Travel to Berlin, Prague, Vienna

Berlin-Prague: Direct EC trains run about every two hours. The ride takes under five hours. Prague-Vienna: There are direct EC trains and others requiring one connection in Breclav. Trains run nearly every hour and the ride takes under five hours. See the detailed timetables on the German Rail site.

In Prague, Arcadia Residence-Old Town, in Vienna, Best Western Kaiserhof. For more information, pictures, evaluations, and other choices, go to tripadvisor.com.

Louise, As Tim mentioned, the trip from Berlin to Prague is very easy (I travelled that route last year). One tip though - when you arrive in Prague, DO NOT use the "no neck thugs" (as Rick calls them) operating the Taxis at the rail station. The Guidebook recommends walking outside the station and using one of the reputable firms. I stayed at Pension Peters in Berlin and would HIGHLY recommend them. They're located in a very convenient location, and the staff are wonderful! I don't believe they're 3-4 star though. I stayed at the Green Garland Pension in Prague and would also highly recommend them for the same reasons, but again they're not 3-4 star. The trip from Prague to Vienna is also very easy. There are direct trains with a travel time of 4H:40M. Note that there are a couple of stations in Prague. You'll likely be using Prague hl.n. There are also a couple of stations in Vienna, but which is "best" will likely depend on which part of the city you're staying. Regarding your last question, IMO the trip is easily possible in 10-days, with good planning. The RS Berlin - Prague - Vienna tour has a time frame of 12-days, so that's a reasonable time frame. Happy travels!

The trip is doable, but I think you may be trying to cram in too much. For example: morning train - up at 6 am, pack and check out, travel to train station for 7.30 am departure. Get coffee and to-go breakfast to eat on the train. Arrive and get to your hotel to drop off your luggage and check in. It's probably well after 1 pm and time for lunch. Not much time left for sightseeing (and orienting to a new location) and you still have to unpack and you've been on the go since early morning. With only 10 days, I recommend dropping Vienna. Berlin has enough to fill 5 days without trying. If you want to add a destination, Dresden is lovely and on the way. In Berlin, I stayed at the Mercure Checkpoint Charlie and was very satisfied. It is walking distance to many sights and close to the metro and bus lines. In Prague and Vienna, I got good 4-5 star hotels at 3-star prices by bidding on priceline.com

I'm a little puzzled by your insistence on 3-4 star hotels. Hotel stars in Europe, particularly in Germany, are awarded using a different philosophy than in the US. Here, I think, the rating are based on cleanliness, how well maintained it is, and what people thought of it. In Germany, the hotel classification process is entirely objective. Any starred hotel has to meet the same set of cleanliness and maintenance requirements. The stars indicate what amenities (such as a reception manned so many hours, hours of room service, size of room, heated towel racks, etc) the hotel has. All criteria have points attached to them, some are mandatory for a certain number of stars. A hotel that accrues some many points is awarded that number of stars, as long as they meet all the mandatory requirements for that number of stars. For instance, a 3, 4, or 5 star hotel must have shoe polish service. If that is important to you, for sure stay in a 3+ star hotel. But if you can do without those services, you can save money with fewer stars. A couple of requirements that might be important - a hotel, to have 3 or more stars, must have someone on staff who speaks English. On the other hand, I've stayed at no star places where English was spoken. Also, for more than one star, the hotel must accept credit cards. For a look at the complete catalog of requirements, see here. As for Prague, last May I stayed in guesthouse Lida, which is listed in Rick's book. It was clean, well maintained, the operators are very friendly and accommodating, and they speak English. They love Prague and go out of their way to make your stay in the city enjoyable. But they don't have any stars. BTW, almost everyone there was either American or Canadian and knew of Rick.

I concur with Lee re the star system. I tend to stay in 2-3 star hotels in Germany and the main difference between a good 2 star hotel and an average 3 star hotel is the price.

Louise, Is you trip taking place in Aug? At Westbahnhof (Vienna's west train station) are a number of 3-4 star hotels, some of which offer the lowest rate of the year. After August this cheap rate is gone. The Westbahnhof area, under construction the past few years, (I saw it the first time in 2009) is all finished now. As regards to your itinerary being doable, I would say if this is your first time to these three places, just see Berlin and Vienna, unless you plan on a night train from Berlin-Wien. If you've seen any of these cities before, then do all three now. But for 10 days I myself would prefer Vienna and Berlin.