I will be traveling to Prague > Cesky Krumlov > Vienna in September. I'm trying to determine the best mode of transportation from Prague to Cesky Krumlov. It appears that the train station in CK is much further out of the city center than the bus station, so am leaning towards the bus unless there is ample reason not to. Once I'm off the bus, is it possible/safe/far to walk to the castle area? I'm looking at lodging that is quite close to the castle. And are there restaurants near the castle? Thank you.
Posted by
Los Angeles
1194 posts
We used CK Shuttle to take us from Prague to CK - it was a shared van service. They picked us up right outside our hotel in Prague, and dropped us near our CK B & B, as traffic is restricted in the town center. Two days later they picked us up and took us to Vienna, where again they were able to drop us at our hotel.
The driver was extremely personable and spoke perfect English - and punctual.
You should find the bus stop on Google Maps and "walk" the route to your lodging. The castle sits on a hill above the old town, and as I recall, the restaurants were concentrated in the old town as well. The tourist area is quite compact, so there isn't an issue of distance - it doesn't take very long to walk anywhere. And of course perfectly safe.
When you tour the castle, make an effort to book the separate guided tour of the Baroque Theatre, even if the only available tour is in Czech. It's well worth it.
Posted by
Citizen of the World
2065 posts
The bus is what I took and it’s not only the least expensive at €9 — it will go into towns like Ceske Budejovice so you get the bonus of seeing its beautiful central town square along with other towns on the way to Cesky Krumlov.
Posted by
Brooklyn, NY
4281 posts
We did the exact same route as markcw above. The buses are fine but we were 4 people and the cost was acceptable to us for the convenience.
Posted by
Sacramento, California U.S.A.
10621 posts
We did exactly as the others who used the CK Shuttle. Door to door transportation was efficient and it was well priced.
Posted by
SoCal
1183 posts
I went to Český Krumlov from Prague this summer via train (free trip using Eurail pass), returning to České Budějovice by bus, where I toddled around a bit before catching the train back to Prague. Return trips to Prague by train from Český Krumlov are at inconvenient times. This approach worked great for a day trip. The train station is a bit farther from the center of Český Krumlov than the bus station, but no biggie.
The bus was fine (Flixbus), but they're less comfortable by far IMO than trains, and I wouldn't have wanted to take the entire trip back to Prague by bus, myself. Cheaper, though.
Posted by
OP
18 posts
Thank you everyone for the help. I checked into FlixBus. That seems very reasonably priced. I haven't yet figured out where to see train schedules and prices in Prague.