how to get from Salzburg to Cesky Krumlov

There is no best way. Maybe 8 hrs, Salzburg to St. Pölten by rail, then by bus to Tulln a.d.Donau, then three more trains to CK.

Renting a car might not be your cup of tea, but it's an easy 2 1/2 - 3 hour drive. Driving distance 220 Km per viamichelin.com.

Pam, there are also shuttle buses (the ride is about 3 hours). Please note that I've never taken them, but I am aware of them from reading the TripAdvisor.com forums. Here are a couple I've seen recommended (again, no firsthand experience here...): http://www.shuttlebus.cz/salzburg.html http://www.shuttlelobo.cz/3/en/shuttle-salzburg-cesky-krumlov/ http://www.ckshuttle.cz/ So, no need to rent a car (though I'm sure it's a beautiful drive, but you may not want the hassle/expense if you aren't returning to Austria afterward) and no need for an arduous train journey!

This past Sept we travelled from Linz to Cesky Krumlov. We took a "shuttle" from the Linz Hbf to CK. Imagine Mario Andretti behind the wheel of a minivan! Nonetheless, we arrived safely in about 90 minutes. The cost was 400ck per person. Upon leaving CK we took the bus ( 96ck/person) to Ceske Budejovice (Budvar) and , eventually, trained back to Austria. Literally, "you can't get there from here" but it is/was well worth the effort. Krumlov is a place we will find a way to return to. It is magical.

Thanks for the info. Tom, do you know if there'd be a drop off charge for renting a car in Salzburg and then leaving it in Cecky Krumlov?
Mick, do you remember which shuttle service you used?

http://www.sebastianck-tours.com/shuttle.php
This should be the link to the shuttle. It was from the Pension Sebastian in CK. They were about an easy 5-10 minute walk from the main town square.Good Luck.

We want to go from Cesky K to Salzburg...should we anticipate the same approx. 8 hour journey in that direction? I am not crazy about someone else driving me in a shuttle, but 3 hours vs 8 is a game changer.

Denny, Go to www.idos.cz, switch to English on the right, and put in your travel data (keep the option to search both trains and buses). You'll find routing via trains and a bus that will take you between 4 and 5 hours, depending on the time of day you depart. In a couple of instances you'll have to walk from the train station to the bus station, and IDOS will give you the approximate walk time. The same actually goes for the reverse trip (Salzburg to CK). It'll take closer to 5 hours and involves train and bus transfers, but it's shorter and a little less complex than Lee suggested above.

Training from Salzburg to Kaplice takes 3-4 hours depending on when you leave. Buses from Kaplice to CK takes 35 minutes. You could leave Salzburg at 10:01 and arrive in Kaplice at 13:11. Leave Kaplice on a bus at 14:15 and arrive in CK at 14:45. Total elapsed time = 4 hr, 15 min. Czech bus schedules are available on www.myczechrepublic.com.

Thanks so much Angela for the information. This is a great help.