We have plans to be in Prague for 3 nights in mid-December. When there the last time we had wanted to go to Chesky Krumlov. In our older Best of Europe guidebook, I had gotten the impression that Krumlov would be a great day trip from Prague. In fact, information was given about drivers who would drive you there and await for your return to Prague. In the new Prague Guidebook (7th Edition), there is so much information given that I am wondering now if we can do Chesky Krumlov as a day trip--returning to our Prague hotel later that same day. Thoughts?
If you just want to look around a lovely jewelbox of a city, and don't mind 6-7 hours of transit for the round trip, you can certainly see CK as a day trip from Prague. In addition to private drivers, you can take a bus or train (bus is faster). I did it as an overnight, and am glad I did. It was nice to see the town after the daytrippers had left, and I appreciated not having to do all that travel in one day (4 hours round trip is about my limit for a day trip). I took an evening walking tour, and we only had about 4 people on it. The main streets were lit up and so were very atmospheric.
Stay the night. There are some interesting castles on the way down and/or the way back. Stay at the Hotel Dvoark and get the room with the balcony. They use to call it the presidential suite. it has stunning views of the castle. Write me if you are interested and I will send you a link to the photos.