Photographing great scenics in Austria and Chech Republic Best answer on the web
weeks of May 2003.
I'd love to see a picture from your trip. The country there sounds
gorgeous. I have to check with the Google editors to see if I
can post my e-mail address. I'm pretty sure I can't, since this whole
board is public. An alternative might be if you develop the photos
through Shutterfly or another on-line source, you could give me
the password and I could view the picture there.
I'd love to help plan the trip to Ireland. I have an old boss who
lives there and I could query him about the favorite haunts of
the locals. If you need help with that you could just post
a question: "for cath-ga only." When would you be going?
I'm having surgery in July, so I'll be out of commission for
at least a month...Anyway, thanks for the update, and
hope your jet-lag is abating. Catherine
here are a couple more follow ups for your consideration. Catherine
Subj: Re: photo tour
Date: 03/26/2003 2:17:32 PM Pacific Standard Time
From: wolfgang.hoefler@utanet.at
Hi Catherine !
Here my offer for a tour to major and minor beautiful sights of Austria, with start in Vienna:
For this Tour we need a car (Combi for 3 Persons and luggage which cost approx. 100 Euro a day excl. fuel (insurance, kilometer incl.), my cost´s which are 260 Euro/day excl. food.
The hotels, I would recommend to look around in these Web Pages of
Vienna:
http://www.info.wien.at/index_e.html?popup
Salzburg:
http://www.stadt-salzburg.at/index.asp?p1=visitors
Linz:
http://www.linz.at/
If your clients are interested to do the sights-tour with me, I must be booked latest at April, the 23rd, cause the 23. - 27. of Mai is in the main season.
Kind regards
Wolfgang
Subj: Re: photo tour
Date: 03/26/2003 2:13:07 PM Pacific Standard Time
From: manumau60@hotmail.com
Dear Catherine
Thank you for your interest in this phototour through Austria.
I would suggest Salzburg with surroundings , Großglockner , Dachstein , or maybe Innsbruck , Graz , Vienna , Salzkammergut ,
Linz is not so nice ,..
but give me some more time I will think about a nice tour but I am very busy this week .
My price for a full day is Euro 180,- and than we have to think about the overnights and meals .
best regards
Manuela Maurer
I have several responses to my Friday e-mails. Here they are below. cath
Alberto Sommaragu
Subj: From Prague
Date: 03/22/2003 2:52:37 AM Pacific Standard Time
From: albi@sendme.cz
Hello!
I received your request.I am available from May 19 to 22.
I think that for Prague 2 days are the minimum for a tour.Out of Prague at reasonable distances there are Castles( Karlstejn,Konopopiste,cesky Sternberk,Melnik,Kokorin), other towns such as Kutna Hora. The countryside is nice also in the area of Karlstejn. Plus there is a nice castle Kokorin in the middle of the woods.There are no lakes in the area of Prague. Taking pictures inside castles is not always allowed and there is an extra fee for this generally 3-4 USD.
How do they want to get around out of Prague?Have you booked a car or a minivan? A minivan for a full day(8 hours,200 km) costs about 160 USD
the fee for the guided tour is the same you saw in my webpage that is to say 72 USD.
Feel free to ask any detail and please confirm as soon as possible because I have many requests. Greetings from Prague,
Alberto
Subj: Re: CzechSite Reservation
Date: 03/22/2003 8:49:35 AM Pacific Standard Time
From: top.travel@iol.cz
Dear Ms. cath,
Thank you for your request. We will be pleased to arrange such a special tour for your client. We can provide very qualified guide, who is an amateur photografer himself and who knows the most beautiful and most interesting places and also the best times for takeing pictures.
The price is 15 USD/hour/person. The price includes the guide and a car. If this offer is accptable for you I will write you some details of the interesting places.
Looking forward to hearing from you,
Ivana Tatkova,
Top Travel
phone: +420 602 22 93 35
e-mail: top.travel@iol.cz
www.toptravelprague.cz
Subj: Re: photo tour
Date: 03/22/2003 12:23:35 PM Pacific Standard Time
From: gabriela.jemelka@aon.at
Dear Cath,
thanks for your request. It would be a pleasure for me to guide your clients all over Austria. I would be available those days!
If you look for general Austria and Vienna-Information watch our brand new homepage that also includes fotos - in English partly still in work - www.austriaguides.com As you will find out reading we charge about € 230 - 240 for a whole day. These fees are without transports and entrance fees. Our tarifs are the same for 1 single person as for 50 passengers. If your client looks for a real personal care he should contract a guide only at his disposal. I would be pleased to do that. Otherwise - looking for a cheaper way to get around - contact agencies organizing guide tours with bigger groups.
If you love to sea landscapes, mountains, lakes, you should go to the countryside of Austria. Anyhow, 5 days won´t be enough. You should calculate 2 days for Vienna 1 day the Danube valley
1/2 Vienna Woods
min. 1 day for Salzburg > 2 days if you want to discover the lake-and mountain-area! 1 day for Graz - city of culture 2003
Innsbruck is fantactic, but 500 km from Vienna
Linz doesn´t seem to be very interesting to me!
Well, I hope that I could give you some first help and please contact me for any kind of further informations or bookings. Yours sincerely, Gabriela
Subj: Phototour
Date: 03/23/2003 2:09:10 AM Pacific Standard Time
From: info@infinet-tours.cz
INFINET TOURS Travel Agency
Karlik 311 , 252 29 Dobrichovice, Czech Republic
Phone/ Fax : + 420 257 712 229 e-mail: leo@infinet-tours.cz http: www.infinet-tours.cz Re: Phototours 23.03.2003 Dear Madame,
Thank you for your e-mail of 03-21-2003.
1.
The cost of our guide services is EUR 139,- / day + accommodation and transport during the trips out of Prague. 2.
According to your wish , I enclose a corrected proposal of the itinerary. To finish it properly I would appreciate very much to get the following informations:
a. Will the clients require the services of our guide during their stay in the Czech republic only, or during the whole tour ?
b. To plan the every day tours we need to know exactly:
- names and location (towns) of hotels reserved already by clients for the tour- time they want to spend in Linz and Salzburg
c. Have they reserved also accommodation for the guide (in case they need him for the whole tour) ?
d. Will they end their tour again in Prague or some other place ?
e. Have they reserved the car already or we have to do it for them here? We can offer either our own saloon car with AC driven by our guide, or very reasonably priced ALIMAX hire a car service with self driven cars.
f. Should we calculate also the admission fees to the castles, museums and other paces of interest, or Will clients on the spot pay them? (We recommend the spot payments).
g. Do you expect us to plan some sightseeing for client´s wife during his business talks in Vienna or it will be just a waiting time for our guide ?
h. Name and address of your tourist agency and clients´ names .
i. Who is to be invoiced for the services and the way of payment ( advanced banking transfer or transfer of deposit and cash payment of the rest at the arrival time)________________________________________________________________________________________
Photographic Tour of the Czech Republic and Austria.
Day 1.
- Arrival to Prague by air , meeting the guide at the International airport and transfer to hotel. - Informative talk about the itinerary and technical details .
- Informative sightseeing of Prague
Day 2.
- Photo tour of Prague Castle, Lesser Town , Charles bridge , Old Town and Jewish Quarter - Evening boat cruise on Moldau river with dinner and night picture taking of illuminated Prague architectural monuments
Overnight in Prague.
Day 3.
- Central Bohemia in view finder:
Sightseeing and photo tour of glass manufactories near Prague (taking pictures of glassblowers and glasscutters at work) , central Bohemian castles and chateaux (Krivoklat 1104, Tocnik 1254, Zebrak 1485, chateau Horovice 1760, Karlstein 1450)
Evening: Dinner with folklore dancers and music.
Overnight in Prague.
Day 4.
- West Bohemian spa towns and countryside of Sumava.
Karlovy Vary spa , Loket castle (1160) with museum of glass and porcelain, Cheb historical town and Frantiskovy Lazne spa.
Overnight in Prague.
Day 5.
- Architectural jewels and country side of South Bohemia.
Jindrichuv Hradec renaissance castle, Trebon - spa town with gothic fortifications and ponds, Telc – renaissance town listed by UNESCO
Overnight in Prague
Day 6.
- Transfer Prague – Salzburg by car. (420 km)
Under way stop at Cesky Krumlov medieval town and castle – architecture reservation listed by UNESCO Overnight in Salzburg.
Day 7.
- Sightseeing and picture taking in Salzburg. Castle, historical town, Mozart´s birth house, riverside with mountain panorama, historical churches and palaces. Overnight at mountain hotel.
Day 8.
- Transfer Salzburg – Linz (130 km)
Sightseeing of Linz : By funicular to Postlingberg hill with general view of town and countryside, Wahlfahrtkirche (historical church), Linz castle (880), Mozart´s house and historical churches Downtown.
Day 9.
- Transfer to Vienna. Accommodation in a Vienna hotel. (180 km)
Photo tour of historical center of Vienna : Opera, Hofburg, Burgtheater, Old City Hall, Mariahilfe Strasse, St. Stephan dom, Mozart´s House, Imperial chateau Schonbrunn with gardens. Overnight in Vienna.
Day 10.
- The Pratr amusement park, people and shopping in Vienna.
Free time in afternoon. Overnight in Vienna.
Day 11.
Museums and Galleries or a free day for shopping
Overnight in Vienna
Day 12.
- Transfer Vienna – Budapest (230 km)
Accommodation at Budapest hotel and short information walk of Budapest City center. Overnight in Budapest
Day 13.
- Sightseeing of Budapest : Buda castle with St.Stephan church and Fisherman´s outlook, Chain bridge, the Parliament and Danube embankment. City center with museums and historical buildings, City park with Vajdahunyad castle, etc.
Overnight at Budapest.
Day 14.
- Historical monuments and sightseeing in countryside around Budapest (approx. 150 km round tour) VISEGRÁD – castle Visegrád ( 15th century royal castle) with the best view of Danube river bend in Hungary, with Matthias Palace, Chapel and Beatrix Palace. Hercules fountain. SZENTENDRE – picturesque little town full of artists with open air village museum.
Day 15.
- Return to Prague via Hungary, Slovak republic and Czech republic (580 km) Underway colorful countryside of Danube river, capital of Slovakia, Bratislava, Czech-Moravian Highlands, etc.
Overnight in Prague.
Day 16.
Transfer to Prague International airport and departure for home.
I hope to have you informed properly and look forward to your further instructions.
Best regards
Leo Kustos
Subj: RE: photo tour
Date: 03/24/2003 9:16:42 AM Pacific Standard Time
From: andel3w@bohem-net.cz
Thank you for your inquiry and interest in services of CoDan Agentura. We are pleased to offer you the following alternatives: City Walks (Duration: one or two days)
During this tour, the client will take a walk in first day in Old Town and visit some of the most beautifull places in Prague: Staromestske Namesti, Josefov, Charles Bridge, National Theatre, Wenceslass Square, Namesty republiky and Municipal House. The next day, the tour will continue in Mala Strana (Little Side) through Mala Strana Square, Mostecka Street, Nerudova Street, Zamecka Stairs, the Senat, the Prague Castle and Petrin Hill. This trip can take place in two or one day depending on the request. It is also possible to choose only one part of the tour ( Old Town or Little Side) Vysehrad (one day)
It is a one day tour and the guide will take the client to visit the church and its yard, the river side view, the roman relicvs) Divoka Sarka (one day)
A walk into the surroundings of Prague where you can enjoy the view of a beautifull valey around Prague. Karstejn, Cesky Kras, America (one day)
Karlstejn is aproximately at 30 minutes from Prague. The client will have the opportunity to see the magnificent castle. It is situated on a huge and dominating rock and is surrounded by deep forest. The palace was founded in the 14th century by Emperor Charles IV to protect the Imperial Jewels. On way to Vysehrad, will stop for Cesky Kras and America - wonders of nature. Melnih (one day)
It is a one day tour outside of Prague and the client can visit the Melnih Castle, will enjoy the wonderfull view of the valley and the old town. Here will be also possible to see the consenquences of the floods which took place last year in August. Liberec (one day)
If you want to see the mountains and get out from the city, this is the tour you should choose. It is a relaxing trip to the mountains during which you can take photos, find out more about the relief in Czech Republic or just enjoy the view. For all these tours, the prices for a private guide is as follows:
For 2 hours - 2000 Kc (64 Euros)
For 4 Hours - 2600 Kc (82 Euros)
For 6 hours - 3600 Kc (114 Euros)
For 8 hours - 4000 Kc (127 Euros)
Each extra hour will cost 1000 Kc (32 Euros)
All prices above are per person.
For the tours which require transport by car (last 3 tours) the guide will drive the car and take the client to the places indicated above and will provide all available information on these places. The cost for the car is 1000 Kc (32 Euros) per day.
Please note that we are only able to guarantee pick up from the hotel for the tours starting at 8:45, 9:00, 9:15, 9:30, 10:00, 10:15, 18:30, 19:00. If you wish to make a tour reservation please open the attached document "Fax Order Form", fill out all data requested and fax the form signed back to us. If you're in the possession of a scanner you can also scan the signed order form and mail it to us.
Please find attached the order form.
After we receive your order form we will confirm your reservation by issuing a voucher. The voucher is the proof of your purchase. Take the printed voucher with you and present it to the tour guide.
If you are interested in booking a hotel, transfers or tickets for cultural events, please take a look at our WebPages at the following addresses:
Accommodation www.andel3w.dk/antuser/hotels/hotel002.htm Transfers www.andel3w.dk/antuser/transport/transport.htm Tickets for cultural events www.prague.dk/prague/english/pragun11.htm
If you would like to book please contact us and we will inform you about the availability and the reservation procedures.
With Best Regards,
Adina
CoDan Agentura
www.andel3w.dk
Tel: +420 257 327 860
Fax: +420 257 327 862
E-mail: andel3w@bohem-net.cz
To best serve our clients we have now extended our offerings in the Central European region. Besides Prague and Budapest, we have added 7 new cities in the region as listed below. Please do not hesitate to contact us for all your inquiries.
- Prague (Czech Republic), www.andel3w.dk
Upon the receipt of your request(s), we will send you a tailored offer within 24 hours.
If you book now in two or more of the above mentioned cities and the booking dates are within one month from each other we will give you an overall discount of 5% of the total price!
We are looking forward to hearing from you and will be pleased to be at your service!
Sadye, this should give you something to think about! Catherine
-----
Friday I will contact the sources I have located for more info,
and see who looks best. You mention Budapest...does that mean
you'd like someone in Hungary too? Catherine!
here are two more e-mails which came today, Tuesday.
Subj: Re: photo tour guide
Date: 03/25/2003 8:37:14 AM Pacific Standard Time
From: brigitta.pavlovic@guides.at
Dear Catherine,
tank you for you mail.
Few questions are necessary to be able to give correct details and costs.
How will your client travel? Will he have a car?
Does he need a guide for all 5 days who travels with him, or shall we order a local guide for each town who can travel with him also arround to the countryside of Salzburg, Linz and Vienna?
If he wants one guide for all time, he would have to pay beside the guide fee the costs for hotel, meals and train or busticket if the guide has to travel back on its own. There would be of course also the possibility to start in Vienna and to be back after 2-3 days in Vienna. In that case he should stay each time one night in Linz and Salzburg. Innsbruck and Graz with their sourroundings are also very interesting but it depends on the time how much and which part of Austria your client would like to see. All our guides in Austria have a very good knowledge of all sites in our country because our exames are valid for all Austria.
Waiting for your answer I send you my best regards
Gitta Pavlovic
Subj: Re: photo tour
Date: 03/25/2003 3:00:17 AM Pacific Standard Time
From: wolfgang.hoefler@utanet.at
Hello Catherine !
Sorry for my late answer, but I was the last day´s in the Alps where was no Internet Access.
Before I can make a small list of cost´´s, I´m interested about the tour: It´s a tour of professional ( for a few sights and some similar) or private purpose.
Brilliant sights which are picturesque, I would recommend are the Salzkammergut (between Salzburg and Linz) ,the Wachau (stripe of the Danube River near Vienna), Neusiedlersee (Lake in the East of Austria).
Thanks for contact me !
Wolfgang
(I did reply to Wolfgang and tell him it is for private purposes - cath)
Can you please tell me how much you'd like to pay, and how many days
of guiding you're thinking of? Thanks, cath-ga
Another researcher was kind enough to forward me another resource
for your trip:
INFINET TOURS Travel Agency
Karlik 311 , 252 29 Dobrichovice, Czech Republic
Phone/ Fax : + 420 257 712 229 e-mail: leo@infinet-tours.cz
http: www.infinet-tours.cz
Leo Kustos there has a two week proposal for you on Czech-Austria
photo touring, to be led by a "keen amateur photographer."
He could also get you a professional photographer, but of course
at higher cost. I don't know if you want that,or whether you have
to plan your itinerary around other business? Let me know if
you'd like to see the two-week proposal, or you can contact
Infinet Tours by e-mail. cath-ga
You really are incredible supplying al this information. Over the weekend I will attempt to sort it out and get back to you. Thanks again,
Arnold
I arrived home this past Saturday and still have major jet-lag. The trip was great, I did take some incredible photos of the Alps as well as many scenics along the way. We spent 5 days in Prague and drove to Saltzburg and then on to Vienna and then to Budapest. Country wise, Austria and upper Czech Republic are absoultely beautiful. The weather was good, the food greater. The history of the entire area was very meaningful to me - and the people for the most part were very nice, especially since they somehow knew we were American. When I get my photographs printed, if you give me your e-mail address, I'll send you one of ther better ones.
Thanks again for everything.
Arnold Barco
P.S. If all goes well, I am planning a trip next year to England, Scotland and Ireland. I'm sure I need your help in Ireland at that time, so let's keep in touch.
Your not going to now tell me you are in Los Angeles, are you?
( I assume your name is Cathy)
To begin with, I do not feel I need a professional photographer, I just need someone with artistic ability to recognize wonderful places for the shooting of photography. My plan is to arrive in Prague on May 18th. where I should be staying for 5 days, then off my rental car to Salzberg, Linz to Vienna, another 5 days and finally Budapest for 5 more days. For the most part, while I am in Vienna, for 3 days I'll be on business. I'll be traveling with my wife. As far as age and gender, whatever or whoever would be better understanding my requirements. So, what do you think?
thanks for the kind words!
Here's a follow-up from Smolka Tours I received today:
From: lollye@smolkatours.com
Dear Catherine,
Thank you for your interest in Smolka Tours, specialists in customized tours to Austria, particularly, but also to all of Central and Eastern Europe. We offer a wide range of services, including airline tickets, rail tickets, car rentals, hotel accommodations, transfers, city sightseeing tours - both privately guided as well as regularly scheduled, and we can also offer tickets to cultural events in most European cities.
Yes, of course we can do what your client desires in all three cities: Salzburg, Vienna and Linz. We have excellent guides in each of these cities and they can be hired for Half-Day, Full Day, etc.
However, if your client would like to travel into the beautiful Austrian countryside, then we would suggest our driver/guide services; again, this can be arranged for however many hours needed. Our guides are very knowledgeable do speak perfect English.
Perhaps it would be best if you called our offices to speak with one of our representatives about more of the particulars of your clients' trip. Will they be interested in any other services, such as Hotel reservation, train tickets, tickets to cultural performances? We would be happy to assist you in making your clients' trip to Austria a photographic delight.
We look forward to hearing from you.
Best Regards,
Lolly Ekdahl
Smolka Tours, Inc.
82 Riveredge Road
Tinton Falls, NJ 07724
Ph: (732) 576-8813
Toll free in US: (800) 722-0057
Fax: (732) 224-9356
Email: lollye@smolkatours.com
Visit our Website: www.smolkatours.com
I was just going to e-mail you and ask how the trip went, and I saw
the great rating. Thank you!! I take it you got some good pictures...
I'd love to hear a detail or two of the trip. Catherine
What a fascinating question! Thank you!
I’ve given three suggestions for each country below. If these are
satisfactory to you, you can contact these people for details. Or,
if you prefer, I would be happy to follow up and contact them for you. That would certainly be included in the original question. Just let
me know what extra info you’d like. Most of these people are not listed specifically as "photographic guides," but since they are tour guides
they will know the most scenic spots.
Okay, first Czech Republic:
If you check out Alberto Sommaruga’s website, below, he looks like a
very promising guide for Prague, since he’s also a photographer. He
speaks English and you can see his rates, and his own photographs
on the website.
Prague tour guide and photographer Alberto Sommaruga
http://www.myczechrepublic.com/prague/alberto.html
You also might want to look at the Czechsite Travel Website:
http://www.czechsite.com/index.shtml
If you click on “Take a Guided Tour” on the left side of the page, it will take you to their Tourguide Information. You may book the tours according to your own individual needs, i.e., beautiful scenes, or choose from the ones listed. The rates vary from $60-$270. There are several
beautiful castles ( including the Karlstejn castle, the most “romantic place near Prague) Cesky Krumlov, a “medieval town”, and “drives through the countryside” listed.
There is another good site, called “Andel 3W’s Guide to Prague, the Golden City,” at:
http://www.andel3w.dk/prague/
If you click on “Prague Guide,” on the left on the homepage, there’s a page detailing all the major tourist sites in the city. If you click on the “Czech Republic” button on the left, it gives a little info about trips into the countryside. It seems that e-mailing Andel at
andel3w@bohem-net.cz
is the best way to get info from this site. He can answer your questions within 24 hours about guides or anything else.
Okay, now for Austria!
There’s a wonderful site called Austriaguides at
http://www.austriaguides.com/english/
If you click on the Vienna/Austria button, it gives you a choice of the city of Vienna, the vicinity of Vienna (the Vienna woods, valley of the Danube, the Alps!) and the country of Austria. It will give you some good ideas of things you’ll want to photograph. If you click on “Guides”, it shows you pictures of the individual guides and tells you which ones speak English. It also gives little bios (which I translated using Googles translater). Unfortunately none of them mention photography specifically. You can e-mail them for that info, or if you like, I can.
There’s a site called Vienna.guides at:
http://www.guides.at/guides
They have a number of guides listed who speak English, but the one
below, Gabi, is experienced not only in Vienna but in the rest of the
country:
Gabi Weisshappel
Home Guides Tours Rates Links and Tips History and Traditions Guestbook Contact Name: Gabi Weisshappel
Adress: Scheugasse 22/32A-1100 Wien
Telephone: 0043-(1)-6045624
Mobile Phone: 0043-664-3258649
Fax: 0043-(1)-6045624
Email: gabi.weisshappel@vienna.guides.at
Homepage: http://www.gabi.weisshappel@t-online.at
Languages: German, English, French
Information: I like to guide in my hometown Vienna but I do like
to show the rest of my beautifull country as well.I do work as tour
director as well.
If you click on the web-address below,
http://www.find-tour-operators.com/Austria.php
you will get the website for “Find Tour Operators” in Austria. The
“Find Tour” sites represent 1,300 tour companies. By searching under
Any Category, May-June, Any price, you’ll get a wonderful list of
Austrian tours. I know you’re just looking for a guide…but you’ll be
really interested in all these possibilities, they are all in the
Czech-Austria area, and many sound terribly scenic. You
can peruse these, then tell your guide what you’re most interested in. The Austrian Alpine Panoramic Tour sounds great. The company that runs that tour is Smolka Tours. You or I can e-mail them at
sales@smolkatours.com. Their emphasis looks to be big packages, but
they say they have “private drivers” and can accommodate individual needs.
see:
http://www.smolkatours.com/it_sv.html
under “sightseeing.”
Anyway, I hope I made a good start toward finding your European guides. One question one of us should address is what kind of transportation you prefer- do you want the guide to drive his own car? Rental car OK? Just let me know which avenues you’d like me to follow up. It looks as though you almost can’t go wrong, there are so many gorgeous sites to photograph in those two countries! If there is anything unclear or incomplete in this answer, please allow me to clarify before you rate the answer.
Sincerely, cath-ga
Search strategy on Google:
Czech tour guide
Prague tour guide
Austria tours
Vienna tour guides
Well, here's the scoop.May 18 -23 Prague
May 23 - 27 Salzburg
May 27 - June 3 Vienna
June 3 - June 6 Budapest
I would be looking for a guide for my photography taking probably at least two to three days in each location. What do you think? I will have a car, landscapes are really my thing. I want to come home with incredible photographs, ones that would be greatly enlarged and framed as fine art. As always, Thanks you fopr all you are doing.
Arnold
I never received your answer from my e-mail to you of 4/15 until today along with your latest - that's why you havent heard from me. Yes, I would be interested in having you choose the guides and your reasoning behind them, as always, it would be greatly appreciated. The tip on converting the "great" photograph into a canvas sound very interesting also. I also was out of town from the 24th of April until this morning when I just read your message. You're never a nag................
it's hard to recommend for someone else, especially from e-mails which may not reveal the charm or obnoxiousness of the guide...however, here are my gut feelings.
You will find gorgeous sights no matter whom you pick. The prices vary from about 75 US per day (Alberto) to CoDan Agentura $127 Euros/day to Infinet tours $139 Euros/ day to 260 Euros per day (Wolfgang)
Outside Prague, it sounds as though you really don’t want to miss the
Karlstein castle. Everyone mentions how picturesque it is. Alberto Sommaruga could take you there most cheaply. He’s the professional photographer, or Czechsite can fix you up with the amateur photog for 120/US/day.
If you’re going for convenience, go with Infinet, because they can take care of you in Prague and in Budapest. Also, Infinet is moderately
priced (139 Euros/day). They also a great sounding tour in Southern
Bohemia, which is called the “country of a thousand lakes!” If you check that one out on their website, I think it will be right up your alley.
In Austria, I’d like Gabriella Jemelka. (Austriaguides.com) She charges 230-240 per/day, but her e-mail indicates a good knowledge of the outdoor sights. Wolfgang sounds great too. In his e-mail he quickly listed three “brilliant” sights which sound as though you’d like them. He’s 260/day, and
sent a second e-mail with itinerary. (Apparently these guides get more money based on how many languages they speak ) Smolka Tours suggests
the “driver guide” service in the countryside, which sounds like a really good idea. You could probably talk most any guide into driving.
In Hungary I’d go with Infinet, simply because they are the only ones I contacted there. Leo Kustos sounds extremely knowledgeable about all these countries, and I think can really help you. Keep in mind that I’m not an expert on these countries, only in finding information on them. If you can take the time to check out the links I’ve found you’ll be really prepared to ask for the sights that will appeal to you most. And book soon! We may have already missed the deadline on Wolfgang. At least you have lots of backups if you don't get your first choice. Take care, and feel free to write back. Catherine
Yes, of course you can contact me when you know more about your
itinerary. Just ask for a clarification request as you just did,
and ask me to get more info, or contact someone. I'll be happy
to follow up. You might want to look at the photos in the meantime,
and think about whether you'd rather be escorted by a man or
woman, young, old, etc. Thanks for your business! cath-ga
I should have my dates pretty much down pat within the next week or so when I will send them to you. Then we will be in a much better position to make decisions.
By the way, where are you located?
Arnold
not to be a nag, but I haven't heard from you since my last post. I hope,
at this point, that you have already booked your guides. It is getting
relatively close to your travel date, which is in their high season,
and the ones who responded may be booking up. After reviewing the
materials, the easiest thing for you to do might be to go through
Leo Kustos at Infinet Tours. He has guides in all three countries,
so going with him might entail the least trouble for you. I know
his itinerary is more than you want to do, but you could just tell
him to scale it back. Or you could pick two of the guides who
responded from the other cities, and have him book Prague for you.
You're probably going to have to do all this directly: I can't give
him a credit card number.
Anyway, I hope your travel plans are shaping up. When you get your
photos maybe you'd like to try something special with one or two:
you could scan them into a Photoshop program, run the "Painting"
process on them to make them look like a painting. Then blow that
picture up, and do the "print transfer" process on it to a canvas.
An art gallery can send the photo away, they peel off the top layer,
glue it to a canvas, paint on some more "glue" to give it brush strokes...
Then you have what looks like a real painting, from a photograph that
you took yourself. Just an idea...Take care, Catherine
If you like, I can choose the guide I think I'd like best for each location, and tell you why. Do you want to give your preferences before I do this? Then I could notify them to contact you directly? Is this what you'd like to do, or do you have something else in mind?
Catherine
sure, let me know your dates when you get them fixed. I am in California,
and, FYI, I am moving this weekend. (April 5) It's just across the street,
but my computer will be out of commission for a day or two. Should be
a semblance of order here again by Monday the 7th, I hope! Catherine
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July 30th, 2010 edit