rdfarr

Will be visiting Prague, Cesky-Krumlov-Vienna-Bratislava-Budapest, in that order. Taking the bus from Prague to Cesky-C, and probably doing the rest via train. However, Is there a better way to get from Cesky-K to Vienna than by train. The Rick Steves book says 6 hours and that seems much too long for the relatively short distance.

Thomas_Milligan

I don't have the answer for a good way from Cesky-Krumlov to Vienna. The 6 hour estimate by train is about right. The problem is that Cesky-Krumlov is on a small branch line and you have to backtrack on a slow local train to Ceske Budejovice and then take another slow local train south to the Austrian border.

rdfarr

Pity. Too much valuable time wasted. Just looking at the map, it would appear that riding a bicycle at a good fast pace would not take too much longer than 6 hours, not that I would ever do that.
Maybe a bus to Linz to catch a faster train?
Thanks

Thomas_Milligan

The Czech bus site is http://www.vlak-bus.cz (and you can get English by clicking on the British flag at the lower right).

It looks like you might cut your time by an hour or an hour and a half by taking a bus from Cesky-Krumlov to Kaplice and from there a train to Linz.

rdfarr

Excellent. Thanks for the tip.

detraveler

We did this trip in reverse from Vienna to Cesky Krumlov then Prague. We found that the fastest route from Vienna was train to Ceske Budejovice (there were only a couple of fast choices) and then a bus to Cesky Krumlov. The fastest buses take about 30 minutes and the fastest train takes more than one hour. The bus station is also much closer to the center of Krumlov than the train station. We did basically the same to get to Prague. Bus to Ceske Budejovice and train to Prage from there. It was as fast as the bus and much easier to spread out a bit on the train. The buses are quite cramped especially if you have more luggage than a very small backpack. I could not fit my daybag in the overhead area on one of the buses. Check the connections on idos.cz. You can compare the options that fit your schedule.

esthermoreno

I will also be doing a similar trip. I read there are boat trips through the Danube River between: Bratislava-Vienna (21 Euros 1 3/4hrs), Budapest-Viena (37 Euros 5 1/2hrs)and Budapest-Bratislava (59 Euros 4hrs). I am interested in the Bratislava-Vienna trip, any advice?

rdfarr

The website of the boat operator where you can find both schedules and prices is: http://www.web-set.hu/_Mahart_P/mahartpassnave_en.htm
They operate both hydrofoils and cruise boats.

weber6560

One of my memorable moments of locals' kindness was on the train from Prague to Budejovice to catch the bus to Ceske Krumlov. Traveling solo, I was in a compartment with 5 non Engish speaking locals [why should they - I didn't speak Czech]. Every time the train would stop I would look out the window for "Budejovice". At one stop, after some announcement on the PA, I looked out the window and it wasn't "Budejovice" so I sat tight.
At this particular stop, however, it seemed everyone in my compartment got off the train. After a minute or two, one of my fellow passengers came back and stongly suggested [via gestures] that I get off. So glad I did. It seems that the track was under construction and that it was necessary to exit this train, take a bus for about 4 miles past the construction area, and then reboard a second train to Budejovice. [My original train would then return to Prague.] Had my unknown friend not been so persistant, I would have smugly sat in my compartment, saying "this is not Budejovice" and ridden the same train right back to where I had started!

warobison

We faced this same problem on a trip this past March. I found the best option for us was to go to Kaplice to catch the train. We could have taken a bus from Cesky Krumlov, and if you're young you might want to take that option. We didn't want to drag our bags back to the bus station, so we took a cab for the trip. It took twenty-five or thirty minutes if I remember correctly and cost about 25 dollars (we were told it would be fifteen!) Don't expect much at the Kaplice station; there's barely a waiting room! The train from Kaplice to Linz might be listed as direct, but in fact you have to get off it in Summerau and onto another one. Also, it's a good idea to get reservations for the Linz to Vienna trip; that train can be pretty crowded at times. Get the reservations in Prague if you can; it's not possible in Kaplice.

A good page for schedules showing buses and trains is www.idos.cz

If you can get to Kaplice for the 12:30 train, you can be in Vienna by 4:30.

Good luck

lwinokur

I've lived in Prague for the past year, and ALWAYS took the bus, no matter where I went. It's cheaper and SAFER. The trains in central/eastern europe are notorious for bag snatchings and all that. I would recoment Eurolines for a good, professional, on time bus

tomboy

RDFARR:
You'll doubtless appreciate that, prior to 1989, travel from Cesky Krumlov to Vienna was, shall we say, not encouraged. Hence the dislocation.

If you're over 60, journeying into the less cosmopolitan areas of Eastern Europe is like time-traveling back to the late 1940's/early 1950's. It must have been inversely traumatic for those Slavs to be stuck in the '50s and time-travel forward to the 2000s