Start in Prague - End in Krakow in 7 days

Honestly, I have been to all of these cities, some more than once, so I would advise you to just go to Prague and Kraków with a day trip to Aushwitz. There is enough to see and do to keep you busy for the 7 days. We we travel, we assume we will not be back this way again, so we don't like to rush through. It's not to say we don't get to a place again, but sometimes it is years later. Also, as many posters repeat, traveling between cities/countries takes more time then people usually budget. Look at train and bus schedules and determine the time each takes, the price, and where the trip ends. Some posters encourage short flights, so you can check into those also.

With only 7 days, pick only 2 cities (that can include one side trip) that are within, say, 2 hours by train and leave it at that (e.g. Warsaw and Krakow, with one day devoted to Auschwitz). Neither of your two itineraries are doable, unfortunately (and that's not even considering jet lag which will slow you down the first day or two, or even more). Did you happen to look at the distances between your cities (Prague to Warsaw or Vienna to Auschwitz) and factor in how long you will spend just in transit getting from one to another? These places are quite a distance and would require flights to cut down appreciably on time (otherwise half of your trip will be spent sitting on a train).

In general, do you have any leeway to make your overall trip longer than 7 full days? That is a very short time in Europe if you are coming from the States. If that's all the time you have, I would recommend cutting down to a more realistic itinerary.

As far as trains go, you should use the official train website in each country and get tickets that way. I would not recommend Eurail, Rail Europe, or anything else that pops to the top of a Google search unless you want to pay much more than you need for your ticket. Buy each ticket directly from the local operator.

I second everything Barbara just said. Stick to your two cities. Travel between cities eats up a lot of time, and that seems to be especially true for train travel between Prague and Krakow, which, for reasons that still allude me, takes upwards of 7 hours on the direct train - and that's if it's running on time. And in my experience, it doesn't (although it was amusing it hear the Czech conductors repeatedly blame the delay on "point of origin" - aka, "It's all Poland's fault."). You might look into flying, although when you add in extra time and transit to and from the airports I'm not sure how much time you'll save. Train prices should be pretty cheap.

If your flight lands at 1pm on Day 1, you've really lost most of it, by the time you get through the airport, to Prague, and into your hotel. Give yourself three full days there (Days 2-4). Day 5 is your travel day. Days 6-8 in Krakow. Take one day to visit Auschwitz. I enjoyed the salt mines, which takes most of another day. Enjoy these two great cities, and don't stress yourself out by trying to add a third.

Hi Barbara, Agnes, and Allison

Thank you for the tips. At least now it is clear to me. I will do as you advised. When I counted the days we have again and following your suggestions, it came down to:
Day 1 Sat - arrival in Prague
Day 2 - 4 Sun to Tue - Prague
Day 5 Wed - travel to Krakow
Day 6 Thu - Krakow
Day 7 Fri - Day trip to Aushwitz
Day 8 Sat - Krakow agsin
Day 9 - departure

Will the above schedule allow a trip to Cesky Krumlov, or don't bother for now as not enough time?

Can you please specifically mention what train it is from Praque to Krakow, and what form of travel from Krakow to Aushwitz. If you have the website link that will be fantastic as Eurail is what I usually get.

Thanks again. Our trip is becoming clearer.

Will the above schedule allow a trip to Cesky Krumlov, or don't bother
for now as not enough time?

No, you barely have enough time for Prague and Krakow with a lot of distance in between them. Český Krumlov is even further away from Krakow than Prague (about 3 hours away each way to the south of Prague). If I had that little time, I wouldn't even take the train from Prague to Krakow. I would take a ~ 1 hour Ryan Air direct flight (which will really be 3 hours taking the time to get to the airport and waiting into account). Ryan Air is inexpensive, except you have to read all the rules about luggage and figure it all into the cost (they are very strict about luggage size and other things). Sorry, I can't help with the Czech train website..but I know the train will be lengthy (~ 8 hours) and require a transfer in Ostrava (if you can get an overnight train, maybe that would be a saving grace but then you're going to give up sleep and that's not worth it). For a short trip, IMHO, it just doesn't make sense to link Prague and Krakow because they're far apart. If you have to see both, then just set your expectations that it will be a somewhat rushed trip.

Your new itinerary is a big improvement though.

I think that schedule looks doable. I use the DeutscheBahn website to look at train schedules (Bahn.com). However, since you aren’t on a German train, you won’t be able to buy your tickets on that website. I’m guessing you can go through Czech rail system. Honestly, I always just went to the train station the day or two before and bought a ticket in person, but that was in 2009. There’s a bus from the Kraków bus station (behind the train station) that goes directly to Auschwitz - at least, that’s what I did. I remember it being very clearly explained in the Rick Steves book.

As for doing a day trip to Cesky Krumlov - only you can answer that. I haven’t been, but heard it’s lovely. If you were doing five days in Prague, I’d say go for it. But you only have three full days, and there is enough in Prague to fill that time and more. I would suggest sitting down with a guidebook and writing down all the things you want to see in Prague. Think about how much time you’ll need to see what’s on your list. If you don’t have a long list, do the daytrip. Personally, I wouldn’t, but it’s not my vacation.

There is a direct train from Prague to Krakow, taking some 6,5 hours and costing around USD 35. As pointed out above, that is not very much longer than flying, and it gives you the opportunity to see something of the countryside.
You can find the schedule on the website of CD, the Czech national railways, where you can buy your tickets in advance (payment by credit card, e-mailed ticket for printing at home), although I don't think that will be necessary to be sure of a seat.

When we did Prague, Vienna, and Budapest, we had 16 days. We stayed in Cesky Krumlov for 2 nights. It is an adorable small city but I don't think you have enough time. Plan on visiting the Czech Republic on another trip to visit the many small cities. This past summer we spent 16 days in Poland alone,, visiting 4 cities, we would have stayed longer but pesky thing called work got in the way. What I am trying to say is, don't try to squeeze too much into a short period of time. Enjoy your trip.

I visited Krakow (4 days, including 1 for Auschwitz) then Prague (3 days) and then Cesky Krumlov (2 nights, 1.5 days) in early October. I think other respondents have led you well to visit 2 cities, and I agree that your new itinerary looks wise.

Can you please specifically mention what train it is from Praque to Krakow

I used seat61.com for guidance on all the connections for my 18 day journey. He gives you all the options, advantages and recommendations, and even pictures of trains and stations. His accuracy was remarkable! (And easily verified when you go to the respective booking sites.)

I chose the overnight train from Krakow to Prague (opposite direction that you are traveling.) I booked a single sleeper compartment, with WC (and shower, which I didn't use) for security as a solo female traveler. I loved everything about the experience. It saved a day of my itinerary for sightseeing, and I slept very well - ready on arrival in Prague for a day of sightseeing. I am a light sleeper; the rocking of the trains did not bother me and this tourist route has only 1 other stop, at Oswiecim (Auschwitz) - (very) early in the morning in the direction you'll be traveling. If you don't think you'd sleep well, there is still the daytime option as your current itinerary shows.

Will the above schedule allow a trip to Cesky Krumlov, or don't bother

I was very glad to have 3 full days in Prague before going to Cesky Krumlov for 1.5 days. This felt relaxed and allowed me to see what I wanted in both places. CK is lovely, and a day trip is doable. It really depends on the length of your must-see list in Prague. If you decide to go to CK, choose carefully whether to go on the Monday in your itinerary. As RS points out, most sights in CK are closed on Monday, though the town (the main attraction) and the castle grounds are always open. I enjoyed being in CK on Monday as it was MUCH less crowded from tour groups than the Sunday afternoon I spent. But if you are interested in tours of the interior of the Castle and Baroque Theater, those are closed on Mondays.

Seat61.com also has details for the inexpensive train day-trip from Prague to Cesky Krumlov. I pre-purchased and printed that ticket at home, there is no need to book in advance. Knowing your options and the train times, you could wait until you're in Prague to decide whether to go to Cesky Krumlov.

what form of travel from Krakow to Auschwitz

Normally, I am a DIY traveler. I prefer taking public transit and piecing everything together myself, and it looked easy enough based on RS descriptions. In this case, in part because I was DIY-ing an 18 day trip - I booked a tour through my hotel for Auschwitz to let them handle the transit and entrance logistics. They picked me up at and dropped me off at my hotel in an 8-person minivan. Krakow is not a big town, so this was not time consuming. Though the first group did tell me they were picked up 30 minutes before I was - so I was the lucky traveler in that regard. They took us to Auschwitz, then on to Birkenau, with a single tour guide for both.

Of course this is more expensive than taking the available public transit. For me, the convenience of letting someone else handle the details of transit, entry and tour guides, was well worth it.

RS guidebook gives good instructions about options to get to Auschwitz. We picked up a bus schedule at one of the Kraków tourist offices (make sure you get to one of the official ones), which gave us the times for the bus. We arrived at the bus station early, in case something didn’t work as planned. This turned out not to be a problem, so we used our extra time in Auschwitz to have a snack in the cafeteria. We bought Auschwitz tickets ahead of time on the internet.