Itinerary Help!

Keep in mind that two nights really only amounts to one full day in that location. And every time you change locations, you essentially use up the better part of one day in transit.
With 9 nights including two capital cities, I would plan on no more than three destinations —-especially since you have 5 in your group. It’s one thing for a couple to do a blitz tour. With a group of 5 —including your Mom—you need to slow down a bit on those cobblestone streets so you can enjoy your trip.
You’ll probably need four nights in your arrival city due to jet lag. So, figure on four nights in Prague,. Then three nights in Vienna so you can relax in the city center. Vienna is 4.10 by train from Prague.
The fastest trains from Vienna to Salzburg take 2.5 hours.

Unless you buy multi-city tickets and fly into Prague and return home from Vienna, it will take 6 hours to return to Prague from Salzburg.

Some good advice from Kenko. But I can't see why you would return to Prague to fly home; that wastes a lot of time. Start in Prague and fly home from Vienna, or vice versa. 3 nts in Prague might be enough. Also, you don't say what you want to do in CK. It is very small, if you want to canoe, etc, then you need two nights. Otherwise with an early morning start from Prague you can get to CK by noon and see it in an afternoon and evening, then onto Salzburg for 2 nts, then Vienna for 3. You've probably already done this, but ask your mom what her priorities are.

I appreciate the advice. We are flying home from Vienna. We’re going in Oct so anything on the river in CK is not happening bc I cannot find a business still open mid month. So, we will just be site seeing in town.
I don’t want to be rushed and always packing and moving on, but I don’t want to waste an opportunity bc we will probably never be back.

So, after 4 nights in Prague, should we do Salzburg or CK for two nights before heading on the Vienna? That is the question.

EDIT. Just realized I wrote over a previous post. Sorry, but you have it in your emial. Its too early the mind isnt clicking too well.

I always have to lay these things out day by day to visualize them. So my next post has three ideas. There is no wrong trip, just different trips and these are the three that come to mind.

You can also narrow it down by asking specific questions in each country forum. We have a number of memembers that have either been to a place multiple times or live in a location. Check their profile pages for resumes and sometimes you can see you are probably getting good advice. A few members will go out of their way to assist and I think that adds a lot of value as you can develop fairly detailed expectations.

You are a big group so cost may be an issue too. Having help finding the best value will be useful. Also the right mix might be useful. If tourism in Vienna costs $10, then odds are Prauge will cost $8.00 and Budapest will cost $7.00 for similar quality. Cesky Krumlov is closer to Vienna because it is so tourist orientated.

Actual dates might help too. Maybe something spectacular is going on in Vienna on a day you have planned for Cesky Krumlov (because you didnt know). That would maybe have changed your plans. We have folks here that watch for things happening in various locations. So post real dates and take advantage of it.

Interests too. You are going to high culture cities, if you like that, then exploit it and do some theater and some music. If you are into history, Vienna for the museums. Beer? Budapest for Ruin Pubs. Ancient, then Prague comes closest. As a tourist or do you want to just live and experience a place?

Hi ralesage, Some of our posters do like their beer, for sure. Since you have not expressed any interest in adding another capital city to your 10-day itinerary. adding Budapest to this itinerary is probably not what you have in mind. Since you’re already going to two large capital cities—Prague and Vienna— I think you’ll really enjoy the town that repeatedly gets raves as being among the most beautiful towns in the Czech Republic —- Cesky Krumlov.

Cesky Krumlov is so much a medieval storybook village, that filmmakers have repeatedly used it as a location to shoot movies. Visiting it will be a relaxing contrast to the big cities of Vienna and Prague—with just over 10K residents— Cesky Krumlov has a lot of attractions for being a town of that size.

October actually is still part of Cesky Krumlov’s high season. So, while the Vltava River flow will be too low for rafting or canoeing —there still will be plenty of attractions to enjoy in town.

From Prague, Cesky Krumlov is about 2.5 bus/train hours. From Cesky Krumlov it will take 3.5 hours to reach Vienna by bus or with a shuttle company such as CK Shuttle or Bean Shuttle.

Have a great trip!

This is a part of the world I love and even I cant come up with one solution. Too much that I enjoy and too little time in life. Early or late October would be one of the deciding factors when considering Cesky Krumlov as 1 October averages are 45F to 59F while 31 October is 35F to 46F; then I would be prepared for 5F above and below the average. Fine for city touring, but a little less enjoyable in places like Cesky Krumlov.

With Cesky Krumlov
If it is early October, I like this one. Late October, as much as I like Cesky Krumlov (been twice), not so much. What do mom and the sisters like? How old is everyone? You guys into classical Europe or river rafting? For classical Europe this one isn’t as strong a trip. For river rafting wrong season. For walks through the charming old town, in late October, maybe wrong season.
October 1 arrive in Prague about 2pm (a guess), Pooped out day. (Night 1)
October 2 tour Prague (Night 2)
October 3 tour Prague. Day trip to Kunta Hora, or similar. (Night 3)
October 4 tour Prague (Night 4)
October 5 morning 2.5 hour shuttle to Cesky Krumlov (Night 1)
October 6 late afternoon 3.5 hour shuttle to Vienna. Stay local to hotel. Not much tour time (Night 1)
October 7 tour Vienna (Night 2)
October 8 day trip to Melk (Night 3)
October 9 tour Vienna (night 4)
October 10 depart.

Classical Central Europe Cultural Tour
This one hits on three distinct cultures that if you don’t see now, will you ever see them? This one is strong on classical Europe. I would go to the theater in each of the 3 cities. Maybe mom and the ladies like that? Don’t know. While October is marginal for Cesky Krumlov, its the high season for theater and cultural in Central and Eastern Europe and there will be no shortage of options. Plenty for younger cultural aspects as well. If one of the three lights your fire, you know that is the case cause you saw it, then you return. Beats having never seen it and never knowing.
October 1 arrive in Prague about 2pm (a guess), Pooped out day. (Night 1)
October 2 tour Prague (Night 2)
October 3 tour Prague (Night 3)
October 4 morning flight to Budapest This only works if it coincides with one of the days of the week when there is a direct flight at the right time of the day The flight is about 75 minutes but the door to door is about 4.5 hours. (Night 1).
October 5 tour Budapest (Night 2)
October 6 tour Budapest (Night 3)
October 7 2.6 hour morning train to Vienna (Night 1)
October 8 Tour Vienna (Night 2)
October 9 tour Vienna (night 3)
October 10 depart.

The Dig Deeper Classical Europe Tour
This one is good for classical Europe. I would do two theaters in each. Train time is a bit long for my taste, but not terrible. Opens up the opportunity to dive a bit deeper into two great cities and opens the opportunity for some day trips out of the city to smaller interesting places. Very efficient on travel time and effort.

October 1 arrive in Prague about 2pm (a guess), Pooped out day. (Night 1)
October 2 tour Prague (Night 2)
October 3 tour Prague (Night 3)
October 4 tour Prague. Day trip to Kunta Hora, or similar. (Night 4)
October 5 morning train to Vienna – about 6 hours I think – Half day in Vienna (Night 1)
October 6 tour Vienna (Night 2)
October 7 Day trip to Melk or Bratislava and there are other good options but I will let a Vienna expert like Emily make suggestions (Night 3)
October 8 Tour Vienna (Night 4)
October 9 tour Vienna. No, this isn’t too much time in Vienna if you are into classical Europe (night 5)
October 10 depart.

“So, after four nights in Prague should we do 2 nights in Salzburg or CK before going on to Vienna? That is the question.”

Indeed. That was ralesage’s question.

The dates of our visit are 10/10-10/20. We are big theater/music lovers so I have booked a Black Light Theater Show and a Classical concert in the Spanish Synagogue in Prague. In Vienna we are seeing the Vienna Boys Choir at the MuTh and attending the opera! I appreciate all of the posts and they have been so helpful. My mom does not like to be rushed so I think I decided to take two nights in CK between the capital cities so we have time to really soak in the fairytale town.
We have an open day on our last day in Vienna, and I have bookmarked a day trip to Hallstatt in the event we have had enough big city.

Sounds like you’re all going to have a great time.

You’ll be in Vienna on a Sunday (October 19) when the Augustinerkirche holds its High Mass with orchestra, choir and soloists at 11:00am. The Augustinerkirche is connected to the Hofburg Palace and it was the emperor’s parish church back in a day. All are welcome to this free Sunday service. The acoustics in the Augustinerkirche are incredible and fitting for, well, an emperor. I’ve been several times to masses composed by Mozart here and it is literally an unforgettable experience.

Mozart’s opera, “Cosi fan Tutte,” will be playing at the Vienna Staatsoper as well.

Have a wonderful time with your family!

We are big theater/music lovers...

Then you should make a point of touring the Baroque Theatre at the castle in CK. Only a few tours offered in English - we took the Czech tour and it was fine - the point is to get inside, admire the forced perspective stage, and see the ancient machinery underneath.