Trying to be realistic with this trip!
 

My 16 year old wants to go to the following cities for his 16th birthday next June 2018. Here is the list in the order I think works geographically: Warsaw/Krakow/Prague/Vienna/Salzburg/Zurich (via Neuschwanstein Castle). I was planning 2 weeks.

This seems like an awful lot of ground to cover unless we rent a car, but half the fun of Europe is the train experiences. I'm looking for some general advice about what would make sense as far hitting this itinerary with the transportation that makes the most sense. For example, I read that it isn't that expensive to get a private driver to take you from Krakow to Prague since the train is not such a great experience. Obviously, we aren't going to be spending lots of time in each place, but at least we'll get a feel for them. In some ways, it feels like two trips (Warsaw/Krakow/Prague) and (Vienna/Salzburg/Zurich). I can drop Salzburg or Vienna and just fly from Prague to Zurich if that makes sense, but then we will miss the Neuschwanstein Castle (I love that place and want to go back). ALL suggestions are welcome!!!

Fly to Warsaw
Warsaw to Krakow: train 31/2 hours
Krakow to Prague: 6 hours (private car)
Prague to Vienna: 4 hours car or 1 hour plane ride?
Vienna to Salzburg: 3 hours car or 2.5 by train.
Salzburg to Zurich: car so we can drop by the Neuschwanstein Castle on the way and avoid Munich (which we've seen) and all trains go via Munich.
Thanks so much for any input !!!

How long do you have for this trip?

You can save some time, and give your son a new experience, by taking the night train from Krakow to Prague:

https://www.seat61.com/trains-and-ro...w-by-train.htm

There are direct trains from Prague to Vienna taking four hours (see bahn.de).

Yup, that’s a LOT -- a LOT!!! -- of territory to cover in 2 weeks, no matter what means of transportation you might choose, It might be feasible (I’m not checking), but I can assure you – sorry! -- you that I, at least, would not find it a pleasant trip.

It really depends on what you and your son want to see. If it helps, for MY interests, I wanted:
- Warsaw – at least 3 days, more if you are using it to recover fom jet lag;
- Krakaw – 4 or 5 nights;
- Prague – 4 or 5 nights;
- Vienna – at least 5 nights,
- Saltzburg – 3 or more nights, depending on your arrival and departure times.

Honestly, these are areas that offer an extraordinary array of options, and ONLY you and your son can decide how to allocate your time. I strongly urge you to consult a good guidebook or two, and to engage your son in the process. In comparison to the cost of your trip, the cost of a guidebook will be nugatory, and you will have a wealth of information at your fingertips. For that matter, you can consult one at a local library or book store....

FWIW, rather than skimming the surface of places and spending time getting from place to place, I choose to skip some places entirely, even if I am sure I would enjoy them.I I’ve realized that if I can return to a region, the LAST thing that I am likely to want to do is spend my time re-tracing all that extra travel time so that I can go back and finally see the things I skipped the first time. In fact, I might end up not returning specifically because it would mean wasting so much time going from place to place -- which sort of defeats the purpose of short-changing them the first time around. JMO.

And I would strongly encourage you to take public transportation – among MANY benefits, its one of the few ways Westerners have to actually see people from the region doing what they do. Private drivers might let you get to place to place in a bubble – is that what your want for your son?

Good lucK!

Hope that helps!

My question is not intended to be negative, but, "Why Zurich?"

With 14 days (or is it 12 to account for the two travel days?), a "hit-the-top-sights" itinerary *might* look like this, which is a considerable amount of movement.

Arrival Day + Day 2. Warsaw
Day 3. Travel to Krakow and sightseeing.
Day 4 and Day 5. Krakow
Day 6. Travel to Prague
Day 7 and Day 8. Prague
Day 9. Travel to Vienna and sightseeing.
Day 10 and Day 11. Vienna
Day 12. Travel to Salzburg and sightseeing.
Day 13. Travel to Zurich via Neuschwanstein
Day 14. Depart Zurich.

Regarding transportation.
"Prague to Vienna: 4 hours car or 1 hour plane ride?" Train. Purchase your tickets from Ceske Drahy (Czech National Railways) on the English language site.

"Vienna to Salzburg: 3 hours car or 2.5 by train." Train. Purchase your tickets through Westbahn.

I hope this is helpful. Happy Planning!

When you are ready to book flights, buy an open-jaw (multi-city) plane ticket.

We did some research into Poland; my understanding is that the most beautiful historic city in Poland is Krakow. In Warsaw, quite a lot of historic buildings were destroyed during WWII. Not sure what your son wants to see, just letting you know.

I would also drop Zurich so that you have more time in each place. I would also drop it because you will be seeing the Alps in Salzburg.


If it were me--I would fly into Poland, train to Prague, train to Vienna, train to Salzburg. To go home, I would fly out from Munich, as it is less than 2 hours by train from Salzburg.

I assume your son chose these places because he is interested in them. If he wants to have any experience of these places, he needs to do some serious editing of this list.

First, how many nights on the ground in Europe do you have? Some people say two weeks when they only have 12 nights on the ground. You will have one less day than you have nights, so if you have 12 nights, you have 11 full days to see/do experience.
I would say that if he wants an introduction to these places, he could do so with 3 nights (2 full days) in each city. If he wants something more from these visits, I'd suggest at least 4 nights in each place. If he only wants a "drive by" he might be able to go to all of these cities, but he would have no time to explore. So I would suggest that he start by deciding what he wants out of this trip. From there, he can choose the cities. Many people, not just 16 year olds. have unrealistic ideas of what they can do with two weeks. They forget to figure in travel time which needs to include checking out of one place and into the next, transport to/from the train station, as well as actual travel time. Thus, each time you change locations you use up at least half a day and sometimes most of a day.

Encourage him to spend some time with guidebooks to help him decide what things are most important to him.

creative girl
I have been thinking of going to Poland in the future. How do you find private drivers. My husband just turned 83 yesterday & I'm not sure if they will rent him a car in a few years
Thanks in advance

6 cities in 2 weeks is a lot.

Prague to Vienna: 4 hours car or 1 hour plane ride?>

1 hr plane ride + an hour getting out to airport enough before the flight - an hour getting bags and getting into the airport.

When you mean car - you mean private driver car?

If so reconsider and let your son experience Europe like many Europeans do -on the fantastic trains

Getting discounts on trains - fourfourtravel has given you the sites to book thru - a lot cheaper than a car - even a rental car with fuel.

Cars are isolating - mix with locals on trains -see www.seat61.com for loads on discounted train tickets -general info I also like www.budgeteuropetravel.com and www.ricksteves.com.

There is I think an overnight train Krakow-Prague- another neat experience for your son and the ultimate daytime time saver and save on a hotel for the night to boot.

"There is I think an overnight train Krakow-Prague- another neat experience for your son and the ultimate daytime time saver and save on a hotel for the night to boot."

Yes, there is. As I said in the very first reply to this thread, along with posting a link to the relevant seat61 page.

Try reading other people's posts.