I'm making my first trip to these cities next month and I was wondering if anyone could share with me any sights not to miss, and any great places to eat or shop. I am staying at the Four Seasons in Prague, near the Charles Bridge, and the Hotel Sacher in Vienna. Looking for places that serve good local food, and bargain hunting shops. Any suggestions would be most appreciated Thanks!

Hi,

I envy you.

Try the miniguides for these cities at fodors.com for a start.

The Hotel Sacher has a fairly good restaurant. Leave room for some Sacher Torte for dessert.

Hi , just got back from Prague. The Four Seasons is great as is the restaurant there, Allegro. The best restaurant is Prague is Kampa Park, excellent food, hip, great space on the river. However, it will run about 60.00 plus Euros per person before wine. Prague was disapointing to me. Currently, overun by tour groups, tacky shops and vendors, and ripoff taxi drivers. I'll take Munich or Vienna any day over Prague.

I agree and disagree with Langston re Prague. It is true that it has become a very popular tourist destination and with good reason. There is a lot to see and do and avoiding others in the high season is a near impossibility. I am not sure I can comment on the "tacky shops" assertion..depends on where you are in the city and what you think is "tacky." There is an absolute wealth of architecture and particularly elaborate baroque adornment INSIDE many of the buildings, particularly the churches.
Aroung the Hus Monument area in the center there are a lot of stores of all types, particularly those selling Czech glass..and it is definitely cheaper to buy it in the Czech republic than to get the same stuff in the US...the problem is with the cost of shipping if you're buying several pieces.
I assume you'll pretty much stick to the usual places such as the Castle complex, the Charles Bridge, the Old and New Towns but I would advise you to consider taking an overview tour of the city and then returning to particular places to explore in greater depth.
Prague is in many ways MUCH more medieval looking than Vienna and some say that Vienna has a much more elegant tone.
I wouldn't change my travel plans..both places are worth visiting. One reason I stay away from the center and up near the castle when I visit is to avoid some of the tourist hubbub but I am sure you'll be very happy with your Four Seasons choice. Get the concierge to give you some retsaurant recommendations while you are there as well as relying on opinions stated here. Have a great trip.

As a follow-on to my comments above...I agree that Prague cabs can be dicey...travel in the city is easy via tram and Metro..the former are everywhere. You might consider buying the Prague (Welcome) Card which covers transport costs. Walking is one of the best ways to see this city. In addition to Kampa Park, you might lso consider U Modre kachnicky in the Little QWuarter and Perle de Prague in the New Town.

If you wish to use cabs, AA (or AAA I can't remember) seems to be recommended as the most reliable company. Discuss it with your concierge and have the hotel call taxis for you when you need them. The only time we were "ripped off" by a cab driver was during a thunderstorm and we had no alternative. We had been there several days and knew he was driving us out of the way. Our hotel had drivers, which we used when we didn't want to use public transport, maybe the 4 Seasons does too.

We preferred Prague to Vienna. I can't explain exactly why, it just seemed a more comfortable our "sort of city" than Vienna. We did enjoy Vienna, however.

I'm considering the Four Seasons hotel myself for next March but as I read postings I am starting to be concerned about the tourist- souvenir stand atmosphere of the Charles Bridge.
Any other deluxe hotel suggestions with alternative but central locations?

We just returned from a trip to Europe that included Prague and we loved the hotel where we stayed. It's near the Castle and is called Domus Henrici. For about $150.00 we had a huge room with a large bathroom that included a soaking tub and bathrobes. We had a deck with a table and chairs and umbrella with a wonderful view of a park. At night when the tourists all headed back down to the old town it was peaceful and quiet around our hotel. The walk to the Charles Bridge was at the most 10 minutes. Coming back was up a few flights of stairs which we did not mind but there is a tram that came very close to the hotel. We also found someone to pick us up at the airport ($20.00) who also gave us a ride to some restaurants and spent one day taking us into Bohemia and Ceske Krumlov. He is a very good driver and speaks very good English. If anyone is interested in his name and email please let me know.

Elaine,
I wouldn't necessarily opt out of the 4-S because of what goes on/doesn't go on on the Charles Bridge...the bridge tends to be very busy..lots of folks strolling across and as a result a lot of folks tend to set up their wares on it..everything from wonderful photographs to the usual fake designer sunglasses. That stuff will go on anyway..you're going to love Prague and I still think you'll like the Four Seasons..just a thought.

thanks, intrepid, for the reassurance.

Hello,

I will take Vienna any day over Prague. Although Prague has more "old-looking" buildings than Vienna, these buildings are often less well maintained than those in Vienna.

This past June (2003) I went to see the Czech military history museum near Prague Castle (currently the Czech presidential palace) and found the place closed (for the past 3 years) with brown grasses grown all over the yard. The "WC" which would cost you 30 CZK to use, however, was open. Then there are the cigarette butts and graffitis - they are everywhere, even on government buildings.

Prague can be as "enchanting" as Vienna, which is clean and glamorous, if the people of Prague would exercise care with their city.

And please give jobs to the Gypies who hang around the main metro stations and Wenceslav Square, so they don't have to resort to pickpocketting. After a fellow American tourist was almost pickpocketted on the Metro at the Mustek station, I had to wear my money belt inside the trouser while in Prague. The belt was outside the trouser when I was in Vienna.

- An American Disappointed with Prague -

Jeff, what you describe can be found in other European cities.

When you visit Paris there are attendants and you do pay for the toilets at some places (Lux. Gardens for one).

Believe it or not, pickpocketing is a job for many "Gypsies".

I am looking forward to visiting Prague.

Jeff, I also noticed you said you wore your money belt outside your pants. Why? The purpose of it is so you can conceal it, not to show it.

It's interesting how opinions differ. I wasn't that crazy about Vienna and one reason was that it was so filthy in parts. It is not a clean, glamorous city to me. The pedestrian street that St Stephans cathedral is on (Karntnerstrasse?) is one of the dirtiest, ugliest streets I have seen in any major city. One of the main shopping streets (Mariahilferstrasse or something like that) was also not very attractive and rather dirty.

In any case, I only took a cab once from the airport and wasn't ripped off at all. I don't know what the Prague Welcome pass is but it sounds like a tourist pass. I just bought a regular metro/tram pass which was very cheap (a weekly, 7 day pass). One nice thing is they are not date-coded so the 7 days begins whenever you first use it. They also have a 3-day tram/metro pass as I recall.

AAA is one recommended cab company in Prague, that's true. As for the carnival/tacky atmostphere around the Bridge. I'd mainly be concerned because of all the tourist traffic and noise. I would never book a hotel right near the bridge myself for that reason. However, the 4 Seasons is a very nice hotel, so I believe they are set away from the hubbub and that wouldn't be an issue. The FOur Seasons isn't right next to the bridge, it's about a block and a bit north of the bridge, past the Klementinum, in-between the river and the main street (Krisovnicka?). I don't really think the bridge traffic will be a problem and the views should be great from that hotel.

If you don't have a detailed map of Prague yet, perhaps you can't tell as the Four Seasons site makes it look like it is right at the bridge, but the street address is Veleslavinova, not Karlov.

For an alternative, I was considering the Grand Hotel Bohemia myself. It has a good central location, and is away from a lot of tourist traffic, but it won't have the river and bridge views. It's an SRS hotel; sometimes they have good deals on their web site, I almost got a room at half price on there once.

see http://www.srs-worldhotels.com

This is an older, Czech hotel, of course, but supposedly grand. There is also the Pariz very nearby the Grand Hotel Bohemia. I think you'll be fine at the 4 Seasons, though. I just wouldn't go to those huge modern (but not modern enough) characterless hotels in inconvenient locations like the Intercontinental or Hilton.