13 days to travel and no idea where
We have a roundtrip ticket to Vienna for early November and 13 days to travel Eastern Europe. We were thinking about Budapest, Krakow, Prague, Cesky Krumlov and, of course, Vienna. What do you think? Is it doable? Have any recommendations?
Enrique
Tijuana, Baja Calif Mexico 5/15/07
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It's an ambitious itinerary, but I think doable if you don't mind lots of travel between places. I think you would need to take night trains in order to have any time in your destinations. Budapest is easy from Vienna and Prague not too difficult, though further. Cesky Krumlov (we didn't get there) may be difficult with public transport since it's off the main routes. I'd probably opt to do Vienna, Budapest and Prague and take a side trip out of each city one day and leave the others for another time.
Enrique, I agree with Karen. Personally Vienna is probably my favorite European city. And from there you could do a number of day trips. And since I hate moving hotel to hotel unless I'm going somewhere (We are doing Stockholm, Copenhagen, Berlin, Brussels, London) I'd try to establish two or at most 3 bases and travel out from those in this area.
vienna, eisenstadt, budapest, salzburg,innsbruck.
Krakow is a distance unless you fly. There is an overnight train from/to Prague. The train is a Polish sleeper and not up to date. We took this trip last fall and although we laugh at the experience I would not recommend it. :) If you leave out Krakow and save it for another time you will have have a great trip. Get opera tickets in Prague the theater is fabulous. Cesky is a fun destination it will be very empty in November.
Ditto on the warm clothing and ditto on how ambitious your schedule is. We spent 5 nights in Vienna, 5 in Budapest and 2 in Eger, HU, after 6 nights in Krakow. Also, long distance from Krakow which would require flying. Trying to also hit Prague would be too much. We've visited all the cities you mentioned and all are worthy of much more time than you could devote to them in one trip. Don't try to do too much...you'd be missing too much of the charm and character of the cities.
It is doable and I suggest go for it. We did all those countries last summer plus alot more. We loved Cesky krumlov so don't miss that. Its just a hours ride from Prague.
I definitely agree about the warm clothing. We can have damp fall and winter weather here in Chicago. When it's damp and chilly, you understand what authors mean about "you can feel it in your bones". I would have to say that your itinerary is a bit ambitious. Packing/unpacking, finding your hotel, changing money, and travelling from one city to the next takes a lot of time. We did Krakow, Prague, and Vienna, with day trips to Warsaw and Cesky Krumlov, in 14 days, and that was just about right. I would (sadly) suggest dropping Krakow, considering the distance.
You can get cheap airfares all over Europe. We flew from Krakow to Prague for around $60 each this May. It's a short 1 hour flight on a turboprop.
We loved Karlovy Vary, about a 2 hour drive out of Prague too. Budapest is marvelous with all the mineral baths, etc.
We usually cover lots of ground in our 13 day trips as we're there to see and do and not to relax. We usually spend 2 nights in each place unless it's a bigger place like Prague, Vienna, etc. and we'd spend 3 maybe. Or, spend 2 to get an overview and go back to spend more later.
I am interested in flights to/from Prague to Krakow. Does anyone know the name of the airline or where I would find it?
Audra We really like LOT airlines, which is the Polish national carrier. The only problem we found is lack of direct flights from Krakow to Prague, had to go by way of Warsaw.
Go to www.expedia.com for some flights from Prague to Krakow by way of Warsaw.....Very easy and inexpensive....It's the best way to go.