Thursday, April 19, 2012

Beaaaa help !!!

Need your advice about a couple of things, dont know if you remember my post about driving to Prague?



Not knowing how the weather will be in Germany, should we stay in France? and do you have some recomendations about where to go ( nice cities to drive to )



We would really like to go to Prague but wouldnt want to be traped under a mountain of snow. If we go to Prague, need an advice about going to the Romantic Road ( Ausburg,Rothemburg and Wurzburg) or the casthe road?



Thank you !!






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Try planning your trip on ViaMichelin.com.



You can enter the date of departure so they make allowances for winter driving etc... and mention notable places along the way. They also mention tolls, speed radars and the like.




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Hi Moony,





The trip to Czech Republic from Paris goes near many interesting sites...across eastern France, across Germany. Probably a day going over and a day coming back, so you will have about 4 days to tour. Not just new snow but snow on the ground in some of the cities could be a problem. You could go over one route and return the other although I would suggest you get to Prague, spend whatever time there that you decide then stop on the way back.





We went in summer, a whole different story. Frankly, I can not imagine what it is like in winter or whether you will have all the hotels and attractions opened or not. We stopped in Reims, Verdun, Strasbourg, Nurenberg, Hidelberg, Pilzner...7 days, and no advance reservations. All of these cities were fairly close to the main east west roads as I remember. We did not make it to Prague, just seemed to be pushing it too much though we were close enough and probably could have. Most of those in our party had been to many of these places previously.





I guess you have to decide what is important to you. The weather, even if it does not snow heavily, is pretty cold and can be gloomy. There are many interesting places on the way to Prague, but if you only have 6 days, want to see Prague and keep track of the weather you might have to be flexible and then some.





France has many interesting cities and places to visit too. If you go south, you will probably have a bit warmer weather. Some very interesting towns.......The Channel coast to the west of Paris is great, though not great weather either (probably no snow) and if you visit Mont St. Michel, you will not be disapointed, it is fantastic. You could go on down to the walled old city of St.Malo and to Dinard too....stop in Rouen along the way, not far from Paris. Keep in mind that most of the tourist areas and sites are geared toward the summer crowns, unless you are skiing. We have gone to some areas in late May and early June and find they are not anywhere near in full swing, even then. Fairly large cities, of course, are a different story. The Mediterranean area could be a nice trip, warmer, interesting and you might like to take the high speed train to Nice from Paris and tour that area, go over to Monoco even into Italy.





Dont know where Moony Tx., is but if you are not familiar with winter weather, you might be a little disappointed in just what it can be like. I would suggest you have a couple of different plans, even trying to reserve a car which you could cancel without charge.





It%26#39;s a great adventure and you will most surely enjoy whatever you do. Have fun and be sure to roll with the punches!








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Hi All,





I am planning a 2 week trip this summer (June) and would like to fly into Paris meeting my daughter, go to Granville (to see where my dad spent time during the war) and then rent a car and drive from Granville to Prague, where my daughter lives, spending a few days there. Any suggestions, practical or otherwise? I appreciate any suggestions. Thanks!




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Hi Granville -



I see a couple of snags with your plan. First, I think you may find that most (possibly all) cars rented in France can not be driven into the Czech Republic. I know this is true for Hungary, but am not 100% sure it also appllies to the C.R.



Second, unles you are driving back to France, even if you can drive a rental car to Prague, the repatriation cost for a French rental car will be at least several hundred dollars.



You could check with the rental company you plan to use about both these issues.



It would take you two fairly long days%26#39; driving to get from Granville to Prague, and all you would see is highway if you did drive it in two days. To see anything of the many places to visit along the way, you would probably need to spend at least a week making the trip.



Taking all this into consideration, I think you%26#39;d be better off flying to Prague since you only have two weeks for the entire trip you are planning.




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Sorry! I meant to say %26quot;Hi, eyebee%26quot; of course!




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Hi again eyebee -





I just checked Europcar%26#39;s and AutoEurope%26#39;s web sites, and they state clearly that French rentals may not be driven into the Czech Republic. Autoeurope do however go on to say that under certain circumstances, with sufficient advance notice, and on payment of a supplementary charge, this restriction *may* be waived. {Auteurope is one of the largest rental agencies in Europe, Europcar one of the largest rental companies.) I suspect the restriction is probably due to problems with insurance.



Even if you can overcome this difficulty, you still have the pesky repatriation charge problem to contend with.



There are two budget airlines operating between Prague and Paris. Here are their web sites:





http://www.smartwings.net/en/



http://www.skyeurope.com/





I have never used either airline, and know nothing about them.





There are also train options from Paris to Prague, though I don%26#39;t think there are any through trains. The entire journey would take about 14-15 hours by train I would guess, though you could of course break it into two parts and/or use night trains.



Hope all this info is helpful in terms of considering other options besides driving.




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Hello IrishRovr and thanks thanks thanks for the insight. Your suggestion about flying from Granville or backtracking to Paris and then flying to Prague made total sense and believe it or not- that thought actually occured to me during the past week. Also, the idea of spending precious days driving through rather bland countryside on a super highway was enought to make me think twice about that. I immediately thought %26quot;drive across%26quot; because I have done road trips so often here in the US of A.



The 3 must do stops on the trip are a) 2 days in Paris, b)3+ days in Granville area visiting the son of a French man my father befriended while in the service in 1944, and c) 3+ days in Prague seeing my daughter and where she is living. Of course, this is all contingent on her schedule and so far I%26#39;m getting little or no information about that. I%26#39;m thinking a week at the Jersey (read that New Jersey, USA) shore sounds more doable.



Best,


eyebee

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