Hi everyone,
After getting lots of help here on the forum, I have bought a ticket from toronto to vienna, and from prague to toronto.

My travel dates are aug 14-aug 27. (overnight flight on aug 13 to Vienna).

I will have 13 full days to spend between Vienna and Prague. I would like some advice on how I shoudl allocate my days between these 2 cities.

Background info:
I will be travelling with my sister, and this is her first long trip to Europe. We will be using public transporation. My sis is an artist, but does not want to spend all her time in art galleries because she likes to look at architecture as well. I am a foodie, so I am into cafes/restaurants/markets. We both want to visit a concentration camp on this trip.

Me and sis are both VERY into cute picturesque villages.

I will go to some art museums with sis just because she likes art, but we are not very interested in museums in general. However, we like palaces/castles.


Questions:

Q#1. My initial plan was to spend my 13 full days this way:
6 nights in vienna, 2 nights in Cesky Krumlov, and 5 nights in prague.

Day 1-6: Arrive in Vienna at lunchtime on the first day. One of these days will be a day trip to Melk (and maybe an additional day trip to another village in Wachau, since we both love villages.)

Day 7: travel from Vienna to Cesky Krumlov in the morning, arrive in afternoon, spend night in CK

Day 8: Cesky Krumlov

Day 9: Travel from Cesky Krumlov to Prague in the morning

Day 9-13: Prague (day trip to Kunta Hora?)

Day 14: leave Prague in the morning

I am not sure if I should allocate less time to Prague since it is smaller. Does anyone have any suggestions to my itinerary?



Q#2. We would like to go to a concentration camp, so which one is more worthy of a visit? (Mauthausen or Terezin.) Also, which camp is easier to get to by public transportation?

Q#3. For day trip ideas from Vienna, do you recommend us spending one night in the Wachau area? Or are we better off doing 2 separate day trips (to save the hassle of packing, unpacking, finding hotel?) Please note that my sister does not want to bike (I know that there were suggestions on this forum regarding biking tours in the Wachau area.) Or should we scrap the idea of going on 2 day trips to Wachau, and replace one of the day trips with Bratislava?

Q#4. While staying in Cesky Krumlov, would it be a good idea to do a 1/2 day trip to Cesky Budejovice? (or would this be too rushed?)

Q#5. accommodation: everyone has recommended pension pertschy for vienna, but it is so expensive in august!! I think I can't afford any hotels in inner stadt, so can anyone recommend a good not-as-central location with excellent access to public transportation? My price range is 70-85 CAD for a double bedroom. I would prefer a hotel that is close to a ubahn/sbahn station, because I read somewhere that vienna trams are very difficult to use. (can someone tell me if this is true?) I am considering staying in the Wombats hostel, if I really can't find anything cheap.

Q#6. I chose to spend 2 nights in CK just because I heard so many great things about it. (also, I was looking into doing a day trip to Cesky Budejovice while in CK). Any advice on if I should cut it back to one night, and not go to Cesky Budejovice at all? Or are there other good locations near CK that I should consider for day trips?


These are my q's for now, but I am sure later on I will have some q's regarding Melk or CK.

Thanks in advance to everyone for your help!!

p.s. has anyone ever stayed in Hotel Am Augarten in Vienna? The reviews look good on venere, but just wanted to hear more feedback from someone here.

Hi R,

Looks like a good plan.

2. Terezin

3. Have you checked your hotel at www.tripadvisor.com?

I've stayed at Pension Hargita (www.hargita.at/en/home/index.php) in Vienna, one metro stop from the Westbahnhof (or you could walk it). It would be hard to be any closer to a Ubahn stop. No AC, though.

I stayed in C. Budejovice and day-tripped to C. Krumlov. The central square in C.B. is worth seeing, but if I were staying in C.K. I'm not sure I would bother.

roundbunny, I think you've divided nicely your time in each city. Don't decrease your time in Prague because it's smaller. Your allocation seems just right to me.

I second ira's suggestion to do a daytrip to Terezin. I'd suggest a tour.

Vienna is more expensive than Prague.

You mentioned that your sister doesn't want to spend too much time in art museums. May I suggest the Belvedere in Vienna? It's a very doable museum in a few hours time.

Tour the Jewish quarter in Prague before visiting Terezin. Again, I'd suggest a tour.

Oh, and the Municipal House in Prague is one of my favorites. I always recommend it! I love, love it!

Hope this helps. Have a great time!