Sorry to be flaky – last time I said Spain and France, but we found a good deal on tickets to and from Prague on Emirates Airlines that we couldn’t pass up.
We’ll be there for two weeks, and the plan at present is to divide our time among Prague, Vienna, and Salzburg. Anyone familiar with the region care to offer suggestions on how many days I should allot for each? I’m basically resigned to seeing only a little bit of each due to time constraints.
:thanks:
[quote=“Hokwongwei”]Sorry to be flaky – last time I said Spain and France, but we found a good deal on tickets to and from Prague on Emirates Airlines that we couldn’t pass up.
We’ll be there for two weeks, and the plan at present is to divide our time among Prague, Vienna, and Salzburg. Anyone familiar with the region care to offer suggestions on how many days I should allot for each? I’m basically resigned to seeing only a little bit of each due to time constraints.
:thanks:[/quote]
I went there a couple of years ago. To be up front, I like old buildings and nature. So those two things dictates how I feel about a place.
I had really found memories of Czech. For two weeks, I would say 6 days in Prague and surrounding Czech areas. The city, the hot spring areas, all are amazing, if you are into places that takes you back to the renaissance. I’d like 3 days in Salzburg, not just for Salzburg, but also those amazing lakes on the way there. Then the other 5 days in Wien.
Let’s be clear why I gave Wien a shorter amount of time… my trip didn’t really spend a lot of time in Wien… so that’s probably why I didn’t give it as much time. I also felt those Habsurg family palaces were a bit boring. The streets also felt more 19th century, a lot like Hamburg and it just didn’t impress me as much. So if there are activities to do around Salzburg, I’d probably spend a bit more time there. However, I really would have loved to have the time to go through Schönbrunn museum. To know that Klimt paintings are only a few steps away but told that there’s no time to go into the museum really killed me.
Food-wise I was less impressed. Be prepared for a lot of fried food, almost no vegetables, decent sausages, amazing mustard, and out of this world bier, i mean beer.
One bit of advice for the Czech Republic. Visit Cesky Krumlov.
Bohemia, I say!
As for Austria, selchfleisch is divine.
[quote=“ChewDawg”]One bit of advice for the Czech Republic. Visit Cesky Krumlov.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C4%8Cesk%C3%BD_Krumlov[/quote]
Yeah, definitely. A great example of how a place under constant threat of flooding can co-exist with the river.
Aside from the scenery, this is stuck in my head from Krumlov
yes, it’s a bird eating some Asian dude’s eye. that apparently used to represent Krumlov in some ways…
the painted buildings
my photos don’t do that town justice.
Thanks all. Can I rely on public transit or should I consider renting a car for some or all of the trip?
Public transit is fine. We took the train from Prague to České Budějovice and then an hour long bus to Ceske Krumlov.
Here are some of our pics
Would also recommend White Castle near České Budějovice:
It’s interesting to stay on a boat for accommodation in Prague
[quote=“hansioux”]
Aside from the scenery, this is stuck in my head from Krumlov [/quote]
That’s a crest associated with the aristocratic House of Schwarzenberg (who are still active in Czech politics for a centre right party, served under Havel, and who nobly opposed Nazism and then fought Communism from abroad):
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_of_Schwarzenberg
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_of_S … enberg.svg
In 1599, Adolf von Schwarzenberg became an Imperial Count, and he added a quarter showing the head of a Turk being pecked by a raven. This was to commemorate the conquest of a Turkish-held fortress in Hungary that was known in German as Raab (‘Raven’).
I visited Austria and the Czech Republic a couple of years ago.
One place that hasn’t been mentioned yet is Hallstatt, Austria, which is an impossibly lovely tiny town on the edge of a lake. China even produced a knock-off of it. :s If you need renao or pubs, this is the definitely the wrong town; but if you want someplace peaceful this is about as good as it gets. It’s a good spot to explore the mountains in the area. If I ever wanted to hole myself up and write a novel or something, that’s the sort of place I’d like to be. I’d gladly go back. The Pension Sarstein is wonderful – so wonderful that I almost hesitate to mention it lest I contribute further to its popularity and thus am never able to book it again.
The Danube cruise from Melk to Krems (or the reverse) is worthwhile. Melk Abbey is worth seeing if you’re in the area; a lot of money obviously went into that.
Salzburg has a bit of a small town feel to it in a good way.
Prague was wonderful to see. But during the summer it gets crowded. And getting charged for everything (e.g., bathrooms, churches) gets a bit old, as does worrying about whether a restaurant will try to rip you off. We stayed in the Hotel Kampa Garden, which is quiet and well located; the deluxe rooms – or whatever they call them – are only a little more expensive but much larger than their tiny standard rooms.
And I’ll also recommend Ceske Krumlov.
I liked Vienna a lot. Other than the area around the cathedral and the top tourist sites it’s not that crowded – at least not to someone used to living in Taiwan.
No need to get a car. Buses, shuttles (we took one from Linz (which is a boring town) to Ceske Krumlov), and trains are all you need.
Another possibility, if you have the time, is to make a side trip to Budapest or Bratislava.
