Hello,

Over the third weekend of July I am looking at driving to Budapest from Prague. I was planning on renting a car and heard it was about a 5-6 hour drive.

On the way back, I would like to drive about 1/2 to 3/4 of the way and then stop, to drive the rest of the way the next morning. Are there any towns on the route, that are within an hour or two outside Prague that would be good to stop and just stay in a small hostel or B&B?

Thanks for any advice on this drive!
Shelley

If I were driving your route in (hot) July, I'd be stopping at Buchlov Park, an extremely hospitable, yet reasonable, pension 69km (1hr2min) east of Brno. We've stayed there twice.
It's maybe 5 miles west of Buchlovice. I think it's a real find. Excellent restaurant, comfortable rooms, nice linens, very nice swimming pool (would be nice in July), sauna, horseback riding, nice surroundings (it's even downhill from a castle). About $80.
Raf, the host, is from Belgium. The ONLY negative I can think to say about it is, the sign indicating the turnoff from E-50 is somewhat small, so if one were to go there, it would be wise to
print off a www.michelin.com map (select Czech Republic, from city Brno to Buchlovice showing the exact distance to the turnoff, which looks like it's a paved road into some woods. The sign is only about 2' square
and is easily missed (north side of road) at speed. The road from Brno is good, and uncrowded.
Here's the website:
http://www.buchlovpark.cz/EN/index.html

Forgot to mention two things:
1. The host will e-mail explicit, precise directions to anyone making a reservation.
2. We had the best salmon, and best broccoli, of our lives in their restaurant; a pleasant surprise, as we were expecting goulash and knodeln.

We drove that same drive and spent a day in Vienna, since it is mid way between the 2 cities. Also, we hired a great driver, which is reasonable and may be more interesting than renting a car with those crazy road drivers..

for wordsmith- who is the driver you refer to? contact info please