Winter weather usually equals a drop in tourism for any non-skiing locale. It's understandable; most people don't want to spend their leisure time shivering in the cold. But with a little foresight--long underwear, for instance--wintertime is the absolute best time for off-peak travel. You simply can't beat the prices, and you won't have to beat the lines since the number of travelers is significantly reduced. Even local merchants are less harried and more willing to spend time chatting it up. These two package deals to the Czech Republic and farther afield into Eastern Europe provide a perfect opportunity.
First up, is a seven-day/five night combo to Prague--an already imminently affordable city--that includes airfare, hotel (including taxes and services charges), breakfasts, airport transfers, a city tour. The base-price out of Newark is just $499, out of Washington, D.C. $604, out of Chicago $619 and from Seattle $649. Any city served by United Airways is available as a departure city, as well. Expect to pay additional taxes, which vary, depending on your gate of departure. All prices are per person based on double occupancy.
These base-prices place you in the three-star Hotel Sofia (www.prague-hotel.org/sofia, single supplement $89). You can add on $116 for the four-star Hotel Mucha (www.prague-hotel.org/mucha, single supplement $119) or $331 extra for the five-star Hotel le Palais (www.prague-hotel.org/le_palais, single supplement a numbing $369). All of these hotels are near St. Wenceslas Square, just east of Old Town, the beautiful heart of Prague. The prices are good for daily departures through March 31, 2003, except from December 19-24, when an extra $170 is tacked on.
Once you're in Prague, you can explore the city on your own (highly recommended; be sure to include the oft-overlooked St. Agnes Monastery) or you can choose any number of Continental Journey's optional tours (Kutna Hora and neighboring Sedlec, home of the macabre "bone church"). Of course, the optional tours cost extra, ranging from $24-$56 per tour. For cheaper ways to do tours yourself, check out our recommended listings for sightseeing within Prague by clicking here. For recommended side trips and tours outside of Prague, click here.
To contact Continental Journeys, simply call 800/601-4343 or go online to www.continentaljourneys.com.
The second trip we're featuring today comes from NYC-based Tatra Travel (their offices are actually right around the corner from our own.) For only $40 more, Tatra is adding on an additional night for a package that includes roundtrip airfare out of New York, Montreal and Toronto, six nights in the Hotel Olympik (www.olympik.cz/en, single supplement $65), breakfasts, transfers and a city tour. Total base-price is $539 per person based on double occupancy good for travel From January 1 through March 31, 2003. Tatra also features a similar tour to Budapest for seven days and six nights from $549 and a Prague/Budapest combo for the same number of days from $689. Ten-day Prague/Budapest/Vienna packages start from $1,029.
Just like with the former package, you can add on an different daily tours and upgrade to snazzier digs--Tatra does offer a wider selection of hotels to choose from. Flight upgrades, extensions, car rentals, concert and theater tickets and dining reservations can also be made through the agency. For more details, go to www.tatratravel.com or call 800/321-2999 or 212/486-0533.
For other recent package deals to Prague that have been featured in our Frommers.com Newsletter, click here and also here.