Question - Should we rent a car in Prague so we can go to Terezin, Cesky Krumlov, Svitavy and Litomysl.
I just wondering because we want to so many places and I don%26#39;t want to be rush on getting to trains/buses. and also if it gets late. We can just stay at whatever town.
Any one have any idea on how much would a daily rental be? And who should we use.
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Does anyone have any suggestions or comments. Should we just take the bus/train instead of renting a car? We are on a budget.
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On budget definitely use the public transportation. It is not the very new comfort standard usually and CZ is realy no PT-paradise like Switzerland, but it is still very good in terms of punctuality or intensity. Using a car is on most ways a bit quicker, but it makes no huge difference (keep the parking problem in mind). Might be, driving from the centre of Prague is even slowlier that the train (or bus from a suburb terminal). PT is (still) nothing %26quot;for the poor people only%26quot; in the Czech Republic.
There is no way to do all of these destinations in one day, not by PT nor by car. In two days you%26#39;ll be rushed by PT as well by car. In three days you can do it refreshing by car or by PT as well. In the car you do have some better comfort, but driving in the Czech Republic tend certainly not to be a pleasure, and by PT it could be about 1O times cheaper. The approx. fare by PT is - at the first look - 1 CZK / km.
The way to Cesky Krumlov is described widely on this forum. Most people travel by bus, while the train could be also used, at least for the most part of the journey (Prague - Ceske Budejovice), if you%26#39;d like to have more space. I commonly recommend to do it this way, and make some short stop either in Ceske Budejovice or Tabor (or maybe Budejovice on the way there and Tabor on the way back or so).
Terezin: There are some direct buses from Nadrazi Holesovice (about 1 hour), or the train to Bohusovice nad Ohri (about 1 hour from Masarykovo station in the center), where you have a local bus or maybe taxi to Terezin (about 5 minutes from there - it is also walkable, but nothing special).
Litomysl and Svitavy are very well do-able in one day. Direct trains from Prague leave for Svitavy every second hour, but with one change there are plenty of additional and maybe even faster connections. From there I would use the bus to Litomysl, and then bus to Ceska Trebova (where something goes to Prague almost continously from), or a local train to Chocen with hourly direct trains to Prague.
Use www.idos.cz for exact connections.
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If you%26#39;re in a hurry, in 2 days you could do this:
1) Go to Terezin, from there taxi or local bus to nearby Litomerice. It has quite good (but not direct) connection to Svitavy, where you can continue the trip to Litomysl. But it involves about 18 hours long day, this way it could be meaningful to rent a car.
2) Cesky Krumlov (or something additional along the way).
But this is what I would certainly not recommend.
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Hi,
Despite the fact there is a very good public transportation system here, when liking to see so many places in different areas of Czech, I strongly recommend to rent a car to use your holiday time as efficient as possible. My auntie from US has just rented a car from the co. Alimex (check their websites for their rates and more info: http://www.rent-car-prague.cz/). She rented a car from them for a fourth time and she was always satisfied. Of course, there are all world-known rental car companies, so you will have a huge choise.
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I would agree with Dita. Whilst you certainly do not need a car in Prague or to Terezin or Kutna Hora, anywhere further like Litomysl the car has its advantages. It is not difficult or costly to park in these towns and it would give you the opportunity to look beyond the towns and visit some countryside. On my last trip to Czech Republic I went to both Litomysl and Svitavy, then up north to Sumperk, Kraliky, Hanusovice and Kralicky Sneznik. It was a fabulous trip which would have been very difficult to do with public transport. It would enable you to see parts of Czech that most tourist do not see.
My last hire was about 40 euros a day, but it was not the cheapest car, you can get better deals than that.
The one thing to remember however is that the hire companies do not have many automatic transmission cars, so not sure how confident you would be using cars with gears. The cost of petrol is about 1 euro per litre.( I think)
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Agree with the above - if you do hire a car, don%26#39;t bring it to the centre of Prague, and do Terezin and Český Krumlov as day trips by bus or you will get stuck.
For places like Litomyšl and Svitavy you should make a two or three-day trip of it at least, and as an alternative (or addition) to KVKFANs itinerary I would do an early start to Kutná Hora then to Litomyšl one day - you can actually stay in Smetana%26#39;s apartment in the castle more information on the town here www.litomysl.cz/php/index/index.php… - the castle and town beat Český Krumlov hands down IMO.
The next day you have a choice - time is short and unless you have a particular reason for visiting Svitavy which has a beautiful main square but not a lot else I would cut across country to Polička (birthplace of Bohuslav Martinů) and then down to Nedvědice, home of Pernštejn castle http://www.zamky-hrady.cz/2/pernstejn-e.htm - a %26#39;proper%26#39; medieval castle with turrets and falcons flying around them, etc. The tour is OK - only open until 4pm - but don%26#39;t expect rooms full of rich furniture. The views are stupendous, though.
From there go cross-country through the Czech-Moravian highlands via Nové město (in the winter this is the centre of cross-country skiing and that is why many of the new hotels appear to be on %26#39;stilts%26#39; :) ) and then to Žďár nad Sázavou, home of Santini%26#39;s crazy UNESCO-protected pilgrimage church …wikipedia.org/wiki/Pilgrimage_Church_of_Sai… then make your way back to Prague.
You will have to be disciplined with your time, and you will be missing out on a huge number of things, but the roads are great for driving on with great views around every corner. You will need to get some stick-shift practice in, as many gear-changes are involved with some twisty roads! (automatic takes away from the fun) - careful of some bottlenecks with slow drivers/tractors, etc - don%26#39;t be tempted to do as the locals do and overtake on blind corners or two feet behind the car in front :)
As I presume you are not going to be in the country for several weeks, you will have to make some choices. Have a look at this http://en.czech-unesco.org/ and this http://www.zamky-hrady.cz/index-e.htm for some more ideas. I have been travelling around for almost 20 years and still haven%26#39;t seen everything!
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Thanks for all the advice... Now I%26#39;m wondering if we should spend less time in Prague. We arriving on Wednesday Sep 2, And leaving on Sunday Sep 6. I have 2 nights booked in Prague. So should I book a night in Litomsly and another at Cesky Krumlov? Any suggestions on inexpensive hotels?
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In Litomyšl and environs cost of hotel is not an issue. Different story in Český Krumlov, though - check through the forum as there are hundreds oif posts about accommodation there.
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Most places in Litomysl would be B@Bs, and I would expect to pay no more than 40 euros a night for a double room ensuite with breakfast.(and that%26#39;s the top end)
www.litomysl.cz/php/index/index.php…
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