"Bohemian Switzerland" & Cesky Krumlov

I have always gone to Bohemian Switzerland as a day trip from Prague, but I suppose you could stay in either Decin or Bad Schandau. Alternatively, you can do it by train from Prague - train to Decin and then local bus to the start of the trail head.

You don't need a guide, although if you don't speak either Czech or German than you won't understand anything that the boatman says as you go up through the gorges. Still, it's beautiful and fun, even if you can't understand the jokes.

I would love the car in Prague and take the overnight train to Budapest - it's definitely the most time efficient way of getting there. I would skip Krumlov - it's been destroyed by mass tourism.

Thank you Marcus! You input is helpful! Kelly

Biggest question, where would you suggest we stay overnight? We would
most likely hike the following day.

Since you have a car: better see the Bastei Bridge and Königstein Fortress on the German side, which can be done on the same day. Hiking there without a map is difficult.
The best option to stay overnight is Bad Schandau.

Although it is a respectable point of view, the statement about Cesky Krumlov is an opinion - not a verifiable "fact". I'm glad we went, but it was 10 years ago.

Thanks Martin and Tim. Yes, we decided to stay in Bad Schandau. Thank you. I will add the other locations onto the day! You mentioned it is difficult without a map. Do you know if there is one in English and where I can get it?

Thanks Martin and Tim. Yes, we decided to stay in Bad Schandau. Thank
you. I will add the other locations onto the day! You mentioned it is
difficult without a map. Do you know if there is one in English and
where I can get it?

If you are there for just two days, and visit only Pravcicka Gate, the gorges, the Bastei and Königstein Fortress, you don't need a map*. For the day in Czechia you just need to follow the hordes and/or the signs from Hrensko, in case of Königstein Fortress you park below and just walk up to the fortress, and in case of the Bastei you park behind the bridge and walk 5 minutes on a road to the bridge. A short hike however is recommended there. At the end of the bridge hike down to Rathen and the Elbe river, in the village turn left and walk into the Amselgrund (blackbird gorge) past the Amselsee (blackbird lake), then you turn left and climb up the Schwedenlöcher back to the Bastei bridge. Takes ~2h.
In case of Königstein Fortress I recommend not to use the lift up to the fortress. The most interesting part is the (only) gate, the weakest part of the fortress and therefore also the most fortified.

*regarding maps: since the mountains are so compact and unusual you need a map (or a guide) for everything but the places you will be visiting. Usually hiking maps are vector and have a scale between 1:25.000 to 1:100.000, but the most popular maps for this region are hand drawn and have a map scale of 1:10.000. The Bastei area looks like this on these maps:
http://www.boehmwanderkarten.de/kv/ausschnitte/ib_mbas.jpg

You can see the parking area behind the bridge, the bridge, the paths into Rathen, and the Amselgrund with the lake.

I took an overnight train from Budapest to Prague. It worked out pretty well. It saves the cost of a hotel room, its efficient and sort of fun. This was 4-5 years ago and at that time I had a little trouble with the Hungarian Train Website (it was my first trip to Europe) and couldn't figure out how to book a "family" cabin. I was a mom with my two college aged sons. It ended up that i had booked one of us in a cabin with strangers and the other two were in a "male" cabin. The train office wasn't particularly helpful, but the train conductor was very kind and fixed it for us. I was told before our trip that the overnight trains tend to sell out so I booked in advance. We enjoyed Budapest very much! I hope you will do a trip report since I have an interest in going to Krakow.