looking for some good ideas-I didn't see to many trip reports for this Itinary. Should we drive or take the train from each city? we only have 13 days total. Would like to spend 3 days in Prague, 3 days in Munich & 5 days in Austria. I know Munich is on the euro - but what about Austria & Prague? I wanted to stay at Hotel Tyl in Prague they came back with the price in euro - I thought that was strange. any thought? My husband and i love museums,history, shopping and driving thru the country side.

We were just in those areas last May, see my posting
http://slowtalk.com/groupee/forums/a/tpc/f/821606885/m/...231070962#9231070962
it lists all the hotels we stayed in.

there is also a discussion there regarding hotel tyl where we stayed while in prague.

We took the train for all the cities and we loved it. I feel that ifyou are staying in the city center and are not planning to make trips to places where trains are not accessible, we would never rent a car. The train system in these cities are amazing. All the cities we visited even Salzburg which is a small town or Dresden have great train systems or rail systems. Our train system here in the US is nothing compared to the euro rail system. The only time we even thought about renting a car is when we were in Munich and were planning on going to the two castles Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau which is really not that easy to access through public transportation. After looking at the rates in renting a car for a day or taking the package, we decided we would just take the day tour package and pay a bit extra.

quote:

I wanted to stay at Hotel Tyl in Prague they came back with the price in euro

Euros: Austria yes; Prague not yet. There really isn't anything strange about the rate being quoted in euros; this is standard for most continental hotels. You can pay in euros - or even dollars - at the Hotel Tyl, even if euros are not accepted everywhere in Prague. (Another recent forum here discusses this issue.)

There are a number of excellent museums in Prague, as well as innumberable cultural activities.

Ann

Hi Garciamtt, I traveled to Prague, Salzburg (Austria) and Munich in 2006 and had a blast. Spent 5 days in Prague, 3 days in Cesky Krumlov, 5 days in Salzburg and 2 days in Munich.

I took the trains between all three cities using this website for the train schedules and connections: DB Bahn The train system is very user friendly and efficient and I had no problems getting from one place to the next. I purchased each ticket the day before I moved on to the next town with no problems (For perspective sake, my travel dates were in November which is low season) Before I left, I used the website to print out my train schedules.

Prague has so many things to see and do. It is pretty compact city and you can walk to all the major sites. It also has a very efficient public transporation system. Here's a good travel note on Prague that I used: Here

Not sure where you'll be in Austria, but I stayed in Salzburg and loved it. (also has a very good transportation system to get around the city). I actually rented a car for a day to drive to Hallstat which is a beautiful little town outside of the city. Since you and your husband enjoy driving and seeing beautiful countryside this could be something you could do. I got this idea from Kaydee and was really glad that I did.

I only spent a couple of days in Munich and could've easily stayed longer. They also have a very easy transportation system there and you will not have any problem.

I think I'm only skimming the surface here. When planning my trip, I used the wonderful search feature on this site by clicking the Find button at the top and typing in key words to find additional information.

Have a wonderful trip!

For Prague: I have to say that if you can possibly get accomodations at the Arcadia Residence, you should try. The owner(who is Italian) also has some other apartments nearer the Old Town area that have also gotten excellent reviews. They don't include breakfast, I don't think. The most amazing thing about this place is the owner and his mother, who treat you like family in a way, yet don't intrude. Pasquale, the owner, gave us so many tips and was alays there to help if we needed it. This is within 2 to 3 tram stops from the major area of Prague and it was very easy to get to. Each room is a small apartment, but breakfast is included at the Arcadia. It is amazing! If you do a search you will pull up many, many reviews on sites and they are all excellent! It is also reasonably priced. I'm not sure when the Czech Republic is making the change to Euros. I thought it was 1-1-08, but I may be wrong. When we were there last summer, a lot of places quoted both. It will be sad, because the rates with the crown were better!
Salzburg: We loved Salzburg (and nearby Hallstatt- about an hour away on a pristine mountain lake). If you are in Salzburg, go to the Augustiner Brewery!
We flew into Vienna and were there 3 days. We rented a car and drove to Hallstatt, stopping at Melk and St. Florian along the way. Then we drove to Salzburg and stayed 3 days. We really just parked our car there and never used it. We then drove to Cesky Krumlov for a night and on to Prague. We enjoyed the drives, but when you are in places, a car is not necessary and would have been very difficult! The transportation systems there are so amazing. We used the subway and the trams in Vienna to go all over the city. We walked a lot in Salzburg because we were close to the center, but I'm sure their transportation is also good. Prague also had wonderful trams- we didn't use the subway there, except once, to get to the bus station to take a bus an hour away to Terezin. All of this was very easy without a car. And I have to say with Pasquale's help in giving directions and making it easy. (By the way, I treid to post a review under hotels after our trip in June, but was directed to redo it under apartments. Technically, the owners see their establishment as a hotel- I did resubmit, but it was never posted. I'm not sure why...)

quote:

I'm not sure when the Czech Republic is making the change to Euros. I thought it was 1-1-08, but I may be wrong.

That was, indeed, the original goal. But it became clear that the Czech Republic couldn't meet the economic requirements in time. The new goal is January 1, 2012, with nothing yet firmly approved, so the koruna will be around for a while.

quote:

Technically, the owners see their establishment as a hotel- I did resubmit, but it was never posted. I'm not sure why...)

We never received it as a vacation rental review - care to resubmit: Submit Reviews? Thanks!

We define vacation rentals as such if the rental has its own private kitchen for use. Several hotels rent apartments that we put under vacation rentals.

Thanks so much for all the feed back! Can someone tell me how long each train ride will take from each city? From Prague to Vienna, Vienna to Salzburg, Salzburg to Munich?

Hi, I punched in a random date of Jan. 6 thru 15, 2008 (7:00 am to 3:00 pm) on the Bahn site for the following times:

Prague to Vienna (Wien Westbahnhof): 4 hours to 4.5 hours (0 changes)

Vienna to Salzburg: 2 hrs 45 min to 3 hrs 6 min
(0 changes)

Salzburg to Munich: 1 hr 28 min to 2 hrs 4 min (0 changes)

Times may change depending on whether there will be any train changes or maybe the time of departure. Once you know your dates, you can put in the dates and times you need to get the actual times.

I have not been to Munich in a while, but we just spent time in Prague and Austria. We only stayed in a hotel in Salzburg and really liked the one Kaydee stays at and recommended ( we booked a special room for a birthday bash)..the Wolf-Deitrich.

I highly recommend an overnight in heavenly Hallstatt too. It is really a peaceful and pretty place and the salt mine and graves are cool too.

Cesky Krumluv is not far from Austria, so you might want to stop there too. Prague of course is beautiful and a wonderful walking city. Don't miss this extraordinary puppet show of Don Giovanni. It was a surprising highlight for us.

The food is a great bargain in Prague so this is a good place to splurge on great meals. Here are a few that we liked and found special. We were also really happy with the 19th century canal boat tour with the Prague-Venice line ( make sure you get this one). It is cheap but lovely and special.

Vienna has a fantastic metro line ..the best we have experienced thus far. Don't miss the spectacular music there, we were cut short on this due to my unplanned visit to the hospital, but loved this one.

We loved the Schonbrunn Palace and the grounds and zoo were a surprise delight along with the baby panda. Don't miss the kitchen & cafe there where you can watch them make strudel and eat some yummy treats.

There are more things in our blog archives, but thought those things might be of interest to you and not always listed in guide books and such. I have yet to have time to make my blog reports into trip reports.

What time of year are you going? We were very impressed with the alps in Autumn and absolutely loved our Mozart Dinner and concert at St Peter Stiftskeller.

Hope this helps a little. You will have a wonderful time!!

Trekcapri, thanks for translating the train schedule for me! I could not figure out the Bahn site. WT- your blog is perfect, i will keep referring to it as we plan our trip! Thanks again to all!!

Garciamtt, you're welcome. No worries, it took me awhile to maneuver the sites myself, but the people on this community were so helpful that I learned in no time and you will too.

By the way, if you do decide to take the trains I will also add that I managed to find people who worked at the train stations that spoke english and I had no problems. At the stations they will post the number to the platforms you will need to catch your trains. Just a little tip, print out the train schedules before you leave (it helps). If your schedule changes, look for an internet to research other options. I did that when I was in Salzburg.

Let us know if you have any other questions and whether you decide to take the train or drive, you will have a fantastic time in these countries and cities!

We love Salzburg, Munich and the Bavarian Alps and have visited these areas several times. We did kind of a backwards version of this itinerary over 16 days for Christmas/New Years four years ago.

We flew into Munich and drove immediately to Oberammergau in the Bavarian Alps (3 nights); drove to Salzburg (4 nights, including a day trip by car to the Salzkammergut); turned in the car and took the train to Vienna (3 nights); train to Prague (3 nights); train to Munich (3 nights).

My "lessons learned" after this trip was that we had too many destinations. I have become much more of a "slow traveler," and in retrospect, I would have cut one of our bases. We spent too much time packing up, getting to train stations, riding on trains, getting to hotels, checking in and getting acclimated etc. You need to add 2-3+ hours to each train trip for the down time associated with the whole process. So what might seem to be three days somewhere really turns into only two. We also had too much luggage, which adds to the stress of traveling by train.

That said, these are all great cities. We do have travel notes for Salzburg posted here and for Munich here. And while we may not have trip reports, we've talked about Prague, Munich, Salzburg and Vienna quite a bit on the message board. If you do a message board search on any of these cities, you'll find lots of posts with great information. Just click on "Find" at the top right of this page. I'd do an advanced search on the "Rest of Europe" forum.

Kathy

Garciammt,
Have you considered flying between base cities?
We did this last spring and again this winter. the flights are about 1 hr each. You can fly low cost airlines to/from each city as well as Vienna at a reasonable price and all can be booked at the major airports for those cities. Private limo service to/from the airports range from 50 euros in Munich to 20 in Prague. There are also options for s-bahn travel and Cedax or other airport bus transfers for less cost if you prefer.
Regards
Martha

Mholzgrefe: What are some of the names of lost cost airlines that fly between these cities? I do want to drive in Austria to see the country side.Does anyone have a good recommentaion for a hotel in Munich, Vienna & Salzburg? looking to spend about 120 euro including breakfast.

You can easily identify low-cost European airlines that fly between cities at www.whichbudget.com.

In Munich our favorite hotel is the Acanthus, which works nicely in your price range. They have a fabulous breakfast that's included in the price. See my review and also Linda Jones' review here.

We also have a favorite hotel in Salzburg, where we've stayed several times-- the Wolf-Dietrich. It may be just above your range, but I think it is well-worth considering. See my review here.

I'm sure you'll get a couple of other suggestions too.

Kathy

Kathy, that is a really useful web, I have long been looking for a concise summary of cheap airlines from my city. (of course, half of the list is SkyEurope/SmartEings, but the rest is interesting).

I'm not surprised by the lack of cheap Munich or Vienna connections from Prague there. In fact, we are to some extend used to think of MUC as THE international airport of Prague. But I'm sure that at least Czech Airlines (CSA) do fly there with some turboprops - what nevertheless could be an interesting experience

Jan

Jan,
We got back last Wed...round trip Munich-Prague was $170 with Air Dolomiti(lufthansa).
Airport websites list all airlines which fly in and out. You can do a search from that.
Martha

Mholzgrefre:
Can you give me your recommendation on Hotels in Munich? Also, looking for Hotel recommendation in Vienna & Saltzburg! Central location, including breakfast and price approx.of 100-115 euro.

Garcia,
In downtown Munich we stay 2 blocks from Marienplatz at the Hotel Lindner, Dultstrasse 1, (taxi 50 euros). Near the airport we stay at Hotel Daniel's, Hauptstrasse 11, Hallbergmoos, (taxi 15 euros).
In Prague we stay in apartments near the Castle which is a 10 minute tram ride or 15 minute walk to New Town & maybe 20 mins if walking across the Charles bridge towards Old Town Square. We stay on Loretanska street which is 2 blocks from the Castle complex & Keplerova street which is directly behind the Loreto and just down from the Strahov Monastery, (Cedax van $40 round trip).
In Vienna we stay near St. Stephen's Cathedral at Pension Neuer Markt. (I don't recall the taxi fare...we used a private driver last 2 times there).
Martha