If you want to drive, stay in Germany. And if you want to go to Prague, check whether your Rent-a-car allows you to take the car into the the Czech republic. I assume that you guys do not plan to rent a VW Polo and some companies will not allow you to take a BMW or Mercedes into the Czech republic.

Well, if you just want to drive, try this

Good idea, but don't destroy the rental car plus on a Saturday there might be a regular race. A day in Basel might also be a good idea and if you really only want to drive: Drive down to Lake Constance, the A81 from Stuttgart to the south is the Autobahn with the least traffic in Germany, you'll often see people from abroad there that test drive Porsches and Mercedes sports cars, going from Stuttgart to the lake and back.

Saturday Night in Prague is the Brits [Stag/Batchelor] Party night..thousands of Druken Guys Barfing everywhere. I could not imagine anything worse and certainly not worth a 1000kms drive.

Good point (and good guess) ;)

Thanks. I've been to Basel numerous times on business, but I've always found it rather dull. Did I miss something exciting? Also, Google doesn't route me on the A81 Frankfurt->Basel. It seems the 81 is somewhat out of the way. Do you suggest it's worth the diversion?

LOL!

I did want to go someplace less "westernized", but fares to places like ZAG and LJU are $500 r/t (even with Sat night stay).

Hmmmm.... since I have a Sat night stay, I could do an LH 15,000 award. I've been to ZAG, loved it. Been to PRG years ago, but now it's rather "westernized". What are people's opinions of BTS, LJU, OTP (kinda far). I really want to go to KBP, but it's too far, and there's only 2x flights per day.

Oh, sorry, you did get me wrong. I wanted to say "Go to Basel (A5 FRA-BSL) or drive down to Lake Constance"

I love Basel very much, IMO it's a city that offers a lot, especially some pretty good museums (like Beyerler). My other suggestion is drive down to Lake Constance, spend some time in the old town of Germany's most beautiful city (I'm a patriot:) ), there are some good restaurants that I could recommend.

What is this beautiful city? Is it called Lake Constance?

Forget this Prague-idea.
(i´m a truck driver by profession and i know the german Autobahn around...) Since i live near Heidelberg (just 15 mins away from HD ;) )
It´s similar to Frankfurt by distance to PRG. And i wouldn´t even consider a 24 hr trip to Prague (don´t forget that gasolineprices in Europe are significantly higher than in the U.S.!!!)
It makes no sense at all for a 24hr trip.

If you don´t want to spend the evening/night at Frankfurt there are sooooo many doable choices!
e.g.: Heidelberg is just a 50mins-1hr drive from FRA; Mainz as mentioned is also nice (and just 30 mins to go there from FRA)

"Lake Constance" is as the words suggest a LAKE.
In fact it´s by far the largest lake in Germany (about 10 mi wide and roughly 35 mi long) and it is at the most southern end on Germany.
In fact this lake is shared with Switzerland and Austria (Germany on the northern side Switzerland on the southern side and Austria covering a small share on the south eastern end.

So, what´s the point on it ??? Beautiful Landscape!


Oooooh, btw.: If you decide to go to "Lake Constance" i suggest not to use this phrase when talking to Germans ! ! ! Most Germans wouldn´t understand what you´re talking about !!!!
In German it´s called "Bodensee" and "Constance" is just a german City being at the lake...
It´s german name is: Konstanz (which is used on the streetsigns of course)

Thank you. I just spent three days in Heidelberg last month on business, and thoroughly enjoyed myself. Stayed in Die Hirschgasse. Was a lovely city and lovely hotel. ^

Konstanz, that's the city I was talking about. If you like Heidelberg or Freiburg you're gonna love Konstanz, I promise you that, I don't know a single person that's been to Konstanz that hasn't enjoyed his stay, also if it's only for a day.

If you're considering a trip there, let me know, I can give you some advise on hotels and restaurants.

We drove Amsterdam - Prague a year and a half ago. Not sure offhand where Frankfurt fits in there on the map. We rented online through EuropeCar, I think it was, based in New England. That was the only way we could find to get a rental we could take into CZ.

We picked up the car from one of the big name outfits at Schipol who balked about is taking it into CZ but were OK when we pointed out who we make the res through. Make sure your rental papers explicitly say you can to into CZ or you may have problems at the border.

We enjoyed the trip greatly, but took our time. Not sure if it would be as much fun in such a rush. An overnight stop in Plzn (Pilsen) and tour of the Pilsner Urquell brewery was a real highlight. Bought a big Michelin spiral bound map book along the autobhan and it was a lifesaver.

There is a border checkpoint, and you have to buy a road toll sticker for your windshield. Our stops in Czesky Krumlov, Karlovy Vary and Plzn were great, as was the stunning castle at Konopište.

Hope you can find a bit more time.

Traveling alone, I generally like to go out for a nice meal in very good restaurant with a youngish crowd and then like to go to a bar/nightclub, etc. afterwards. Is this the type of city for this?