Going to check off an item from my bucket list: 3 weeks or so in Europe, specifically tracking down some of my ancestors and taking in some of the culture in Austria, Slovakia and Chechia.

Starting my research now, but I thought I'd enquire of the Campfire to see if anyone had already "been there, done that" and could give me some tips.

Not interested in seeing mountains. I would be up for a few castles, a couple of museums, maybe some art galleries, theater and will be VERY interested in good food!

PS: CZ and Brno are close to where we will be headquartered - Bratislava. Any chance for a factory tour and/or a very good deal on a new rifle?

You can see Russia with good binoculars! 😉 memtb

Czech, I have limited experience in Austria and Czechia, but can recommend Prague, it’s a very interesting city with an OK castle, two fantastic cathedrals and good food. The royal way is tourist central, but there are good things to see along it. Charles Bridge is scenic, but pickpocket central. I stopped by the Sedlec Ossuary if you’re interested in seeing a church decorated in human bones. Grim, but fascinating. Pilsen has good beer. For Austria, I’ve been to Salzburg but didn’t get to know it well. If you like interesting and scenic small towns, Hallstatt is gorgeous. Most of the time there I was hiking mountains.

Old70

When I was leading mission teams (numerous trips) to Ukraine in the 90s and early 2000s, We had to stay a day in Vienna each time.
Every team I took got the short tour of Vienna from about 4pm to 10pm,
Stevensplatz (St Stephen's Cathedral) is very interesting architecture and beautiful inside.
I used to could find my way thru the city center very well, but it's been 15+ years since my last trip.
I no longer even remember the other sites we went to.
But, Schönbrunn Palace was pretty cool.
And there was a park with old statues and an archeological excavation digging down to Roman times.

I don't remember the restaurant in the old city, but could probably walk to it again. They had a whole boneless fried chicken (except the drum sticks were in it). They had great ice cream there with names in Austrian that sounded funny in English.

The road signs in Austria, though, will crack you up. Lots of farten stuff.

U Fleků

Perhaps the greatest understatement I will ever read.

+1

in Praha, Nove Mesto

Only been to Austria and that was for work in Vienna. St. Stephan's Cathedral is pretty cool, as is the Summer Palace.

Lots of castles and castle ruins in Slovakia

The Eagles Nest was awesome

spent 10 days in Prague back in 2019.


I thought the Castle was overrated but I would recommend seeing many of the churches, they were amazing. especially St. Vitas Cathedral.

We also did a taste of Prague tour where we went to several restaurants in the area to get a real taste of Czech food.

I know you said you didn't want to see mountains but Bohemian and Saxon Switzerland is an amazing area




Prague also has very good public transportation, the Metro system is easy to navigate ad takes you wherever you want to go in the city

the heart of the city - tons of food and vendor booths. It was also the best beer I've ever had.

I've heard the countries in that area that were the victims of the Commies, love America. Really, that's the only area of Europe I'd want to visit these days.

I've spent quite a bit of time in Austria but all in the west, in the mountains, so the opposite of what you're interested in. Salzburg is touristy but has some great history.

Prague is great, definitely do a tour, even just one of the walking tours where you just show up and tip. Karlovy Vary is a really cool smaller town.

No real experience with Slovakia. I really like Slovenia - Bled to Radovljica - but that's mountains.

The last time I was in either was 1996 so take it with a grain of salt. Vienna had great sights and museums but the people were a bit standoffish. I liked Prague better, it was just coming out from behind the iron curtain and everything was still a bit run down. I’m sure it’s been revived since. The Czech people were much friendlier than the Austrians and loved Americans. Finding great beer in either place is not a problem, trust me.

Got drunk in there a few times...

Good food?
Prague. Magnificent medieval city. Awsome food!
Duck and svikova.
Done!
You're welcome....

Dubrovnik, Split on the Adriatic, very nice but may be overrun by tourists these days...