toni1

Ideally looking to travel to Budapest/Prague in mid/late August for 2 weeks. I am travelling with my boyfriend from San Fran and the best flights I can find are about $1500/person. Please let me know if you know of other travel sites besides the standard orbitz,expedia,cheap tickets, etc.

Is it just too hot to really want to go to this area in mid August to early September? We could travel anywhere in the world but would like to make our $$ last, see a new locale, stay away from hurricane areas, and not be dying of heat (ie Asia).

Thanks.

Michael

You need to look for alternatives to direct flights. We went to Paris, and then took a Paris-Budapest round trip on SkyEurope. However, we have free housing in Paris. If you do not wish to visit Paris, a cheaper flight to that city and then a cheap inter-European flight might not be worth the time or the cost of the stay in Paris itself. But try this different site:

http://www.ewatravel.com/european_discount_airlines.htm

bardo1

2005??

You can fly into and out of Prague on select days in August 2005 from SFO for around $800 (includes all taxes/fees) on Lufhansa or United.

Use this websight to see all flights on all airlines for August.

Prague is pretty far north - the average high temperature in August is only 73 degrees F. See websight below:

http://weather.yahoo.com/climo/EZXX0012_f.html

toni1

Thanks Michael and Bardo1 for your input.
1. Weather - from my brief readings and some other feedback it appears the temperature is ok but very humid.
2. Crowds - also appears to be high season and a lot of tourists this time of year.
3. Airfare- Bardo1, I had looked on both United and Lufthansa sites and came up with that original airfare. Can you help me locate the fares you are speaking about? Dates of travel planning on 8/21 to 9/4 (we have a little flexibility on return date but that is about it).
I know I will travel to this locale at some juncture but want to have the best possible experience - even if that means postponing until another time if better to travel later in the year.

Thanks for the feedback and any further advice.

bardo1

toni,

Use the website I listed in the above post. The reason the $800-ish fares don't show up on United's or Lufthansa's websight is becuase they are <b>shared</b> flights: some legs on United and others on Lufthansa.

The flights are there with the flight number of each leg. When you find one one you like, click on &quot;details&quot; and then &quot;booking details&quot;. Print out. Becuase these are shared flights, it's best to just take the info you printed out to (or fax to) a travel agent.

bardo1

Doh!!! I never gave you the websight.

Here it is:

http://matrix.itasoftware.com/cvg/dispatch/prego

jeg

As for weather -- I just returned from Prague and Budapest. Prague wasn't too warm at all; we wore sweatshirts and sweaters every evening. There was only one day in Budapest went it felt very hot. Otherwise, it was fine.

socal

Toni.... I'm going over 7-23 Sept with my wife and another couple of friends and this is what I found out to be the cheapest way to get there from the West Coast. Book jet Blue from the bay area to JFK and then take a direct flight on Malev to Budapest. The total price of r/t tickets on Jet blue were $630 for both of us and the Malev airlines tickets cost around $1460. I figure We saved a couple hundred bucks by going that way. Check out those two web sites and if you are looking to get a car rental, I found that by becoming a thrifty car rental blue chip member (sign up on line) that your quote for a 4-5 pax small wagon w/air with insur/taxes/xtr driver cost me about $606 for 10 days with a p/u in the city. Only draw back was that the city office is closed on Sat/Sunday. Hope that helps..

Michael

socal,

I am skeptical. If flying mid-week, you can get from Paris to Budapest for 25&euro; plus tax via SkyEurope. SF-Paris would probably be cheaper than Jet Blue to New York and New York to Malev. But I may be wrong, and you did your comparison shopping. What you paid for your roundtrip on Malev is $100 less than what we paid for our round-trip New York-Paris-SF. Add $160 to that, and you have our total airfare to Budapest. But that was in May, returning in July.

cztravel

I would say just go anyway. I have just returned and it was much cooler than last year when i went and it was 33C each day and no breeze. Where you planning to stay? You can get a nice 3* hotel at a reasonable price at the moment. Ask for a fan on arrival for your room - this will make all the difference if the nights are close. If you want any hotel suggestions drop me an email.

socal

Michael... I used the Jet blue/Malev flts for another reason. The JFK to Bud flight is 9+ hours and if you add in the 5+ hours from Ca. to NY plus the delay between flts, that's one hell of a lot of jet lag to get rid of on your first day in town. So... we fly into JFK the day before the flight to europe and spend that evening with friends or in a motel on Long Island. The flight to Budapest leaves at 8:45 pm which makes it an evening flight over and you can actually get some sleep and a lot less jet lag. You are right about the cost from JFK to Bud eing very cheap in comparison to the Malev flt from CGD to BUD. It was more expensive to fly from Paris to Budapest than from New York. However, I did find that Wizz airlines has very cheap fares from Paris to Budapest Last week they were on sale for 3.20 Euros per seat plus taxes, fees,surcharges, etc. When I did the final numbers it would only have cost about $218 for 2 r/t tickets from Paris to Budapest, however the problem is that it's not really Paris, it's Beauvais Airport which is about 55 miles north of CDG, but there is an airport shuttle which cost 13-14 euros each way that makes it cost effective if you are willing to pu up with the delays and having to go thru customs twice. Check out that Wizz airlines web site. They fly all sorts of routes out of Budapest to just about everywhere in Europe, but they only fly a limited number of flights per week so itcould be tough without a flexible schedule. gotta run...

toni1

Bardo1, I looked at url you recommended, but I couldn't find fares less than $1200 - I think some of the challenge is the return falls around Labor Day weekend. I did change my criteria to SFO to Prague and that gave me a few more options than flying into Budapest.

Social, I did try JetBlue route as well - could get fare for 2 $650 but no availability on Malev airlines close to the dates we need. Oh well. I will check out your recommendation on car rental.

Jeg and CZTravel,
Thanks for your input. If you could share your itineraries and hotels you would recommend that would be very helpful. Do I need to book all nights or primarily worry about Budapest and Prague - I would like some spontaneity if possible but not if that means no room. Did either of you rent a car or just use public transport?

With all this input I am getting excited to get this journey booked and all planning hopefully done this week as time is short!@

bardo1

You're so right - what a difference a day or two makes!

Using an arbitrary departing date for PRG from SFO on 8/23:
$795 - if you return on 9/7
$843 - if you return on 9/6
$1200+ more if you return on 9/5

Would it be worth $400+ to you to return 9/6 or later??

jeg

Toni1 - In Budapest we stayed at the Ibis Centrum. It's not a hotel with much charm, basically part of a large chain, but we were happy with it. We really liked the street it was on because it was filled with reasonably priced restaurants. In Prague we stayed at U Medvidku. This was one of our favorite hotels with definitely the best breakfast. There was some restaurant-related noise during the day (until approx. 11 PM), but we weren't in the room enough for it to matter. Even though we really liked U Medvidku, I think I might have liked staying in Mala Strana better. The route from U Medvidku to Old Town Square and other sights required navigating through many tourist clogged streets and I imagine parts of Mala Strana might be better (not sure though). That said, I'd still recommend U Medvidku.
We didn't rent cars. Within the cities, we mostly walked, but took public transportation occasionally. This was more necessary in Budapest, where things were more spread out.
Hope this helps.

Tamas

Hi Toni1,

Living in hhungary I might be able to help yu with your trip:
If you come mid August try to make it for the 20 August as this is the national holiday and a HUGE firework is on display over the Danube and this would make it worthwhile...
Public transport is quite good (though some rebuilding will cause some of the undergrounds to be closed)Ibis might be a good one as the Metro (underground( is quite close. If you would not travel with lot of luggages I definately suggest going out of the city for a few days: maybe to Szentendre (old artistic town), Visegrad, or even to Eger, which is less than 2 hours away with beautiful wineyards and huge castle in the middle of the town.
You might want to try some of the SPAs as well.
If you have any specific questions let me know.
Have a good trip
Tam&aacute;s

toni1

We are excited as we booked our tickets to fly in/out of Budapest! Now we just have to get hotels, car, and finalize the itinerary ...

Other questions-
1. Driving - we are still looking at car rental. My concern here is really about safety and possibility of being hassled (cost is not the primary factor). Any comments?
2. If we relied solely on trains and planes how far in advance do you have to make arrangements? Any issues here (from what I have read crowds could be an issue when getting tickets).
3. Do we need visas for Czech Republic, Hungary and Austria? Do we get them there? (my passport renewal is currently in process)
4. Hotels/pensions - if you have any additional recommendations where to stay based on my itinerary below please let me know. Jeg, thanks for the input - I am looking at U Mediviki (kind of pricey with $150/nite for regular room with no ac). Per your comments did you know of any hotels in Mala Strana?

5.Preliminary itinerary - if you have any comments (example, I missed an absolute must see activity or included something not needed) that would be helpful. I don't know if this all makes sense time-wise yet.

Aug 23- arrive in Budapest by plane
Aug 24 - 25 Budapest
Aug 26 - Eger (by train) overnite
Aug 27 - Rtn to Budapest, get car to Pecs (overnite)
Aug 28 - Drive to Vienna (guessing 3-5 hrs?) hotel/parking needed
Aug 29 - Vienna
Aug 30 - Cesky Kumlov
Aug 31 - Kutna Hera (spend nite? or better to get to Prague)
Sept 1-2 - Prague
Sept 3 - Not planned yet
Sept 4 - Drive back to Budapest - stop in Szentendre (spend nite?)
Sept 5 - rtn car, last day Budapest
Sept 6 - Rtn home

6. I would like to try to fit a day on the water somewhere (like renting a boat) as my boyfriend would enjoy that.
As well - is Adrspach- Teplic Rocks worth a visit? I don't know if we will have time or not.

Thanks for the input.
T

bardo1

toni1,

re. Sept 3: <b>Prague</b> (maybe including a boat trip along the river)

BTW - Do you mind sharing some fare details? Did you get the low fare you were seeking?

techboy

Just returned from Hungary last week.

1. Driving - Try to get the details worked out prior to leaving. We did this through Budget and had no problems.
Hotels/pensions Budapest - Hotel Csaszar - 3 star on the Buda side. 55 euros a night for a triple. Cheap adn cheerful. Right beside the Lukas Spa.

Pecs - Hotel Patria. Can't remember price. but not too bad

Vienna - Hotel Papagano. Limited parking. Be sure you arrange it beforehand. Parking is very tough in Vienna. Higher end places have it but not the more inexpensive hotels.

If you are going to Szentendre, it's easier to go back to Budapest. It's only an hour away by

If you want water in Hungary, you can stop off at any of teh villages/towns on Lake Balaton. It's on the way from Pecs. Either Siofok or Balatonfuruk would have sailboats for rent.

tomboy

1. No visas required
2. Recommend Hotel Romantik in Eger; personnel speak English, nice room, nice patio
3. Driving no hassle whatsoever
4. Kutna Hora's good for about 4 hrs.
5. Have you considered flying into Vienna instead of Budapest? They're only an hour apart by car.

toni1

Techboy,
Thanks for feedback. How much was your car rental/gas/etc? I am trying to figure out a budget for this based on our desired itinerary. Thanks for hotel/boarding incite - will look into it.

Tomboy,
Thanks as well. Already booked ticket to Budapest. Glad to hear that driving no problem - wasn't sure about border checks and getting stopped on the road. Am already on checking out the Hotel Romantik.

Bardo1,
Flight was $1000/person - would have liked it lower but based on date restrictions and fares being picked up quickly we just moved ahead (I can't believe we are leaving in less than 3 weeks).

I also want to make sure our journey isn't at a breakneck speed (my usual tendency) and we can enjoy the countries, people, food, and ambiance. Does this general plan look feasible?

Thanks.