First Prague, then what?
April 7, 2018 9:30 AM Subscribe
I'm going on a short trip to Prague with friends this July. I"d like to add on another city, since Europe is too far away to just go for three days! What is a destination that's easy to reach from Prague (train would be ideal) and is not intimidating to travel to alone?
My friends and I are traveling from NYC to Prague from June 28th - July 2nd. Then they're continuing on to Krakow. I do not want to go to Krakow, so I need to figure out how to extend this trip. Ideally i would do so afterwards (So, July 2nd to maybe the 6th or 7th?) but if that makes it crazy expensive because of the July 4th holiday, I could also do something before meeting them in Prague, and then just go home on the 2nd.
So my question is, where can I go that's near Prague? People have suggested Berlin or Vienna. I would prefer not to fly so a high speed train would be great. If that's not realistic and I have to fly, so be it.
HOWEVER. I have never in my life traveled alone and I'm terrified. So it has to be a destination that is tourist friendly and I will feel safe. I"m a woman in my 30s if that matters. What would be absolutely ideal is if I could join up with some little 2 or 3 day trip somewhere. Like some kind of adventure weekend or yoga retreat etc.
My friends and I are traveling from NYC to Prague from June 28th - July 2nd. Then they're continuing on to Krakow. I do not want to go to Krakow, so I need to figure out how to extend this trip. Ideally i would do so afterwards (So, July 2nd to maybe the 6th or 7th?) but if that makes it crazy expensive because of the July 4th holiday, I could also do something before meeting them in Prague, and then just go home on the 2nd.
So my question is, where can I go that's near Prague? People have suggested Berlin or Vienna. I would prefer not to fly so a high speed train would be great. If that's not realistic and I have to fly, so be it.
HOWEVER. I have never in my life traveled alone and I'm terrified. So it has to be a destination that is tourist friendly and I will feel safe. I"m a woman in my 30s if that matters. What would be absolutely ideal is if I could join up with some little 2 or 3 day trip somewhere. Like some kind of adventure weekend or yoga retreat etc.
As a word of caution. Czech people are not the friendliest, they strongly dislike foreigners. The city is beautiful but take this as a grain of salt.
Krakow IS nice and interesting.
Your obvious destinations from Prague would be either Vienna or Budapest. I prefer Budapest compared to Prague a lot. Please note that there is a huge mountain (Carpathian Mountains) and the trains (night trains available) will have to go around this mountain.
https://www.seat61.com/trains-and-routes/prague-to-budapest-by-train.htm
July 4th holiday? Independence day? Has no meaning in Europe.
posted by yoyo_nyc at 10:17 AM on April 7, 2018
Krakow IS nice and interesting.
Your obvious destinations from Prague would be either Vienna or Budapest. I prefer Budapest compared to Prague a lot. Please note that there is a huge mountain (Carpathian Mountains) and the trains (night trains available) will have to go around this mountain.
https://www.seat61.com/trains-and-routes/prague-to-budapest-by-train.htm
July 4th holiday? Independence day? Has no meaning in Europe.
posted by yoyo_nyc at 10:17 AM on April 7, 2018
Cesky Krumlov is lovely little medieval town a couple hours south of Prague by train,, a bit touristy, but perfectly safe, good food, and lots of fun things to do in the summertime.
posted by wats at 10:21 AM on April 7, 2018
posted by wats at 10:21 AM on April 7, 2018
I vote Berlin.
posted by rustcellar at 10:42 AM on April 7, 2018
posted by rustcellar at 10:42 AM on April 7, 2018
Best answer: Vienna, hands-down. Easy to get to from Prague via train, easy to navigate, very safe, and highly tourist-friendly.
posted by the return of the thin white sock at 10:55 AM on April 7, 2018
posted by the return of the thin white sock at 10:55 AM on April 7, 2018
Not sure about your budget, but Vienna is more expensive than Budapest. Vienna also has more English-speakers, which might not be a bad thing.
posted by madcaptenor at 12:08 PM on April 7, 2018
posted by madcaptenor at 12:08 PM on April 7, 2018
Berlin is a big big city. As someone who hails from a big city myself, I find traveling to smaller cities to be more charming and more relaxing. So for that reason I would vote for Vienna.
Wish I would find myself back in Prague this July, I have very fond memories of my trips there. Have fun!
posted by vignettist at 12:19 PM on April 7, 2018
Wish I would find myself back in Prague this July, I have very fond memories of my trips there. Have fun!
posted by vignettist at 12:19 PM on April 7, 2018
Response by poster: Thanks for the advice so far! Krakow is lovely but I have been there already, so looking for somewhere new to visit :)
Cesky Krumlov sounds perfect! I will add that to the itinerary.
And wherever I end up, I will organize a mefi meetup!
posted by silverstatue at 12:19 PM on April 7, 2018
Cesky Krumlov sounds perfect! I will add that to the itinerary.
And wherever I end up, I will organize a mefi meetup!
posted by silverstatue at 12:19 PM on April 7, 2018
It's a massive and ridiculous generalisation to say that Czech people "strongly dislike foreigners".
There simply isn't a culture of public facing workers ingratiating themselves with their customers (as you might find in, say, the US). In those professional situations, yes, generally people were non-smiley and curt, yet I found that they were helpful, super efficient and, in Prague, mostly spoke excellent English.
I went to Prague with a friend, two women in our 30s, and we found that in more informal settings the Czech people we met were funny, kind, well-educated and interesting.
I'd strongly recommend Vienna if you're unused to travelling alone. I visited both Vienna and Budapest alone last year, on a similar trip, and I felt safe walking around central Vienna until fairly late at night - obviously usual precautions apply, as with anywhere. Not so much in Budapest. Beautiful, amazing hot baths, but I didn't feel secure for the first day or so although I kind of liked the slightly edgy vibe.
posted by doornoise at 2:29 PM on April 7, 2018 [4 favorites]
There simply isn't a culture of public facing workers ingratiating themselves with their customers (as you might find in, say, the US). In those professional situations, yes, generally people were non-smiley and curt, yet I found that they were helpful, super efficient and, in Prague, mostly spoke excellent English.
I went to Prague with a friend, two women in our 30s, and we found that in more informal settings the Czech people we met were funny, kind, well-educated and interesting.
I'd strongly recommend Vienna if you're unused to travelling alone. I visited both Vienna and Budapest alone last year, on a similar trip, and I felt safe walking around central Vienna until fairly late at night - obviously usual precautions apply, as with anywhere. Not so much in Budapest. Beautiful, amazing hot baths, but I didn't feel secure for the first day or so although I kind of liked the slightly edgy vibe.
posted by doornoise at 2:29 PM on April 7, 2018 [4 favorites]
My wife and I took the train from Vienna to Prague a few years ago. Easy trip and we had a great time in both cities.
posted by chimpsonfilm at 3:03 PM on April 7, 2018
posted by chimpsonfilm at 3:03 PM on April 7, 2018
We went Prague to Vienna on the train a few years ago when we only had time for one extra city (although Vienna for a wedding was the primary destination). It was perfect.
posted by gaspode at 3:31 PM on April 7, 2018
posted by gaspode at 3:31 PM on April 7, 2018
I'm going to suggest Weimar, which I did on a stop-over between Prague and Berlin. Soooo much history. It's really quite incredible.
See the original Bauhaus school. See Goethe's house. See the Nietzche archive. See Franz Liszt's house. The Castle Museum has a great collection of Cranach paintings.
And if you're so inclined you can take a bus to see Buchenwald.
Weimar is on the small side and almost everything historical is right in the old town center, which is lovely to walk around.
posted by brookeb at 4:08 PM on April 7, 2018 [1 favorite]
See the original Bauhaus school. See Goethe's house. See the Nietzche archive. See Franz Liszt's house. The Castle Museum has a great collection of Cranach paintings.
And if you're so inclined you can take a bus to see Buchenwald.
Weimar is on the small side and almost everything historical is right in the old town center, which is lovely to walk around.
posted by brookeb at 4:08 PM on April 7, 2018 [1 favorite]
If I were more interested in modern art and culture, or urbanism, I would go to Berlin. If I were more interested in older things, Vienna. Both are fascinating places. There are probably more places one could get into trouble in Berlin, but I wouldn't hesitate to go back to either place as a single woman. I guess if I had to choose the one that felt more manageable for an anxious person, Vienna. Either way, I envy you your trip!
posted by praemunire at 4:10 PM on April 7, 2018
posted by praemunire at 4:10 PM on April 7, 2018
I've been to most of the places mentioned, and enjoyed all of them. If you're a bit anxious, I would maybe steer away from Budapest (especially coming in alone to the train station) - it's just a bit rougher than the others. (Though I see from your profile you're in NYC; I feel like most of these places would be safer than there).
I wouldn't go to Cesky Krumlov for more than a day, as it's quite small, but it is lovely.
You could also consider German cities near Prague - Dresden or Leipzig both have enough to keep you interested for a couple of days, and the old towns are easily walkable. The train from Dresden to Prague only took a couple of hours, from memory - maybe 3 at most?
Seconding the suggestion for Weimar, as well. Or if you had enough time you could do a couple of Dresden, Weimar, Leipzig.
[Sidenote: I found the Czechs fine, you do have to watch out for pickpockets and con artists around the station, but that's not unusual. Had an absolutely excellent conductor on our train who went above and beyond, with limited English, to make sure we understood that there was a bus replacing the train part of the way, and came back to check on us].
posted by Pink Frost at 7:03 PM on April 7, 2018 [1 favorite]
I wouldn't go to Cesky Krumlov for more than a day, as it's quite small, but it is lovely.
You could also consider German cities near Prague - Dresden or Leipzig both have enough to keep you interested for a couple of days, and the old towns are easily walkable. The train from Dresden to Prague only took a couple of hours, from memory - maybe 3 at most?
Seconding the suggestion for Weimar, as well. Or if you had enough time you could do a couple of Dresden, Weimar, Leipzig.
[Sidenote: I found the Czechs fine, you do have to watch out for pickpockets and con artists around the station, but that's not unusual. Had an absolutely excellent conductor on our train who went above and beyond, with limited English, to make sure we understood that there was a bus replacing the train part of the way, and came back to check on us].
posted by Pink Frost at 7:03 PM on April 7, 2018 [1 favorite]
Vienna is probably the closest. Second would be Russia. Vienna is a culture shock after being in Prague. It's very expensive and harder to get past the touristy/Mozart stuff. Vienna panders way more to tourists than Prague does.
posted by bendy at 11:10 PM on April 7, 2018
posted by bendy at 11:10 PM on April 7, 2018
Dresden - you can just stop for a few hours or a few days on your way to Berlin. Munich is also nice. To me, Prague was more intimidating than any city in Germany due to the language. You will already be comfortable in Prague, so going to Berlin or Vienna should not be more intimidating.
posted by soelo at 9:41 AM on April 9, 2018
posted by soelo at 9:41 AM on April 9, 2018
Some good suggestions here. Your choice will of course be informed by what sort of thing you like.
Cesky Krumlov is excellent, and I'd happily spend several days there if I wanted to relax in somewhere picturesque.
Berlin & Dresden have their own charm, but don't have an old town like Prague because history. If you like that sort of thing you might prefer Bamberg or Heidelberg.
Germany is very pleasant, but more expensive and less culturally different than Budapest.
posted by HiroProtagonist at 9:29 PM on April 10, 2018
Cesky Krumlov is excellent, and I'd happily spend several days there if I wanted to relax in somewhere picturesque.
Berlin & Dresden have their own charm, but don't have an old town like Prague because history. If you like that sort of thing you might prefer Bamberg or Heidelberg.
Germany is very pleasant, but more expensive and less culturally different than Budapest.
posted by HiroProtagonist at 9:29 PM on April 10, 2018
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If you're feeling worried about solo travel, I think I would do Vienna -- it's a smaller, calmer city than Berlin, and it's super easy to get to from Prague. Everyone speaks English, it felt very safe, and it was lively and fun in the summer. We stayed near the Naschmarkt and walked almost everywhere, so if figuring out public transit isn't your thing, you probably won't need to (in contrast to Berlin).
We also stopped for a night in Český Krumlov in between -- it's a really beautiful, very tourist-friendly old town. We took a little shuttle thing from Prague to Český Krumlov and then on to Vienna, and it wasn't very expensive.
posted by goodbyewaffles at 9:48 AM on April 7, 2018 [2 favorites]