Vienna & Prague Travel Tips

xpost I think my answer is "not badly," but at the same time we're kinda humoring a "well, we're in the neighborhood ..." mindset. I'm leaning toward train, though, since if we wanted to see more of Germany this trip we would have just taken a trip to Germany.

Got a recommendation for a reliable train booking site/service? I've come across several, and the prices (and online interfaces) are all over the place. I read somewhere that booking via a Czech site is cheaper than booking via a German site, but don't know if that's true.

honestly id go through deutsche ban and not complicate it if it were me

I always took trains there, not sure how much there is of note on the route TBH. There's a castle on a hill at Ústí nad Labem, and then of course there's Dresden.

It was always easy to book tickets on the day from the station.

Karlovy Vary (Carlsbad), the old fancy Imperial baths, is on the way. Dresden is amazing, you need a couple days for it at least so if you are pressed for time put it on a list for for the future. There's nice scenery along the Elbe south of Dresden too.

Karlovy Vary is a bit out of the way and the train doesn't stop there

https://www.seat61.com/trains-and-routes/berlin-to-prague-by-train.htm

loads to see in northern Bohemia though, if you're driving.

I think Dresden was fore of mind, but yeah, seems like something better saved for a future trip.

Because we'll be traveling as a family, I'm not comfortable waiting to book day-of train tickets. I'm leaning toward four first class seats, so that we're all guaranteed a spot together. I do hear the views from the train are lovely, which I assume will still be true in winter.

xpost That site is great, thanks!

to note im not sure first class would be at all required to get seats together

I think you may be right, depends on the train.

here to save you money and time

fwiw I didn’t think too much of the “old town” in Prague. largely filled with Thai massage parlours and semi-precious gemstone merchants.

the Palace is totally worth seeing imo.

I had a lot of fun just wandering around this long park that looks over the city. it’s called Letna Park. when it’s nice out people meet each other there with blankets and picnics. There’s also a place to buy beer and sausages, with long tables to sit at, if you haven’t brought any of that stuff. very chill vibes.

Barely went to the old town in my three+ years living in Prague, we called it "disneyland" - the roads off wenceslas square with the sports bars full of stag parties are much worse though.

Letna is nice, anywhere out of the centre with a beer garden is my paradise, guess Riegrovy Sady is my favourite as it's next to Zizkov.

We'll be there as a family (high school and college-aged kids) for I think just two nights. We got a dirt cheap flight from Chicago to Amsterdam, returning via Prague. So we spend three nights in Amsterdam (where we've never been), three in Berlin (where my wife lived as a teen back before the wall came down; she's never been back), and two in Prague. We're pretty much playing full-on tourist, given our limited time, but we're open to suggestions! This is around Christmas until the very beginning of January.

I went to Prague in January 2005 and and avoided the crowds. Old Town then didn't look too tourist trappy to me. My parents-in-law went in early 1990 and I'm envious, though they had a hard time finding restaurants--soe were kind of semi-legal with unmarked doors.

Also it was cold and snowy so it added to the atmosphere.

Yeah it's magic when it snows. To be fair to the old town there are plenty of very nice cafes, though many are hidden away down side streets.

Do any of you have a recommendation for where we should stay? Assume we'll be taking the train in from Berlin, then spending two nights in Prague. No car, older teens, just going because none of us have been. All we really know at this point is "castles" and "bridge."

(I used to have this mildly amusing Dave Barry travel book that reused the same generic city map with a river running through it for every city in Europe.)

all I know are the best party hostels, and even that information is nearly 20 years out of date.

But bearing that in mind, Žiżkov is the place to be, and if Ü Houdku on Bořivojova is still open, that's the best place to eat.

OK, 'nother question. We'll be there New Year's Eve, the four of us. Recommendations? I imagine it will be nuts, but not sure I/we (as a family) want nuts. There are restaurants, party boats (of various bents) ...

the historic central part near the bridge and wenceslaus square will be a BLOODBATH. unfortunately i don’t have great recommendations apart from avoiding those places on nye.

Every NYE I spent in Prague was messy/chaotic, not really a kid-friendly experience.

Ha, um, well ... we'll be there ! (Kids are teens, fwiw.)

Well to be honest there have been three phases in my NYE experience

Aged 0-18 = dull nights in with family
Aged 19-30 = chaotic, messy, generally horrible nights out
Aged 30-43 = dull nights in with family

If going out with teens is an option then I will consider it for future years