We just reserved frequent flyer tickets into Prague for the end of May and are trying to define a basic plan for an 11 day trip. In addition to the three cities, we are looking for a few smaller towns to stop in, over night, between Prague and Vienna and Vienna and Budapest. On past postings and the internet I have found info on Cesky Krumlov, I think we will stop there. <BR>Any info on Melk or other towns on the route would be helpful. <BR>How far are Hallstat and Graz from Vienna by car or train? <BR>Can you pick up rental in Prague and drop in Vienna or Budapest? Is there a large fee for this? Is it better to travel by car or train/bus in this area? We have driven in Spain, France, Germany and Italy and have not had problems. <BR> <BR>Thanks in advance for your comments! <BR>Aileen <BR>PS - life is so much more fun when I am planning a trip! <BR> <BR> <BR>Is <BR>

Aileen: We flew into Prague two years ago, did Prague and then picked up a car to drive to, in order, Cesky Krumlov (enchanting), Telc (quaint with an interesting Castle), Melk (you will love it and the Monastary is awsome), Vienna (we didn't care that much for Vienna, but you have to see it if you are that close), Sopron (another grand Monastary)and Koszeg (a very pretty Medieval Villiage). At this point, we did a big circle within Hungary. With 11 days, I would head for Budapest through "The Danube Bend", Esztergom, Visegrad and Szentendre. I assume you would then fly out of Budapest. There is a great baroque mansion at Fertold (not far from Sopron), but I begin to worry about your time. This is aggressive, but doable if, like us,your main priority is to see as much as you can. This is a lovely part of the World. The countryside is just beautiful. I wish I were going with you. Bye-the-way, we are in our early sixties and drive everywhere. We love the flexability and the reduced luggage transporting. Not the only way, but certainly our way. If I can provide any additional information, please email me.

Thanks Joe! <BR> <BR>I am having trouble finding info on the net about the small towns in this region. What guide books did you use? Did you find any good web sites for hotels or travel info? <BR> <BR>Aileen <BR> <BR>

Aileen: After several hours at Barnes & Noble with notepad firmly in hand, we selected Frommer's "Prague and the best of the Czech Republic" and "Budapest and the Best of Hungary". Seemed to cover more of the area in which we were interested. However, we did have to review several books to get all information. Hotels and Restaurants we selected were primarily from these guides. We tend to like small, three star Hotels; good amenities and services and still easy to get friendly with staff and other guests. Couple of points: The Monastary near Sopron is Pannonhalma; the Mansion or Esterhaza Palace is at Fertod (not Fertold) which is right on the way from Sopron to the Danube Bend. Koszeg while very worthwhile, is a little out of the way. Questions?

From a trip I planned last year, but never got a chance to take: <BR> <BR>In Czech Republic - - Olomouc (plenty on the internet about this town - - which is, admittedly, not that small - - the fifth largest city in CR). <BR> <BR>In Hungary - - Gyor (conveniently between Budapest and Vienna). <BR> <BR>In Poland (yes, I realize you didn't ask about Poland, but this fits together well with Vienna, Prague, southeastern CR and then Krakow, as an alternative to Budapest): Niedzica - - not so much a neat town as a neat place to stay: www.hotelspoland.com/castle_palace/niedzica/ - - and of course, there are other neat places listed on this website. <BR> <BR>Best wishes, <BR> <BR>Rex

Vienna is 2 1/2 hours from Graz by train, a little less by car. The trip from Vienna to Hallstatt takes 4-4 1/2 hours, depending on which train you get. Night trains to Hallstatt take upwards of 7 hours. Not sure about the car, I know if you rent in Austria, you have to pay extra if you want to drive it in the Czech or Slovak Republic or anywhere in E. Europe. I would advise against taking a car to Hallstatt, it's so small, and the fairy ride is really a must. The view of the Alps is unbelieveable. Have a great trip!

Be sure you check with the car rental agency to be sure you can cross borders. Some of the western countries won't let you take the car into the east as many are stolen. <BR>In Prague, we used AVE Accommodations at www.avetravel.cz They have a very good listing of hotels & penzions of all price ranges--with descriptions, maps & some pictures. <BR>In Vienna, we used nethotels.com and anto.com/viennahotels.html for hotels in all price ranges. For high end, the Sacher; a little lower the Radisson SAS. <BR>I stayed in a great old hotelpension Arenburg. It is within the first ring of Vienna and has only 24 rooms. The original owner had autographed pictures of famous people who stayed with her. The breakfast is excellent & it has that posh old Vienna feel. It is a member of the Best Western & honors discounts. Because it was full the first half of my Vienna trip, I stayed at Hotel Drei Kronen which was nice as well and served a good breakfast. The University is nearby and visiting professors stay there. Small hotel near outdoor market & small grocery store. The Opera is a 5-minute walk. Neither of these was over $60/night for 1. <BR>In Budapest, we stayed with Dr. & Mrs. Walter Fleps, Bogar utca 20b, 1022 Budapest, Hungary. Their home is on a hill overlooking the city. You get a private bedroom, bathroom and good breakfast for around $40/night for 2. You take the bus to the metro & 3 stops you are downtown. <BR>I just returned from Krakow and enjoyed it; however, if I had to choose between it and Budapest, definitely Budapest. Krakow has many interesting places & day trips (Zakopane, Auschwitz, Salt Mines) but Budapest is a larger & very interesting city with more than enough to do. You need at least 3 days for each of the larger cities so plan carefully. Check the German rail site at http://bahn.hafas.de for an idea of time distance--use Praha for Prague and Wien for Vienna. Have fun as those are great cities!

We are taking a similar trip around the same time. I am looking for good little B&B's, guest houses etc. If you have a source or know of any please let me know. Thanks

In October 2000 my husband and I flew from Paris to Budapest, then drove from to Vienna and on to Prague. We didn't stay anywhere in between because the roads were good and it was very easy to get from one city to the next. That said, the border crossing from Austria into CZ was horrible -- we probably spent 2 hours sitting in our car choking on exhaust fumes from all the diesel trucks and out-of-tune cars around us. <BR> <BR>I would really recommend getting a car for your trip as the driving is easy and you'll have so much more freedom. Once you're in the cities you can take public transportation. I think we paid something like $75 extra to drop the car off in Prague at the end of our trip. We used AutoEurope. <BR> <BR>In Budapest, we stayed at the Kempinski Corvinus, which was in a very good location for walking to the sights. The hotel was very nice, though a bit more westernized than some people might like. We stayed at the Hotel Sacher in Vienna, which we liked. The rooms are nicer than the reception area might suggest, and the restaurant was excellent. It's right across the street from the opera house and very centrally located. In Prague I recommend booking a hotel well in advance and reconfirming before you leave. We stayed at the Hotel Pariz, an art nouveau classic in a good location. Beautiful from the outside but the room was terrible (loud, dingy, cramped). Also stayed at the Marriott, which is what you'd expect, but a cut above many of the other hotels in Prague. It's very good for business travellers. Our experience with some of the smaller places wasn't so great, but we are still looking because we really do prefer to stay at locally-owned hotels. Good luck -- I'm sure you'll enjoy seeing all of these cities.

Aileen - I must tell you that a friend and I have just returned from a trip to Germany to see my sister. While there we took the train to Munich, Vienna, Budapest and Prague. I have to say that Munich and Vienna were the grandest of the four. I would never have gone to Budapest had I known how unsafe it was for two females traveling alone. We found it to be dirty, undeveloped and the people were not very friendly at all. If you plan on shopping, plan on having cash as they don't like to take plastic and get very nasty about it. We stayed in the Castle district which we were told was the tourist area and safest place for us. Prague was beautiful but we only had a full day to sightsee and shop and it was a little less friendly than Munich and Vienna. Good luck to you. Susie

I'm sorry that Suzy did not enjoy herself in Budapest. I think that it is the most beautiful city that I've been in. I had no problems with credit cards. They took them everywhere that I went. I also found the people to be extremly helpful and friendly. <BR>I spent 7 days there and could have spent more, there was so much to see. <BR>