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Prague and Slovenia- help fill in the blanks

Family with 2 older teens flying into Prague on June 26. Estimate that we’ll leave Prague early eve on the 28th. Was thinking we’d end up in Slovenia on the 5th (but that is flexible) we need to leave for London late on July 8th, but flexible on the city we depart from. Using public transport for all but Slovenia leg.

We like a variety of adventures with a sprinkling of museums and are interested in good food. The boys need to be on the go. Older son turning 18 on July 2, so need to figure out how to celebrate that. On our list is Vienna, Salzburg, and Cesky Krumlov. Would love to fit in Budapest but seems doubtful. Will someone recommend the best order in which to see these cities? TIA!

Posted by
5687 posts

So you've got ten nights between leaving Prague and flying back to London.

You want to visit Cesky Krumlov, Vienna, Salzburg, Budapest, and Slovenia. (Is there some reason you are going to Slovenia? I love it and highly recommend it - just wonder why that is your end point.)

June 28 Cesky Krumlov
29 Cesky Krumlov
30 Vienna
July 1 Vienna
2 Vienna
3 Salzburg
4 Salzburg
5 Ljubljana
6 Ljubljana
July 7 Ljubljana

I don't see how you could fit in Budapest. There are shuttle services to get from Cesky Krumlov to Vienna or Salzburg. Take the train from Vienna to Salzburg. Doing both Vienna and Salzburg means a bit of a detour and a few hours extra travel time (plot all your cities on a Google Map, with driving directions, to see where they all are). You can take a train from Salzburg to Ljubljana - a little over four hours.

Wizz Air has a direct flight from Ljubljana to London on July 8 but it's already pretty pricey ($125 pp - plus fees). Easyjet has two flights that are already $200+. Busy weekend? Or just high season prices? Not sure - I don't travel at high season...

You would save money flying out of Venice instead the same day - plenty of fares late day / early evening for under $100 pp. Ryan Air has a flight to Southend airport - not familiar with it but only $33 pp! (plus fees). You could take a shuttle (e.g. GoOpti) from Slovenia - probably a three hour ride to the Venice Marco Polo airport.

Posted by
7280 posts

Not sure if this would be a birthday activity or not, especially with timing, but while you're in Vienna, a highly recommended adventure activity would be renting bicycles and cruising the bikeway along the Danube river for as long and far as you'd all want to ride.

Posted by
10 posts

Thank you all for your feedback, it’s much appreciated. I’m interested in Slovenia because it looks very beautiful, it’s a small country and easy to drive around and having a car for a few days provides us with a different experience than the train. Now I know that one could probably say that any of these countries fit that description, so I guess Slovenia id also say that it seems like a place my family would really enjoy. I only picked it as an end point because we’re starting in Prague and it looks logical on a map to travel south and end there. interesting point about Venice and airfare 👍🏼 I’ll also consider cutting out Vienna- maybe I save that for another time with Budapest. So many great places to see! ✈️ 🌏

Posted by
5687 posts

You could easily spend more time than three nights in Slovenia! But all of the other places on your itinerary are very worthy, too.

Personal preference: I didn't love Vienna as much as the other places. Would still hate to skip it if you've never been. Cesky Krumlov is a nice little town (though quite touristy anymore, like Prague), and one appeal is to go rafting down the river - something the kids would probably enjoy. That's really the only reason I'd suggest two nights there. If the rafting doesn't sound appealing, then one night might enough - or just skip it. Slovenia provides a few quirky museums but not really any world-class museums nor the musical preference opportunities you might find in Vienna. Really up to you what you want to see and do!

Posted by
10 posts

Thanks Andrew. I’ve heard that about CK, we will probably just do one night there. And we love quirky museums, I’m glad you mentioned that 😊