Best transport between cities

Here's what I know from personal experience, I've made 2 trips now by train between Vienna and Budapest, in 2014 and this past April. Just under 3 hours and you can either buy your ticket in advance from OEBB's website (Austrian railway) or check the schedule for your desired day of travel, trains run every hour, and buy your ticket at the ticket window at the Hauptbahnhof in Vienna. Tickets run between $20-50 US depending on 1st or 2nd class or if there's a special (sparschiene) fare on offer. The Hauptbahnhof is easily accessible via the U-bahn. I had no trouble and I had a rolling suitcase and carry-on.

From the Vienna airport I used the S-bahn, for 3.90 euro it takes you to Wien Mitte and from there your ticket covers transport on the U-bahn--after that you'd need to buy a pass or tickets. Trip takes about 25 minutes. Follow the signs to the trains, it's not as easy to find as the CAT (that's a bit more costly at 12 euro) but the experience is the same.

You didn't ask, but upon arrival at Budapest's Keleti station you can either take a taxi--I use City Taxi +36 1 211 1111, reliable and honest--or get a metro pass, metro station is just below the train platforms.

The best way from Vienna International Airport to the city depends on the location of your hotel.

Every 15 minutes there is a train departing from the airport, alternating on two different routes. The fare is the same (€3.90).

Route 1: S7 trains (Schnellbahn) to Wien Mitte train station with conntection to subway lines U3 and U4, to Wien Praterstern train station (U1, U2), and Wien Floridsdorf train station (U6).

Route 2: RJ trains (RailJet) to Wien Hauptbahnhof main train station (U1) and to Wien Meidling train station (U6).

Do not use the CAT (City Airport Train), it is a rip-off, going to Wien Mitte as the S7 train, just 5 minutes faster.

Vilshofen (which is in the middle of nowhere) to Prague is a time consuming trip (between 5:10 and 7:10). Look up connections at www.bahn.com.

Assuming that you deboard in the early morning, there are three possibilites:

1. The fastest connection is Vilshofen dep. 9:31 via Regensburg, involving two transfers (Plattling and Regensburg; short transfer time in Regensburg but same platform). You would have to go by local train to Plattling, than take the ICE from Plattling to Regensburg, then the ALEX from Regensburg to Praha, arr. 14:41. Don't buy a ticket for the entire connection from the DB (website or ticket window) - they will charge you €147.20 for two. Instead, buy a DB ticket to Regensburg (39.80/2) and in Regensburg aboard the ALEX train (operated by a private company) another one to Praha That train carries a snack bar (»Alex Treff«), where they sell a special Regensburg - Praha ticket (»Prag Spezial«, €46.00 for two). So the travel cost will be €85.80 instead of €147.20.

2. The most scenic connection is dep. 10:40 arriving Praha 16:41 (two unproblematic transfers in the small stations of Plattling and Bayerisch Eisenstein). The route meanders through the Bavarian and Bohemian forests and reaches the main line at Plzn. The price is €108 for two [EDIT: or €41.60 if you split tickets, see my next posting].

3. The slowest connection but with just one transfer is Vilshofen dep. 11:31 Praha arr. 18:41. Using that connection implies one of the above mentioned ALEX trains. You would travel on a DB "Region Donau-Isar ticket" (€26 for two) to Landshut and from there with the "Prag Spezial" tickets mentioned above. From Landshut those will cost a few € more than from Regensburg but the total price would be roughly the same as for variant 1, while tickets when bought at the DB window in Vilshofen will be €151.

Not an answer, but a question for those knowing the area -- could a group of people from the cruise arrange for a car/van and driver from the port to Prague at lower cost and/or higher comfort?

There are a lot of Czech mini van companies which do that (e.g. this one; googling for minivan Vilshofen Prague brings up a whole bunch). However, it's a trip of approx 250 km, which, considering that you have to go on back roads across the Bavarian and Bohemian forests, will take 4-5 hours *). I'm wondering if I would prefer sitting five hours in a meandering minivan over sitting in a train and enjoying the beautiful landscape while sipping at a decent czech beer. Personally, I'd take the route via Bayerisch Eisenstein (nr 2 mentioned above). Landscapewise it is much better than the route via Furth im Wald and food and beer in the czech train from Bayerisch Eisenstein to Praha is cheaper and better as well. The transfers in Plattling and Bayerisch Eisenstein are absolutely unproblematic. The Plattling station is small and Eisenstein is a village station with two tracks (and with the Czech / Bavarian border cutting right through the ticketing hall).

BTW, you can reduce the price for that connection drastically by spliting tickets. Buy a regional »Servus Ticket« (€26/2) for the DB part (covering you till the border station Bayerisch Eisenstein) and two single tickets from Železná Ruda (the czech name of that station) to Prague for €15.40 (availabe in the e- shop of the Czech Rail or at the border station; the CR ticketing office in BE accepts Euros). So the total travel cost will shrink to €41.40 for two.

*) Most of that carriers claim that they can do the trip in 3:30, which is was google gives for driving with a normal car. But then google times are always unrealistic (you have to add at least 25%) and a minivan cannot go as fast over the hilly roads of the forests.

The rail connections between Cesky Krumlov and Vienna are very long and tedious. Therefore, many shuttle companies have popped up to get around this popular connection. Bean and CK shuttles are the most popular and most reviewed.

As noted above, the best way to get from the Vienna airport to your hotel depends on where your hotel is located. I should note that it is totally unnecessary to stay near the Vienna airport before flying home as 1) the airport is only 20 minutes drive from the center and 2) there are really no notable hotels at the airport (due to issues noted in #1). Do yourself a favor and stay in a nice, central hotel in Vienna, have a good meal and a stroll before heading to the airport the following morning.