kenav

We're thinking of doing a real winter trip with 4 full days in Prague, then taking a 2 hour bus to Dresden and staying there for 3 days (or vice versa). I know it should be very cold, but we're from NYC and are somewhat used to the cold in winter.

Know the probability of snow? Mostly sunny or grey days? Chilly to the bone or just dry cold?

We've never been to either place. But loved Budapest (in March/April) and Vienna ( in mid-November).

So, opinions, advice?

nytraveler

Should not be any colder or snowier than NYC. If you bring what you wear at home you should be plenty warm. There is a chance of snow - but in the limited time you will be there - not probable.

kenav

nytraveler - Thanks. Have you been?

michelhuebeli

"...Know the probability of snow? Mostly sunny or grey days? Chilly to the bone or just dry cold?..."

There's no way to know in advance. Anything is possible, just like in NYC. Bring the gear and be ready to use it - Murphy's Law says that if you're ready for the arctics you'll get the tropics, and the truth will be somewhere in between (but closer to the arctics...).

Won't three days in Dresden be a bit much? Unless you have specific targets and reasons, nearby Berlin beckons - the most electric-eclectic cutting-edge city in Europe with something for everyone, from the oldest (Pergamon) to the newest.

By bus (https://www.berlinlinienbus.de/buchen.php) less than three hours, the same or a bit quicker by train (www.bahn.de).

Ingo

Probably cold, yes. Snowy, too (hopefully LOL). Totally NOT crazy IMO. It's a good time if you don't mind the cold - museums are of course open, cultural life is in full swing with concerts, opera, theatre etc. Opera ball at Dresden's Semperoper in late January e.g.

Prague is more likely to have grey weather than Dresden since it's in a basin and the fog/low clouds stick there for longer.

> Won't three days in Dresden be a bit much?

No, definitely not. The city alone would keep you busy for these three days easily. But there are plenty of destinations in distance of a half to one hour train travel time (Meißen, Freiberg, castles in Weesenstein, Moritzburg), the National Park Saxon Switzerland with fortress Königstein e.g. is a must, you can do steam train rides ...

kenav

Yes, seems from some research I've done that it could be really grey in Prague, which is something my hubby is concerned about. Fine with freezing cold and sun, not so fine with grayness, dreariness. But I guess that's winter for you! Yes, here in NY too. Bright sun one day and gray the next.

Ingo - Sounds like a lot to do in Dresden actually, especially with side trips. Not sure if we'd want to do side trips, though, since we just have 3 days and not sure if we want to travel even more. But 1 hour outside of city isn't really much.

Will have to do research.

BTW - The prices (air) are crazy. $1100 in Jan! We need to go on AA since I will be getting FF miles abut husband won't. Just nuts fees IMO.

michelhuebeli

Doesn't it defeat the purpose if you pay through the nose just to get FFM when you could fly the return trip for something like $886.80 per person (yes, "roundtrip" as Americans call it), for example with Lufthansa - I picked random dates of Jan 12 and Jan 22, used ita software's "nearby" feature and it came up with #409 EWR-DUS/ #3050 DUS-PRG and #1689 PRG-MUC/ #410 MUC-JFK

There are many other cheap options.

Or at least let hubby fly his expensive route and you take a cheaper one - being apart for 24 hours won't kill you, will it?

kenav

Yes, from EWR it's cheaper. But we live in Queens, NYC and EWR is in New Jersey, and so is totally not convenient. (And would cost over $100 just to get there from our home and same $$ back, by taxi.)

Plus, we have already booked a trip on AA that we want to change, and thus need to do it with AA.