My friend and I, two women from the USA, will be traveling this summer to Tallinn, Estonia, then on to Krakow and Prague. What side trips from Tallinn have you found enjoyable?
Which city should we visit first, Krakow or Prague before heading home ? What is the better option- fly or take the train to that city?
This will be our first trip to Eastern Europe. Any other suggestions or "must sees" would be appreciated. Thank you in advance for any suggestions and advice.
Posted by
Seattle
4637 posts
Fly open jaw to Tallin, back to US from Prague. The distances justify flying. Logistically one look at the map suggests this order: Tallin, Krakow, Prague. What else to see? Depends how much time you have. But more or less in neighborhood of Krakow and Prague are Budapest and Vienna. If you still got some time left; every American visitor to Prague (well, almost every) visits also Cesky Krumlov- small picturesque fairy tale like town.
Posted by
Rick Steves' Europe
16893 posts
Flying from Tallinn to Krakow is the only practical transport, since train and bus take about two days. Morning trains departures from Krakow to Prague take 7 - 8 hours and require two connections, so the direct overnight train or a flight are more convenient.
You could easily spend three days each in Krakow and Prague - see "at a glance" sightseeing tips at http://www.ricksteves.com/europe/poland/krakow and http://www.ricksteves.com/europe/czech-republic/prague. I do consider a side trip from Krakow to Auschwitz/Birkenau to also be a "must-see."
Posted by
Chicago
792 posts
How many days are you travelling? I love Krakow. Love love it. Good day trips from Krakow would be Czestochowa or Zakopane. But if you are only spending a few days in the city, the day trips are not necessary. Prague is beautiful too but my heart belongs to Krakow.
My family of four hired a private driver for the trip from Krakow to Prague. It took 4 1/2 hours. No one wanted to deal with the overnight trains or the hassle with train transfers. And we didn't want to shell out the money for a flight. With four of us, the price ended up being equal to what we would have paid for train tickets. Just another option. If you want that name of the company, you can private message me.
If this is going to be a long trip, you can take overnight ferries between Tallinn, Stockholm, Helsinki, Turku, and Riga. I doubt you can go directly from Riga to Tallinn. Obviously those are big cities to make into day trips. But if you have a few extra days, you could easily fit in one of those other cities. And the ferries are pretty entertaining. I was expecting something simple with sleeping quarters but it is basically a cruise ship. Big buffets, karaoke, casino. I know that isn't what most people go to Europe for. But if you have to travel overnight somewhere, that's the way to do it!
Posted by
Magyarország / Rep of Texas
17908 posts
Krakow to Prague you might also look into one of the shuttle services like Bean.