From: warrenc@bcstec.ca.boeing.com (Cherie Warren)
Newsgroups: rec.travel
Subject: Re: Berlin->Prague->Budapest->Vienna
Date: 29 Sep 92 18:39:51 GMT
Organization: Boeing Computer Services, Seattle

ikg1591@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu (Irina Kosinovsky ) writes:

>Aaron.Roydhouse@comp.vuw.ac.nz (Aaron Roydhouse) writes:
>>About mid-December I was considering travelling by train from Berlin
>>into Czechoslovakia to Prague, stay there for a time then on into
>>Hungary to Budapest, staying there and into Austria to Vienna (later
>>back into Germany via Salzburg).

>>Anyone care to comment of the practicality of this? Any advice,
>>cautions, ideas. Anyone been through any of these routes who can
>>comment? Czechoslovakia is one big void on the Eurail map - anyone
>>know anything about the train system there?

>Hi, first of all, its really easy to get a Chech visa -- at least in US
>I called the embassy in DC and they sent me an application and they say
>It takes them only one day once they get an application.

>I will be going Graz -- Salzburg -- Munich -- Prague -- Vienna by car
>and I would like any suggestions on roads, hotels (especially in Prague),
>etc.
>Also, I am not an american citizen so I need a Chech visa -- does anyone
>know if US citizens need one too?

This information is current as of September 1992, when we were in Czecho-
Slovakia, Hungary, and Austria.  First of all, US citizens do *not* need
visas at all!  Travel is relatively easy, and crossing borders is no more
difficult than going from the USA to Canada.  This also applies to most EC
nationals and Austrians.  Natives of Oz and NZ probably still have to get
visas, but this will change, and in any event, it's a lot easier now; ser-
vice is quicker than it used to be, possibly because they don't have to 
give so many out any more.  Hungary now accepts Eurailpass, but the CSFR
does not (yet).  Train tickets in the CSFR, however, are inexpensive.  We
crossed the border in a Danube Hydrofoil from Vienna to Budapest, and it
took a total of five minutes to clear customs in Budapest - a quick exam-
ination of the passport, then an entry stamp, and that was it.  On the
train from Budapest to Bratislava, the Hungarian customs man quickly gave
us an exit stamp - no muss or fuss, took ten seconds - then the CSFR guy
walked in a few minutes later and stamped us in.  That was it.

The only gotcha about the CSFR train system is that it's *slow*, especially
compared to the high-speed inter-city routes in Germany.  The ride from
Prague to Vienna took over five hours, and the slowest part was in the CSFR.
As soon as we crossed the Austrian border and connected to an OsBB engine,
it was quite a quick ride to Vienna (beautiful too, I might add .. forty
years of communism in the east has produced a bit of a difference between
the new democracies and places like Germany and Austria, and it's notice-
able from a train window).  Other than the slowness, it's quite service-
able, and we certainly weren't uncomfortable - the trains have the usual
compartments and amenities.

For the driver, be aware that forty years of deliberate isolation from the
west means no real good freeway connections with western countries.  Two-
lane highways and country roads will be the rule for a while, until the
next phase of infrastructure develpments begin.  Thus, Berlin-Prague means
taking the Autobahn through eastern Germany south from Berlin to the border,
and two-lane-blacktop to Prague thru the CSFR.  Prague south to Bratislava
is served by a freeway, however, and not a bad one either.

Prague is inundated with tourists.  Get your room reservation *soon*.  You
will probably have to arrange this through a travel agent, who in turn can
deal with the main Czech/Slovakian travel agency, Cedok.  If you want to try
your luck, show up without a reservation at the Prague's Main Station (Hlavna
Nadravie, or something similar ... my Czech is not good), and see if a local
offers you a room at his/her home, a sort of impromptu bed & breakfast
arrangement.  If you want to go the Cedok route, we stayed at the Karl Inn,
a 3-star hotel by local standards, and it was perfectly pleasant, twin beds,
with bath & toilet and buffet breakfast.  It had a parking garage, and it was
a three-minute walk to the Krizikova Metro station, and only two or three
stops to the heart of the commercial district.  The Karl Inn is extremely
popular with groups, by the way - we saw tour buses from Belgium, Germany,
and Italy disgorge loads of guests while we were there.

And ... it was worth every second!  Thanks to Evelyn Leeper, Wayne Citrin,
Timo Pelkonnen, and a bunch of other folks for great suggestions and 
travelogues.  Now... just how do we go about setting up a business in
Budapest, anyway :-) ?