gnggng

After all the helpful replies, it looks as if I am getting some kind of outline of this trip together. As always, the trip takes on a life of it's own and I find we have to add on days to see things we want.

Just as an added bit of info, we will have at least 5 people on this journey and maybe 6-8 so, I am looking into some private transports between cities to see if it is feasible. Factoring in train tickets, transport between train stations and hotels the price adds up, and not having the stress of finding the right train and schlepping our bags might indeed be worth the extra cost to us.

Has anyone done private transports in this area? What are your thoughts on this idea?

I would also love to hear any thoughts on the itinerary.

The only thing in concrete right now is the date of the cruise 09/08/2018, so I have time to tweak until I get the airfare booked. Hoping to book with ff miles.

Fly from BNA -PRG
Prague 4 nights
Cesky Krumlov 1 night
Vienna 4 nights
Budapest 4 nights
Krakow 3-4 nights
Fly to Copenhagen
Copenhagen 2-3 nights before boarding ship.

JBord

I haven't used private transports, but from what I've heard from others who have, definitely worth looking into as it could save you money with that many people.

On your itinerary, the outlier seems to be Krakow. Everything else is more or less in a straight line, making for efficient travel. My only time in Krakow, I flew from Vienna rather than take (as I recall) a 6-hour train. Maybe I'm not accurate on the time, but it was a significant enough difference from flying, and I'm a train-first person. Anyway, I think this will be the tricky part of your itinerary, but if you have the time to spend traveling, not a big deal.

Also, perhaps you don't need that long in Krakow. It depends on what you want to do there, but my opinion is maybe 2-3 nights instead. Worst case though, I found it to be a very affordable place to eat some good meals and drink beer, even at the restaurants in the main square, so it's not a bad place to spend an extra day.

One other suggestion, and maybe this is already part of your Vienna time, but it's pretty easy to do day trips to Melk and Bratislava from there. A nice day trip is to take the train to Melk, explore the town and the amazing hilltop abbey, and then take the boat to Krems, and the train from Krems to Vienna. I believe the round trip combi-ticket for the trains and boat was about 55 USD/person.

But good itinerary overall, looks like a fun trip!

EmailKid

Well, the train ride would be moot if going with private transport @:-)

But if doing that a stop in Olomouc could be nice - I did that to visit the town and have a couple of shorter train trips between Prague and Katowice (which was my gateway to Krakow). European fast trains do this route, but continue to Warsaw and would have to change trains to go to Krakow (again moot for OP if doing private, but good info (IMHO) for others if going by train.

Do agree on Krakow - center is concentrated with lots of stuff, but maybe not as much otherwise. And very good pricing indeed

JBord

Right, I just didn't have any other first-hand information to demonstrate how long of a road trip that would be.

To your point about the trains, I think there was a direct train from Vienna as well, but it was an overnight train. So the ~6 hours may be a decent proxy for driving time, but I'm sure the OP could Google that and figure it out too.

gnggng

After investigating further, it looks like with a group of six, we can do the public transport, with sightseeing stops along the way to maximize our time. It is more expensive than trains, but not by a lot considering the hotel to hotel pickup.

I figured we would stay in Krakow 4 nights since getting to Krakow with sightseeing stops along the way will be a full day. Another day would be devoted to Auschwitz-Birkenau, so only 2 full days before catching a flight to Copenhagen. Do you think we will have enough to do there in that time frame?

WilcoRoger

I'd say no problems with spending 4 nights in Krakow, especially if you have one day visiting Auschwitz - just don't plan any light entertainment for the same evening, you won't be in the mood. True, 4 nights might seem a bit too much, but you won't have to rush, can take it leasurely.

gnggng

Thanks everyone for the help so far. I'm sure I'll be back asking for advice again as my plans move forward.

JBord

Yeah, good reason to do a lot of leisurely walking.

Seriously though, I would enjoy some nice long lunches and dinners al fresco, while consuming a few too many beers!

gnggng

It's me again with more questions and an update on the itinerary.

Prague 4 nights
Vienna 5 nights
Budapest 4 nights
Krakow 4 nights
Copenhagen 3 nights
All hotels are booked and flight from US to Prague booked.

After looking at the various transport options with 5 people schlepping luggage, we found a company called Ondaytrip to transport us from city to city, door to door for a reasonable price. With this option we will be able to stop along the way without worrying about what to do with our luggage.

My new question regards which stops should we chose between cities?

Prague to Vienna with stop in Cesky Krumlov for 2 hours? Is that enough time there?

Vienna to Budapest. Bratislava, Gyor, Esztergom, Visegrad Castle, Szentendre ? Which of these would you consider a good stop and for how long? We will want to have lunch at one of these places.

Budapest to Krakow. Banska Stiavnica, Kalište, Vlkoklinec, Orava Castle. Again, worth a stop and if so for how long?

One final question, in checking flight from Krakow to Copenhagen, it seems there is only one direct flight and it does not leave until 10:30 pm. The only others I have found have various layovers on the way. I am also considering the train to Warsaw to catch a direct flight from there. Any thoughts on that or other options getting from Krakow to Copenhagen?

Thanks again for the help so far. I only have few more pieces of the puzzle to put together.

JBord

2 hours isn't enough for Cesky Krumlov. I'd suggest at least an overnight.

Bratislava is a good stop on the way to Budapest. Try to get there in the morning, and leave late afternoon. 5-6 hours is enough to enjoy the old town, maybe hike up the castle hill for the views, and enjoy a leisurely lunch.

Can't comment on your third route. On the flights, if cost is not a major difference/issue for you, I would stick with just flights. Even a short layover somewhere would seem to make more sense than what I believe is a 3-hour train ride to Warsaw just to get on a plane.

gnggng

Thanks for the advice. We will make a longer stop in Cesky Krmlov, but due to hotel bookings, can't change it to an overnight.

We will look into stopping in Bratislava for a lunch and some sightseeing.

Thanks again.

theSaladDays

Are you sure that's correct? Looking at the KRK website they show most flights departing around midday or afternoon, and the last departure at 1830.

As an alternative, you could trade the last night in Kraków for another city with direct links to CPH, such as Wrocław or Warsaw. Both cities definitely warrant more than an day, but at least you could get a taster, and both are direct by train from Kraków. Wrocław is more manageable in a day, at least the very centre, but has far fewer flights for your onward journey the next day. You'd only scratch the surface in Warsaw, but it has the best air connections by far in Poland.

gnggng

I just checked again on rome2rio and it is showing the Norweigan Air flight at 10:30pm. I went to Norweigan Air sight and it is indeed the only non-stop.

Thanks for the tip on moving on to another city for that last night. I will check that out.

EmailKid

That was going to be my advice as well, so good call.