we will be on an eastern europe bus tour in May spending two days in prague. we would like to break away from tour one day and visit cesky krumlov. unfortunately tour not going to cesky krumlov. I have read other posts explaining buses %26amp; trains but it seems a long journey and we don%26#39;t have a lot of time. wondering if we should hire a car and leave early? will this cut down the time considerably? is it easy travel by car? we will be driving on other side of road as to what we are use to! also is it really worth visiting and breaking away from the tour? we would miss out on in Prague visiting National Theatre, Belvedere Charles Bridge, old town hall and astronomical clock. all answers greatly welcome first time travellers to Europe from Australia. early 40%26#39;s age bracket. thanks
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if you are only in Prague for 2 days, spending one of those days for the long trip down to cesky krumlov (3.5 hours by car) is not worth it. Spend one day in Prague looking round the castle area and one day looking round the old town
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I beg to differ with the local expert. As one who has visited the areas around Prague and Cesky Krumlov for decades plus %26quot;guided%26quot; trips by relatives to the region, I would like to add my two cents. The Prague Castle complex can easily be seen in a morning. I mention the morning because the sunlight striking the stained glass windows of the Cathedral as well as the gold mosaics of the Golden Door (the entrance closest to St. Wenceslas%26#39; Chapel) are most impressive at that time of day. If you are visiting on a Sunday, you will have an added treat; rush inside the Cathedral as mass ends to hear the closing pages of the music of the pipe organ bouncing off the church walls. Try to reach the place where the transcept (short axis of the church) and nave (long axis of the church) cross (pun intended since a church is shaped like a cross) for the full effect of the sounds bouncing around. If you choose to take Tram 22 to reach the Castle area, be advised that it is called %26quot;The Pickpocket Express.%26quot; Groups of pickpockets swarm around unsuspecting tourists in crowded areas. Prague is generally a safe city, but don%26#39;t let your guard down since you are %26quot;on vacation.%26quot; Displaying expensive cameras, watches, jewelry ,etc. in a crowded tourist area is just asking to be robbed. When I %26quot;guide%26quot; relatives, if they don%26#39;t want the exercise of walking up the Castle steps to visit the Castle, I advise them on what to wear and furnish them with a Czech newspaper to %26quot;read%26quot; on the tram plus advise them to avoid the pushing crowd as the tram doors start to close on entering passengers.They can%26#39;t understand a word of the newspaper, but it is one more way to encourage the pickpockets to seek someone else to rob. After seeing the Castle complex and you walk down the steps by the Castle wall towards the Charles Bridge, visit the Cathedral just before the Bridge. After you cross the Bridge, see the Astronomical Clock just to say you have seen it. I think it is an overrated site; it swarms with crowds of tourists, watching the clock move at the hour, being surveyed by pickpockets. Adjacent is a large and beautiful town square. On your way to Wenceslas Square (actually shaped like a long, thin rectangle) visit the Municial House. Step inside for a minute to look at the two beautiful Art Nouveau restaurants on the ground floor; if you are a music lover, the beautiful Smetana Hall inside has good acoustics and evening concerts. At Wenceslas Square, visit the lobby, Art Nouveau Restaurant, and first floor sitting area of the spectacular art nouveau Hotel Europa (remember in Europe the street level floor is the %26quot;ground%26quot; floor.; above that floor is the mezzanine floor; and above that floor is the, yep you guessed it, %26quot;first%26quot; floor!). The outside of the hotel was recently %26quot;improved%26quot; with a hideous yellow paint job, but don%26#39;t let that discourage you from entering. The first floor sitting area has a spectacular multistory central atrium, probably where the famous Brown Palace Hotel in Denver got its idea. The adjacent wide, hotel stairs have been in many famous films, one I think with Tom Cruise.
It would be a crime to visit Prague and not see Karlstein%26#39;s semiprecious jewel chapel (this part of the castle is not on the standard bus from Prague tour) or Cesky Krumlov. There are many guided full day trips from Prague; however you will feel rushed through the town with swarms of other tourists. The lunch stop in Cesky Krumlov is brief ,and some tours don%26#39;t stop at a restaurant with a patio view of the Castle; some bus tours save themselves money feeding you a bad, fatty meal in a basement restaurant! Taking the bus yourself (three hours if no transfers) can be daunting, especially for novices, but is MUCH less expensive than the guided, private bus tours. The home page of www.castleview.cz has a link on the left side of the page to detailed bus instructions from Prague, etc.. Going by public transportion, you can arrive in Cesky Krumlov BEFORE the swarms of bus tours arrive to clog the narrow streets.
Although more expensive, taking the taxi to Cesky Krumlov is another option. Taxi drivers in Prague have a reputation for ripping off tourists. Always agree on a price in WRITING before entering a cab. Although historically AAA Taxi has been one of the more reputable companies, on the last two trips the driver insisted on going to Cesky Krumlov by the longer E55 route than Route E49, claiming that that was the route his DVD trip computer %26quot;told%26quot; him to take.The meter totaled 5,100 CZK from the Prague Airport to the old town of Cesky Krumlov. Such taxi companies in Cesky Krumlov such as Ruze or Krumlov Taxi (call 380 712 712 or visit www. krumlov-taxi.cz with an English language option) offer a flat 3,890 CZK rate between the two locations. It is interesting that taxis usually take route E49 when they can%26#39;t get a larger fee for the longer route. Depending on the route and time a day, the taxi takes between 2 hours 15 minutes and 2 hours 30 minutes for the E49 route between the two locations. I don%26#39;t know your schedule, but I usually arrive in Prague airport then take the taxi to Cesky Krumlov, arriving shortly after lunch. I take my relatives to the Castle for a tour (closed Mondays unless Monday is Czech holiday itself). Be sure to take tour %26quot;1%26quot; that includes the Masquerade Hall where people painted on the walls seem to step out into the room. Afterwards we walk along the river and the meandering streets. We spend the night in Cesky Krumlov so we can see the town at night (the days are longer in summer) when the Castle is bathed in floodlights and the hordes of day touists have gone home. The town has an entirely different feel at night. If there is an early morning fog, the view of the Castle is even more magical. The next morning we take a bus back to Prague (less than 200 CZK per person) for a full day of sightseeing. Take a direct bus to avoid the transfers in Ceske Budejovice where the main bus station is being conmpletely renovated. Ubnless you know the ropes, you can easily miss the connection there since the bus from Cesky Krumlov does not stop at the temporary bus station (that would be too easy for tourists).
Enjoy your trip. You will see why many tour books consider Cesky Krumlov, Venice, and Florence as the only %26quot;must see%26quot; places in Europe!
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I forgot to mention that I would NOT suggest that novices rent a car going from Prague to Cesky Krumlov. Around the city some of the super highways require a special sticker for the vehicle. There are warning signs on the highways, but of course the signs are in Czech or are blocked by the many large trucks clogging the roads. There are police cars waiting at many locations to catch and fine, on the spot, any unsuspecting tourists. Czech drivers are not known for their driving skills. I usually see at least one accident per trip between the two towns, and I have seen cars operated by driving schools pull into the left lane then slow down! Many of the rural roads are narrow with large tree trunks very close to the highway. Passing cars on these roads is a fine art as drivers try to get around the large trunck before uncoming cars reach them. As I understand it, cars traditionally pull over into the accident lane if someone wants to pass them. There is much road construction between the two locations that adds to detours and confusion for tourists.
SInce the train station in Cesky Krumlov is up a steep hill and much farther away from the old town than the bus station, I would not advise this option although a lot of people take a taxi between Cesky Krumlov and the Ceske Budejovice train station, where they will have a lot more room to stretch out than on a bus. Buses on weekends can be full with many people standing in the aisles for hours. The train to Prague stops at the main train station close to Wenceslas Square, rather than the buses that stop at one of several long distance bus stations adjacent to the metro lines. The main sites in Prague (other than perhaps the Castle across the river) are within easy walking of Wenceslas Square and can be seen within a few hours.
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thank you so much for your informative description of all the sights we should try to see. fantastic of you to take the time. kerry
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I have done both, taken the public bus and hired a car and drove there. I would say I qualify as a %26quot;novice%26quot; since I had never driven in the Czech Republic and had never taken a long-distance bus here.
Neither was difficult although you do need to follow a couple of steps.
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The bus should be reserved in advance to make sure you get a seat, otherwise you might have to stand part or possible the entire way. It is a full 3 hour bus trip as it makes a number of stops. Bus leaves from Florenc, a short distance from the center.
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I hired a car from the hotel where I was staying. It was a relatively painless drive. The roads are very well marked. We went down on a Friday and ran into traffic leaving Prague and hit construction a couple of times in some of the small towns. (You have to get on secondary roads to get there). It took a little more than 2.5 hours down on Friday. Coming back on Sunday we took a slightly more western route and it took just about 2 hours with less traffic. There are many rentals and they usually have all the documentation you need to have to use the highways. You must make sure that is the case. However, parking in CK is problematic. The hotel where I stayed used a lot just outside of old town. You will need to check on where to park from the hotel. I would reserve a hotel before going there.
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I would not go to CK for just a day. There%26#39;s quite a bit to see even though the town itself is very small and it is quite a magical place after dark.
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I made a day trip from Prague to Cesky Krumlov on October 17th. I took a tour with Prague Sightseeing Tours company, which I can highly recommend.
Price was 1750 kC / person.
Left Prague at 9:00h and arrived in Cesky Krumlov at 12:00 noon.
What a lovely city CK is!!! I would like to spend at least one night there.
Every effort to visit it is worthwhile!!
We left at 16:30h and arrived in Prague at 19:00h. The traffic jam in Prague was so awful that we jumped from the bus to take the subway.
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