Itinerary Help: Prague - Hallstatt - Salzburg

What are your flights? Have you booked already, or are you just planning?

We're flying into Prague on Saturday night and flying out of Salzburg at 10:45 am on Wednesday. I've booked the flights but only have holds on hotels. Nothing definite on hotels yet.

If you want to visit Cesky Krumlov on your way from Prague to Hallstatt, a private shuttle is the only reasonable method of transportation, given the number of people and amount of luggage. That won't be very cheap, though. Both legs, i.e. Prague-Cesky Krumlov and Cesky Krumlov-Hallstatt, are about 3 hours driving each. This will give you about 6 hours time in Cesky Krumlov.

The best way from Prague to Hallstatt is by train (one change in Linz). After three days exploring Prague (including jet-lag) you might enjoy relaxing in the train. Departure Prague 10:01am (EX1543), arrival Linz 2:07pm, departure Linz (REX4412) 2:20pm, arrival Hallstatt 4:47pm. (There are other connections as well, but with 2 or more changes.)

Thank you -- I'll guess I'll just have to think about it and decide if the cost is worth it to hire a private shuttle to add the stop in CK.

Do you think we would regret not having a car in the Hallstatt area, assuming we do not want to stay in Hallstatt the entire time but see some of the sights nearby?

They have buses to get around Hallstatt or with 4 people you can take taxi. I visited caves and Dachstein by bus.

I would consider picking up a rental car in Prague and dropping it off in Salzburg. You will see many beautiful areas for short stops on your way to Hallstatt and back to Salzburg. St. Gilgen just outside of Salzburg is one that comes to mind. With four people to coordinate train and bus schedules along with luggage, a car could give you much flexibility out in the countryside.

I would consider picking up a rental car in Prague and dropping it off in Salzburg.

Renting a car in one country (i.e. Czech Republic) and returning it in another (i.e. Austria) imposes a high penalty for having somebody driving the car back to its home country. This surcharge can be higher than the price for renting the car at all.

Yes, I did look into renting a car -- it was REALLY expensive due to the drop off charge. I need to see if I can find approximate taxi costs to the sites around Hallstatt somewhere here.

I was thinking of doing St. Gilgen as a day trip from Salzburg. I'm considering renting a car once we arrive in Salzburg to do Berchestgarten (hope I spelled that right).

Correct spelling: Berchtesgaden.

Your time in Hallstatt will be fine. Plenty to do, including the ice caves which you don't list. I would rent a car in Linz as the train from Prague will go there anyway. Then drop the car in Salzburg. No drop off fee. Voila.

Thanks, everyone.

Yes, we do intend to do the ice caves as well!

After much deliberating, we've decided to hire a private shuttle from Prague to Hallstatt so we can stop at Cesky Krumlov and wherever else we might want to stop without having to worry about luggage. It's expensive, but since there are transportation options available in Hallstatt, we decided it would be worthwhile not to hassle with the luggage and train changes with the kids.

Really appreciate everyone's input.