My 15 year old and I are backpacking through several countries the first of July and would like to finish our trip with a day in the Czech Republic, as we are Czech. We are fine with a borber town such as Cheb. We would be taking a train from Rothenburg and would need to be at the Frankfurt airport by 8am for at 10am flight on the 19th...I can not seem to pull any train schedules for this. Does anyone have any ideas? Is this possible? We just want to be able to say were were there!
Thank you!
Posted by
OP
Clarksville, MI, USA
3 posts
We are American Czech...I was concerned with the language barrier...Unfortuantely, I only know a few words from my grandmother and I am not sure how authentic they are! I will try the bahn website, do I need seat reservations on this one? All the trains are really confusing me! Thank you!
Posted by
Sunnyvale, CA, USA
290 posts
Bring a good Czech - English dictionary with you. I really don't think you'll need to "reserve" seats. The 2nd class tickets should be good enough. Truthfully, this Czech town has a real German feel to it. It's too bad you are not reserving more time for Czech Republic.
Posted by
OP
Clarksville, MI, USA
3 posts
Oh...I do too! This will be our 7th country in 16 days! It is crazy! but...our first trip to Europe we want to see as much as possible and decide where we want to go back to! I have had a longing to go to Prague and I would love to go all the way there, but that is cutting it too close! Will leave that for our next adventure! I did check the bahn website and that was very helpful, I think we will be fine, I just have to figure out what stop Frankfurt Airport is, and we will just get off there and stay until our flight leaves in the AM! and sleep on the plane! You only live once right?
Posted by
Cary, NC
687 posts
That's a crazy fast-paced trip. I think all you'll get a flavor of will be trains/planes/etc. You might want to post your itinerary and get some feedback.
Posted by
Sunnyvale, CA, USA
290 posts
Did you try looking on the Die Bahn website? www.bahn.com They do have routing on there. It would take 3 - 4 connections from Rothenburg to Cheb & about 3hrs 45mins one way but it is doable.
I was there Oct 2010 looking at the changes....Cheb is a lot nicer now than it used to be. They have cleared the prostitutes and the cheap Vietnamise open stalls out of the main part of town. Are you Czechs or Americans of Czech decent? In that town you really need to know some Czech or German, as many of the folks there do not speak English.
Posted by
Seattle
4637 posts
Yes, it is possible. Is it advisable? IMHO no.
Posted by
Spring, Texas
635 posts
Outside of Prague and established tourist areas, it's rare to find someone that speaks English. I speak a very little Czech but my German is a little better. I can't ever seem to get my numbers straight in Czech so I try my German here. A fair number of people speak German (at least better than mine) in the western part of the Czech Republic. I've never been to the eastern part of the CR. Trying any Czech almost always brings a smile and will sometimes get them to try their English which is usually not much better than my Czech. The Czech Republic is the only place I've ever had any use for my limited German. In Germany anyone under the age of 50 seems to speak English fluently. If you go to smaller Czech towns, be prepared to be unable to communicate with the locals except by pointing and drawing pictures. I wouldn't suggest you make a "mad dash" just to get into your ancestral homeland. Make a full blown visit when you have the time. There are some beautiful places to see.
Posted by
Berkeley, ca, usa
11 posts
I can't see how this could work. If you like backbacking S. Bohemia is great. I think you need to plan another trip.