Before and After land stays

[FirstTimeRiver]

Going on a Crystal River Cruise down the Danube and thinking of taking the land package at the end. They motorbus  you from the ship to Prague. 3 days at a 5 star hotel with breakfast and another meal thrown in. Some sightseeing everyday and then a transfer to the airport home. But this add on is $1500 pp! Worth it or shall we book our own transport to Prague, find a hotel, and then sightsee at our leisure?

[knoxclone]

If you are at all comfortable traveling on your own, it's easy to do. 

 

[dogs4fun]

I concur - very easy to DIY at a fraction of the price.

[Roz]

When booking on my own, I never stay at 5-star hotels.  I'm out sightseeing all day, and the hotel is for showering, changing clothes, and sleeping. You could save a lot of money right there.

[knoxclone]

For 3K for 3 days, you can easily travel 1st class to Prague, stay in a very nice hotel and still hire private tour guides and eat fantastic meals. .  Prague is super travel friendly and welcoming. 

 

[trickylibrarian]

Agree with all the above.  

[caripoo]

EASY to do on your own....especially Prague, you could hire private people to show you around for that price.....

[FirstTimeRiver]

So helpful! Yes I feel we will do on our own after reading the comments. Thank you all!

[sharkster77]

After our Rhine cruise Viking wanted $750 pp for 3d/2n in Lucerne post cruise..  We did just that for a fraction of that cost.  Trains made it super easy, since our flight home was out of Zurich.

[Second seating]

We were in Prague for the second time in December 2019 on a land trip and stayed in the Grandium Hotel and found it very nice. Small room but we spend very little time there and breakfast was very good!

 

Second seating 

[dogs4fun]

On our most recent trip to Prague, we stayed at a lovely 4 star hotel (Grand Hotel Praha) overlooking Old Town Square - we loved our stay here.. Very convenient for sightseeing, good price, shuttle to the airport, excellent service, well appointed rooms. What more could we ask for?

 

[FirstTimeRiver]

Great ideas! How does one get from Vilshofen Germany to Prague when disembarking from a river cruise?

[bubbulz]

12 hours ago, FirstTimeRiver said:

Great ideas! How does one get from Vilshofen Germany to Prague when disembarking from a river cruise?

You might want to try this company: https://www.private-prague-guide.com/europe-transport/

 

We used them to book a private driver from Passau to Prague with a stop in Český Krumlov for a tour and were very pleased with the pricing and service.

[KLRDUKS]

We are on a Prague pre-cruise with AMA arriving 12/10 with transportation to the ship in Vilshofen on 12/13. $900/pp and we are staying at the Cosmopolitan hotel. Breakfast included but other meals, I believe, on us. Includes a transfer from the Prague airport to the hotel on 12/10 as well. Not sure what they are doing different with the extra $600/pp so going by yourself would be MUCH cheaper if you are like me and LOVE travel planning. 🙂 We normally do our own pre/post cruise stays but because we had never been to Prague before and the long transfer from Prague to Vilshofen, we decided to go the "official" route. 

[texasstar]

Check and see if they will allow you to buy the transfers only.  We did that several years ago.  We booked our hotel in Prague on our own.  I don't remember how much it was, but at the time, it seemed very reasonable.

[TMLAalum]

20 hours ago, KLRDUKS said:

We are on a Prague pre-cruise with AMA arriving 12/10 with transportation to the ship in Vilshofen on 12/13. $900/pp and we are staying at the Cosmopolitan hotel. Breakfast included but other meals, I believe, on us. Includes a transfer from the Prague airport to the hotel on 12/10 as well. Not sure what they are doing different with the extra $600/pp so going by yourself would be MUCH cheaper if you are like me and LOVE travel planning. 🙂 We normally do our own pre/post cruise stays but because we had never been to Prague before and the long transfer from Prague to Vilshofen, we decided to go the "official" route. 

 

If it's not too late to cancel the Prague extension, you could take a train from there to Vilshofen- around 6 hours. A transfer service would be easier and not very expensive. Just think of what you could do with the extra $1200!

 

We DIYd Prague via train from Berlin and from Prague flew to Amsterdam to catch a Celebrity cruise, using a private transfer from train station to Golden Wheel Hotel and from there to the airport. Prague is very tourist-friendly.

[14ersco]

We just came from Prague yesterday on the Czechia railway to Budapest.   The German railway site www.bahn.com is where you can book train tickets.   One route is Vilshofen to Vienna (Wein) to Prague  (Praha). The website "man in seat 61" is good for info on all European train travel.  In Prague we stayed at the Hilton Prague Old Town.  In the lobby was both tables for AMA Magna and Tauck Tours cruise extensions. The hotel is about a 10 minute walk from the main train station and bus AE goes between the train station and airport (see airport web page for details).

  The hotel sits above Republic Square metro yellow line and one block to Powder Tower (Old Town).  One block towards the train station is a covid test location.

 

We highly recommend Victoria at www.toursbylocals.com for a guide.  This past Thursday she walked us on a 7 hour tour from the top of Castle Hill, through Lesser Town, across Charles Bridge, and around Old Town. We saw all the major sites, but reached the sites via quiet back lanes.  Since we toured on their Independence day Victoria filled us in on their history and significant figures. 

 

FYI: Wrote this will sipping a Staropramen Dark, Prague's best, introduced to us by Victoria. 

Edited October 30, 2021 by 14ersco

[nursinadream]

4 hours ago, 14ersco said:

We highly recommend Victoria at www.toursbylocals.com for a guide.  This past Thursday she walked us on a 7 hour tour from the top of Castle Hill, through Lesser Town, across Charles Bridge, and around Old Town. We saw all the major sites, but reached the sites via quiet back lanes.  Since we toured on their Independence day Victoria filled us in on their history and significant figures. 

Great ideas for ways to get around Europe.  I checked out the toursbylocals website.  We are hitting Paris this spring after our Rhine cruise.  Party of 4 first River cruise and first time to Paris for all.

Love your profile name "14ersco".  CO is our favorite state.

Deb

[Wings55]

15 hours ago, nursinadream said:

...... I checked out the toursbylocals website.  We are hitting Paris this spring after our Rhine cruise.  Party of 4 first River cruise and first time to Paris for all.

 

Deb, if you are considering a guide in Paris we thoroughly enjoyed Eugénie P. from Tours by Locals. We scheduled a seven hour walking/Metro tour of the city on day. The next morning we toured Versailles with Eugénie. She was outstanding and we would recommend her highly. (Tell her Paul & Jane say hi 😉 )

We have been pleased with TbL guides in many places in Europe and are scheduling three more right now. 

Paul

[FirstTimeRiver]

My friends here never disappoint! Great ideas I’m going to look into and will come back if more questions!