My wife and I, and another couple that we've travelled with over the years, are beginning to plan a trip for the first two weeks of May next year. The only fairly definite stops so far are Munich, which appears to be the most convenient city to fly into (with my US Airways FF miles), and Prague.

Having never been to this part of Europe, I have many questions, but will try to limit them here:

1 - Our original plan was to try to start in Munich, then hit Prague, Budapest, Vienna, and return home from Munich again, This would allow about 4 days in each area, including travel in-between. My inclination is that this involves too much packing/unpacking/moving around, etc, and if we have to eliminate one destination, it should probably be Budapest? Or is this a reasonable itinerary?

2 - If we do Munich-Prague-Vienna, would you recommend travelling between each by car, or train? We like the freedom of having a car, but does driving between these countries present any special challenges?

3 - We like a combination of city and country so we'd want to spend time in the areas surrounding the cities we choose. Any thoughts on whether it would be preferable to stay in the city and take days trips to the country, or vice versa? Would it make sense to have a rental car in and around any or all of these cities? I've driven extensively in Italy (from Umbria to Lake Como, and lots of small towns in between), and some in France and Switzerland, and enjoyed it(well, mostly).

4 - We'd be looking for accomodations in the $150 - $200 range per night, would appreciate recommendations, either city or nearby rural areas.

5- We've also considered simplifying it - one week in Munich and environs, and one week in Prague and surrounding area. Is there enough of interest to see for a full week in each area? We like some museums, churches and art, but not 24/7....also some leisurely sightseeing, shopping, and lots of eating and drinking.

I know these questions are kind of broad, but your expert opinions may help get us started. Thanks.

I much prefer train travel and have been to all the cities you mention. However, even though the castles such as Neuschwanstein, Linderhof, etc., south of Munich (if you decide to do that stuff) are fairly easy to reach by train...I would advise using a rental car since it involves some East-west movement once you're there and by car it would be easier to do. You would not need a car in either Munich or Prague since the public transport systems in both are excellent and to see the biggies in those two places public transport is more than adequate and using it eliminates the need to find parking.
Travel between Munich and Prague by car I don't think involves any special challenges unless there is a problem with taking a rental into the Czech republic for some reason and I know others will comment on that.
Vienna also has good public transport.
I love Budapest but if I had to eliminate one of the four cities you're contemplating that might be the one. Be aware that there will be PLENTY to see and do in each of these places...some may advise you that you're trying to do too much in too short a time..but there's always a next time, hopefully, to return for more depth. Also, you'll get plenty of variety between Munich and both Prague (much more of a medieval feel..at least in the older sections) and Prague and Vienna.
I also think you could easily spend your two weeks between either Munich and Prague or Prague and Vienna or Vienna and Munich, etc. all great places to visit.

Hi Larry,

How about fly into Munich, spend a day or two.

Take the train over the mountains to Venice. Spend a day or two.

Take the train over the mountains to Vienna. Stay a day or two.

Take the train to Prague.

We did this a few years ago. The mountains in springtime are wonderful.

Thanks to Intrepid and ira for the super-quick responses and good suggestions.

Intrepid -I guess we could use public transport while staying in the cities, and rent a car for a day or two when driving out to the country - good idea.

ira - As much as we love Venice, we've been there twice in the past 4 years, including this past May...is it your view that Munich is only worth a couple of days?

By contrast, I prefer car travel, and might omit both Vienna and Budapest, to keep the travel times down. Salzburg and the Salzkammergut are fairly obvious possible additions.

But more than anything, I would suggest little villages -- possibly even ones that no one even talks about here, or other medium-sized towns that have plenty to offer, even if they are not often on the "first tier" of European destinations - - like Landshut, Passau, Cesky Krumlov or Kutna Hora, for example.

Best wishes,

Rex

ttt

We're looking at Danube or Rhine river cruises for about the same time frame. One goes from Vienna to Budapest, but having just started it looks like a pretty interesting way to see some beautiful places. Usually we do a fly and drive to explore, but I have to admit, having received a promotional brochure for a half/price deal this fall, I started considering incorporating such a cruise into our plan for our next trip. (Maybe even pay full price) I think ideally it would be nice to fly into a city we want to see (e.g. Munich or Prague) drive to where the cruise leaves from, and hopefully be able to return from where the cruise ends. It's that packing/unpacking that's starting to get to us, too Also, since you plan to use FF miles, you may want to pin those plans down before you make too many other plans. You've probably got a month or so (I think I turned in miles in Oct '01 for flights into London and home from Paris in May 2002). This year we "earned" miles and got a good deal on airfare. I think we're really going to wing our trip this year, make rough plans for two or three choices, and wait to see who is offering the best deals in like, March for May. Usually I don't wait that long, but there were so many good deals this past Spring (and it was really clear how tourism was down when we were there) it seems worth the gamble to us.

I have done this itinerary before and suggest that you may not want to drive to CZ or have a car in Prague. Here is what I would consider:

Land Munich--drive to Bavaria castles-3
Drive to near Salzburg-3
Drive to Vienna-Melk enroute--drop car
Train to Prague--x nites
Train to Munich--last nite

You do not need Budapest if you see Vienna and Prague. Spend half the time in small villages and the rest in the big cites for balance. This can be a great itinerary, but you are going at the earliest date I would suggest.

If you want to do the week in Prague itinerary, you could do a daytrip - or even spend a night - in Cesky Krumlov.
Also, Karlovy Vary, which is a spa town, is very beautiful. Terezin, which has the holding camps from the holocaust, is interesting. So, just buy a good guide book with info on places throughout the Czech Rep., and get an idea of the possibilities. You can get tours to most places once you arrive in Prague. There are kiosks on Rijna (at one end of Wenceslas Square), and you can sign up for tours there, if you won't have a car. www.travel.cz has places to stay & other info. Good luck & happy travels!

Hi Larry,

Munich has its charms, but we found 2 days to be sufficient.

I'd love to be able to visit Venice every other year.

Thanks for all the great suggestions, we'll be discussing them at our next serious trip-planning meeting. A couple of questions:

bob - You mentioned that you wouldn't recommend this itinerary any sooner than the beginning of May. We could probably arrange to do it a little later, just curious as to why you feel that this may be a bit early. Strictly weather-related?

ira - If it were just up to my wife and me, and if I could afford it, we'd go to Venice EVERY year! But when you travel with others you have to make some compromises. Our friends love Venice too, and we will all definitely make it back one day, but we've agreed to try something completely new this trip.

Thanks, again.

I agree with those who say to go into Munich and out of Vienna or Budapest so you don't backtrack and have more time.
I have to disagree with the person who said that if you have seen Vienna and Prague, you don't need to see Budapest.
They were all once part of the same empire but one of the interesting aspects is that although they have similarities, the recent (20th century) history make them very different. You could spend easily 5-7 days in each place and not see everything (I'm including daytrips in that).
If you rent a car, be sure you get the documents to take them into Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary. Some rental car agencies won't let you take their cars there.

I did a similar trip last year, where i flew into Munich, stayed a day and a half, and took the night train to Prague. I did not take a night train back to Munich, but if I had to do it again, that's what I would do! Then I stayed in Munich a couple more days before heading to Paris.

Using frequent flyer miles, I think you can fly out through Frankfurt or a couple of other busy airports so you are not locked into staying in Munich and can see another city.

Bob - that looks like a great itinerary.

I saw on another thread that a VISA would be needed for Canadians to enter the Czech Republic...does this apply to Americans as well? I have no experience with this; if needed, how do you get one?

Thanks again for the informative replies.

No visa required of American (U.S.) citizens to enter the Czech Republic.

And I really don't understand why taking a car into CR or Prague seems like such a bad idea - -unless it is a reference to the challenge of parking in Prague (overnight). We had a private garage pre-arranged by our apartment's owner, and it took the cost down from $90 (3 nights) to $30. We did not use the car IN Prague - - so I guess you could say we paid $30 plus three days rental for nothing other than the convenience of having the car before and after Prague. On a one week rental, I didn't see this as really having its own cost.

Yes, weather factors. The car thing has to do with costs to go into Eastern Europe and the crime factor in CZ. I have done it but parked for 6 nites in Prague in a secure garage.

We took a rental car into both Prague and Budapest in 1999 with only notification to the rental company before picking it up. We had no problems with borders or travel. Parking in both locations was prearranged with the hotels we chose which had gated car parking and probably less than $10 per day. We also did Vienna on that trip.

Larry - try this to decide how many days you need at each location. Figure out what you basically want to see. That will dictate how many days you need. By staying in certain areas of these cities, you can get a smaller town feel, even though they are large.

For Vienna - We spent 2 nights and 2 days. Saw Shoenbrun (spelling) on the way in, gorgeous took at least 3 hours. Did a tour of the opera house, a trolley self guided tour of the ring around the city. St. Stephens, Sacher tort. We stayed at a Pension right on the Graben and since it is a pedestrian area a little smaller town feel. Vienna is quite expensive, much more than your other locations, and more than Venice. Parking was also the biggest hassel here.

Munich - We have been there before for Oktoberfest but never really saw the city. Next week we leave and it is on our itinerary. Seeing Dachau on the way in. Doing a guided walking tour one morning, shopping and hofbrauhaus. You can do day trips to both Salzburg and the castles from here.

Prague - we loved! We visted Hradny castle both during the day and at night. Did a walking tour of that area then across the bridge to old town and the clock. Spent a half day touring the jewish quarter, went to a trio concert at the Historical Museum on Wenselas square. We stayed at the cloister inn in stare mesto with easy walking to all the spots. Also then although lodging was more expensive, food and entertainment and crystal were very economical.

Budapest - Stayed in Buda on castle hill again for the smaller town feel with Pest across the river. An evening Danube cruise was a highlight. Did lots of walking tours.

Did not do traditional museums unless you consider Shoenbrun and the jewish quarter museums. I suggest you get a guide book and figure out what is best for you. Rick Steves has a Germany Austria and Switzerland that includes Prague. He is very opinionated on his sights which I like, you may or may not agree with him but he is candid about the activities.

Through a series of events, it looks like all 4 locations (Bavaria, Vienna, Prague, and Budapest) are back in the picture.
Any opinions on how practical or impractical this would be? Can Salzburg be reduced realistically to a one-day stopover between Munich and Vienna? We have a total of 16 days, beginning in Munich and departing from Frankfurt...not looking to spend any time in Frankfurt, just one night before leaving.
Thanks for any suggestions.

Salzburg is a good one-day stopover; it is very small so one day is sufficient to visit the castle and Mozart's birthplace, wander round the town and leave by five pm (we did it whilst inter-railing).

If you don't find the travelling too arduous it really is worth the effort to see Bavaria, Vienna, Budapest and Prague. I've twice been to Budapest for overnight visits and, although you obviously can't see all the sights in such a short time, if you do an organised city tour you can at least get a feel for the city and choose one or two places to go back to. The setting and the atmosphere are quite unlike Vienna and it is incredibly cheap (particularly if you go slightly off the tourist track - our cheapest meal was £2 each for two courses and two beers and it was good food) so your hotel budget will probably buy you somewhere very nice.

In Vienna the Hotel Kaiserhof is very pleasant and should be within your price range. It is four star, clean, nicely decorated and a 10 minute walk or 2 minute tram ride to the centre of town. Vienna probably has more major sights than the other cities on your itinerary but four days is still plenty of time to see most of them.