LynnieD-

Is this a feasible day trip?

Probably not! It is a 3-hour trip (each way) by car. Perhaps there are some organized bus tours but I am not aware of them.

LynnieD - here is a website for day trip to CK:
http://www.discoverczech.com/prague/...y-krumlov.php4
If you Google it you'll find others as well

Thanks Phil, that seems like an awfully long time to spend on a bus though. I think I'll leave this for another time.

How about Karlstejn Castle? Is that more doable on one's own?

LynnieD - Karlstejn is much closer and very doable in a day. They certainly have tours there from Prague. On your own - would you drive or take a train(bus)? Probably train (bus) would be easier. I do not have the schedules for that but Google is good for that sort of thing.

It's perfectly feasible as a day trip, I"ve done it and thought it was very enjoyable. I wouldn't recommend you fool around with cars, though. The bus is more direct than the train. I took a day tour company and personally think that is the best choice for a day trip, as there is no waste of time or worrying about logistics. There are several very good day tour companies in Prague and their fares are very reasonable. I took Martin Tours, but have done several other day tours with Prague Sightseeing Service and they were excellent. I think there are 1-2 others, but those are the ones I know. See

www.pstours.cz

Also, if you do that, it shouldn't take you quite 3 hours to get there, as it's a little less then 200 km (120 miles). I remember leaving Prague around 9 am, and I know we had lunch in CK, and has also stopped a short while to see an historic church outside CK a bit--that was probably around 11 am.

Kuntna Hora anyone?

It's about 10:18 PM

We took the public bus from Prague to Cesky Krumlov 2 weeks ago. It was easy to do and only $7 each way. We were not the only tourists on the bus either. We took the metro to the Florenc station, then followed the signs to autobus. You'll see the large bus station when you exit. Go inside and buy tickets at a ticket window. This way you'll get seat assignments, very important. They will also tell you what # of platform the bus will be on. You can chance buying the tickets from the driver for slightly less, but don't. They sold more tickets than seats and several local's stood for 1 1/2 hours of the trip. We bought our tickets about 45 min. before the bus left. It was a direct bus, we didn't change buses on the way. It took about 3 hrs. 15 min. only 15 minutes longer than the tour buses, and much cheaper.

It's a very easy walk to town from the bus, and again, you won't be the only tourist on this bus.

We were able to go to the brewery in town and do the 12:30 tour, visit the castle, same tour as the tour groups, one museum, and enjoy the town before returning for our bus ride back.

We bought tickets for the return trip at the TI in the central square of Cesky Krumlov. We departed at 8 a.m. and the return bus was the last of the day at 5:15 p.m. It wasn't as crowded as the bus there. Still, buy your tickets as soon as you arrive in Cesky Krumlov from the TI. You also buy the tour tickets of the brewery at the TI. This left at 12:30. We enjoyed a take away lunch from a local eatery in the square before the brewery tour.

The English tour at the castle was more expensive than the one in Czech and we could only understand about half of what the guide told us. Her English was poor. Even if you're on a tour, you'll be with one of the Castle tours. Your guide isn't allowed to guide you in the castle.

It was a great day and I highly recommend the trip. An overnight would be wonderful also. A few of the passengers on the bus, brought luggage and overnighted. It's no problem, they just stow it under the bus. On our return to Prague we were dropped off at a different metro station, not Florenc. It's not a problem though, just a longer metro ride back to the center of Prague.

Paulchili...Need your help on the routing from Prague-Karlstejn & Orlik- Cesky Krumlov. From checking at www.viamichelin.com Karlstejn is about 42 km, should I drive back to Prague taking the major highway then to CK or just the small highway. Thanks

ba739 - do not back track to Prague. After Karlstejn continue on D5, then take secondary road toward Pribram and at Mirovice turn east to Orlik. Return to hwy and head through Pisek to Ceske Budejovice to C. Krumlov. The side roads are slower but more rewarding for sightseeing. You have enough time to make it with both stops ( cannot spends hours at each castle, but enough time to see them). Just check closing times at Orlik. This is from a AAA map of Czech Republic.
I have Microsoft Autoroute Europe and I will e mail you a very detailed routing ( including your starting point in Prague from hotel, if you want)

Paulchili.. That is some nice of you, I appreciated it very much. I am picking up the rental car at Wilsonova 372, Praha 2 (Nonstop parking "Slovan" - next to State opera house). I would like to visit the following Karlstejn & Orlik, Ceske Budejovice and Cesky Krumlov. My email is [email protected]

bookmarking