Prague in 2007
 

I tried this earlier and never saw my post...here goes again.

A group of at least 6 of us are looking to do a trip to Prague at some point this year. We live in the Midwest in the states. I have heard that Prague was an amazing bargain. I have no idea if that is true...

We would like to stay anywhere from 10 days to 2 weeks. What is the best time of year to go (both for weather and hi/lo season cost)?

We are the type of group that loves to do sight-seeing during the day and then find a great, local pub or bar (no nightclubs for us) for the evening hours. What section of the city should we look for lodging?

On a recent trip to Scotland, we really enjoyed staying in B&Bs or furnished apartments versus hotels. Is this appropriate for Prague as well or should we really only look at hotels? We don’t need many amenities as far as rooms, just clean and good location.

We are also looking at the possibility of splitting our time between Prague and (either) Vienna or Budapest. If we chose to do this, is the best idea just to take the train (I am not even sure how long the train ride would be)? Would you recommend one location over the other?

At this point we are also trying to figure out the best way (for time and money) to get into Prague...is it better to fly into a larger airport and take a train? If so, what cities should we look at?

Will speaking only English be a problem?

Also any good resources would be appreciated...I love doing research for trips.

I appreciate any guidance.

I was in Prague/Vienna/Budapest the very beginning of October. Crowds were manageable...can't imagine it during high season. Prague was a bargain until the word got out but it's still not as expensive as cities like Rome and Venice. :) We loved it...our favorite over those 3 cities and I hope to go back again.

Don't worry about the language..we had no trouble. We stayed in an apartment (1st time) and I'm now a confirmed apartment fan!!. Unless you feel you need the help of a desk clerk, I would
highly recommend it. We used this company which was recommended on this forum: http://www.a-prague.com/ We stayed between the Charles Bridge and the Old Town Square. Would highly recommend that area...walked everywhere.

We trained between all 3 cities, buying tickets at the station (very easy) before leaving with the exception of the train from Budapest to Prague...bought that prior to going. The longest ride is from Prague to Budapest...if I recall it was about 7 hrs. You can check times at:
http://www.bahn.de and click on international guests.

Can't help with nightclubs....way to old for that! ;)

This sight has a lot of helpful info:
http://www.livingprague.com/

Have fun with your planning and have a wonderful trip. Prague lived up to everything we had heard!

Travelfan1 - How long were you in each city and in what order? We are planning to do the same 3 cities in early June (Vienna 4 nights, Budapest 3, Prague 3).

We did this itenary a few years ago. Prague, Vienna, Budapest, is I think, the most common order to do it in. We spent four nights in each. A very memorable trip. We flew London to Prague, then coach to Vienna, then coach to Budapest, then flight back to London.

Cris - We actually started the trip in Bavaria (driving) and went on to Salzburg, Vienna, Budapest and Prague...in that order. We had flown into Munich and out of Prague with 3 nights in Vienna and Budapest and 4 nights in Prague. It was a truly wonderful trip.

Prague is not a great bargain anymore, but you could get an apartment, and would definitely get a feel for the place if you stayed a week or two, took some day trips,etc. There are still plenty of reasonable eating joints, since the average citizen makes something like $400 per month.

Fall can be cheaper, and it will not be too cold. Also, maybe right after Easter, before the summer crowd.

Zizkov is the hot pub area, and you can get a great place for much cheaper than Old Town, etc.

look on www.happyhouserentals.cz

www.athos.cz

www.marys.cz

If you can get a cheap flight to London (or some other English cities) or Amsterdam, you can take a lowcost carrier to Prague. If you find a decent direct airfare, I'd just do that, though. CSA has plenty of specials for off-season.

if you go in the spring/summer autumn, it may be possible to get the boat between budapest and Vienna - you could train the other leg.
for pubs, you really need to be the old town side, not the castle side, which is more cafes and hotels, but good for a day's visit.
On our first day, we found a most memorable pub, and never managed to find it again - it was full of locals, no english spoken, and had pictures and busts of czech politicians on the walls - on one was vaclev Havel, on the other jo Stalin!! talk about hedging your bets.

also there is a micro brewery in Praha 2 that sells nettle beer amongst others [don't bother - the other beers are much nicer] [opposite the church with the bullets in the wall - a famous land-mark] and a very famous old drinking house where we sat opposite a russian chap and his wife - had had last been there 20 years before "with the military! - which we took to mean the red army or KGB. they were charming, and told us that they had taken 30 hours to travel from Moscow to Prague because the wife wouldn't fly.

Can't remember the names of these places, but I'm sure you'll find them in a good guide book. we stayed at the hotel central, which was just that.

budapest is a bit more up market, and we didn't find anywhere quite so entertaining, but it's still a lot of fun.

Good luck!

Thanks all for the info. This helps. Originally, we were planning to go in August/September, but we are now thinking about waiting until Oct. to help with the crowds. Is Oct. still considered high season?

When looking for an apartment, what nightly (or weekly) rate would be considered good for that time of year?

Is Krakow another good option for our second leg instead of Budapest? Or should Budapest not be missed?

We can fly direct from Chicago to London - so I will look into some of the discount airlines from London to Prague...any favorites?

Thanks again. This board is always so helpful.

Prague isn't a city just dependent on tourists, as most major European capitals are not. A lot of business, trade shows, etc. is conducted there so high season is not a function of tourism necessarily. There may be more tourists there in the summer seeing tourist sites, but hotel rates are often discounted in July/August as it is a lower hotel rate season because there aren't as many business travelers.

October isn't going to be low season for any rates in Prague I know of, but you may get a lower airfare than peak summer fares. It won't be low season for hotel or apartment rates. The winter is the only consistent low season for those I know of (eg, Nov through February, excluding holidays), and then very early Spring, before April, may be a little lower and July/August for some hotels.

Both Budapest and Krakow are great cities to visit, so it's hard to say which would be better. Neither is that close to Prague and it's going to take a day to get to either by train. I enjoyed Krakow more, but haven't spent as much time in Budapest so don't know it as well.

I don't think it's a good idea to book a separate flight from London on a cheap carrier myself. There aren't many airlines flying from London to PRague anyway, and you are going to risk losing your money and reservation if you do that and miss the flight. Also, the luggage limits may be different, so it depends how much you have as to whether that could matter. Easyjet is the only cheap carrier I know that flies to Prague from London. British Airways flies that route regularly, and it could be just as cheap, or almost, if you book it on the same ticket or as a connecting flight on the same ticket with a carrier that codeshares or allows that. I'm not a big fan of splitting carriers and booking separate flights on those real cheap European airlines when it's your major flight to/from Europe. If it's just a single flight between points, that's a different matter.

Airfares to Prague go down in November, not in October (or not so much). Rates for apartments go from a couple hundred a week (in a Czech style place) to a couple thou a week. Depends what you want and where it is. Every company is different, and some have the same rate all year 'round. You need to do your research on the internet & compare.

The low season in Prague usually starts November 1. We bridged October-November and our hotel room went from about $100 to $65 overnight. Weather can be very nice that time of year with crisp to cold nights. You can still get a nice room for about $100 or so and eat well for $10 per person or less. We had gourmet meals for under $20 each and at the low end of the price range, found a cafeteria with Czeck food where a hearty meal with beer was no more the $3. Beer in Prague is some of the best and least expensive that you will find anywhere. The city itself is great for walking and has wonderful architecture spanning gothic to art deco to baroque etc. I like the Hotel Kampa Gardens on Kampa Island. The location is ideal and the hotel is a high end budget place with very nice rooms. Check out its reviews on tripadvisor.com

For a longer stay I would recommed staying in apartment where you have more comfort, kitchen and so. Some nice spartments are offered by www.prague-rooms.com. I would prefer to go in May, October could be little more crowded.

Definitely do not travel in August - the place is overrun with other tourists and the heat can be overpowering. We travelled to Prague last month (January) and the weather was, for the most part, cold and clear and lovely for walking around. We rented an apartment from this website - apartments-in-prague.org/ - and it was very satisfactory. I posted a trip report here - www.fodors.com/forums/threadselect.jsp?fid=2

While cheaper than a lot of European cities, Prague is not the bargain that it once was - perhaps a result of the upcoming joining to the Eurozone. Having said that, winter is cheaper than summer and you are spared long queues by travelling in the low season.

There are no shortage of fun bars to visit in Prague - try this website - www.praguepubs.co.uk for a guide.

We were in Prague, Budapest, Bruges and Amsterdam the first half of June last year (2006).

Prague was a bit cool but then everything heated up to hot.

Prague is beautiful. You can see my photos at:

www.travelwalks.com

and select Europe 2006.

We considered taking a sleeper train to Budapest but decided against it as i didn't like the idea of being bothered twice during the night. It's hard enough to get good sleep on a train.

We decided to take the 4:20PM (I think) train and it arrived at 11:30 (app). The hotel arranged for a taxi to be waiting and the driver had our name on a small sign. The train ride went by pretty fast.

The best part was that we didn't leave for the train station until almost 4PM and had most of the day in Prague.

I just checked the train schedule and didn't see that train there.