6 Days left after River Cruise post trip that ends in Prague, what to do??

It would help to know where is your river cruise and what are you going to see on the cruise so we would not send you there again. Not knowing if you already saw Dresden, Vienna, Budapest and some other towns in Germany I will safely assume that you will have not seen Czech towns yet. You got only one week there. 3 days for Prague. Excellent suggestion what to see in the Czech R. you will find in Rick Steves book: Prague & the Czech Republic. I will give you few more suggestions which are not in his book. On the way to Cesky Krumlov (see the book) stop in Ceske Budejovice. Nice historic center with a large square. The original Budweiser beer (called Budvar in Czech, Budweiser in Germany and other EU countries) is brewed there. German name for Ceske Budejovice is Budweis. You can visit the brewery. Tours are also in English. You can also go to Plzen (Pilsen). One of the best beers in the world is brewed there - Pilsner Urquell. You can do the tour of the brewery. There is a museum Patton Memorial in Pilsen. Pilsen unlike most C.R. was liberated in WWII by US Army. Another interesting trip could be to the second largest city in C.R. - Brno. That I would recommend at least overnight. Pleasant non touristy downtown. What to see: Petrov Cathedral, Capuccin crypts, Old City Hall - there is a Visitor Center there where you can get some additional ideas, admire Brno Dragon hanging at the ceiling. Then go up on the tower for views. Visit Spilberk Castle in walking distance. Not too far from there there is a museum of the founder of genetics - Mendel. It's in the abbey where he did his experiments. Tugendhat villa on the list of UNESCO - you can get there by streetcar. City bus can take you to the famous battlefield Austerlitz where Napoleon beat Russian and Austrian Armies. There is a Cairn of Peace and museum there. There are many other interesting things to see in C.R. but it is hard to recommend not knowing your interests.

We will have been in Prague for 3 days when that part of the trip is over. We will have been to Budapest, Vienna, Nurenburg, Durnstein/Melk, Passau and Regensburg.

If you decide for my non Rick Steves itinerary (exception Cesky Krumlov because it's such a gem - you probably will meet some Ricknicks there) then you can start for Pilsen May 12th or 13th. Logistically Pilsen first then Ceske Budejovice -> Cesky Krumlov -> Brno -> Prague. It is all easily doable by train. Bus can be used to. Whatever suits you better. Check: http://www.idos.cz
You can click on English version. If you decide to rent a car you would be able to stop in some small towns on the way.

You could also see Saxony, just two hours to the north of Prague, which has the advantage that you can use a single base to see many different things. There is Dresden (base), which offers many unique, world-class museums (Old Masters, Green Vaults, Armoury, Turkish Chamber, Porcelain Collection. The city has a partly reconstructed old town, a lively 19th century quarter and lovely suburbs with vineyards, wine villages and posh villas on the banks of the Elbe river. You could take a paddle steamer to nearby sites like Pillnitz castle, Meissen, Königstein fortress or Saxon Switzerland, visit lovely old towns like Bautzen, Görlitz, Freiberg or Pirna, see the Ore mountains, where most of Germanys Christmas tradition sprung from (there is a village with nothing but Christmas shops), or see Leipzig, where Bach lived and worked. Or you could hike in Saxon/Bohemian Switzerland, which is on the train route from Prague to Dresden, and one of Europes best hiking regions. It's so spectacualr, you can easily spend a week or more there.

Hi Sherman !

congratulations for choosing May for you European trip ! is the best time to come over here, people and nature are waking up, blossoms everywhere, days are warm and long already ! :)

So here is my recommendation I would give to my mum and dad for their trip.
- I assume that you are travelling with your loved
- and I am almost sure that after all the time you shared one boat with quiet few people around you, you'll be happy to feel more independent and with more space.
- little bit of safe adventure, lot of natural beauty, not crowded big city centers, and loooot of European spring :)

day 1
once you arrive in Prague, stay over night than see what you haven't and in the evening move in Cesky Krumlov.

day 2,3
wake up in Cesky Krumlov and have a breakfast out by the river, go explore the town, talk to people , see museums, galleries, castle, go to see gardens, check info center on the square , they will help you choosing what you can do. Not super smiley but, that's very common in Czech Rep. :)) I would say stay one more night, as you have plenty of time. Enjoy

day 4
departure from Cesky Krumlov, on the way you can see monastery in Vyssi Brod, former concentration camp Muthausen close to Linz, heading through lake district to Hallstatt, UNESCO lakeside village, with the oldest salt mine in the world open as a museum now, rigth in the middle of majestic Alps. Spend a night there and early morning leave for Salzburg.

day 5
lovely ride from Hallstatt to Salzburg, Salzburg is AWESOME, you can do the tour sound of music, or many other things. Nice , clean , beautiful town.

day 6,7
I personally would stay in Salzburg for 2 days and then come back to prague for your flight, other option is to go from salzburg to Munich see Hut on Zugspitze http://alpspix.panomax.de/, neuschwanstein castle and many others, than sleepover in Munich, and come over in Prague
to move around , you can use public transport, easier and more comfortable are private services such a ondaytrip.com, iqtaxi.cz, ckshuttle.cz, rome2rio.comis good web to search for connections too .

my personal recommendation is " less is more " sometimes people from oversees feels liek they wanna see everything, but is simply not possible, spend some time with choosing places , and you will enjoy them more, if you will be able to take it very easy, instead of running all the time :)

all the best for you, and happy traveling ! :)

you are going to wish you had spend more time in Budapest. So fly back and start the tour over again.

Thank you for all your information. We actually have an extra two days in Budapest before we get on the river boat, so Budapest is covered.