DebitNM

We are doing a multi city, Central Europe trip in mid November. We are starting in Prague and ending in Budapest. We have 4 nights in between stays in these 2 cities.

Bratislava seems to have a bit of worthwhile things to see, but not enough to fill 4 days. The hotel prices are much lower in Bratislava than Vienna, so it seems like that could be our base. The train is about an hour ride between the cities and the fares are about 13 euros each, so the hotel saving could be eaten up quickly.

Staying 2 nights in one city and 2 in another is an option. Then we would need to decide if we would go from Prague to Bratislava first or Vienna first and then head to the other city with a final train departure to Budapest.

Any insights as to whether 4 nights in Bratislava; or 4 nights in Vienna or 2 nights in each city makes the best sense??

DebitNM

Anyone??

lavandula

I've visited Bratislava from Vienna (45 mins by train), so I think your plan of staying in Bratislava for part of the time to minimise costs might be quite a good one, as it is so close. Vienna is hideously expensive for accommodation. However I don't think our visit to Bratislava did it justice - we only saw the old town on a Sunday, missed the more modern parts and the castle (we had a child in tow) and felt somehow that our experience was lacking. So don't restrict yourself to the old town. Also come armed with a phrasebook and map, because we encountered quite a few people where we had difficulties communicating (we have English and German). I am thinking that you might have a few long days in Vienna, where you could realistically spend a fortnight and not see everything, and not feel like making the long commute back to Bratislava.

I would possibly go to Vienna first and then if you have things you still wanted to see there, you could do it from Bratislava - basically budget more time for Vienna.

Lavandula

sassy27

I wish I could help but I won't be there until after your visit. I was trying to find similar information and there isn't much information on here from posters. There was a post that had a sort of debate on which was better and it didn't end well. I am planning on just staying in Vienna for my 5 days since that is where I am flying into and out of. I do plan on going to Bratislava on a day trip. I like the idea of splitting the time between the two but I didn't want to change hotels and just prefer staying in one place. Good luck with your decision as I hope someone can help.

kja

I'm no help -- I thought Vienna itself worth 5 or 6 days, and didn't make it to Bratislava. Good luck!

fourfortravel

DebitNM, I live in Vienna and travel to Bratislava when there is something of interest happening, or if we're not in the mood for one of Austria's 39 official holiday shutdowns and need a quick getaway. From a logistics standpoint, ÖBB (Austrian national train system) has €15 round-trip tickets between the two cities, and you needn't reserve a specific time or seat. The travel time is approximately 75 minutes one-way. Vienna's station is conveniently connected to public transportation and will have you to the InnerStadt (and most tourist attractions) in less than 15-20 minutes; Bratislava's station is not as central, but the X13 bus can get you to the Stare Mesto (old city) easily.

sassy, I was part of the Vienna/Bratislava debate. Did not end at all, as the OP never responded about how the weekend went.

As for how to split your time, of course it depends on what you want to do. Vienna is not an early rising city (10:00 for most attractions and stores) and rolls its sidewalks up around 18:00 and is closed on Sundays and holidays (Bratislava is generally open), so going back-and-forth wouldn't necessarily mean early train travel or "wasted" tourist time, just time on a regional train.

Hope this helps. Happy Planning!