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Czech Republic, Austria, and Italy

Hello. We are going to Europe next summer because my husband has a conference in Ceske Budejovice. I know for sure that we’re flying into Prague and we want to fly out of Venice. We definitely want to go to Salzburg and also do some hiking/sightseeing in the Austrian Alps, and end up in Venice. We don’t have the rest nailed down yet. There is so much to choose from!

Here’s what I have so far. Are we trying to do too much and/or travel too far?

• Friday – fly to Prague

• Saturday – arrive in Prague, try to stay awake all day, sleep in Prague

• Sunday – sleep in Prague

• Monday – pick up rental car (because it’s paid for by husband’s work - I know some people will ask why) & travel to Ceske Budejovice (1.5 hr drive)

• Tuesday to Thursday – conference in Ceske Budejovice & sight-seeing in the area

• Friday – Hopefully we can drop off car in Ceske Budejovice and take a train to Salzburg, sleep in Salzburg (about a 3 hr train ride)

• Saturday - sleep in Salzburg

• Sunday – rent a car and go somewhere in the Salzkammergut lake district, maybe Hallstatt, and go back to Salzburg to sleep, or maybe stay one night somewhere in the lake district?

• Monday – sleep somewhere in the Austrian alps, maybe Hall

• Tuesday – sleep at the same place

• Wednesday – we would like to drop off car in Innsbruck, take a train to Italy, and stay one night near Alpe de Siusi

• Thursday – take a train to Venice, sleep in Venice

• Friday – sleep in Venice

• Saturday – sleep in Venice

• Sunday – fly home from Venice

Any advice would be greatly appreciated! Thanks.

Posted by
16895 posts

That all sounds feasible. Trains connections from Ceske Budejovice to Salzburg depart every two hours, connect at Linz, and take 3h 45m. You might consider moving one night from the Hall/area stay to the Alpe di Siusi stay.

Looking Up Train Schedules and Routes Online gives you the Deutsche Bahn train schedule link and tips for using it.

Posted by
1586 posts

skr_0104 - Here is a polished rough draft version of your itinerary with a few additions.

Saturday - Prague
Sunday - Prague
Monday - Prague (rental car) drive to Ceske Budejovice
Tuesday - Ceske Budejovice
Wednesday - Ceske Budejovice
Thursday - Ceske Budejovice
Friday - Ceske Budejovice / Salzburg
Saturday - Salzburg
Sunday - Salzburg (Day trip to St. Wolfgang or St. Gilgen) utilize the bus from Salzburg to go to either town.

My choice for Austrian alps is either the towns of Igls or Patsch . Both are small villages and have the same feel and scenery. In addition, they are on public transportation into Innsbruck (about 15 minutes by local bus).

Monday - Patsch
Tuesday - Patsch
Wednesday - Patsch / Ortisei (Alpe de Siusi)
Thursday - From Ortisei (Alpe de Siusi) go to Bolzano and train to Venice
Friday - Venice
Saturday - Venice
Sunday - Venice (Fly Home)

Posted by
3184 posts

Instead of sleeping in Hall, I would sleep in Tirol, otherwise it's perfect. I would also pick up RSEs guidebooks and you can download electronic versions from his app.

Posted by
27908 posts

Check to be sure it's practical to fly home from Venice. A lot of folks discover, when it's too late to alter their itinerary, that they'll have an extremely early departure from Venice, requiring them to get up at dawn and take very costly private transportation to the airport.

Posted by
50 posts

Thank you so much for your help. We decided to stay one night in Patsch and two in the Alpe di Siusi area.