Read on to find out about our epic road trip through Czechia, Austria, Slovakia and Hungary as a family of five. At the time of travel the kids were 13 and 9 year old twins (we picked up the 17 year old at the end of this leg of the trip).
In the summer of 2024 we embarked on a 25 day European adventure driving from Leicester to Trogir in Croatia.
The first four days of the journey took in the Netherlands and Germany before we arrived in Prague on the fifth evening. Click on the links below to find out how we found Efteling theme park in Holland and travelling across the whole of Germany in two days.
With the exception of a skiing trip to Bulgaria in 2008, we had not visited another former Eastern Block or Slavic country before. We were keen to experience the difference in architecture and culture as we travelled further east through Eastern Germany, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and on into Croatia.
Brutalist style concrete residential high rise blocks of flats and commercial buildings contrasted with the eastern European historic Medieval and Imperial buildings in every city. Densely packed high rise concrete blocks of flats were prominent features in the suburbs of the towns and cities we passed through, particularly as we got to the Czech Republic and beyond.
Learning about the Communist era, the cultural and political revolutions, which led to independence in the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary, during guided tours, was eye-opening for the whole family.
Exposing the kids to different cultures and expanding their knowledge and horizons is important to us. We certainly built some cultural capital on this trip and hopefully they will always remember the places we visited, some of what we learnt and be inspired to want to travel themselves in the future.
- Prague, family site-seeing
- Vienna family day trip
- Bratislava family site-seeing
- Hungary, Budapest and Miskolc
- The final push to Croatia
- Holiday Run
- About Us
Prague, family site-seeing
We arrived at our Airbnb in suburban Prague, south of the city centre, late afternoon. Not wanting to miss the Euro 2024 final we found a sports bar not too far from the apartment where we could watch the football later that evening. We were the only English people in the packed bar and all of the locals appeared to be supporting Spain. It was a friendly atmosphere and we all had a good evening, despite the result.
The apartment was the top floor of a three storey building in a quiet residential area and was a short walk from a bus stop for travelling to the city centre. It was really clean and spacious and gave us a chance to finally wash and dry our clothes from three days before which were still wet from a rainy day in Efteling.
The weather had finally broken on the Sunday as we made our way to Czechia with temperatures in the late 30s early 40s for the rest of the holiday. This was lovely but made site-seeing very hot and sweaty.
On our first full day in Prague we travelled on public transport into the city centre, catching a bus and then an underground train. After a long, steep walk up to Prague Castle we stopped for brunch in a café within the castle which overlooked the city skyline.
After brunch and a walk around the castle we strolled to Wenceslas Square for a walking tour which we had pre-booked.
The tour lasted around two hours and we walked around the city with a local guide in a group of around twelve people. The guide was really engaging and knowledgeable about the city and we discovered a lot of interesting facts.
The tour was a long walk in 40 degree temperatures but we could not recommend it highly enough when exploring a new city. We learnt about the historic Habsburg and Bohemian rulers, the flooding of the city, the Astronomical Clock, the history of the city as part of the Austrian Empire and Kingdom of Bohemia, the Nazi occupation in World War Two, the years under Communist rule and the Velvet Revolution in the 20th Century. We also learnt about Mozart’s connection with Prague, Franz Kafka and Nicola Tesla amongst other fascinating facts.
We enjoyed the tour so much that we went on another walking tour in Bratislava, a short tour around Vienna in a classic car and a river cruise tour in Budapest. Having a local tour guide imparting their knowledge on their home town makes for a more interactive experience than just using a guide book.
Overall, we found Prague to be a wonderful place, with beautiful architecture and a rich cultural history. The local people were friendly and welcoming and we felt safe walking around the streets as a family. It was very hot and we walked a lot of miles, but it was great to see the kids interacting with the tour guide and listening intently to the history of the city (and the country as a whole).
After two nights in Prague we headed for Bratislava, Slovakia. Rather than taking the most direct route, we decided to make a short detour into Austria for lunch in Vienna.
Vienna family day trip
On the banks of the River Danube, Vienna is a city full of culture and history. The capital of the former Habsburg and Austrian Empires, Vienna is famous for it’s Imperial architecture and influence on European classical music, being the home of Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert and Straus amongst others.
We parked in a multi-storey carpark on the outskirts and caught a train to St Stephen’s Cathedral in the city centre. After a short walk we found a restaurant and sampled some traditional Austrian food including Wiener Schnitzel.
After lunch we walked to the Hofburg Palace and as we didn’t have a lot of time we took a short driving tour of the city in a classic car. The whistle-stop tour included driving past many of the sites including the Prime Ministers residence, Spanish Riding School and and the balcony at the Hofburg Palace where Hitler announced the Anschluss with Germany in 1938.
After the tour we made our way back to the train station and the car to continue our journey to Bratislava.
We really enjoyed our short visit to Vienna which is a beautiful city. Hopefully we will return for a longer stay in the future and properly explore more of the attractions.
Bratislava family site-seeing
The distance between the capitals of Austria and Slovakia is less than 50 miles so it was a relatively short drive to our Airbnb in Bratislava where we were staying for two nights.
We spent a lot of time planning the road trip and booking accommodation in the months prior to travelling and we were always a little apprehensive about the location and standard of accommodation prior to arrival. As mentioned in an earlier post, the first Airbnb we stayed at was a converted stable on a farm in Germany and we were glad that we only had booked one night due to the very basic condition and rural smell.
Therefore, we were relieved that our accommodation in Bratislava was perfect. Described as an “Art Suite flat” it was the entire top floor of a two-storey apartment block which was immaculately presented and finished with a large collection of modern art from paintings, furniture to ornaments. Best of all, it had air conditioning which was really appreciated as the weather continued to be very hot.
On the banks of the river Danube, Bratislava is a much smaller city than Prague and Vienna and it was a short bus trip to the city centre from our accommodation. With a full day to explore we started with a walking tour before lunch and then made our own way uphill to the castle.
The architecture was beautiful with medieval and Renaissance era buildings contrasting with high rise concrete hotels and residential blocks of flats. Learning about the history of the city and Slovakia as part of the Hungarian Empire, Nazi occupation during World War Two, the Communist era and Velvet Revolution in 1989 and the break-up of Czechoslovakia in 1992, was really interesting and something that we all knew little about beforehand.
We enjoyed our time in Bratislava and felt that one full day was just enough time to see most of the sites. The food, architecture, weather and local Slovak people were wonderful. As we came to the ninth day of our road trip we were ready for the next long drive to Miskolc in eastern Hungary for a two night stay.
This section of the trip was approximately 255 miles and we planned to stop for lunch in Budapest which was about half way.
Hungary, Budapest and Miskolc
When planning our road trip, we decided to travel to Miskolc so that we could visit the thermal cave spa in the area. This was the furthest east that we would be driving before heading back west towards our beach holiday in Trogir Croatia.
Our first stop was Budapest where we took a River Cruise on the Danube listening to a recorded tour guide about the history of the two cities Buda and Pest and the prominent buildings along the river’s edge. It was another sweltering day and we were glad of the sit down for an hour.
After the cruise we walked to the cathedral, St Stephen’s Basilica, and stopped for a lunch at a pizzeria nearby.
The drive to Miskolc from Budapest took us past the Hungaroring race track which meant that the roads were busy as it was the start of the race weekend for the Hungarian Grand Prix. However, we eventually made it to our apartment booked through Booking.com close to Miskolc town centre.
Miskolc is very much a relic of the Communist era, a small industrial city with many utilitarian buildings. So why did we decide to travel this far east to stay in a small town with few tourist attractions?
It all started with an episode of Celebrity Race Across The World when Harry Judd visited a spa in Budapest which looked absolutely amazing and I really wanted to experience this for ourselves. However, after researching the spas in Budapest, these were not recommended for under-16 year olds.
After further research we found the Thermal Cave Spa in Miskolc which looked even better, and was suitable for children, so our mind was made up that we would travel across Hungary for the Spa alone …even if this did mean that we ended up so far east that we were only 100 miles from Ukraine!
After a hot night with no air-conditioning we were ready for a pool / spa day and a chance to relax after an intense week of theme parks, travelling and site-seeing in Germany, Prague, Vienna, Bratislava and Budapest! The thermal cave spa did not disappoint.
A large complex of outdoor and underground cave pools was enjoyed by all on another hot day.
You can see some more photos of our stay in Miskolc on our Instagram page below.
We stayed at the spa for most of the day before heading to a small water park within Miskolc itself which had a few water slides and more spa pools. This was fun for an hour or two but was no Disneyland. We had a good time but it was very basic.
The final push to Croatia
On our second morning in Hungary it was time to hit the road again for the final part of our journey to Croatia. We had a 340 mile drive to Zagreb where we had another Airbnb booked for one night. We stopped at Lake Balaton, the largest lake in Central Europe, for lunch.
After that it was a 300 mile drive to Trogir for our beach holiday, via Zadar airport to pick up our eldest daughter.
We had a relaxing 7 days on the beach with two other families (who had flown to Croatia) before an eight day road trip home through Slovenia, Austria, Germany and France.
Holiday Run
When away from home I love to get out and go for a run around the sites or local countryside. I run a lot at home around the same few routes so it is really good to go for a run with more interesting sites to see along the way.
We were so busy travelling and site-seeing during the road trip that I only managed to go out on two runs during the first eleven days of the trip. I went for early morning runs through a forest in Prague and to the Soviet World War Two war memorial and burial ground in Bratislava.
You can find details of my runs on Strava on the following link
https://strava.app.link/C6l8DHY2oUb
About Us
After the shock of finding out that we were expecting twins in 2015, one of the first things that we realised was that …we’re gonna need a bigger car!
We’re a family of six with two girls and two boys aged 17, 14 and 9 year old twins.
Follow our blog and social media posts for inspiration, ideas, tips and hacks for non-package family holidays and as we prepare for our next adventure.
Thank you for visiting our site. Follow us on social media for updates and notifications of new blog posts (Links below).
Content and information on We’re gonna need a bigger car is provided free of charge. If you would like to show your appreciation or support then please share on social media and follow our Facebook page. You can also show your support by buying me a coffee below.
We're gonna need a bigger car 
Leave a comment