I know most people have had excellent experiences with Viking, but unfortunately I cannot claim to be one of them. Our tour started in Prague in the midst of one of the worst heat waves that has hit Europe in the last hundred years. The Hilton was a nice enough hotel and the rooms were good. The Viking representatives were very nice and since we had arrived several hours early they were able to get us into a room before the normal check in time which we greatly appreciated. We settled into our rooms, took a shower and then ventured out into the city. We found a wonderful little craft fair and wandered around town. Hints:

1 - Money Changers at the airport or train station (TravelEX) have poor rates and high fees. There are a number of places in old town that had better rates and no fees. The best no fee place to change money that I found was outside the main train station. Go out the main doors, turn to your right, walk down the path and when you come to the road there is a small shop across the street on the corner. The guy was very honest and even advised me to "wait until tomorrow" if I could because the rate was going to be even better due to what was happening with Greece. Getting Euros here may have been a good idea as the only places you could change money for the rest of the tour was in banks (until you get to Paris). The ATM machines were always available but many of those in Germany did not have an English Language menu. Also some of them required you put your card in upside down.

2 - Taxis - there were four of us so a larger taxi was needed. The taxi stand inside the airport told us it would cost 700 crowns but we were able to get the driver to agree to 600. Read more