From San Francisco Bay Area, can anyone recommend best flight itinerary between the 3 cities? I'll be travelling w/ 4 Seniors, 2 w/ arthritic knees who can't walk as fast so we'd like to travel by plane between the cities if it's not too expensive (versus train). Thanks, Arleen
Posted by
Ottawa, Canada
4555 posts
FIrst, explore airfares from SFO to either Berlin or Vienna, since they're at opposite ends of a north-south line that can be drawn right thru Prague. Vienna will probably be your best bet. But, frankly, the train might still be your best option while in Europe, since the distances between the three cities are relatively short. What with the struggle to get out to the airport, being there way before flight time, getting through security, waiting for baggage, etc, it might be better to reconsider the train, where you'll go downtown to downtown. Vienna-Prague is only about 200 miles, and there are thru trains that take around 4.5 hours. Prague-Berlin is about the same. (more)
Posted by
Ottawa, Canada
4555 posts
You can check prices and book tickets Prague-Berlin at the German rail website, (http://www.bahn.de/international/view/en/index.shtml)and check schedules Vienna-Prague at the Austrian railway website, (http://www.oebb.at/en). For tickets from Vienna, it's probably best to call them at 011-43-5-1717. I don't even think there are discount airlines between each of those cities. But on your return, you could look at Germania Express for cheap air fares, Berlin-Vienna (http://www.geruxx.de).
Posted by
Sunnyvale, CA, USA
290 posts
I did these cities 3 yrs ago...Air from SFO to Berlin, Die Bahn train from Berlin to Prague, then we did a rental car through Czech country side visiting family, taking a short drive to Vienna and back. For anyone else I would suggest train to/from Prague & Vienna. Train from Berlin to Prague about 4 hrs, and turned out to be cheaper and same travel time than air travel if you figure in cost/time getting to/from the Berlin/Prague airports. The train station you would stop at has a small elevator down to the Prague underground/metro (red line).
From the Vienna train station there are bus and metro links to town center. I would think there would be more walking through airports than by using the trains and public transport. BIG WARNING: all 3 cities require lots of walking to do all the sightseeing. I always advise folks no matter what their age to get on a regular exercise program months before going to Europe.