Hi Everyone, I will be travelling with my sister to Prague and Austria this August. We plan to halt at Cesky Krumlov from Prague & then move onto Hallstatt the next day. How reliable is the CK Shuttle? We are looking for an effective transfer from Prague to Cesky Krumlov & then from Cesky Krumlov to Hallstatt. While we could have taken the train to both destinations, we are looking at ways to save time.
Any reviews on CK Shuttle and/or any alternate service would be appreciated.
I have used CK and Bean (https://www.beanshuttle.com/) but its been quite a few years. They both got the job done. No issues. But again, its been several years.
I used CK Shuttle from Cesky Krumlov to Vienna in 2018. I arranged hotel pickup. They were on time, pleasant and responsive when I emailed.
My only caution would be that we were in a small (8 person) minivan and, as the last pickup, I was seated in the front, between the driver and another passenger. That middle seat made airplane middle seats feel comfy and spacious. No arm rest. I had to sit very upright to stay out of the driver's way. For the entire drive. Other passengers weren't clamoring to switch with me when we took the midpoint break. The view of the countryside from the front seat was nice, but I was so unconformable, stuck in that middle seat, that it was hard to enjoy.
I don't know how you would avoid this.... request to be the first pickup? Or maybe they no longer seat a passenger there?
We have used CK Shuttle, but for us it was also several years ago. The possibility of the van being full, and where you are seated is a valid point to be considered. The other option you may want to consider is daytrip.com. They are a private transfer service that we have used numerous times with excellent experiences. I would imagine they are more expensive than the shuttle, but for us the convenience and service they provide was worth the additional cost.
We used CK Shuttle 2x a few years ago. we were 4 adults and had a private transfer. I don’t remember it being outrageously expensive.
They were on time, dressed neatly, car was clean, and they spoke English.
Next May we will be traveling around Italy, 8 adults, and will be booking with daytrip.com.
We used Lobo shuttle from Czesky Krumlov to Salzburg, and it was a frustrating experience. The other couple, who were headed to Linz, were late, and we had to wait for them. Then, the traffic in Linz was terrible. By the time we got to Salzburg and had lunch, most sites were about to close. It wouldn't have been different with any other shared, shuttle service. I'm not sure it would have been much different with private transport, but perhaps we would have been able to bypass Linz, and we certainly wouldn't have had to wait at the beginning.
We've used DayTrip in other countries and been very happy with them.
However, from Prague to Czesky Krumlov, we'd booked a private transfer with Shuttle Lobo and requested stops along the way. We stopped at two other castles--Castle Hluboka (a pretty, fairy tale-like castle), and Divci Kamen (an old castle ruin). It was a wonderful day.
I have used DayTrip.com a few times. I like them. But only if I want to stop and see things along the way. For that the price is okay. But just to do point A to point B they are a bit pricy. But sometimes, maybe its the only reasonable choice even then.
We used CK Shuttle pre-Covid from Prague to CK, and two days later from CK to Vienna - door to door service [or as close as they could get in CK, which is pedestrian only in the center of the old town].
They were on time in both cases and we had a great time chatting with the young driver, who spoke perfect English [he was considering grad school], and handled both legs of our trip. We requested to sit up front when we booked the trip, as my GF suffers from car sickness. Unlike with US vehicles, the VW van had a front bench seat for three, and I don't recall any of the discomfort referenced above - and I believe I had the center seat. But my GF is relatively small, and as a couple, we didn't mind sitting close together.
Note that you can also arrange for private transfers with CK Shuttle, and you have the option to add tourist stops along the way when you're the only customer - at a price, of course.
