienna
Oct 27 : late morning train to Budapest
Oct 28, 29 & 30 : Budapest
Due to train schedule to Budapest, I've recently changed the travel route.
From Prague/CK, we will be driving to Salzburg - Graz - last to Vienna, so we can take the train to Budapest
(this seems like a better route than the orig one).
We will also be renting from AutoEurope (from Avis). Hopefully no issue w/ the rental
Based on the new route, I now have some new questions :
1. What is the best (scenic) route to go to Salzburg from CK ? How long is the driving time ?
Is there another great town that is worth a detour ?
2. I will re-consider going to Munich (after we get to Salzburg) now that many people suggested to just stay in Salzburg for 3 days.
3. Out of these towns : Berchtesgaden, Konigssee, St.Gilgen,Hallstatt, St.Wolfgang -
which ones should we save for stopping on our way to Graz (from Salzburg) ?
ANd which ones should we visit during our 1 day scenic drive ?
4. From Graz to Vienna, is it a good detour to stop in Melk/Durnstein/Krems on our way ? Or should we do this as a separate 1 day trip?
Right now, here is our itinerary:
Oct 11-15: Prague (w/ a day trip to KV and possibly Kutna Hora)
Oct 16 : pick up a car..on way to CK (spend 1 nite)
Oct 17 : around noon, leave CK to Salzburg.
Oct 18 : explore oldtown Salzburg
Oct 19 : scenic drive (visit cute towns)...open to suggestions here...
Oct 20 : Undecided : stay in Salzburg or take a train to Munich
Oct 21 : drive to Graz
Oct 22 : explore Graz
Oct 23 : drive to Vienna
Oct 24, 25 & 26 : Vienna
Oct 27 : late morning train to Budapest
Oct 28, 29 & 30 : Budapest
Sep 12th, 2007, 05:26 PM
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For October 19th I would probably pick either the Berchtesgaden/Konigssee region or the Salzkammergut (St. Gilgen, Hallstatt). You won't really have time to do both, as they are in the opposite direction of each other from Salzburg. Both would make for a great daytrip.
I loved the Wachau Valley but given your itinerary it probably makes sense to either skip it or daytrip from Vienna. You could certainly visit on your way, although you would have to go quite a bit out of your way to visit as their doesn't appear to be any good routes from Graz to that area. Using viamichelin.com, it actually has you going all the way to Vienna and then backtracking to Melk, which doesn't make a whole lot of sense. These towns are easily accessible by train though. I would probably wait until I got to Vienna. If you feel like you have seen enough and have a free day or half a day then you could easily hop on a train and be in Krems in an hour or so.
Tracy
I loved the Wachau Valley but given your itinerary it probably makes sense to either skip it or daytrip from Vienna. You could certainly visit on your way, although you would have to go quite a bit out of your way to visit as their doesn't appear to be any good routes from Graz to that area. Using viamichelin.com, it actually has you going all the way to Vienna and then backtracking to Melk, which doesn't make a whole lot of sense. These towns are easily accessible by train though. I would probably wait until I got to Vienna. If you feel like you have seen enough and have a free day or half a day then you could easily hop on a train and be in Krems in an hour or so.
Tracy
