Help us decide where to go from Prague. My family of five will be booking tickets in the next few days to Prague for May 2007. We have tentative tickets to return from Amsterdam. Our trip is 10 days. What stops should we make on our journey to Amsterday in ten days? Do we rent a car? or europass? We have never been to Europe, so we are unsure if these arrival and departure destinations are best. Frequent flyer miles have left us few options for our particular dates.

If Amsterdam is important enough for you to choose, being so far from Prague, would you not want to spend a few days there after having only a few days in Prague? No time for stops in between.

Such a short vacation - split between two world-class sightseeing cities, each with lots of options for great day excursions - there will be no time to look at any other places in between these two.

Fly with SkyEurope or with Smartwings - probably too early to book yet, keep an eye on www.skyscanner.net, by next Spring there may well be another budget carrier covering that route too.

WallyKringen, Pardon my ignorance, but how far of a train/drive is it between these two cities? We didn't have much of a choice when we chose these destinations due to the frequent flyer restrictions and the need for five tickets. Should we start our search over? We had hoped to spend one or two days in each city and then visit a city or two along the way.

I think Amsterdam - Prague is totally doable.... stopping in another city along the way may be pushing it. It depends on how old your children are and how you feel about fast paced trips. I don't mind them.

I've taken the train from Prague to Amsterdam. I believe it is about 14 hours (overnight) and there most likely have to change trains in Germany somewhere. 10 days is not enough time to rent a car and drive - too much time spent in the car, as opposed to vacationing!

Or you could fly a budget airline to Amsterdam. http://whichbudget.com/en/cheapflights.php?from=PRG
Looks like there are two airlines that have Prague to Ams flights.

Or, if you are really set on vising another city as well, I would suggest Prague - train to Berlin - train to Amsterdam.

It's about 11-12 hours Prague to Amsterdam by train. Here's one routing you could take to break it up:

Prague-Dresden 3.5 hrs by rail
Dresden is a wonderful city called the 'Florence on the Elbe'

Dresden-Frankufurt 4.5 hrs - Frankfurt area has so much to do - Heidelberg, the Rhine boats - would not stay in Frankfurt but a smaller gem such as Heidelberg or a town on the Rhine

Frankfurt-amsterdam 4 hrs by rail

spend 2-3 days in each Prague and Amsterdam the rest in between. Also a good driving route.

I copied on train schedule, there are other routes as well. To get schedules for trains in all these countries go to the German rail web site, www.bahn.de - a nifty way to reach it is to go to the home page of www.budgeteuropetravel.com and on the home page click on the link All European Railway Timetables and up pops the English schedule page of the bahn.de site - you just put in Prague and Amsterdam in the boxes and a date and you get all the schedules. The home page i refernce gives several valuable tips for using the Wunderbar German rail site.

You can compare fares in euros for German trains - there is a German-Benelux railpass available which could be a good deal or may not, depending on your routing. You could however with it go via Belgium - Bruges, Brussels and up to Amsterdam as well. German-Benelux pass covers Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg and Germany - also would be good for day trips from Amsterdam. The pass starts at 5 days of unlimited travel spread over a two-month period - a flexipass - for a Saverpass - two or more names on one pass it runs about $210 p.p. in 2nd class and $260 p.p. in first class. It doesn't cover Prague or Czech Republic but fare to the border from Prague is peanuts. Pass is marketed only outside Germany, by Raileurope in US (www.raileurope.com) but as always with railpasses i recommend BETS (800-441-2387) for their expertise and customer service. But if you direct Prague-Amsterdam by rail the most direct route i don't think the pass would add up. But you can compare real fares on the German rail site - watch out for SPAR fares, deep discounted fares that, if available, you will see on the www.bahn.de site.

Station/Stop Date Time Platform Products Comments
Praha-Holesovice Fr, 03.11.06 dep 09:34 EC 176 EuroCity
Bicycles conveyed - subject to reservation, Number of bicycles conveyed limited, Please reserve, BordRestaurant
Dresden Hbf Fr, 03.11.06 arr 12:01 17
Dresden Hbf Fr, 03.11.06 dep 12:08 14 ICE 1558 InterCityExpress
high occupancy to be expected, please reserve, BordRestaurant
Frankfurt(Main)Hbf Fr, 03.11.06 arr 16:38 7
Frankfurt(Main)Hbf Fr, 03.11.06 dep 17:00 18 ICE 122 InterCityExpress
high occupancy to be expected, please reserve, Please reserve, BordBistro
Amsterdam Centraal Fr, 03.11.06 arr 20:52

Thank you all for your much needed advice. I'm not happy about our arrival and departure cities being so far apart, but we will just have to deal with it. I'm thinking we will do the following itinerary:

Arrive Prague - the 29th,stay two days
Train to Salzburg, stay one day
Train to Munich, stay three days
Sleeper Train to Amsterdam,stay three days
Depart to Us

This may be crazy, but I think my teenagers will get a kick out of traveling everywhere by train.

Let me know your thoughts.

They had better, but I think that kick may be wearing thin after a while given how much time you'd be on the train. I'd cut out Prague to Salzburg, that trip alone takes about a full day and may involve a couple changes. I don't know how that fit into your ten days, but your itinerary after Prague is going in the opposite direction from Amsterdam, not towards it, so you are adding even more time to the schedule.

I'd just spend the extra day in Prague, which is a wonderful city. From there you could go to Dresden and/or Berlin and then to Amsterdam. I guess if you don't have as much interest in Germany, I can see it, but Prague to Salzburg takes a lot of time out of a short trip.

The train schedule I've looked at says there is a direct train that takes 6 1/2 hours(gulp!) from Prague to Salzburg. I know we are going the opposite direction, but everyone here seems to think Austria is something we shouldn't miss.
Is the actual train traveling experience much longer due to other factors? It's long enough for sure, but my husband wants to DRIVE to Salzburg! I really think that would be a mistake. Right?

According to the nearly infallible www.bahn.de site i talked about above there are no direct trains Prague-Salzburg - all links require 1, 2 or 3 changes of trains and these are not high-speed lines but mainly regional trains - so it is a slow train route.

Thank you for that most valuable information! I took my info from a Dummies guidebook.
Guess I'll be switching gears now. I have to admit that one reason for the Austria sidetrip is that we are "Sound of Music" fans. But, that may have to wait until another trip.

What do you think of Prague to Munich and then taking a car to Salzburg for a day?

Here's my two cents, by train:
Prague
Berlin
Cologne - half day
Amsterdam

Prague to Munich is also a long train trip...but there is a direct overnight train..save hotel costs and arrive bright and early in the morning in Munich. I'd take a train to Salzburg (1.5 hrs) if that's all you'll be using a car for. but if you're hole trip Munich-amsterdam is by car then i'd also drive to Salzburg and then over thru Fussen and up the Rhine area to Amsterdam. If going by rail then the German-Benelux pass could be the best bet as it would cover round trip to Salzburg (a German station for pass purposes) and then wind way up by rail to Amsterdam - the K-D Rhine boats are covered by full with a railpass (www.k-d.com) for schedules - Rudesheim to Koblenz for the most beautiful part of the Rhine. Railpass would also pay for most of train fare Prague-Munich except for cheap Czech portion - would not cover sleeping accommodation however.

In Salzburg you can hop inexpensive Sound of Music minibus tours that take you to the main sights in Salzburg and the Salzkammergut - or it's easy to go via postal bus to St Wolfgang and that wonderful lake area where much of the film i think was shot.