My wife, two of our friends, and I are planning a trip to Central / Eastern Europe in October. Our friends likely can only stay 16 days while my wife and I will probably stay an extra week.
As a group of four, we would like to visit Prague, Budapest, Krakow, and possibly Vienna and Berlin if time permits. We have not yet planned out our itinerary.
Given that there are four of us and that we would like to have some flexibility in our travel plans, should we depend upon buses and trains or should we hire our own vehicle?
I understand that the trains to some destinations can be slow and long (e.g., Budapest to Krakow), although train travel isn%26#39;t that expensive. Hiring a car would give us a lot more flexibility, but potentially cost a bit more after fees, tolls, and gas.
My wife and I have travelled to Europe before on a few occasions, although we%26#39;ve only hired a car in Slovenia and Croatia, depending on trains and buses at the other destinations. One of our friends has not travelled to Europe ever before, so this will be his first trip.
Any advice would be appreciated.
Cheers.
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You are right about the car being more flexible, and you can potentially see a lot more. However there are some things to consider.
First thing is when hiring a car - where are you planning on flying in from/to? Remember that you will have to drop the car off in at least the same country to avoid prohibitive dropping-off fees, and you are right about the various tolls, gas etc (not to mention fines and pure stress) that you will incur along the way.
Some hire car firms will not allow you to take their cars into certain countries anyway (especially Poland - it is %26#39;interesting%26#39; to drive there, to say the least :)) Also you don%26#39;t really want to be driving in most of those cities if you are a novice at that kind of thing - this is far removed from Canada!
Not to worry though - public transport is very good, as you may know, and if you are doing long-distance trips you can always take the overnight trains between the furthest cities which will save you on hotel bills and it doesn%26#39;t matter how long they take as you will be asleep for most of it anyway.
Taking into account the cities that you want to see - Prague, Budapest, Krakow, and possibly Vienna and Berlin, this is all relatively do-able by train. However Krakow puts a bit of a spanner in the works - it is perfectly reachable, but it is a bit out on a limb - the other cities are on the same main North-South rail route. Without knowing your intended starting point it is difficult to advise any further.
Hope this helps a bit, anyway!
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Thank you for your response.
We have a couple of options:
1. Fly to Budapest and make our way north to Berlin. If we do this, then we will likely use public transit and try to get to Krakow if possible. I haven%26#39;t been able to find any cheap flights from either Budapest, Prague, or Berlin to Krakow, although it is still early.
2. Circular route, starting and ending in Prague. If we do this, then we may rent a car. This way, we would head to Vienna first, then to Budapest, possibly to Eger, Krakow, and Berlin. Our friends may depart from Berlin while my wife and I head back to Prague to return the car and continue our journey.
I have driven in New York City and the narrow streets of Split and Dubrovnik, although the latter two do not compare to the other cities on our itinerary.
We still have some time to decide, but we would like to make a decision soon so that we can properly play our starting and departure points.
One other question, is it better to purchase individual tickets when we%26#39;re in Central / Eastern Europe or should we purchase a railpass?
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Again, Krakow is the sticking point, whichever one you do!
There are no budget flights that I know of between any of those cities - easyjet used to do Berlin-Karakow but they binned it a couple of years ago.
There is a night train from Krakow - Berlin, but it can%26#39;t be looked over the internet. You will be able to buy a ticket when you get there, though.
I would think carefully about the car option - I think even New York pales into insignificance, especially considering the fact that you will be confronted with several (presumably) unfamiliar languages and rules (or lack thereof). Plus as you have previously experienced many of these places were not designed for cars and parking can be hell in places. I personally would consider it as I have done it all before, but I would need an unlimited budget - and remember you will have to be a teetotaller as the laws are extremely strict :) At the very least invest in a decent sat-nav system (but don%26#39;t leave it in the car).
As for planning your rail journeys - if you do it far enough in advance you can get some good deals, which work out far cheaper than any railpass that is available, and even if you bought them on the day of travel it can work out cheaper. October is a long way away - if it is at all possible to book tickets on-line, then you won%26#39;t be able to do so until c. 2/3 months before travel, and then there are only a few heavily discounted tickets available per train. Don%26#39;t worry, though, tickets don%26#39;t %26#39;sell out%26#39; and you don%26#39;t always need to reserve.
Have a look at www.db.de (German Railways) - you can search and book many tickets here, also
https://eshop.cd.cz/Default.aspx?lang=E (Czech Railways)
www.oebb.at (Austrian Railways) - tickets can be booked here but you need to know some German.
Also www.seat61.com is quite useful for general information, as is www.idos.cz for train times and www.viamichelin.com for driving directions/times/costs.
Don%26#39;t succumb to raileurope, though, whatever you do - they are a ripoff.
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Thank you for your great advice GCEK. After taking into consideration your remarks, we will probably bypass renting a car and only doing so on days we wish to take a day trip to the countryside. Even then we%26#39;ll depend on public transit.
We%26#39;ve decided to amend our itinerary, but it%26#39;s still a work in progress. Here%26#39;s a general plan:
- Fly to Krakow (spend 3 or 4 days)
- Train or fly to Berlin (3 or 4 days)
- Train to Prague (3 or 4 days, although we may spend on day in Cesky Krumlov)
- Train to Vienna (2 days, although we may skip it)
- Train to Budapest (3 or 4 days)
Question on Prague - how many days would you advise to stay in Prague? Are there other places worth visiting?
Thank you again.
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Sounds fine - but good luck finding a flight to Berlin fron Krakow! I reckon the overnight train is your best bet on that one as the hassle involved in flying is just not worth it, IMO, and you would waste a good part of the day getting from centre to centre (Krakow airport is well out of the centre). With the train you just go to the station, bed down for the night and arrive the next morning, hopefully refreshed :)
If you do go to Český Krumlov, try and spend a night there as it is magical at night and free of the hordes of tourists - it is also quite a trek to get there (3 hours by bus) so it would give you a chance to see something at least.
And it would be a pity to miss Vienna, especially as it is on your way from Prague to Budapest. You might as well get all three Imperial capitals in while you can. Check out my favourite city, Brno, on your way - it has strong Canadian connections (long-standing Professor of English, Don Sparling, is Canadian and has been here since 1968. There are several other Canadian ex-pats as well) http://www.brno.cz/index.php?lan=en
Have fun!
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Thank you again for your advice. My wife isn%26#39;t very keen on taking the overnight train as she didn%26#39;t have a great experience on one we took from Lisbon to Madrid. So given that there aren%26#39;t any direct flights from Krakow to Berlin, we%26#39;ve decided to start in Krakow and then fly to Budapest, where there are some cheap, direct flights.
Vienna is still on our list, but I%26#39;m not sure 2 days will do it justice. We may not go to Cesky Krumlov due to time and distance, but we may decide to go to Brno. I read a bit on it and it sounds like a worthwhile stop.
Thank you again for your assistance.
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