Central Europe in Two Weeks

hi, i do more homework up front so i can make the most of my time & $$$. i dont plan on winging it yet or at least until ive seen most of what i wanted to see. Try looking at where you want to go and try to look at places closer to one another. Sometimes you can avoid longer travel tho, but you can minimize it. the trains go into citys as you know so i try to use that as much as possible. If i have to fly, i try to make it short hops in order to again minimze my time away from the ground. also, what i do is to print out some maps of the area using google maps and start marking them up where i want to go and then try to figure out a path, again to minimize my travel time and backtracking. if it works out, maybe able to find a place has a "hub" to stay and then take daytrips from there. but again, you will need to plot these out to see that. other than that, youre off to a good start since you know what you want to do/see. happy trails.

For two weeks, I'd pare the list by geography, and it seems you're pretty grounded in the fact you can't see all of the wonderful cities you've listed. Munich, Salzburg, Vienna and Budapest are all on the same direct train route, and Prague isn't all that far from Vienna. Berlin and Prague aren't all that far from each other, plus you could break up your train ride between Berlin and Prague with a couple of days in Dresden. To me, the city that most meets your needs is Berlin. Maybe I'm biased, because it's my favorite, but it's got everything you've listed in the first two sentences of your second paragraph. Pair it with a couple of nights in Dresden, maybe a side trip to Leipzig, and a few days in Prague/Cesky Krumlov, you've got yourself a mighty fine trip. It's also the most inexpensive capital city in Western Europe. The Munich to Budapest route is a pretty great trip too. I don't know your budgeting, but both Munich and Vienna are pricier than Prague or Berlin, but not outrageously expensive like London or Scandinavia. Still, worth the extra dough if you so decide, and Budapest is a steal, plus it's one of the most beautiful cities in the world.

All the places you listed are amazing... but if I were looking for three places with some day trips I would do the Budapest, Prague and Vienna trio. You could still add Cesky Krumlov with a trip from Vienna to Melk Abbey as well as a boat trip from Budapest (a stunningly beautiful city) I think we took a hydrofoil from Budapest to Vienna and that was fun. I also love Germany and you could do the Germany/Austria trip. For the south of Germany it is fun to rent a car and just drive. It's an easy trip from Munich to Salzburg by car. You could also add the Lake of Constance... one of my favorite places and a little off the beaten path (although not for Europeans as there are still plenty of tourists) but it is gorgeous. Have fun whatever you decide.

Two weeks time and spending 3 nights in each local leads to just about 4 places and remember you will loose a day each move from checking out, traveling, and checking in. I would love to spend 3 nights in every place we visit on our yearly month long trip to Europe. However, we always seem to want to see more places so often only stay for 2 nights in any one location. Do you have some guide books for the places you are interested in visiting in Europe? If so, great. If not, I would suggest you get some to help you in your planning. You should also get a copy of RS "Europe thru the Back Door" as it is pretty much of a "must read" for the newer visitors to Europe. Good luck and happy travels.

You don't mention your age or your budget. But I'd remind you that one of Rick's principles is "assume you'll return." That's partly a warning about trying to do too much-like the vast number of people posting here about daytrips to Mont St. Michel from Paris. It sounds like bragging, but I didn't go to MSM until my eighth or so time in France. I'm just suggesting that your eyes are bigger than your stomach! In your example, Cesky Krumlov is a similar case. I wanted to go there for years. But it's in the middle of nowhere, and it's faster to drive than to take public transportation. There are also a lot of nearly equivalent medieval towns that are easier to get to. (Their Baroque Theater was the key reason for me.) We paid Rick's recommended chauffeur to take us there from Prague. But it ate up a whole day. My wife and I did Europe one or two countries at a time. For example, one trip was Innsbruck, Salzburg, Munich, Vienna, probably 3 days in each, trains between. Airfares are the same in dollars today as they were in 1988 when we started traveling. Rick's books are worth their weight in gold for first and second timers in Europe.

I took a 12-day trip from Budapest to Vienna to Prague. It wasn't rushed and I felt I "did justice" to all but Vienna (only 2.5 days there). Terry Kathryn has given you a good itinerary to expand this route just enough. Prague and Budapest have great castles and Vienna has the best palace after Versailles. Budapest food is very very good and not expensive. The Hungarian wines are also excellent and low-priced. I've also heard that Brno is worth a cay or two, but I couldn't fit it in . . . next time.

Thanks for all the great posts so far everyone! To address the age and budget question my wife and I will both be in our late twenties when we travel next May and I'm looking to keep total cost to around $5,000 or $6,000 after airfare. One factor I didn't mention in my first post that will really drive my itinerary choice is side-trip options from my primary destinations. Does anyone have experience with the following side-trips? Munich - Neuschwanstein, Rothenburg, Regensburg Salzburg - Berchtesgaden, Werfen, Grossglockner Alpine Road, Hallstatt Vienna - Melk/Durnstein
Prague - Dresden The ability to take a side-trip from each primary stop is a big reason I want to spend three to four nights in each spot. Moreover, I want to actually be able to say I experienced a place and not just saw a place. Thanks again!

Responding to the side trip, esp. Prague-Dresden: One of our vacations was Berlin (Potsdam, Mahlsdorf)-Budapest-Prague (Cesky K.)-Berlin. Another was former East Germany, Leipzig-Weimar (Erfurt, Dessau, Quedlinburg)-Dresden-Berlin. My feeling is that Dresden, especially if you like museums, is too much for a day-trip runout. I'd be sorry to miss the Elbe river daycruise, for example. Most people also visit Meissen as a day trip from Dresden. Think about what a small triangle Leipzig-Dresden-Weimar is! But we had to skip places that might have been interesting, like Jena (Zeiss factory home) and Marienbad (Czech Rep.) I should say that the daytrips to Quedlinburg and UNESCO Garden Realm (Dessau) were key points on our trip. So you are certainly right to make such a list with your own preferences. Despite Rick's efforts to be an "at home away" tourist, I find Lonely Planet very helpful for planning local-feeling day trips.

Hi, You have a good itinerary of the highlights in Central Europe, certainly is very doable. It could be more effective if you drop CK and Salzburg. The side trip to Dresden can be done from Prague, ca 2 hr radius. Where are you flying out from?

Yes, you may want to drop Cesky Krumlov.......this time.....but I think you should do it at some time in the future. We were more enamored with CK than Rothenburg, go figure.

We'll be flying out of St. Louis so we're looking at LONG travel days coming and going!

Rothenburg ob der Tauber is 3h30m, each way, with 2 train changes...could make a yucky day trip.

Hi, Sorry, I should have been more specific. Which city are flying out of back to St Louis?

Our departure airport will depend on the itinerary. At this point, my gut says Prague or Munich. After reading the posts on this thread and going through some of Rick's guides again what does everyone think about this itinerary? Is it feasible, and will we leave enough time for ourselves at each stop? Day Side-Trip Sleep Travel Day 1 Flight Flight Flight Flight Day 2 Arrive Munich - Munich - Day 3 Munich - Munich - Day 4 Munich Neuschwanstein Munich - Day 5 Salzburg - Salzburg Salzburg Train Day 6 Salzburg Werfen/Grossglock. Salzburg - Day 7 Salzburg - Salzburg - Day 8 Salzburg Hallstatt Salzburg - Day 9 Vienna - Vienna Vienna Train Day 10 Vienna - Vienna - Day 11 Vienna Budapest? Vienna - Day 12 Vienna Melk/Durnstein Vienna - Day 13 Prague - Prague Prague Train Day 14 Prague - Prague -
Day 15 Prague - Prague - I think Berlin gets cut since it's really history heavy and that will not appeal to my wife. I also think Salzburg is essential since it really fulfills our desire to experience the great outdoors. Unfortunately, Cesky Krumlov just doesn't look realistic. Is getting a taste of Budapest in a day worth it? That's probably the one aspect to the itinerary where I'm breaking my experience rather then just see Europe rule. Thanks again!

Hi, Logistically, your trip makes very good sense since you dropped Berlin, but even with Berlin skipping Budapest or Prague you could still do it. I would say you've allotted ample time for each place, all vey doable. Personally, I would rather fly back from Munich. That would mean reducing time in Prague.

3 hours by train from Vienna to Budapest - way too far for a day trip. And Budapest deserves at least 3 days. Keep it on your list for next time. Dresden is much like Prague, not as colorful. While I very much enjoyed 2 days there after 2 weeks in other parts of Germany, I wouldn't drop a day from Prague to go there. In Vienna, go to the Schonbrunn Palace, not the Hofburg. Much more to see plus the extensive gardens. If you tour the Hofburg, you first have to go through 2 not-so-interesting museums before you see the Palace rooms, and they are decorated almost exactly like those in the Schonbrunn, just not as many rooms to see.