We just booked 12 days in April, flying into and out of Vienna. We would all really like to spend a few days in Vienna and in Prague and maybe Salzburg or Melk? What is the best way to get to Prague from Vienna,,, train or car?
I would love someone’s thoughts on an itinerary to make this efficient and to recommend places to see or stay along our route. Right now we are thinking 5 nights Vienna, 3 nights Prague, 2 nights Salzburg and then back to Vienna to fly home.
Any thoughts?
What is the best way to get to Prague from Vienna,,, train or car?
The train is without a doubt the best way. Book at www.oebb.at or www.cd.cz
To get to Salzburg from Prague by train, you would need to transfer at either Linz, Vienna, or Munich and spend 6 to 7.5 hours on a train depending on which route you took. Salzburg is a bit of an outlier and requires quite a bit of backtracking. If you don’t mind having such a long travel day then this might work but since you only want to spend two days in Salzburg, this travel time would significantly eat into one of the days. Maybe pick another destination that is in between Prague and Vienna like in southern Czechia or maybe Bratislava as it’s just outside of Vienna.
The train is excellent from Vienna to Prague. We took it a few years ago and it was on time, efficient and much more relaxing than driving would be.
Agreed about the train - and be sure to make a reservation. It was very crowded when we made that trip.
Since you can take a direct train between Vienna and Prague, I would not stop along the way. The total trip takes 4h 30m. Here’s my recommended itinerary:
Vienna – Hofburg Imperial Apartments, Hofburg Treasury, St. Stephen’s Cathedral, Kunsthistorishches Museum, Schönbrunn Palace and one evening buy cheap tickets for the Vienna State Opera, you can leave during intermission. Afterwards walk over to Café Sacher and split a sacher torte. This is the same recipe that was created in 1832.
I would also take a day trip to Bratislava for the day (1h by direct train) and explore the old town. Melk also makes a good day trip from Vienna (1h by direct train). I would skip Salzburg since it’s further away. Salzburg is best if visiting Munich.
Prague – sleep in the old town and visit the square, Charles Bridge, Jewish Quarter and St. Vitus Cathedral.
Train travel times, given for fastest connection available:
Vienna - Salzburg 2:22 hours (direct)
Vienna - Prague 4:23 hours (direct)
Salzburg - Prague 5:50 hours (change in Linz)
Unique to Prague:
Try to attend a performance in the black light theater: http://www.srnectheatre.com/eng
