travel to Prague, salzberg and budapest

We did (4 adults) Prague, Cesky, Vienna, Bratislava, Budapest for 2 weeks in July. We used a private driver (Prague-Cesky-Vienna), Hydrofoil from Vienna to Bratislava, then Student Agency bus to Budapest. the student agency bus was fabulous and highly recommended. they go all over Czech Republic. Salzburg is a little out of the way unless you omit Prague. the travel between the cities was very easy and not long time wise. A great web site is distancesfrom.com. You put in each city and click calculate, then click show map. It lets you know how long a drive it is between each city and the map shows you the route. I play around with to help plan our trips.

I hope this helps a little.

I'd plot the destinations on a map, then work out the shortest route, then use bahn.de to get train schedules. Prague-Vienna-Budapest is a pretty straight route, easy by train. Not sure how Salzburg and Passau fit in.

You can take a train from Passau to Salzburg - 2-1/2 hrs. From Salzburg there are shuttles to Cesky Krumlov (which is what I did, takes about 3-1/2 hrs) and then bus or train from CK to Prague (bus about 3 hrs, train closer to 4hrs). From Prague to Budapest by either bus or train takes a little over 7 hrs or you could possibly fly but that would take almost as long with travel to/from airports and pre-flight wait times.

One possible itinerary:
Salzburg - 2-3 nights (depending on if you want to do day trip to mtns.)
Cesky Krumlov - 1 night, with afternoon/evening before and morning/afternoon after the overnight for sightseeing should be enough.
Prague - 3 nights
Budapest - 4-5 nights (travel from Prague to Budapest takes a whole day)

This itinerary works best if flying home from Budapest. You could add day to Prague and subtract day from Budapest depending on your interests and if you want to take day trip/s to somewhere nearby. Personally I think Budapest is worth more time and has more to see and do without leaving the city.

From Passua to Salzburg, DB train schedules suggest connecting at Wels (you don't need to go as far as Linz). Then, you do head back via Linz for trains to Ceske Krumlov, or can switch to a shuttle bus at Linz, such as www.shuttlelobo.cz. Then direct bus to Prague, such as http://www.studentagencybus.com/en, then direct train from Prague to Budapest (7 hours)

Too many places too little time. I would suggest that 10 to 12 days is pretty ideal for Prague, Vienna and Budapest but not much more. Here is 15 days but even that is too compressed. You need at least 3 more days to do it right.

1 Depart US
2 Arrive Prague mid to late afternoon (typically)
3, 4 Prague
5 Early Morning “Bean Shuttle” or “Czech Shuttle” Prague to Cesky Krumlov
6 Early Morning “Czech Shuttle” Cesky Krumlov to Passau
7 Early Morning Train Passau to Salzburg
8 Salzburg
9 Early Morning Train Salzburg to Vienna
10, 11 Vienna
12 Early Morning Train Vienna to Budapest
13, 14 Budapest
15 Fly out of Budapest.

James is right. I missed the 10-12 days part of your post.

From what I read from rosekerr, they will begin their 10-12 days from Passau. Therefore to hit each city mentioned you would have to go south to Salzburg first, go north to Prague, via Cesky, then to Vienna, and Budapest would be the last stop. That would be two nights in each city, very tight time wise when you add in travel, but better then not going at all.

From what replies I've received (thanks) I think I can do the following itinerary:
Passau to Salzburg by train...3 nights
Salzburg to Cesky Krumlov by shuttle...2 nights
CK to Prague by Student Agency bus...3 nights
Prague to Budapest by train...4 nights
any ideas with trains or shuttle services would be appreciated.

From what replies I've received (thanks) I think I can do the
following itinerary: Passau to Salzburg by train...3 nights Salzburg
to Cesky Krumlov by shuttle...2 nights CK to Prague by Student Agency
bus...3 nights Prague to Budapest by train...4 nights any ideas with
trains or shuttle services would be appreciated.

Let me see if I have it right:

(Hotel in Salzburg - 3 Nights)
Day 1, train to Salzburg. I am guessing something less than 3 hours? so you have a half day in Passau?
Day 2, Salzburg
Day 3, Salzburg; I have never been to Salzburg so cant comment on the amount of time there. I hear about a lot of people that spend one night, but not many that stay much longer.

Hotel in Cesky Krumlov - 2 nights. Look at the Hotel Dvoark and a room with a view of the castle.
Day 4, Salzburg to Cesky K. by Bean Shuttle. About 3 hours I think. So you have a half day.

Day 5, Cesky K

Hotel in Prague - 3 nights. Splurge for the Hotel Ventana
Day 6, Cesky to Prague by Bean Shuttle. I enjoyed Cesky Krumlov a lot; but I wouldn't stay two nights. One was pretty perfect, especially with all that lies ahead. If you change and stay one night then take a afternoon shuttle to Prague.
Day 7, Prague
Day 8 Prague

Hotel in Budapest - 4 Nights Look at the K&K or something else along the M1 Metro Line from the River to the Oktogon.
Day 9 Prague to Budapest Maybe the night train. I do night trains since I turned 30 but some swear by them.

Day 10 Budapest
Day 11 Budapest
Day 12 Budapest
Day 13 Depart for the USA

Pesonally, unless you have some unique interest for Cesky K. and Salzburg; would reduce each by a night and add stop in Vienna on the way to Budapest. With just one additional night by skipping one night in either Salzburg or Cesky K. I would add it to Prague.

Lots of good info....thanks. If we take Salzburg out, how do we get from Passau to Cesky Krumlov?

There's no direct train or bus between Passau and Cesky Krumlov that I know of. To go from Passau to Cesky Krumlov you can take a train to Linz and then a train or bus (through Ceske Budejovice) from there to Cesky Krumlov. You may also be able to take a shuttle or hire a driver to go directly from Passau to Cesky Krumlov. Check this website: http://www.czshuttle.cz/transportation-from-passau-to-cesky-krumlov/#shared