Hello, In the end of September/early October myself, my wife and our son, will be traveling to Berlin for the Berlin Marathon and then plan on doing some travel afterwards. Besides a few days in Berlin we have a single night stay planned in Dresden and two nights in Prague. We are trying to decide now whether we go try to go to Salzburg or Vienna? And do we rent a car or take a train? I'm leaning to Salzburg and by train. What I have found though is there are no direct trains to Salzburg and it is anywhere from 5.5 to 8 hours by train. Thank you for any advise.
Mike
Posted by
Prince George, BC, Canada
432 posts
While both Vienna and Salzburg are beautiful cities and worthy of visits, I'd spend more time in Prague. I'm not sure how much time you've got, but 2 nights in Prague is really only one full day of touring. You'd also chew up a day traveling to Salzburg. I'd add at least one more night in Prague and add in Vienna. Leave Salzburg for another trip. That's my 2 cents.
Posted by
OP
PA, USA
6 posts
Thank you Susan E. After our 4 nights in Berlin, 1 night in Dresden, and the 2 nights currently planned in Prague, we still have 8 nights to plan before we would fly home from Frankfurt. We could easily add a night in Prague.
Mike
Posted by
WA State
3961 posts
I can’t comment on Salzburg or driving the region, but your route from Berlin>Dresden>Prague>Vienna sounds great. I would agree to add more days to Prague. Have you considered to add Melk along the way? We did a reverse trip from Budapest and added Cesky Krumlov for 2 nights. One night would work as well. We stayed from Thursday to Saturday and took an early am walking tour on Friday to avoid the day crowds. Cesky is a family friendly town. I think Vienna deserves 3 nights. We used CK Shuttle from Vienna to Cesky & from Cesky to Prague. It was convenient door to door and affordable.
Posted by
Tresana, Highlands Ranch, CO, USA
23262 posts
Two nights in Prague is a day. I would stay a week. If you insist in moving on then Vienna is easy to reach via train and a couple of hours. Unless you have the tickets I would encourage you fly into Berlin and come home from Vienna. It would be cheaper than returning to Frankfurt and give another day of sightseeing.
Posted by
Southeast US
3843 posts
Are you flying into Berlin and out of Frankfurt or in and out of Frankfurt? I'm guessing tickets are already purchased, correct?
Posted by
OP
PA, USA
6 posts
Dave, We are flying into Berlin and out of Frankfurt. We bought our tickets over the weekend. We had originally thought about flying out of Amsterdam, but changed our minds.
Mike
Posted by
Irving
2945 posts
Hi Mike, you can take a direct train from Prague to Munich (5h 45m) and visit Salzburg as a day trip from Munich (2h by direct train) and work your way up to Frankfurt. I would first explore Bavaria and Füssen would make a good home base if visiting the castles by public transportation.
My favorite city in DE is Berlin. Do see the Berlin wall and the DDR museums. I’ve been there twice and can’t wait to go back. The locals are young and artsy. Wait until you see the street art.
Do add at least one extra night if not two in Prague. Keep in mind that Prague’s old town and castle district were not bombed during WWII at that's why it looks like a fairy tale city.