7-day itinerary for Prague, Salzburg and Vienna.

So you will be renting a car in Czechia and dropping it in Austria, thus incurring a large international drop fee. Be sure to get IDPs for all drivers, and buy an Austrian vignette sticker when you cross the border.

You will need a Czech vignette for using the highways there as well.

By the way, in both Czechia and Austria, the physical sticker on the windshield has been replaced by the electronical vignette which can be bought online. Cameras reading the license plate will check whether you have correctly paid the highway toll.

Beautiful Cities. Find some tips ons spottedbylocals.

These are my favourites in Vienna:
Balthasar (Praterstraße) is a small third-wave coffee bar that takes its craft very seriously. Easy to walk past between the other storefronts, but follow the smell of fresh roasts. Great affogato on a warm day.

Barista Cats in the 7th district is exactly what it sounds like, a cozy café with Italian coffee and resident cats from a local shelter. They do a rotating weekly menu and a lovely weekend breakfast. Pack your patience, it gets busy.
Aufzug Café, near the Belvedere, is one of those only-in-Vienna places: the owner collects Art Nouveau elevators, so you literally sit inside original 1908 elevator cabins while drinking your coffee. No reservations, limited seats — worth walking over from the Belvedere gardens if you can't get in immediately.

Praterwirt on Praterstraße combines a traditional butcher with a Viennese brewery restaurant. Local farmers' meat, proper Schnitzel and Goulash. If you only eat meat occasionally, make it here.

Open The Door is Vienna's top-rated escape room, tucked away in the diverse 10th district , a neighbourhood most visitors never see. Good excuse to explore a bit further afield.

There are so many beautiful places in all these 3 cities!
Be informed. Watch out with car parking in Prague. Some neighbourhoods can be dangerous...
https://www.car-parking.eu/czech-republic/prague

You will need a Czech vignette for using the highways there as well.

I am thinking that a car rented in Czechia will come with a Czech vignette already attached. Is that not the case?

Rethinking this, with only 7 days, you are visiting 2 cities that really deserve 3 full days to appreciate. In both of these cities, a car is pretty much useless, even a burden, paying for it to sit in an expensive parking lot. That really leaves no time for Salzburg, so why not skip it. Instead of renting a car, travel by train from Prague to Vienna with a half day of travel between the 2. With checking out of one hotel, 4 1/4 hour travel time, then checking into the new hotel, that eats up the better part of a whole day. Something to consider.

Sam,

You know, I would have thought so too.

But I got curious and looked. Avis (not the cheapest) pick up 3June drop off 6 June was only $1.100.00 with all the possible add-ons for crossing borders, second drivers, insurance, etc. But it didn’t include traffic fines, tolls or parking. Parking has gotten crazy so figure another $150 for parking and maybe nowhere close to $25 for tolls = only $1,275.00. But that’s Avis with a subcompact car. With one of those discount rental companies and less insurance maybe the OP can get it down to $900.00.

If the OP tried this by train it would be at least $100 for two people.

Train and shuttle so you could spend some time in Ceksky Krumlov I am guessing $200 for two people.

If the OP tried this with a company like DayTrip.com and let someone else drive (missing all the fun) and included a few tourist stops along the way it would be at least $900.

But if the OP did the transfer with a few tourist stops from Prague to Salzburg and then the train to Vienna the cost might be closer to $500

Sam, I guess my point is that they are all viable options.

OP a week is 9 days, you would do well if you can travel Saturday through Sunday.

My itinerary would be
3N Prague because its the arrival city.
0N Salzburg
4N Vienna

But with 9 days
3N Prague because its the arrival city.
2N Salzburg
4N Vienna

And I would do it with a train. Add 3 more nights to the trip (total 12) and then i drive because I will have time to stop and explore.

excellent suggestions! thank you so much. now, does anyone have suggestions as to what their favorite things to do in Prague if you have 3 days and also in Vienna if you have 4 days? We prefer to do things off the beaten track In other words, less touristy. and also less expensive. of course some touristy things are worth it so we are not entirely against something that is exceptional and really shouldn't be missed.

Bodybalance, who are you? Cause what i like my father and my son snd my plumber dont like.

Prague:
http://www.srnectheatre.com/eng
https://www.cernamadona.com/archa/en/

hi Mr.E. this is our third trip to Europe. We have never been to Eastern Europe though. I feel slightly embarrassed to say this but we are not much into museums and have seen our share of churches. We do like art as my husband is a painter. I love dance performances and we hopefully will see some kind of music in a small venue, church. so I am open to suggestions in that regard. We love food and restaurants with unique atmospheres. atmosphere to me is At least as important as the food. We also like to take boat rides. We originally are from Chicago and so don't necessarily like to be in big crowds, if possible. like I said, off the beaten track and preferably not expensive. We don't like tours much unless they are inexpensive. thank you for asking, Linda

I am not an expert on any of the three of them. I have been to each and Vienna several times, but the best I have is one person’s perspective. Others will disagree and they are 100% correct as well. This is also my perspective given your short stays. With more time I might say a few things differently. You ask for things off the beaten path, but you have so little time and the things that are on the beaten path are on that path for good reason.

”and have seen our share of churches” Ditto. This isn’t Italy so it’s not quite as bad.

Prague, well, you said, “so don't necessarily like to be in big crowds” you do understand that Prague has among the most crowded historic district of any city in Europe. Prague entertains about 7 million tourists in an area of 1.5 square miles. 1.5 square miles is about the same size as Disney Land. To get close to the same crowds you would have to go to Dubrovnik when 3 cruise ships are in dock. Old Town at a minimum is the better part of a half day, the castle as well. But with a comfortable pace the two together are a nice visit over two days which is why I say three nights at a minimum for Prague.

The key will be seeing what you want to see at times when it’s not as crowded. There are lots of web resources on the best times for this and that. I didn’t find the food spectacular but if you get off the tourist path a bit the atmosphere can more than make up for it. I have been to a few listed here. Very nice list off beat stops by the way: https://budgettraveller.org/24-best-things-to-do-in-prague/ . You just got to get a block our two out of the tourist zone and find some places that are at least partially local in nature. Despite the crowds it has managed to remain well priced. Among my favorite hotels in Europe is the Ventana. You wont find a better location or sweeter accommodation. But it’s a bit pricy these days.

Prague is not terribly museum orientated. More aesthetics and architecture and cultural in nature. So, I think that works well for you. Not a lot of churches either. Oh, and the only of your three stops that was ever catalogued as “Eastern European”. Austria was never commie.

The city has a couple of very nice historic music venues and going to one is well worth the effort. I don’t think you will have trouble finding church concerts either. But most everything you do in Prague on a short visit where you are trying to take in the top 10 or 20 will be with thousands of other tourists. Not much local charm in that. This may all sound negative, no, just my perception and I like Prague.

For art, my preference is modern, and for that the Kunsthalle Praha and Museum Kampa are very good.

Salzburg. Prague and Vienna are the stars of the show. Salzburg is just a supporting actor. Look at the Hotel Elefant, I liked it quite a bit. Good location, fair price for Austria and a little history. The castle is almost a story book castle and it is interesting It’s a military museum full of old uniforms and swords. The presentation is from the beginning of the empire to 1935 more or less. I am not a museum hound, but I enjoyed a few hours in it. Mirabell Palace & Garden and Mozart’s birthplace were also pretty good. One cause I like the man the other for atmosphere. Very impressive.

Get a Top 10 list and walk it. The streets and passages are interesting. I pretty much stuck to beer and sausage and schnitzel while there. Oh, and find a beer hall or two. Augustiner Bräu Mülln is one of the famous ones and it was very okay.

Vienna. ”I feel slightly embarrassed to say this but we are not much into museums” and I am not much into dead stuff under glass either. Trouble is Vienna is one of the biggest museum towns in Europe. But there is a lot of other stuff to do as well.

For music you have choices from world famous venues to chamber orchestras to church concerts. The major venues if you hit on a Friday or Saturday, it’s my bet you have a better chance of being around locals, mid-week mostly all tourists (just a guess based on what goes on here). The food, yes, you can certainly do well with food in Vienna. A shorter stay in Vienna works for you because you don’t like museums and Vienna is the most heavily museum laden city imaginable.

”We do like art as my husband is a painter.” I am partial to modern art. Prague and Vienna have excellent art museums, but be careful you don’t spend your entire holiday in them. For modern art the Mumok; but this is Vienna, pick a time in history and a style and there is a museum. Oh, I love the Secession Museum too.

For off the beaten path, if you 3 full days in Vienna you can do the best of the standard stuff (without the museums) in two days and the third day check out this list: https://www.magdamagdas.com/travel/vienna-hidden-gems-like-a-local-secret-must-do-tips I used it once and it didn’t disappoint.

For a short stay (yours is a short stay) I would want to be on or inside the Ringstrasse. The south or southwest side of it at that. This means $$$$ but Austria is expensive, you just have to deal with that.

You realize that the one location that rings everyone of your bells is actually Budapest. I am not saying that because I live here. It just fits your description better then those three. BUT, especially with Vienna, with a bit of research I suspect you can tailor a trip that checks all your boxes. We have some good Vienna experts here that hopefully will chime in with more detail than I provided. Like I said, I am not expert.

Linda, i ont know if this id any good but it popped up today and looked fun and looked on your list maybe:

https://www.straussdinnershow.com/

This Strauss Dinner Show is in the Prater amusement park.

I had not been there for a long time, but what I like, if the weather is good so you can sit in the garden, is a real tasty, but unhealthy meal accompanied by the original Budweiser beer from Czechia (not to be confused with the American dishwater bearing the same name).
https://www.schweizerhaus.at/en/