Prague/Austria Itinerary, would love feedback!

Alex, I like your itinerary. Only you would know whether to shave a day off of Vienna. Just depends on what sites you want to see there. Two full days should be enough. In ref. to St. Wolfgang, you'll have two full days there. Again, it's great depending on how much you want to hike and sightsee. By the way, don't forget to take the kids to the summer toboggan run in Fuschl am See. My son added this run to his list of luge runs that he has made in other areas of Austria and Germany. Also, I'm sure you know about the Nightwatchman's tour in Rothenburg. You should be able to get there early enough to take the tour. Have fun making lifetime memories with your family--what an opportunity!

Prague and Vienna are a lot of fun. Be ready for the food being a lot better in Vienna. Check out the Naschmarket area. Many restaurants right at your front door, along with delis, produce markets, etc. Hi Alex, have you given Salzburg any thought? Very nice people, as well, and the views from the mountains will amaze you. Lots of private tour companies to take you around and the food is to die for. The smallish hotels often times have their own restaurants on the ground floor. Our favorite restaurant of that type was at the Hotel Goldenen Ente. We stayed at Hotel Weisse Taube and enjoyed it and the people immensely. Breakfast was very good.

Actually, Vienna is not a good stopping point between Prague and Salzburg. It's quite a detour but I think it is worth it. Kids would probably like Donauturm (modern view tower out of touristy area), try Vienna famous coffee houses, heurigens in Grinzing. Depending on when you will be there there is a nice long Danube island where people go to sunbath and swim. I usually compare Prague and Vienna this way: Prague is more scenic, Vienna more classy and grandiose.

I would disagree on the food issue. We had three nice meals in Vienna and four wonderful meals in Prague. Rick's recommended restaurant in the Judenplatz is very good; the Italian restaurant east of St Stevens, while beautiful, has very marginal food. While in Prague, I recommend staying at the Arcadia Residenz and asking for meal suggestions. You will find wonderful and reasonable food.

Thank you for the comments. I guess I am not sure what we should do in Vienna. We were hoping to see the boys choir and found out that they do not perform in August. It sounds like the riding school may not be worth it and Rick says the Sacher Torte is not fantastic! My children are looking forward to an evening at the Prater. I have always wanted to see Vienna and since it is a good stopping point between Prague and Salzburg it makes sense to spend a few days. BUt I wonder if there is more to do in the Salzburg area.

Warning about Prague with 9 and 12 year olds- this city seems to have more cheap souvenir stands than any other per capita in Europe. Be prepared for a lot of "Dad, can we buy this {fill in the blank with some cheesy souvenir made in China}?"

Okay, Tom, your post made me laugh. You do get bombarded with souvenirs in Prague.

Do yourself a favor and stay in a farmhouse while you're in St. Wolfgang. There's several in the area that have apartments. We stayed in one a few years ago, and it's one of our best travel memories. Our son was young, only 3 at the time, but it was the best experience with kids. Find one that has more than one apartments so there'll be other kids there, too. I can send you info on the one where we stayed, but it books up pretty quickly. Many families stay there every year and book their next vacation before they leave!

There's tons of kid stuff to do around St. Wolfgang. The Austrian travel board has lots of brochures on the Salzkammergut. There was a really neat wild animal park just past Strobl (driving away from St. Wolfgang) that was FREE (!) and had mountain goats and elk.

THank you all for the wonderful tips and advice. I would love the contact info for the farmhouse in St. Wolfgang. We had originally planned to stay in Salzburg but the rates are high and two of the hotels we are interested are already full because of the Slazburg Festival. We are actually starting to feel like Salzkammergut will be great.

Brad, thanks for the excellent advice! We are taking the Lufthansa direct from Denver. Do you think we should skip Vienna altogether? We were thinking it would be a nice stop to see the Prater and spend the night or two. We have enough points for two free nights at the Bristol and were planning to stay there. I am considering adding one more night in St. Wolfgang since the area has so much to offer.

Any tips for Prague? What did your kids enjoy most there?