Too much to do - Prague, Munich, Salzburg, Vienna, Help us choose!

Are you flying into Munich?

We enjoyed Munich; however, we enjoyed Prague and Salzburg so much more.

Just a suggestion:

Munich to Prague - 6 hour direct train.

Prague to Salzburg...stop over in Cesky Krumlov for 1 night then on to Salzburg.

Salzburg back to Munich.

In Munich you can buy the Bayern/Barvarian ticket to Furth Im Wald and at the same time buy a ticket from Furth Im Wald to Prague. Train travel in Czech Republic is very inexpensive.

From Salzburg back to Munich you can also buy a Bayern/Barvarian Ticket.

http://www.bahn.de/p/view/international/englisch/travelservice/laender_tickets.shtml

Scroll half way down the page for Bayern Ticket Information.

Buying a Bayern Ticket in Salzburg:

In the Salzburg train station there is both a "DB" (Deutsches Bahn = German train) ticket machine and a "DB" ticket counter. You can buy a Bayern-Ticket at either. Just avoid the more numerous "ÖBB" (Austrian ticket machines).

The blue/white regional train automats are easy to use. Near the bottom of the columns of buttons on the right side of the automat you will find a button for "Bayern-Ticket". There will also be buttons for Bayern-Ticket Single (one person) or Bayern-Ticket-Nacht, but you probably don't want one of those.
The red/white/blue Vernverkehr automats have touch-screen displays, can be made to display in English, and are pretty straight-forward. Just follow the instuctions.

We are thinking of flying into Prague, renting a car and driving (stopping in Cesky Krumlov) to Austria- doing some of the villages near Salzburg, then to Salzburg itself. TBD if we would return the car in Salzburg, or use it to get to Munich.. we would fly home from Munich.

That sounds great. You will be happy you did not miss Cesky Krumlov.

Good choices.

Enjoy!!

I agree with your origianl conclusion -- 10 days is not adequate for the entire trip. I'd drop Prague due to it being so distant from the others. In late spring, we spent a month in Europe, with 10 of those days being in Munich/Bavaria, Salzburg and Vienna And that wasn't enough. You didn't say in your post whether you had visited any of these places previously. IMO, if you have, that should influence your decision. Have fun.

Melissa, it would be very expensive to rent a
car in Prague and drop it off in another country.

Prague is SO beautiful! I spent 10 days in Prague alone and regretted not having more time there. It's a fairy tale city, complete with cobble stoned town squares, quaint cafes and all... You could walk and see most of Prague in a day if needed, but maybe you should wait and do it when you have more time to enjoy it. When I was there, I didn't rent a car at all, took the metro everywhere. It was much cheaper than other parts of Europe I had visited. Maybe try taking an overnight train? or a red eye from Muncih to Prague?

My first trip to Europe included Vienna, Salzburg, Hallstatt and Munich - it was perfect because the trains link those cities very quickly. If you absolutely cannot skip Prague, you will probaby need to drop at least two of the other sites that you want to visit because Prague is pretty far off. Maybe save Prague for the next trip and include Berlin.

Have fun!

If you're doing the rental car thing then you're at an advantage in the Czech Republic. The train system there is antiquated.

One thing to consider is that Vienna is a good option to include on another trip because of its proximity to Budapest. Many people have done Prague, Vienna and Budapest on a trip. Once the wife and I did Munich, Salzburg and Venice. There is a great night train from Salzburg to Venice. We spent 13 days on that trip which also included Tuscany, the Cinque Terre, Ravenna and Milan. We flew into Munich and out of Milan. I'd be happy to share some ideas from that trip if you're willing to rethink your schedule. Just drop me a private message.

I would cut Vienna. My friend and I saw Prague, Budapest, Vienna and a couple of small towns on a two week vacation and by far our least favorite was Vienna. We still enjoyed it, but it felt very ordinary, expensive, and not very 'authentic' (I hate that word, but honestly it could have been any large city in the world - the difference between it and NYC was surprisingly little). Prague was exquisite and you should definitely not miss it. It's a fairytale and you can afford to do everything you want, it was really one of the highlights of our trip and I'm sure you would enjoy it more than Vienna.

My parents and I actually did this exact route in about 10 days in September 2004.

Granted, it is a lot to take in, and invovles a lot of driving, but it can be done.

We flew into Vienna, rented a car, and then drove in a loop, stopping in places like Hallstadt, Hall, Salzburg, Neuwanstein (spell?), Munich, Prague, Znomo (spell?), Czech Republic, and back to Vienna.

I loved Vienna, but I think I loved Prauge more-so I say keep that on the itinerary. I would highly recommend stopping at and staying at small towns when you can.

My wife and I were in Munich and Vienna last year, but haven't been to Salzburg or Prague. Prague is on the to-do list.

Your choice will depend very much on what kind of experience you're looking for, which you didn't specify. Personally, we loved Vienna and didn't like Munich much at all. We found Munich to be rather dingy, without much to do except visit the beer halls (we're not huge drinkers, so the beer halls didn't make the trip worth it) and the main museum/palace. I found the town to be joyless and the food bad.

Oh, Neuschwanstein was neat, though. Not particularly historic, but neat to finally see.

We really enjoyed Vienna, on the other hand. Great food, friendly people, good sights and museums, and a lovely city to spend a couple of days in. We wished we'd had more time than the 2 days we alloted to it.

Oh the choices! You are right about not wanting to do so much that you can't really enjoy what you are seeing. As Rick Steves says, just plan on going back!

I would definitely spend as much time in Prague as you can - it's a must see on its own. Just if you drive there, be ready for an adventure - it was truly the worst driving experience of my life.

Have a marvelous time!