Berlin, Dresden, Prague: an 8-day Germany - Czechia itinerary

Berlin and Prague are usually planned as two separate trips. Yet the direct train between them takes under four hours, and Dresden — which most people skip — sits right in the middle of the line. Combining all three gives you three completely different city centres for the price of one pair of flights: a capital rebuilt after the war, a restored baroque city, and a medieval core that was barely damaged.

The route runs one way: land in Berlin, work south along the Elbe, and fly home from Prague. An open-jaw ticket removes a four-hour backtrack on the final day.

How to split the days: how many nights where?

How to split three days in Berlin

Berlin is one of Europe's most spread-out capitals; two points of interest can easily be 40 minutes apart. Building the days around districts rather than around a checklist is far more efficient.

1. Day 1 — the historic axis: the Brandenburg Gate dates from the 18th century and, while the city was divided, stood inside the death strip where no one could approach it; today it reads as the symbol of reunification. The Reichstag dome, within walking distance, lifts you on a glass spiral ramp directly above the parliamentary chamber — visitors looking down on the legislature is a deliberate design decision. Entry is free but requires online registration and ID. Finish the day at the Holocaust Memorial.
2. Day 2 — museum day: Museum Island holds five museums on an island in the Spree and the whole ensemble is UNESCO-listed; the bust of Nefertiti, Babylon's Ishtar Gate and the ancient Pergamon altar are all here. One combined ticket covers them all, but more than two in a day is exhausting. The Pergamon Museum is under long-term restoration — check which sections are open before you go.
3. Day 3 — the Wall and East Berlin: the East Side Gallery, Kreuzberg, and Friedrichshain for the evening.

Trains: how to book the Elbe line

Both the German and Czech rail operators run the Berlin-Prague line, along with a private operator. The competition brings prices down sharply, and tickets booked early often cost less than the bus. Sales open about six months ahead.

• The Dresden-Prague stretch runs through the Elbe canyon and is the most scenic part of the route; travel it in daylight and take a window seat if you can.
• Long-distance trains in Berlin leave from Hauptbahnhof; allow 25 minutes to the station if you're staying around Kreuzberg.
• Prague's main station is Praha hlavní nádraží, two metro stops from the Old Town.
• Czech fares are priced in koruna (CZK); factor in your bank's exchange margin when paying by card.

Three days in Prague: castle, bridge and neighbourhoods

Prague's centre is small but its daily crowd rhythm is extreme. Charles Bridge becomes impossible to walk at midday and is nearly empty at seven in the morning. The same is true of the Old Town Square.

• Day 1 — Prague Castle is the largest castle complex in the world by area, containing a cathedral, a palace, a basilica and the Golden Lane where alchemists were said to live. Go at opening; the courtyards fill with tour groups by afternoon. Then walk down through the narrow streets of Malá Strana to Charles Bridge; the 14th-century bridge carries thirty baroque statues and at midday there is nowhere to stand.
• Day 2 — the Old Town Square is known for its six-hundred-year-old astronomical clock; the figures move for one minute on the hour and the whole square stops to watch. Next to it, the Josefov Jewish Quarter is one of the best-preserved in Europe, with six synagogues and a cemetery of stacked headstones on one combined ticket. In the afternoon take the funicular to Petřín Tower, a small echo of the Eiffel Tower with the whole city below.
• Day 3 — Wenceslas Square isn't really a square but a 750-metre boulevard; it was the gathering point of the 1989 Velvet Revolution and the National Museum at its top end displays photographs from those days. In the late afternoon climb to Vyšehrad: from these overlooked ramparts you see the bend of the Vltava and the castle opposite together — the best sunset spot in the city, and free.
• Day trip alternative: Kutná Hora was once Bohemia's silver-mining centre and rivalled Prague in wealth. The town is known for the Sedlec Ossuary, decorated with the bones of some forty thousand people — chandelier included. One hour by train, half a day round trip.

How to extend the route

• +2 days in Munich: 4.5 hours by bus from Prague. Marienplatz is the main square and the town hall's glockenspiel performs twice a day for fifteen minutes. The English Garden is larger than Central Park and people surf a standing wave in the middle of the city. Give the second day to Neuschwanstein Castle: two hours from Munich, tickets timed and online only.
• +1 day in Český Krumlov: a medieval town on a peninsula where the Vltava loops into an S; the centre survived almost unchanged and the whole of it is UNESCO-listed. Its baroque castle theatre is one of the few anywhere with its original stage machinery intact. Three hours from Prague; you can do it as a day trip, but the town is at its best once the coaches leave, so stay a night.
• +1 day in Karlovy Vary: a spa town in operation since the 14th century, with thirteen separate hot springs, each at a different temperature and mineral content. The water is traditionally drunk from a porcelain cup with a built-in spout, sold locally. Two hours from Prague and particularly beautiful in autumn.
• +2 days in Vienna: four hours by train from Prague, turning the route into a Central European triangle.

When to go

May-June and September are the most balanced months: comfortable walking weather and moderate crowds. July and August are Prague's busiest, and the centre is completely full after 10am. December is a separate proposition: Christmas markets run in all three cities, it's cold, but everything except accommodation gets cheaper.