Prague Hilton on our Avalon River Cruise

[S&B]

We are on the Poetry in June and our hotel in Prague is the Hilton. Can anyone tell me their experiences of getting into town from the hotel. Did you take the subway? I feel sure that the tram does not go out that far. We are good at walking but do not know if we want to walk from the middle of town to the Hilton at 10 p.m. Any help will be appreciated.

Thanks.

[rundent]

Hi S & B,

I too will be at the Hilton but in July so it would be nice if you answered your own question for us when you get back. Meanwhile I hope someone answers you. Have a wonderful trip. [and safe].

[amyr]

Hi all,

 

We stayed at the Hilton following our recent river cruise. We had originally been booked at the Renaissance, but half of our boat was transferred to the Hilton last minute. We moved to the Renaissance for an extra night we purchased on our own (thinking we would already be there) and liked it much better.

 

The location isn't terribly convenient, but the hotel is fine. There is a tram stop nearby, about a five minute walk. You can purchase tickets for it at the Hilton gift shop or down in the Metro station by putting 20 crowns in coins in the machines. You take the No. 8 tram for two stops to the outskirts of the old town. It's actually just a 15 minute walk along the tram route, but there is so much walking in town that it's nice to ride a bit. The trams don't run often at night, so by the time you catch one, you could have been back at the hotel. I understand your hesitancy to walk back at night, I wouldn't advise it unless you're in a group.

 

By the second day we had tired of trudging to the tram and started taking cabs. We were cautioned not to hail a cab on the street or get in without negotiating the price first. The hotel will call you a cab, and when we were out for dinner our servers often offered to call us a cab as well. We paid 150 crowns from the Hilton to the Old Town Square, which was about $8.00.

 

When you check into the Hilton, be sure to give them your HiltonHonors number if you have one as they'll give you credit for the stay.

 

If you have any other questions, I'll be happy to answer them. Prague is a fabulous city, and the whole trip was like a fairy tale.

 

Oh, I almost forgot to add: if you take either the tram or the subway, be sure to validate your ticket by punching a time stamp on the little machine yellow inside the tram (or at the turnstile in the subway) Your ticket will then be valid for a certain amount of time (90 minutes?) and if it's either expired or you forgot to validate it, you can get a hefty (80 Euro I think) fine. We were stopped by inspectors inside a subway transfer area, and fortunately our tickets were valid.

 

Amy

[M&T]

Amy, Have you given a review of your trip on the board and I missed it. I do have questions especially about the port schedules. We are on the Amadeus Symphony Budapest to Prague. Do you recall when the ship departed Bratislava, Passau, Melk and Regensburg? When did you arrive at Vienna and Regensburg? If you are willing, I have more questions. Thanks. Marlyne

[amyr]

Marlyne - we were on the Uniworld River Empress, so I can't help you with port times or anything ship specific. With the exception of Bratislava (we went to Nuremberg) though, all our ports look the same as yours. If you have any questions about them, I'll be happy to answer them.

 

There have been a few good reports on here about the Amadeus boats.

[wbrumel]

I'm going on the Avalon Artistry Danube cruise in October, so I'm very interested in the reports from those making the Prague to Budapest run. Does anyone know how long the bus ride is from Prague to Nuremberg?

[amyr]

I think it took us about four and a half hours. We had a 30 minute stop along the way just inside the Czech border.

[S&B]

Hi Amyr,

If it took you about 4 1/2 hours to Prague then you had some time that first evening to sightsee. Am I assuming that is correct? What did you do for that first half day? Well, kind of a quarter of a day. Anything is better than nothing. Any suggestions?

 

What was your half day tour like on the following day?

 

Thanks. Glad you had a wonderful time. Did you shop??

[amyr]

I think we arrived at the hotel around 1:00, and they had buffet lunch set up for us. It was in the same area that the included breakfasts were served, which were very good by the way. The lunch, however, was 18 Euro pp, which we happily paid as we needed to kill some time. The rooms weren't ready until 3:00. If you're tired of buffets, they have a very good American style bistro one flight up that has burgers, fries, and the like. You can also access the internet in the business center for, I think, around $5.00 for 15 minutes.

 

Don't know how your trip will run, but we had a briefing at 5:00 where they explained about the tram system and what our included excursions were in Prague. Our walking tour (which was very good) was the next morning. We headed out after the briefing around 6:00, found a nice place for dinner, and then ambled around a bit until 9:00. The Old Town Square was lovely at night, and not as crowded as during the day.

 

Prague was fantastic. We shopped like crazy. We wanted to buy a marionette, and we found a nice marionette shop on the walking tour that started at Prague Castle. The shop was just a few doors down from Franz Kafka's house. We had no trouble popping into the shop, buying a puppet, and catching back up with the walking tour as there was really only one way to go. We found the marionettes in that shop to be of higher quality and half the price of the ones in the square.

 

I can pass along a restaurant recommendation that I read on this board. In the square there is a hotel, the U Prince (can't miss it) Walk past their outdoor cafe, through the hotel, and take the lift in the back up to their roof terrace. Good food and lovely views. Also, we went to U Fleku, the oldest beer hall (1499) in the Czech Republic. It's a great place to eat sausages, drink beer, and sing along with folks at long tables. It's a bit tricky to find (we took a cab) but they'll highlight the route on a map for you at the concierge desk. It's listed in that 1000 Places to See Before You Die book.

[wbrumel]

Hoping you'll keep watching these boards for more questions to answer, since I don't go until October. Will definitely take your restaurant recommendations. How far is the Prague airport from the city? How far is Budapest's airport from the river?

Thanks again.

[amyr]

To be honest, I don't remember how far the airport was in Budapest as I was really foggy from the trip. We hopped in a taxi from the taxi stand and it was a fixed rate. I'm sure the drive didn't take us more than 20 minutes, and it was afternoon rush hour. There is also an airport mini-bus that you can sign up for inside the terminal which is cheaper, but you may have to drive to multiple hotels and wait for it to fill up before you go.

 

In Prague, they advised us that the drive was 30 minutes, longer in rush hour. We had a 7:00 a.m. flight, and arranged the night before for a car from the Renaissance at 5:15. We were at the airport by 5:40 and had to wait for the ticket counter to open at 6:00 before we could check in and go to the gate.

 

I'll keep watching the boards because I knew how much I depended on them for information. Steamboats is also posting and has the best information on river levels, so watch those posts too.

[wbrumel]

Thanks for all the help. After over 20 ocean cruises, this upcoming river cruise is a new experience for us, but we are quite excited.

[lostqeba]

We are on the Poetry in June and our hotel in Prague is the Hilton. Can anyone tell me their experiences of getting into town from the hotel. Did you take the subway? I feel sure that the tram does not go out that far. We are good at walking but do not know if we want to walk from the middle of town to the Hilton at 10 p.m. Any help will be appreciated.

Thanks.

 

Hilton Is out of the mainstream in Prague...I both walked downtown and took the tram, look down from the hotel and you will see a super market one block over with the tram stop ....tram maps are available at hotel....very few good restaurants near Hilton.....their gourmet restaurant is excellent but expensive.....would take taxi back to hotel late night

[rundent]

Seems like it's a bummer to be put up at the Hilton, but it does appear to be l a nice hotel. Do those on the Globus tours eat breakfast where others do? Thanks for any input. Larry