Transport from Prague to Trebon then Olomouc and back to Prague

HI,
My husband and I spent a week touring around the Czech Republic this May-June outside of Prague. I loved both Trebon and Olomouc. We rented a car and it was very easy. Roads are well paved, freeways are great, and traffic follows the "normal rules" unlike say, Sicily. Use a mapping system in the rental car GPS or download maps.me (all over) or mapy.cz (Czech country) for offline map use once downloaded to your phone. With 4 adults in one vehicle with luggage, this is a very cost and time efficient way to do this.

There is rail service from Prague to Trebon (as little as 2 hr. 18 min., at least one of the departures not requiring a transfer). And there are rather frequent direct trains to Olomouc, taking between 2 and 2-1/2 hours. The challenge is getting between Trebon and Olomouc. The Deutsche Bahn website (which I find easy to use for checking schedules and routings) is indicating that the best way to travel between those two cities is via Prague. The trip will take nearly 5 hours if not longer. You could cobble together a routing through Brno rather than Prague, but it seems to take longer to go that way and may involve more transfers.

So what you want to do is possible, but you'll burn a lot of time getting between Trebon and Olomouc by train. On the other hand, ViaMichelin estimates the driving time (with no stopping, getting lost, looking for parking or dealing with the car-rental agency) at 3 hr. 9 min. Maybe the train isn't such a bad idea after all!

Bus service (via Brno) doesn't seem much, if any, faster than the train, and it's infrequent enough that it would be a less attractive option for me.

Thank you for the great advice!
If you had to choose one town to visit, would you visit Trebon or Olomouc?

I don't know how many people here have been to both Trebon and Olomouc. I have only been to Olomouc. I liked it a lot. I was there during the summer, so the college kids weren't there. The town was very quiet--probably too quiet for some tastes, but I was heading for Prague, so I didn't mind at all. Olomouc has a beautiful historic area.

I can say that Olomouc is mentioned in a fair number of travel videos I've watched and Trebon is not. That might or might not be a point in Olmouc's favor. I've been to and enjoyed an awful lot of places that didn't appear in my (rather large collection of) travel videos.

Trebon or Olomouc? Trebon is a small picturesque town on the shore of a large fish pond. Olomouc is a 5th or 6th largest town in C.R. Beautiful, historical. The downtown is few tram stops from the train station.

Hello from Wisconsin,
Olomouc can keep you happy for a couple of days. There is a most wonderful church, Basilika?, on a hill outside of town that is worth the bus ride to get to it. As for the size of the town. We never felt a need to ride the tram except from the train station into town and that was because of a light rain.

The train problem of Trebon to Olomouc is that most lines run from a place to and from Prague. So it wouldn't surprise me if you had to return from Trebon to Prague to get to Olomouc in the quickest fashion. And let me say that Brno is an alternative in itself. A bit more gentrified than Olomouc but still a good place to stay for a while.

A car rental from the airport might be an alternative. There is an express bus that connects train station and airport. TOnce you pick up the car there is a four lane highway just out from the airport entrance road that will swing you around the south side of Prague. Take the E50 to the E55, both major roads so the traffic is smooth and the roads simple and fast once you are out of the Prague traffic. Way under 3 hours drive time Prague to Trebon. I am not a fan of the superhighways in the Czech Republic any more than I am of our interstate, but if you want quick, they sure work. Once you are near Trebon you can take rural roads to see the beauty of the country. And from Trebon to Olomouc it is under 4 hours and it would have you drive by Telc (an absolutely lovely town, and a must stop) and then drive through Nove Mesto na Morave (no one has heard of that place, but it is the region where Czechs go for vacation and the countryside is drop dead gorgeous) before getting to Olomouc. A full day of auto touring. Driving any of this with a good map is not a problem, remember you don't drive in the left lane unless you are in the active act of passing and you always use your blinkers. On the 4 hour way back to Prague from Olomouc you can pass through Litomysl with its bow tie main square and Kutna Hora of Ossuary fame. A good driving break before going on the Prague to complete the route.

I would budget more than two days, and less in Prague. Prague is up to its ears in tourists in the tourist areas.

Another thought...do Trebon and Telc. You could do worse with limited time.

wayne iNWI

Trebon is a wonderful place, and it is overlooked by most people, so I would definitely encourage you to get there if you can.

As discussed above, the rail connection isn't ideal, as you need to travel through Prague to get to Olomouc. (The Prague-Olomouc rail connection is excellent. It's a fast line with a good service).

It is possible to get between Trebon and Olomouc by bus. Flixbus offer a daily service at 15.05, which gets to Olomouc at 21:30.
The trip is broken down into two legs. Trebon to Brno (15:05 to 18.15) and then Brno to Olomouc (20.25 to 21.30).
You would have a two-hour transfer in Brno, which would allow you plenty of time to get a nice meal in before getting back on the bus. You'd arrive in Olomouc at 9.30, which is plenty of time to check in to your hotel before going out to discover the nightlife of the city.

Of course, hiring a car will give you greater flexibility, but tickets for Flixbus start at 9 euro, so there is no beating it on price.

Good luck and enjoy - they are both great places to visit!