Central Europe: Austria, Germany & Czech Rep. Meets Thread

smile750 said:
Just back last night from Central Europe trip! AMAZING in every way - great guides, great group of people, awesome adventures!!!!!! I learned that no matter how much research I did, my preferences and experience can be different than others (and they were) and I'm so glad I participated in everything!!!! Ask me any questions - I'd love to share. BTW, we arrived in Prague 2 nights before the trip began and we were so happy and grateful to have signed up for 3 walking tours with the Naked Tour Guide (don't take my word for it - see reviews here on trip advisor: http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attracti...iews-The_Naked_Tour_Guide-Prague_Bohemia.html ) Inexpensive, best tour of a city (we did Prague Castle night tour, Explore Prague, and Communism and Nazism tours) I've ever done - easy to understand and wonderful stories. Disney doesn't have the time to provide the depth of information given on the these tours so it was a wonderful start to a magnificent trip! If you can do it - GO EARLY and take 2 days to explore Prague and really get a feel for the history of this city.

Jen
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Jen...Have you been able to access ABD Pics yet??? I seem to remember it taking some time last time! Hello to Ira and Melissa! Glad to see that ya'll made it home safely!

Mel
 
wdwtheplacetobe said:
Took your advice ....first night in Prague...Hotel U...view and food were spectacular! Also remembered the French Toast at the Ritz...but on the last morning...found Fried Apple Rings were even better!
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Did you have the grilled lobster tail at Hotel U?! I wish I could go back again!!! what a trip! :love:
 


Cinderella's Slipper 2015 said:
We are on this trip next year (exact same trip at end of September). We will be arriving early in the morning the day before the trip starts so we will have almost 2 days to ourselves before we have to meet for the welcome dinner. We won't have time to do 3 tours but are there ones you would recommend more than the others? Or better yet, if you only had basically 1.5 days, which would you do?
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So 2 of the tours were 3 hours (Explore Prague and the Communism/Nazism) and the night castle one was an hour and a 1/2. I would do the Explore Prague tour - it's at 11 am. You can then do the castle evening tour (that was at 8 pm). We did night castle tour the first night, Explore Prague the next morning, then the Communism tour (also 11 am) the morning the ABD started. I think you could do Castle tour and Explore tour. With ABD you will go inside the castle. The walking tour gave us outside history about buildings, time, and area. You won't get the depth on ABD - it's more about inside.
 


wdwtheplacetobe said:
Jen...Have you been able to access ABD Pics yet??? I seem to remember it taking some time last time! Hello to Ira and Melissa! Glad to see that ya'll made it home safely!

Mel
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Hi Melanie!!!
I haven't even tried yet! Of course I came home to slight chaos! My son's throat was sore so I brought him to the doctor - strep throat. Had to stay out of school Monday (luckily they have a sick day care at our local hospital - we call it the medical spa :) ) Battery dead in car (replaced it Monday). Kids begging to adopt new kitties (we got 2). Oh yeah - and back at work and I'm exhausted!!! How's the nose?
 
SingingMom said:
I'm glad to see I wasn't the only wimp. LOLOL :rotfl2:
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I must admit I didn't think it would be as strenuous as they kept warning us about (the guides told us 700 steps - Ummm it was 1200!!!!). All my layers were peeled by the time I made it to the mouth of the cave - there was so much steam coming off of me (and everyone else) it looked like we took a dip in the hot springs. I did feel as if I accomplished something though - and no guilt for stuffing my face for lunch after :)
 
SingingMom said:
I'm glad to see I wasn't the only wimp. LOLOL :rotfl2:
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I had trained for the Ice Cave all Summer....what got me is being terrified of heights....and watching my feet instead of looking up. Liitle did I know....the tripping was being saved for the Salt Mine! Those slides were fun until then!
 
smile750 said:
Hi Melanie!!!
I haven't even tried yet! Of course I came home to slight chaos! My son's throat was sore so I brought him to the doctor - strep throat. Had to stay out of school Monday (luckily they have a sick day care at our local hospital - we call it the medical spa :) ) Battery dead in car (replaced it Monday). Kids begging to adopt new kitties (we got 2). Oh yeah - and back at work and I'm exhausted!!! How's the nose?
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Oh My! You hit the ground running! Still congested and sore...My Techs individually said "WHAT HAPPENED TO YOUR FACE?" I got pulled aside in London at the airport Security to explain....we were still hand-in-hand...so they could have seen it wasn't David! Kind of bummed that I missed Pretzel making, but wasn't it a great trip?

Where are you going next???
 
@SingingMom---your trip report was very helpful! Thank you SO much for writing and posting it! The Ritz was all you said it was. Hotel Edelweiss was very nice! In your own time, you could explore Berchtesgaden a bit more, so that was neat. Their gym/spa was very nice, too. I did some biking to help with an arthritic knee...had absolutely NO problem with that on the trip...and we walked about 6 miles each day!
 
wdwtheplacetobe said:
@SingingMom---your trip report was very helpful! Thank you SO much for writing and posting it! The Ritz was all you said it was. Hotel Edelweiss was very nice! In your own time, you could explore Berchtesgaden a bit more, so that was neat. Their gym/spa was very nice, too. I did some biking to help with an arthritic knee...had absolutely NO problem with that on the trip...and we walked about 6 miles each day!
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I'm so glad I could be of help! :earsgirl:

Nice to see you had Stephanie as a guide. We toured with her on our Germany ABD and loved her! We had fun spending some time with her in Disney World when our trips coincided last year!

You mentioned being sore and tripping? Did you hurt yourself? I fell walking down from the funicular after lunch at Oedl House. That was some day ! :faint:
 
For those who just got back from this tour, or have done this tour in the past, how much actual cash did you take? How much in Euros and Czech Koruna? We're good at figuring out money for Disney World/Disneyland but this is our first trip to Europe and not sure how much physical money we should plan to have. There are 2 adults going.
 
@Cinderella's Slipper 2015 - we didn't take any euros or korunas with us - there were plenty of ATM's around Prague (there's one right in Marriott but plenty outside across the street as well). 1 dollar U.S. = about 24 korunas (pronounced crowns). Our family of 3 adults took out about 4000 crowns from the ATM on the day we got there which was Wednesday morning. This lasted us to Sunday afternoon. It was $165 U.S. We didn't use cash for everything - we purchased some garnet jewelry (we went to Studio Sperk right behind the old town square - tell them Marriott sent you they take off another 5% - and they are authentic Czech garnets) which we used a credit card and I think we used a credit card for lunch once. We used crowns for small gifts and postcards, beer, water, hot dogs (really yummy there!!!!), transportation tickets (good for tram and subway) that we used before ABD tour started. You'll visit Cesky Krumlov - a really beautiful medieval town with lots of cute shops. There we bought gingerbread and scarves and an ice cream for 25 crowns to use it up :)

As far as Euros, when we got to the Hotel Edelweiss (this is first hotel outside of Czech Republic - it's in Germany), there was an ATM right outside the back of the hotel and I went out and took out 150 Euros which lasted me the rest of the trip - Sunday to Saturday. I basically used it for the same types of things that I bought with crowns in Prague. We bought a few gifts with credit cards (jewelry and xmas ornaments). My sister did have some euros left so she exchanged in the airport (about $65 worth).

So basically what I'm saying is it's not necessary to get foreign currency before you go. I checked with my bank and they charged 3% per transaction or roughly $3 per hundred. Pretty much what happens at home when I go to a bank other than my own... I did call my bank before I let to let them know I'd be using my ATM card in specific countries. Never encountered any problems.

Jen
 
We always bring foreign currency, getting it from our AAA office.

We brought approximately $200 worth of kornuas and $300 worth of euros. Most places take credit cards, but we used currency for some transportation and small purchases. I believe a few museum admissions were cash only.

If we have left over, we usually add it to our guides tips.
(We also gave the guides our leftover coins to add to their "rest room kitty"! I always find it amusing that Disney even pays for potty breaks. Lol)

Very important to notify your bank that you want the capability to use your ATM card in a foreign country. I also call the credit card companies to let them know travel dates.
 
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Cinderella's Slipper 2015 said:
For those who just got back from this tour, or have done this tour in the past, how much actual cash did you take? How much in Euros and Czech Koruna? We're good at figuring out money for Disney World/Disneyland but this is our first trip to Europe and not sure how much physical money we should plan to have. There are 2 adults going.
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We only used CZK for street food...Trdelniks...and Post Cards...used a Credit Card for anything more expensive. Check with the Companies you have about Foreign Transaction Fees....one card we have is 1%....another is 3%. We take the Guides' tips in the envelopes provided so we know that's done .

Since we went to DLP first...we hit an ATM on Disney property before getting to Prague.

Be sure to alert the CC companies before you go. Include all countries you are going thru...for example...we said England even tho we were just going thru the airport. I have heard "denied" stories because they suspect fraud.

How much depends on you. I would start with a conservative amount...we did 3000 CZK total And I think 200 Euro (not counting DLP). Like Jen said....ATMs are plentiful...make sure you notify your bank as well.

Have a Blast!
 
wdwtheplacetobe said:
We only used CZK for street food...Trdelniks...and Post Cards...used a Credit Card for anything more expensive. Check with the Companies you have about Foreign Transaction Fees....one card we have is 1%....another is 3%. We take the Guides' tips in the envelopes provided so we know that's done .

Since we went to DLP first...we hit an ATM on Disney property before getting to Prague.

Be sure to alert the CC companies before you go. Include all countries you are going thru...for example...we said England even tho we were just going thru the airport. I have heard "denied" stories because they suspect fraud.

How much depends on you. I would start with a conservative amount...we did 3000 CZK total And I think 200 Euro (not counting DLP). Like Jen said....ATMs are plentiful...make sure you notify your bank as well.

Have a Blast!
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Thanks! That's just the type of information we need. We plan to get the Prague City Card and the Vienna Card as well which covers the transportation and gives us discounts on attractions. It's mostly for meals on our own and souvenirs that we were curious about the amount of money needed. We've never travelled to Europe so are having a bit of a hard time figuring out how much in each currency we need.
 
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