Itinerary Help - 2 Weeks on the Munich-Prague-Vienna triangle

I suppose I could elaborate a bit more: What we're interested in: Munich: Rezidenz Zugspitze Day Trip Alte Pinakothek City Walk Beer Hall Culture Maybe Ludwig Castles (probably) Prague: Old Town Square, Charles Bridge Jewish Quarter Medieval Art Museum Mucha Museum + Mucha Slav Epic Museum of Communism Castle Hill: Cathedral, Castle, Lobkowicz Black Light theater Jazz Art Nouveau Kutna Hora Vienna: Schoenbrun Secession as much Klimt (I love) and Schiele as possible Coffee House culture Apfel Strudel Cathedral Belvedere Not sure how interested we are in tracking down the remains of the Hapsburgs. Wine
relaxation and fine living.

I'd say 3 full days in Prague and I'd recommend adding 1 for a day trip to Terezin. Terezin is much different from the extermination camps and is interesting for the fortress and the walled town. The fortress was used to imprison and mainly political prisoners. In the town there are several museums giving glimpses into the daily life of the Jews imprisoned there, which included improvised schools, theatre productions, etc. The Jewish quarter sights should be visited between Monday and Thursday. There are only open in the morning on Friday and closed on Saturday, so Sundays are usually crowded. You can walk through the area after dark just for the medieval atmosphere. I'd also go for 3 full days in Vienna, a beautiful city in the daytime and almost as beautiful as Paris after dark. I've only been to Munich briefly so I can't speak to that. Remember to count your days, not your nights. Getting from city to city uses up most of a day - your train rides are about 5 hours each and you need time to get between the hotel and the station with your luggage. I'm a wine-lover, don't care much for beer. Hungarian wines are wonderful and inexpensive - so don't tell that to your wife. I didn't find much to drink in your destinations, though.

I think splitting your time evenly among the three cities is smart. Each has lots to see and do, and you won't know whether you like or hate a place (or are in between) until you actually see it. Do book trains ahead, for best fares. And Chani is right - remember to account for time lost due to travel between places. As for "photographic Europe," you'll be in heaven in Prague, particularly early in the day before the hordes "ruin" the pictures. If you like Art Nouveau, be sure to go on a tour of the Municipal House (you can't see the best parts without a tour). Remember that Jewish sights and Holocaust sights are not synonymous, despite having a lot of overlap. I certainly understand wanting to limit the numbers of any one kind of sight, but (for instance), Prague's Jewish Quarter is about much more than the Holocaust. In Prague, my favorite Jewish sight was the Jubilejni Synagogue, which is not part of the Jewish quarter (although, when I went in 2007, it was included in your admission to the Old-New Synagogue). It's a wonderful mix of Moorish and Art Nouveau styles. The Slav Epic is now in the Veletržní Palace. I enjoyed this museum a lot (and the Slav Epic wasn't even there yet). Its claim to fame is the French collection, but I was much more impressed with the Czech artists whose work I've never seen anywhere else. Since you indicate an interest in art, allow time for this (the Cubist furniture was memorable too, and again, something I haven't seen elsewhere). Since I wasn't as taken with Vienna or Munich, I'll let others talk about those.

I also think your idea of splitting the nights equally between the three cities is a good idea. Given your list of things to do, you'll have nice full days in each city. Sounds like a fun trip!

Despite being more famous for beer both the Czech Republic and Austria are also wine countries. The centre of winemaking in Czechia however is Moravia and not Bohemia, where Prague is located. Vienna is surrounded by vineyards, and a evening in one of the wine-taverns (called Heuriger) in a suburb like Nußdorf, Grinzing or Maurer is highly recommended. Very gemütlich.
Food in Vienna is great, in Munich good, and in Prague mediocre. Don't forget to visit a former KuK confectionary bakery to try a Sacher, Dobos or Esterházy torte, but instead of Sacher or Demel visit Gerstner, Lehmann or Heiner, which are equally good (maybe better) but not so horribly crowded. Since you are interested in art I would recommend not to visit Neuschwanstein or any other of Ludwigs castles but to see Nymphenburg and Schleißheim instead, two former summer residences of the Bavarian kings and wonderful baroque palaces with beautiful parks. In Prague don't miss Wallensteins garden, one of the most interesting projects of the Renaissance era in Central Europe. On weekends you can also visit the palace (for free), which now houses the parliament AFAIK.

A number of years ago, I did this exact trip with my parents. We flew in and out of Vienna, where we rented a car. Here's what (if I remember correctly) we did: Vienna: 2 nights Hallstat: 1 night Hall (near Innsbruck): 1 night Salzburg: 1 night (stopped at Neuschwanstein) Munich: 2 nights Some small German town on the Czech border: 1 night Prague: 2 nights Znojmo, CZ, near the German border: 1 night
Vienna, near the airport: 1 night Splitting up the days depends what you want to see and the types of towns you like. Vienna, Prague and Munich are all big ciities with plenty to see if you have four days. However, if you want to spinkle in some smaller towns, you might consider something more like what we did. But if you're traveling by train, you might be better off sticking to just those three cities. It was a great trip and the scenery was beautiful. Enjoy!

Thanks so much.
The plan is to either open in Munich and close in Vienna or vice versa (though there is a nice non-stop from Chicago to Vienna, that is nicely priced if you do RT but awful if you open jaw) because a Prague connection adds a not negligible amount to the airfare vs Munich/Vienna. Some day, I hope to fully understand how an airline can offer a two leg flight for less than the nonstop that is the long part of the two leg (looking at you, Iberico). Any rate, we are train travelers. We get to Europe and we turn into two little Joe Bidens. So, we're working on getting out of town in at least Munich (tour company to Ludwig castles, trains to Zugspitze) and Prague (Kutna Hora). Hrm... wife really wanted to do Hallstadt (I'm less sold... it's the photographer wife against the ADD husband). So, maybe Vienna->Prague->Munich->town at bottom of Zugspitze->Hallstadt->Vienna... My head hurts looking at that. Yeah, I dunno. If we were car travelers, maybe.

Hi, I agreed with your equal distribution of time for each of the three cities, alloting each four nights. Spending only two nights in Vienna would be an injustice to the city.

So, I;ve messed around some and come up with the following:
Sunday: Arrive Munich (9:30 AM) - Get Gesamtnetz partner pass, go to rail station, book Gray Line tour for Ludwig Castles for following day, Check in hotel - Alte Pinakothek - Museums - relaxing dinner Monday: Tour of Oberammergau, Palace of Neuschwanstein and Palace of Linderhof, Beer Garden - Evening Entertainment Tuesday: Residenz-City Walk or BMW-Welt, fancy dinner, evening stroll Wednesday: Zugspitze, and easy dinner, early bed Thursday: Bus to Prague - check in - New Town sites Friday: Jewish Quarter AM, Old Town Walking Afternoon + Jazz (Reduta?) Saturday: Castle Quarter sites in the AM, Afternoon in Little Quarter + Black Light Theater Sunday: Is this a good day to do Kutna Hora? If not Old Town/New Town spares + Slav Epic Monday: If it's not a good day to do Kutna Hora, we can shuffle that to here or do the stuff that was the alt on Sunday, then maybe more jazz and night train to Vienna (midnight to 7 AM... wife thinks this is stupid... I think it'll be college like) Tuesday: St. Stephens, KunstHausWien, Prater, Ferris Wheel, coffee and cake (that's every day) Wednesday: Kunsthistoriches + Imperial Treasury + Secession Thursday: Schonbrun palace + sights Friday: Belevedere Palace + city center sights like Albertina if exhibits interest. Saturday: Casual Vienna (this might flip with Friday or Thursday), fancy dinner, early bed Sunday: Fly home, 7:15 AM departure I know I'm missing sights but am I packing this too densely? Did that on our Italy trip which left us wiped for Venice (so we'll be going back in 2 years).

I did this triangle a few years ago - but also stopped in Salzburg. You could take a day away from Munich to spend in Salzburg. Otherwise I think splitting your time evenly between the three cities is a good plan.