Berlin Lutherstadt Prague itinerary

Three days (not counting the jetlag day) is a rather short visit to Berlin, but of course it depends on your interests. I'm nuts for WWII and Cold War historical sights, plus I like art museums, so six days left me wanting more. Berlin is not a particularly pretty city, so you may be ready to move on after four nights there.

ViaMichelin estimates about 1-1/2 hours for the drive from Leipzig to Quedlinburg, and it is sometimes optimistic. I guess you can make that work if you get an early start. Quedlinburg has a huge historic area as well as a castle, a cathedral (Google for information about the Treasury) and even a small modern-art gallery. The tourist office conducts tours and also (as of 2015) rents an audioguide. I spent many hours walking around with that audioguide despite having already seen the castle and cathedral. I never managed to get to the art gallery despite spending multiple nights there. So plan on quite a full day in Quedlinburg.

Driving from Leipzig to Eisenach by way of Erfurt is estimated at 2-1/2 hours, and the trip back will still take more than 2 hours. Realistically, you'll spend at least 5 hours in the car that day. I recall quite a significant walk (uphill) from the bus stop at Wartburg, and I don't know that the parking area is any closer. You may need to wait awhile for an English-language tour at the castle.

Much of central Erfurt is pedestrianized, so I think you should figure on a good bit of walking to and from wherever you're able to leave the car. For me, this day would be over-full, but I guess it depends on how much you want to do in Erfurt. The latter has two important churches as well as a good-sized historic district (don't miss the merchants' bridge). The town of Eisenach also has a pretty historic center.

Can't comment on Cesky Krumlov, but Prague has much to see.

If at all possible, try to take in Dresden when making your tour. Until the end of WWII, it was perhaps the most beautiful city in Europe. It's well worth stopping to see.

Dresden has great museums and a small area rebuilt in the old style. Purely from the aesthetic standpoint, I don't think it holds a candle to Quedlinburg or even Erfurt.

In general a doable itinerary but I miss some criteria what you like / dislike or what you want to see / experience to give feedback.

Just to manage your expectations a little bit: The tour you did and the one you plan (so far) is very diffent in two criteria: landscape scenery and cultural aspects (e.g. no or less areas with half-timbered houses and touristy beer gardens). Speaking of: If you like beer the first weekend of August is a must-have with Berlin Beer Festival.

Personally I see the headline "WWII" as much too high level and as wrong label to what some people sort below because there were very different historical events ending parallel which happened independently from each other, even triggered by the same regime: war, takeover terror and Holocaust are very own topics starting at different points of history and deserve an own naming of interests. Therefore deeper choice of interest result in better and very different recommendations.

Tip: Avoid renting the car at a train station or at the airport. It will be 10-20% higher price.

What time do you arrive in Berlin?

If it's in the morning, by noon or so, the latest at 13:00hrs, you could be at the Brandenburg Gate area next to Pariser Platz and Unter den Linden. I don't think your hotel will insist on doing the check-in after 1500 hrs....maybe, if you show up early.

Based on my experience those times I've arrived prior to 1500 hrs, say at 10 or 11am, I have always had the check-in done at that point in time. The Pension or hotel never told me to come back later If you get into Berlin in the morning, you basically have close to 4 days in Berlin. Ideally, it would even be better if you had two weeks to spend just seeing the various parts, areas of Berlin...Spandau, Köpenick, Charlottenburg, Grunewald, etc. if you know where to go for the war sites.

From LAX to Berlin there are flights, some non-stop. I've not done that option yet but very tempted to try varying arrival destinations

Thanks for all the feedback so far, I made some adjustments to the middle section to streamline the driving portion:

Day 5 - Pick up rental car and drive to see Wittenberg, afterwards drive to Quedlinburg, sleeps in Quedlinburg (1 nt)
Day 6 - Quedlinburg, then drive to Erfurt, sleeps in Erfurt (2 nts)
Day 7 - Erfurt and Wartburg Castle
Day 8 - Drive to see Leipzig, return rental car, sleeps in Leipzig (1 nt)
Day 9 - Take DB Bus from Leipzig Hbf to Prague, sleeps in Prague (4 nts)

Thanks Travel Man!

So do you concur the edition of staying at Quedlinburg/Erfurt/Leipzig is better than staying at Leipzig for 4 nights and day trip to those places?

I wish we have more days but we are fortunate as is to be able to go for 2 weeks. Longer trips will have to wait until after retirement =) Dresden would be great but I think we are unlikely to fit it into this trip, but we will keep it in mind. Thanks!

Hi Travel Man:

You read my mind, I was debating on whether to stay 2 nights in Erfurt or Leipzig. I decided to stay at Erfurt since I figure it will be a pretty full day seeing both Erfurt and Eisenach, not sure I want to make that 1.5hr drive to Leipzig that evening.

Again you read my mind, I made the reservation last night with the Motel One in Leipzig. They now have 3 locations all at the same area, I picked the one on Augustusplatz. They all seems to have good reviews and are so close so each other, so I just picked randomly. Do you have a suggestion for one location versus another?

My plan on Day 8 is to drive to Leipzig in the morning, drop off our luggage at Motel One and then return the car (Europcar) at the train station. Spend the rest of the day seeing all the places inside the Ring. The next morning we will hop on the DB bus also right outside the train station to get to Prague.

If you are interested in seeing a WW2 related site near Leipzig, assuming ample time is there, I would suggest Colditz, outside of Leipzig Hbf is a bus depot where you can catch the bus going out to Colditz.

I first went to Leipzig as a day trip to see that Prussian monument, the Völkerschlachtdenkmal, on the Allied victory over Napoleon. In anglophone historiography as well as in French, the event is known as the Battle of Leipzig. The Germans call it the Völkerschlacht which is known as the "Battle of the Nations." There is obviously a small war museum on the premises too.

The DB bus from Leipzig to Prague is direct and only cost 15 euro

https://www.bahn.com/en/view/offers/bus/prague-leipzig.shtml?dbkanal_007=L04_S02_D002_KIN0060_IC-BUS-INDEX-Prag-Leipzig_LZ01

The 3 Motel One locations are all right across from the train station, within 3 min of walking from each other.

Does anyone have a recommendation of a place to stay at Quedlinburg?

I booked at the last minute and ended up at the Best Western Schlossmuehle (definitely a cut above my usual standard), which isn't quite inside the historic center. Take a look at the location on a map and I think you can see what I mean. I was using public transportation, but I believe I recall a parking area. The historic core of Quedlinburg is heavily cobbled, and I can tell you from personal experience that it's not much fun rolling bags through that area. Quedlinburg is mostly off American tourists' radar, but it gets a lot of visitors (maybe mostly German). I didn't have the impression they were a rowdy bunch, but I cannot vouch for how noisy it would or would not be if you opted to stay in the center of the historic area.