ncsuchemist2002

Hi all,

My wife and I are in the process of planning our first trip to Europe. We decided to focus on areas north of the Alps and save Italy for another day. Right now, we plan to spend a week in Paris, 5-7 days in the Bernese Oberland region and conclude our trip in Bavaria/ Rothenburg (4-5 days). We are considering splicing in 4-5 days in Prague after Rothenburg OR 2-3 days in Salzburg after the Swiss Alps. The other option would be to just stay with what we have and not overextend ourselves logistically.

Both cities look very appealing architecturally and both seem to offer plenty of options for Mozart concerts etc., so it has been difficult trying to decide which one to go with. Any help or advice would be very appreciated. Thanks.

logos999

Hm, this is difficult. Given the choice, I would opt for Prag. Salzburg is better "organized" and doesn't need secured parking overnight. Prag has a lot of nice buildings, but they won't rip you off that much in Salzbug. Both cities have lots of tourists. If culture/concerts are an issue, I'd opt for Salzburg. Salzburg is relaxed, Prag is nice too, but more stress.

Pegontheroad

I love Prague, and for some reason I wasn't too impressed with Salzburg. Prague--"golden Prague"--has wonderful architecture.

Ingo

I don't like either. ROTF And the Mozart concerts would rather keep me away

Anyway, Prague is a much larger city than Salzburg. I think Prague would add a different flavour to your trip; the language is different and you could (if you look hard) find some remains of the former communist regime. Prague will definitely offer more choices for concerts. Also, maybe you can get a flight back from Prague, but probably not from Salzburg.

danon

Prague, Prague, Prague

nytraveler

Salzburg is a cute town good for a day or so - more if you head into the mountains/surrounding areas.

Prague is a major tourist destination. I would rank it a 9.5, with Salzburg about a 5.

Otzi

Yikes. I would totally disagree. Prague is dirty, over-run with thieves and corrupt cops, unfriendly people, tacky tourist shops, over-rated beer and isn't the bargain it once was. I enjoyed the Czech Republic but I have no interest in returning to Prague. Budapest is all the things I was expecting Prague to be.

On the other hand, Salzburg is indeed a small town hence a more comfortable fit for me. Much nicer locals, easy to find one's way around, better food, safer, better entertainment (music and casino) and much cleaner. If you through in the environs of the Salzkammergut (rent a car and get out of town) I'd say there's no comparison.

molker

Above poster forgot to mention " rip off " taxi drivers among the other good reasons to no longer visit Prague.

Graziella5b

Unless your are a music fan I would choose Prague. I have not been there lately and it is possible that indeed there are thieves around and all that but being careful I imagine it can be overcome and on the whole it is an amazing city. It was one of the main cities in Europe many centuries ago but nevertheless it shows.

iris1745

Thieves are everywhere. Try Boston or New York. Prague is a wonderful city that deserves three or four days. Salzburg is also a great city, but not as large, perhaps two days. Both have excellent venues for concerts. You could determine your 'route' and then decide what city is convienent to visit. Richard http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/prague http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/salzburg and www.inyourpocket.com for Prague

nancicita

I think if you've never been to Prague, go there at least once. If you've already been there, then I'd vote for Salzburg or even Vienna.

Jean

I must have visited Prague in a parallel universe. No thieves or unpleasant people, no rip-offs or bad meals. Didn't notice any more dirt and grime than any other city the same size. I'm not a shopper and didn't notice the tacky tourist shops. Guess I was too busy looking at the beautiful architecture.

I liked Salzburg too.

I think I'd choose based on the logistics and time needed to get to either place and then on to your next destination.

nytraveler

I don;t get people who are so down on Prague. I've been there 6 times now and have always enjoyed it tremendously. Granted there are a couple of areas that are tacky and not so pleasant - but the same is true of every sizable city. We had one incident with a cab driver (we won) out of many, many trips and saw no crime, thievery, etc. (Again, there is crime in every large city - but if you stay out of dicey areas in the middle of the night you are unlikely to find it.)

The beer is the best in the world, food is usually excellent (at prices less than western europe) and in some places truly outstanding - and there are a ton of great sights and an incredible music scene.

When people have no s many complaints about crime and cab drivers I always wonder if they're staying in a dicey area - or rolling home the worse for wear at 3 am (and cops check them out for their own good.)

bratsandbeer

I liked Prague but was wondering if you would like Vienna instead.

Bavaria to Salzburg is a nice drive and then on to Vienna.

Save Prague for another trip. Or you could easily go by train from Vienna to Prague.

We were in Prague last fall. We stayed out of the city center in a b&b and loved it. We walked all over the area and had no problems anywhere. It was the only city where people stood up to let an older person sit down on the trams, metros etc. Very polite people in Prague. Also, where we ate, the food was very good and inexpensive and good beer.

nancicita

nytraveler, I respectfully disagree with you about the fact that food is excellent in Prague. I think the food here is not great. Comparing czech cuisine to german cuisine, I'll take german any day. The quality of most czech-made goods are also not up to par with those from other western European countries. I actually find myself buying mostly imported stuff while living here in Prague. And prices are not that much less than western Europe. I actually could see why people complain about this city. Just my opinion though. I have a few american friends who love living in Prague.

nytraveler

Well - we've always found the food good. Not up to the standard of Belgium, which IMHO has the best food in Europe, but definitely as good as German. I guess it depends on where you eat. The last time we were there we had a fantastic dinner at a Stare Mesto restaurant which was truly excellent and was only about $200 - from amuse bouche to handmade chocolates - a similar meal in NYC (never mind Paris or London) would have been in the range of $350 or $400.

And we found a bunch of more modest places that were very good too. Agreed, you need to shop around - but you need to do that in Germany too.

Ingo

nytraveler - $200 sounds like a quite expensive meal even to a German guy who loves Gourmet cuisine. You can get this sort of food and meals for similar prices in Germany as well, especially in the East where prices are definitely similar to the Czech Republic. Many Czechs come to our part of Germany (Dresden and surroundings) to shop and eat.

kappa1

> only about $200 ..

I love Prague and it's a good thing you try to defend the city but $200 (1 or even for 2 persons) is a lot of money for Prague dining. You don't need to pay that much but of course that depends on where you eat, on what sorts of tastes you have ... Anyway, $200 doesn't seem ONLY to me. I can imagine a couple of restaurants where you can pay that much easily though.

Passerine

Ingo is right about the food in Dresden! You could pack in a day trip to Berlin or Prague, both only about two hours away by train. Or Gorlitz, even closer. Or Leipzig. Dresden has good music opps as well (although Bach is more likely to be on the program instead of Mozart)

nytraveler

Of course you don;t have to spend $200 for dinner. Just like you don;t have to spend $350 or $400 in New York. that was a splurge meal - which we usually do once in each city. Most of our meals are much more modest. MY point was that the meal for $200 would have been way more than that other places (meaning food in Prague is less - that is the splurge there is less than the splurge other places, just as modest is less than modest other places).

Agree you have to shop around - just as in Germany - since there are places where the food is not great. But in many places it is excellent (unlike my first trip there in 1994 - when you really had to search for decent food.). It has improved tremendously in that time (much faster than food in England had improved - overall).

And while there are some sneaky cab drivers than tend to hang out around Old Town Square - they can easily be avoided - or outsmarted if you prefer. We had only one incident with a cab driver - and rather than argue, simply got out of the car at the end of the trip and gave him a fair price. He objected - and I told him to call a cop if he had a problem. What's he going to do - try to run you over???

I don;t know - perhaps it's attitude. but I've found if you're assured and knowledgable people don;t try to cheat you (of if one does - they can;t get away with it).