Itinerary Review: Munich/Prague/Vienna

I decided to make my 4th BMW auto (plus one motorcycle) a European Delivery, with a father/daughter adventure built in.

I will be picking up 2010 M3 vert in March. I've reserved snow tires, however decided to stay away from the Alps due to weather variability. Also, I've spent some time there previously, as well as have been to Munich previously.

As a result, I want to focus on Prague, Vienna, and possibly Salzburg (based on recommendations). I have done lots of research on ED board and WIKI regarding sights and hotels, however would like to get some input on drive times and time spent in each location.

I will be traveling with my 11-year old daughter, and chief fun officer. My copilot is likely to want to break up long drives and minimize long spells in museums.

Here's the itinerary as it stands now:
Day 1 - Monday: arrive in Munich and head directly to Welt for tour and 12:40 delivery. Get snows installed, and select Munich sights.

Day 2 - Tuesday: Munich to Prague in am. Prague sights in pm.

Day 3 - Wed: Prague sight seeing

Day 4 - Thurs: Prague to Vienna in am. Sights and concert in pm.

Day 5 - Fri: Vienna to Munich am. Return snows and Harms drop off in pm.

Day 6 - Sat: Munich back to US at noon.

It feels like I might have too much time in Prague. Should I allocate more time for Vienna and possibly Salzburg?

Thanks in advance.

First of all, welcome to the board and congrats on your ED.

I really feel you are trying to see too much with VERY limited time. I would either remove Praha or Wien as that is a lot of driving and not a whole lot of time to see things. I know you want to see all the cities but I would pick one city (other than Munich) to enjoy and sight see.

Praha and Wien each deserve a week to see and explore.

Originally Posted by javaruke

As a result, I want to focus on Prague, Vienna, and possibly Salzburg (based on recommendations).

...

It feels like I might have too much time in Prague. Should I allocate more time for Vienna and possibly Salzburg?

Where exactly did you think you would be able to squeeze Salzburg in?

Originally Posted by javaruke

Day 1 - Monday: arrive in Munich and head directly to Welt for tour and 12:40 delivery. Get snows installed, and select Munich sights.

What do you mean when you indicate you are going to select some Munich sites. I presume you mean planning time but the timeline for Day 1 doesn't have much left, at least in the daytime.

If you have a 12:40 delivery, you will probably be out at 13:45. You will need to drive to Ismaning for the winter tires, have them fitted, and that will put you at close to 15 h.

At that point, since you'll be in the car, you might want to drive to someplace outside of Munich, maybe Andechs or a nearby lake.

OR - see next plan below

Originally Posted by javaruke

Day 2 - Tuesday: Munich to Prague in am. Prague sights in pm.

Day 3 - Wed: Prague sight seeing

Day 4 - Thurs: Prague to Vienna in am. Sights and concert in pm.

Day 5 - Fri: Vienna to Munich am. Return snows and Harms drop off in pm.


It feels like I might have too much time in Prague. Should I allocate more time for Vienna and possibly Salzburg?

Thanks in advance.

I disagree about too much time in Prag per se but compared to Vienna, where there is even more to see and do, yes, you have perhaps misallocated. You could spend a week in Vienna and not scratch the surface; 3-5 days in Prag similarly.

You are trying to do three, possibly four cities in five days. I would narrow it down to two (Munich and ?) plus a possible stopover city en route.

On day 1 you could stop in Salzburg and continue to Vienna the next day or stop in Regensburg and continue to Prag the next day - instead of staying in Munich.

If you choose one of the alternatives suggested above, and if you're arriving after March 15th, the chief fun officer would likely enjoy spending an afternoon or evening at the Prater in Wien. Also in Wien is the Haus der Musik, an interactive musical museum. Our kids enjoyed that a bunch as well. Lastly I'd recommend Schönbrunn Palace and the attached gardens/zoo. Vienna is a great city for kids......I haven't been to Prague, but if you decide to choose one city, Vienna would be my choice FWIW.

I realize you don't have the time to do everything, and that you will want to do some driving. So I think you can make the short trip into a memorable time for the two of you. It probably won't be the CFO's only trip to central Europe, so the choice of which city "deserves" more time is up to you.

I'd approach it from a more personal perspective: is there something in particular that sparks either your interest or that of the CFO? Here are a few examples, but you'd have to think through whether they might apply to you...

• Religion. There are truly historic places in both Prague and Vienna, but the synagogues and Jewish cemetery in Prague are especially interesting. Similarly, St. Stephens and Karlskirche in Vienna are outstanding.
• Art. The Succession building and Jugendstil (art nouveau) style buildings in Vienna are worth a visit. Interesting art deco and art nouveau jewelry, etc. in Prague.
• WWII history. Prague was an "open city" and mostly untouched by aerial bombing. Vienna was occupied from 1945-54.
• Sewers. Do they still have the tours of the sewers below Vienna? That should fascinate any kid and most adults.

Hopefully, you get the idea. Let us know about any special interests.

Originally Posted by b-y

Prague was an "open city" and mostly untouched by aerial bombing. Vienna was occupied from 1945-54.

Vienna was actually occupied by Germany from the day of the "Anschluss", 12th March 1938, till the 2nd World War ended in Austria on 7th May 1945. From then till the "Staatsvertrag" on 15th May 1955 it was under occupation by the four governing powers, those being the USA, Soviet Union, Great Britain and France.

Thank you to everyone who has contributed thus far to answering my questions about my itinerary. While I haven't decided how to pare it down, I believe your suggestions in this regard have great merit. I'll likely stick to travel in Austria to include Vienna and Salzburg, as well as any other interesting sights that are recommended.

Thank you guppyflyer for the age appropriate suggestions for sights, and b-v for the interest-oriented suggestions....they will all come in very handy.

This forum is a fabulous resource and greatly appreciated...I hope to be able to contribute based on my experience in the near future!

Originally Posted by javaruke

Thank you to everyone who has contributed thus far to answering my questions about my itinerary. While I haven't decided how to pare it down, I believe your suggestions in this regard have great merit. I'll likely stick to travel in Austria to include Vienna and Salzburg, as well as any other interesting sights that are recommended.

Thank you guppyflyer for the age appropriate suggestions for sights, and b-v for the interest-oriented suggestions....they will all come in very handy.

This forum is a fabulous resource and greatly appreciated...I hope to be able to contribute based on my experience in the near future!

You're welcome, more than happy to help out a fellow Coloradan!!!! PM me if you have any other ?'s.

Erik

We spent three days each in Prague and Vienna during our ED, and even then we felt that we were rushing around trying to soak in as much as possible. So I agree that you should limit yourself to one or the other. Each city is charming in its own way, so it is hard to recommend one over the other.

In contrast, we all agreed that one day in Salzburg proper was good enough! We took the Sound of Music tour in the morning and walked around the city of Salzburg in the evening.

Picked up 2010 M3 vert on March 22....unbelievably great experience!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/23947807@N07/?saved=1

With a manic vacation like that you will need a week's vacation when you get back. IMO you should choose Prague or Vienna or Salzburg for this short vacation, but not two of them. I have been to Vienna. Wifey and I are going to Prague this summer for 7 days by itself. Both are great cities. Vienna is the greater of the two in my opinion. If you modified your vacation and did just Vienna, your schedule would yield three days in Vienna which is not nearly enough time. I suggest spending a day in Munich which is a great city. (A day is not really enough) I suggest driving to the castles then drive the Deutsche Alpenstrasse to the Inter-Continental Hotel at Berchtesgaden. You will drive through the Berchtesgaden National Park which is incredibly beautiful with great photo ops for you and your daughter. Use the Inter-Continental as a base to see the local sites and Salzburg. Take the autobahn back to Munich.

Once you do one BMW European Delivery you will start planning another immediately because it is such a wonderful experience and a great deal on a great car. I would not try to cram everything that interests you into one trip because you will be back doing European Delivery again. And again. And again. My wife and I did BMW Euro Delivery 4 times and I am planning on 14 more times if our health permits.