Prague and ??
 

My husband and I are planning a trip to Prague approx October 6 to 17, 2015. Our daughter is studying abroad in Prague September- December. We also have a good friend we would like to see who lives in Winterbauch, Germany. She is willing to meet up with us anywhere in Europe.
We would like to spend the majority of our time in Prague but would enjoy possibly staying 3-4 days in another country. Trying to figure out the best plan to do this. We have never been to Germany or Prague.
We are asking for any advice on this. Also thoughts lodging etc.

Thank you!

The triangle I see most often are Prague, Vienna, and Budapest because of their proximity to one another. I believe you can do all three quickly in the time you have, but two would be more manageable especially if you plan to spend the bulk of your time in Prague.

Add Dresden and you have a rectangle.
2 hours drive.

Munich is but 4.5 hours by direct bus or slightly longer by non-direct trains and the Munich area offers many neat sights in and around the city that are easy to access by train and or bus or of course car - does you friend have a car - ask her where you all should go and where she wants to go.

Vienna, Munich, Berlin, Dresden, Budapest are all within easy striking range of Prague.

Well you want the majority of your time in Prague and about 3-4 days elsewhere then I would say

Prague -> Dresden-> Berlin -> maybe Munich -> then back to Prague.

You need 2days in Berlin to at least see some of the major sites.

Lots to see in Dresden, take the ride down the Elbe River.

I think that is all you should do , because you do not want to rush through these places AND you want to be away from Prague for only 3-4 days

Note that from Berlin to Munich is 360 miles ( that is a long way if you are driving).

I do not know if you are driving or planning to use train/bus.

If driving this may be better :

Prague ...to Dresden....to Berlin...to Nuremberg...back to Prague.

We were planning on taking a train to our destinations. We have been to Europe a couple times before but have never driven. Is this something we should consider over taking the train? We are looking into adding Vienna & Budapest. We are open to opening up our schedule.
We have also considered the idea of booking a flight that fliers into a hub in either Paris or Germany and then staying for a few days then on to Prague. We have never done it this way.

Thank you all.

If you want to spend most of your time in Prague you really only have time for one other place. I would fly into Berlin, spend 3 or 4 days and see your German friend than head to Prague for the rest of your stay and fly home form there.

We easily did Berlin to Prague by train and I think it was about 4.5 hours but have heard this is now but instead? Would check on bahn.de to see the options now.

We really liked Cesky Krumlov in the Czech Republic. We combined Prague with that small town, and Vienna.

C Krumlov is also an easy stop on the way to Salzburg with excellent or at least good rail links via Linz - C Krumlov is very close to Austria.

Bookmarking

We easily did Berlin to Prague by train and I think it was about 4.5 hours but have heard this is now but instead?>

not sure about your wording but direct trains take 4 h 45 min - but Dresden is about half way and makes a sweet stop - even if just for a few hours - throw bags in station locker and explore the Florence on the Elbe - really a Phoenix Florence of the Elbe, its riverfront being restored to much of its pre-war glory.

The train tracks thru Saxon Switzerland before Dresden - one of the finest river valleys in Europe - sit on the east side of the train for the best views.

. Is this something we should consider over taking the train? We are looking into adding Vienna & Budapest. We are open to opening up our schedule.>

If going to cities eschew the car - cars are useless in cities and you must pay a lot to park them- many hotels in city centres may not offer parking - take the train city centre to city centre - or fly to say Paris and back - but cars for such a short trip visiting cities is daft IMO.

We are considering Slovenia as a second destination. Any thoughts on lodging, flights from Prague costs?

What do you plan to do in Slovenia? Slovenia has an abundance of outdoor activities, and if the weather is inclement finding ways to spend time indoors could be a challenge.

Some combination of Prague and either Vienna, Budapest, Munich, Berlin, and Dresden will offer ease of transportation as well as a variety of activities.

I'll throw Krakow into the mix -- stunning city, lots to offer.

If you decide on Slovenia, you could base in either charming Ljubljana or Bled or spend a few days at each. In Bled, I stayed at the Penzion Mayer, which still gets great reviews.

In reasearching getting to Slovenia looks like we will have to save that for another trip. So we are back to how to spend our remaining 8 days following our time in Prague. What would be the most ideal itinerary? We are fit, adventurous, outdoorsy.

i should add we love great food, cultural places etc. Prague is set on our itinerary for 5-6 days which leaves us 8 days to "play" elsewhere. We are a bit overwhelmed with the options. We will only be utilizing public transportation.

Why going so far away from Prague? Less than 2 hours by train north of Prague is the National Park Saxon-Bohemian Switzerland, to both sides of the Czech-German border. Rugged sandstone mountains, bizarre rock formations, canyons ... Endless hiking and cycling trails, climbing options, but also cultural activities - castles, churches, cute small towns and villages, museums. Paddle steamers on the river. Check out Bad Schandau, Rathen, Wehlen on the German side, Decin and (tiny) Hrensko on the Czech side. Throw Dresden in the mix for more culture (like opera, world-class museums, more castles and palaces ...) and you can easily fill two more weeks.

3-4 days isn't much, I'd pick Germany if you are at all interested in it. You can do Leipzig as a day trip from Dresden, also, to fill the 3-4 days if you stay in Dresden. I would definitely not do 3 other cities in Germany in that 3-4 days.

Krakow isn't very convenient to get to from Prague, so I would not choose that when you don't have that much time and have many other choices. There is no direct rail route so train involves transfers and takes a long time (8 hours if you only transfer once at Katowice and do all by train).

Vienna would be easy, also, if you are interested in it. I wouldn't go to Salburg as it isn't a convenient place to depart from, not being a major city.

I would think the German friend should have some say in this as to where they want to go and the cost.

Thank you. We actually have 7-8 days to travel on once we depart Prague.