I need some help for a trip I am planning this fall.

I will be spending 10 days in Egypt and then arriving at 620AM into PRG on Monday Oct 10. My friend is coming to meet me in PRG late in evening in Thursday Oct 13. We will have until Monday afternoon Oct 17 to tour PRG.

Therefore, I am thinking when I arrive at PRG, I want to immediately travel to another city on 10/10 and plan to return on the evening of 10/13. It seems the most likely candidates are Berlin and Budapest, although, since I am flying, it can be to any city, really. I have already visited Vienna. Does anyone have any suggestions or preferences? In Germany, I have been to Munich, Heidelberg, and the Rhine Valley. I have never been to Hungry.

Finally, I am flying into Prague on a DL Skymiles award ticket via Czech Air. If I purchase another ticket on Czech Air on 10/10, can I check myself in all the way through? What is the earliest connection I could safely make?

Thanks for any and all advice!

I just returned from Berlin last weekend and was plesently surprised. I have been to Munich and the southern part of Germany and wanted to give Berlin a chance. Berlin was much more "touristy" than i had expected. We stayed at the Marriott (at Potsdamer Platz) which was a wonderful location. I know nothing about the other places you are considering and can only comment on what i experienced. I would recommend Berlin.

In addition, If you enjoyed southern Germany, there are alot of other areas that you may have missed. We truely love the mountains and plan to return to the Alps again in the next couple of years. One place we have stayed was a little area right outside of Salzburg called Burgtesgaden(i think it is spelled close to this) and really really loved the area. It is the area with Hitlers Eagles Nest. What a view from that place! Driving through the region was wonderful!

Speaking as a BUD person, I'd recommend Berlin. It's close to Prague, and since you only have a few days it seems to make sense. Trains between the two are pretty regular and quick. (Or, if you really want to fly, try and get something going into THF, a beautiful airport right in the middle of the city).
Check out Libeskind's Jewish Museum, a really powerful place, and an amazing example of the ability of architecture to create emotional impact. You might have had enough of Egypt by this point, but there are great collections of Egyptian antiquities in the State Museums, plus the Pergamom collections. If you do like architecture (which I do anyway ) also take time to see the Church of the Reconciliation, built after the reunification.
have fun!

Thanks for the help so far! I was thinking it would be easier to fly since I would already be at the airport...? Any other opinions?

[QUOTE=Endor]I need some help for a trip I am planning this fall. <<

If you only have a limited time I would say Budapest because Berlin you need more than 2 / 3 days. Just my opinion.

However there are wonderful places to see in the Czech Republic apart from Prague. Historical medieval towns such as Cesky Krumlov and Kutna Hora. Also Karlovy Vary the spa town.

<<You might have had enough of Egypt by this point, but there are great collections of Egyptian antiquities in the State Museums, plus the Pergamom collections. If you do like architecture (which I do anyway ) also take time to see the Church of the Reconciliation, built after the reunification.
have fun![/QUOTE]<<

The bust of Queen Nefertiti is a beauty and the Permagon Museum with other mid eastern ancient artefacts is also impressive.

I have been to both - Berlin for a weekend, and BUD for many, many weekends.

If you go to Berlin - the history is amazing. One of the best ways to see the city is on one of the walking tours - do this on the first touring day. I did the 'insidertour' - which was fantastic, but there are others (all claim to be 'the best' - but ALL have good write-ups in the guidebooks).

The 'insidertour' we did had an advertised walk time of three hours - although we didn't finish it under four. The guide takes their time and there really is so much to see.

The guides are all fluent in English and are Berliners.

If you have a choice of airport to fly into - Templehoff is the one - an amazing piece of art deco architecture - right in the town centre. Well worth a visit in its own right.

On the other hand - Budapest is amazing for its ambience and its thermal baths and amazing scenery - perfect for relaxing after a trip to Egypt. I always stay at the Gellert Hotel (via the Danubius hotels website). As a guest you simply walk downstairs for free entry. (Warning - the Gellert, built in 1912 (I think) is faded granduer! I love it - but others wanting internet access in the room and other mod cons always prefer to stay at one of the western hotels) - but check out the Gellert website).

In BUD make sure you go and have a tour of Parliament.

A single room there is Euro66 per night and is adequate. That includes breakfast. I have also stayed at the Inter.Continental in BUD - but you get a standard western room (although very nice!).

On arrival in BUD - taxis are available from the front of the airport. They are SET PRICE (5600 forints). You get a chit from the guy before you get in. The airport bus takes forever (and only leaves when full - so some freinds of mine have waited 45 minutes to leave). The cost for that is 2100 forints. Your chit when you get into the taxi at the airport contains a set price for returning to the airport (your hotel books it via the number on the back of the card) - the cost is 3000 forints.

Be warned - there are touist rates for taxis in town itself - you can pay BIG buck for a short journey. Always make sure you get into a taxi that has been booked by your hotel, or restaurant etc etc.

Any questions, please let me know,

Regards

WG

I fly quite often with CSA Czech Airlines (definitely not "Czech Air"!), who usually offer very good service so I'm willing to bet they would gladly help you connect to another of their flights. It is 100% certain that your luggage will be waiting for you at the final destination of your choice. Flying with separate tickets, however, might necessitate a very quick airside check-in at PRG- I sometimes have to do that even when flying on a single ticket if the connection is a bit long or the outstation handling agent not well-equipped/trained enough to issue onward boarding passes.
If I were you I would choose Krak�w as opposed to BUD or Berlin....IMHO it's far more picturesque and characterful than the other two, and prices will most likely be lower too. The only downside is the ATR42 that will take you there from PRG, which is cramped and a bit noisy. But by flying it you 'll get to see one of the world's very few Business class cabins (though the seats are the same, of course) at the rear of an aircraft!
Minimum connection time in Prague is 35 minutes which can be done very easily due to the clever layout of the terminal and the fact that security (apart from passport control, which of course has nothing to do with transiting pax) only happens at the departing gate (consequently no chance of you missing the plane by a security queue). If you are not familiar with the airport and run the risk of needing a boarding pass at PRG, leave an extra 10 minutes.
If you do fly to BUD remember that some flights (OK 3XXX or 4XXX) are operated by Mal�v so you might have problems crediting your miles outside OK+. Also remember to check the schedules if you have an irrational fear/dislike of RJs and turboprops, I think all MA flights are on RJs, while OK-operated flights are split between the ATR72 (far more spacious config than the OK ATR42) and B73X.

As noted previously, the Inter-Country express train runs a few times a day in each direction between Prague and Berlin. There's a train that leaves at 0730 and arrives Berlin Zoo at 1230. The return train also takes 5 hours and there's one at 1530 and another around 2000.

I have stayed at Hotel Gellert and it was the worst hotel I�ve ever stayed in. I had a single room and I thought I�m back in the times of the cold war. The place isn�t worth more than 15 Euros.

Stayed at Le Meridien BUD in December and, while well-furnished and designed, it had seriously nasty staff, including a "concierge" that was unable to find some train times for me!

Why not Varna, Bulgaria?

Bumping this back up. I am still struggling with selecting my interim destination. I am actively considering KRK, and BUD, but am leaning towards Berlin

I tentatively made an award reservation at the Marriott recommended above in Berlin, but am having trouble with booking air to Berlin. I am arriving at Prague from Cairo on Monday Oct 10 at 620AM (I would like to return to Prague by 7PM on Thurs Oct 13).

On Monday, what time could I safely book a flight out of Prague by? My ticket into Prague is part of an award tix, so I am planning to pay for this new tix out of pocket. My biggest problem seems to be the timetable and cost of airfare from Prague - Berlin. Since I am not 100% sold on Berlin, I am willing to go elsewhere if flights are more convienent (it seems like BUD has more flight options). Can anyone help? Should I consider trains or is there a better flight search engine I should be using?

What are you currently using to search? You should be able to find the full schedules on www.csa.cz/en, the CSA website.

I'd agree with the earlier poster that you probably want more than 2-3 days for Berlin, so if you're still taking alternate suggestions (Can't believe I'm following in your footsteps here, GU! ), what about Vilnius, Riga, or Tallin? I believe CSA has direct flights to all three of the Baltic capitals, they're short flights, and each are interesting and somewhat off the usual path cities that would be a great fit for a 2-3 day window.

Personally, I would choose Berlin, just because KRK & BUD are a lot more like PRG, where you'll be anyway, whereas BER is completely different (and larger & IMO more exciting).

However, there only seem to be 2 daily flights into BER (TXL) from PRG - if you're arriving at 6:20, you could catch the 7:25.