Requesting input on tentative itinerary!!

Hello from Wisconsin,
That is a lot of packing and unpacking. A lot of going to the train station and getting to your housing, and the reverse the next day.

I would cut the number of visits by one half. Olomouc is a two day stop. That means arriving one day, actually being in the town for a day, and leaving the next. It takes perfect timing not to be dragging your suitcase around on cobblestone the day you arrive and the day you leave. A that cobblestone...I am not so sure our US suitcases are designed to take that pounding for many miles. Mikulov is also a two day stop. Telc, if you are going soak up the place and punt around in the carp ponds, and get out side of the square area...two days.

Think at least two days at each stop. Less is often more when you are traveling. Slower is often better than faster. Eating an apple on a castle wall will be more memorable than an eleventh city stop. Having some street food and eating beneath a plague column...priceless.

If you liked Litomysl, Olomouc will be pleasurable. Nearby that is Brno, filled with college students, but Olomouc is less fancied up.

wayne iNWI

Thank you very much! I will definitely reconsider some of my stops based on your advice. I have already changed my plans to have 3 nights in Mikulov. I will say that I am planning to travel very light. Last summer my husband and I had way too much luggage, which made travel on the trains really hard. I also set some of this up based on Rick Steve's book, which said that some of the smaller towns are can seen in a few hours (understanding, of course, that more time is better), and am staying overnight in each of them (e.g., Trebon, Telc and Trebic).... I could also drop some of the side trips, such as Holasvice and Lednice, if I decide to just stay in the town I am in. will review my itinerary again and see about further adjustments. I really appreciate your input!!

It's one thing to visit a small town for a few hours in transit when you have your own car. Doing it via public transportation is a whole 'nother thing. You seem to have done a lot of research on transportation schedules already, for which I congratulate you. At least you have an idea of what you're up against. As a devotee of public transportation, I find it a real drag to change hotels even every 2 nights. I feel as if I haven't settled in, and I'm already bouncing my suitcase down the cobbles again.

Another thing: I love cute little towns, but my bet is that there's going to be considerable repetition when you go to as many as you're planning. Will the fourth town of whatever style be different enough from the first three to justify such a hectic trip? I have that problem with my own itineraries sometimes, because I want to go to all the picturesque places. They mean more when I don't try to see all of them on the same trip.

I can't make any specific comments about your selections because I only had 14 full Schengen Zone days left for Czechia in 2018, so practically my entire target list got cut. I ended up rushing through Olomouc, Brno, Hradec Kralove and Prague. I definitely need to go back to Prague; seven days wasn't long enough.

Thanks again!! I will definitely reconsider given all of your very helpful advice!!!

Would you considering renting a bike and turning it into a cycling holiday? The Czech Republic is an ideal country for cycling - there are thousands of kilometres of well-marked, safe cycle routes (generally on specific paths, or on quiet country roads). Cycling would give you the opportunity to see a bit more of the countryside between stops, and you could pop your bike on the train for longer distances. I wouldn't propose cycling with your initial itinerary, but as the trip evolves, it might be worth considering.

Thank you! That had not even occurred to me. I think I would do that only with my husband or another partner -- too much to contemplate on my own, but I really appreciate your suggestions!