VMinTO

Hello fellow travelers!
My husband and I are traveling to Vienna and then Prague mid April. We would like to add a 3rd city in the itinerary heading west by train from Prague. FYI We fly out of London at the end of the trip to return to North America. We welcome any suggestions.

Please also share any favorite restaurants, tours, and experiences for Vienna and Prague!
Thank you as always!

Travel_Nerd

You will need to be in London for your final night before travel home, so you may have less days than you think unless you can change your ticket.

For "four days," do you mean five nights or do you actually only have four nights? Please clarify. For the record, 4 nights would net you 3 days sightseeing, 3 nights equals 2 days, and so on.

How long are you spending in Prague and Vienna, respectively? There are options near each city, but may need to know more and/or your interests. Budapest is a natural option as well, but depending on the actual days you have left, I would want more. I had 4 full days (5 nights) there and it was not nearly enough, for me at least.

To answer your question about MY favorites (thank you for wording it in that way, btw). My favorite in Prague is off the beaten path a bit and that was to Vyšehrad park (it was free when I went) that has the original fortifications of the city, a couple of churches, and very green- a great place for a picnic. The standard tourist areas are fine (Castle, Charles Bridge, Old Town Square,Jewish Quarter) and definitely interesting - but can be crowded, maybe April won't be so bad. I enjoyed going up in Tyn Church.

Vienna: what I liked most about Vienna is that there are a lot to just "look" at - very Imperialistic architecture but lots of parks and fountains. I enjoyed the Belvedere museum (lots of Klimt) and Schönbrunn Palace is worth going to if you're interested. Depending on how long you have for Vienna, you might consider taking a day trip to Bratislava. I found stari grad to be charming. Many might disagree but I enjoyed it when I went.

KarenWoo

My favorite off the beaten path place in Prague is the same as Travel_Nerd. Vysehrad!!! In addition to the original fortifications, there is the St. Peter and St. Paul church, and the beautiful National Museum. All located on a hill overlooking the Vltava River. Also enjoyed the Alphonse Mucha Museum and the Museum of Communism.

Travel_Nerd

I love that you were able to go there yourself, Karen! It is definitely a very underappreciated area of Prague.

gallagher86

I think Berlin would be a solid choice as it's only a short train ride / drive from Prague and has direct flights to London.

KarenWoo

Just realized I misspoke. I meant to say the beautiful National Cemetery, NOT Museum.

And, yes, I agree Vysehrad is underappreciated. Our daughter studied for a semester in Prague, and her classroom was in Vysehrad. She took us there when we visited. If it wasn't for our daughter, I'm not sure we would have gone there. We returned to Vysehrad during a second visit to Prague. It was never crowded when we visited. An oasis from the maddening crowds!

joannyc

Prague, Vienna, and Budapest is a common trip to link together.

J62

Dresden is an easy 2 hr direct train ride from Prague, about halfway enroute to Berlin. No nonstop flights from DRS to London so you could take a direct 90 min train from Dresden right to Berlin airport for a flight. Trains depart Dresden every 2 hours all day long.

VMinTO

Thank you for the suggestions so far! To answer your questions:
We are spending 3 nights in Vienna and 6 nights in Prague. We have 4 nights for a 3rd city.
We love learning the history of each city and immersing oneself with the culture especially through food and music. I think it's reasonable to include 1-2 tours, a museum, and a music venue for each city. We like classical or jazz and all kinds of dance music on a personal level. We look forward to enjoying traditional music of each city/country.
If any restaurants come to mind please share ... FYI we prefer wine over beer !

VMinTO

Thank you for the suggestion! I was thinking of Berlin as well. Do you have any advice on what part of Berlin to ideally find a hotel? Any tours you suggest to get a general overview of the city? Thank you in advance!

J62

Berlin is a huge city, widely spread out but with a good subway and bus system. Personally I like staying in the Alexanderplatz area but that’s mainly because of my fond experiences from ages ago enjoying time there with friends, and making friends with a DDR border guard drinking beer in the Ratskeller, listening to him pine about someday being able to travel to the West to go to Oktoberfest, talk about his children, and complain about his boss. That experience really humanized for me how similar humans are despite the political differences of our leaders, and left a lasting impression.

aliced

I would say Budapest, whose castle "region" we found far more enticing and interesting than Prague's.

janisj

OK -- Have you been to London before?? The most practical destination for the 3-4 nights is in London since you will have to be there anyway the night before your flight home. There is soooooooo much to see and do in London. And it will eliminate an extra hotel check in/out. However if you have been to London several times then consider a smaller city or town in the UK: Oxford, Cambridge, Edinburgh, York, Bath etc. All have easy connections from/to London and Edinburgh has direct flights from Prague.

tomboy

I'd not consider Bratislava; its "Joe Stalin school of architecture" buildings were depressing, when considering other cities else we enjoyed far better.

I'd consider Budapest. It's a beautiful city. We were told that during the 1890s some 10,000 multi-story buildings were erected. Many apartment buildings today are multi-colored, somewhat like San Francisco. Interesting, lively place. Standard tour is the parliament building, of course, but kitty-korner is a Museum of Ethnography, presenting somewhat of an insight into life in the 1800s, early 1900s, with peasant clothing of the time, etc. Central Market was interesting (to this city-born Yankee) in the same way as outdoor markets in Paris were

Larsay

Budapest is an excellent choice. Another one would be Venice

gallagher86

If you head to Berlin, try and stay in the district of Mitte. That's the most central area and close to all major sights. We booked a fantastic tour with a guy called Matti. I don't think I can post the link - but if you look up toursofberlin dot com you'll find him. Also - if you like classical music, the Berlin philharmonic is outstanding.

basingstoke2

I have no suggestion for a third city other than the ones mentioned.
However in Prague we enjoy staying on Kampa Island. Kampa is an Island in the Vlatva River between the old and new cities and partly under the Charles Bridge. Prague is a busy bustling place and Kampa is a quiet and peaceful oasis after a day in the city. That is not to say it is dull, it is not. Kampa has hotels and a number of restaurants, all good to excellent, and a park. Sitting on a bench by the Vlatva and watching the lights come on in the Old City is a delight. There is a wide stairway from the island onto the Bridge. On Kampa we like staying at the Kampa Garden Hotel. The rooms are nice, the staff helpful and friendly and the included breakfast is good. The hotel is about 150 yards from the bridge. The are good views from most rooms.

Traveling from Prague to Vienna there is a choice of bus or train and we have done both. The train journey is quicker but the bus lets you off in the heart of Vienna so IMO the time is a wash. The bus cost far less.

In Vienna, Boutique Hotel das Tigre is an excellent choice. The rooms are very nice, the location excellent and the breakfast is exceptional. One thing that you might find a draw is that the older section of the hotel is the building where Leopold and Wolfgang Mozart stayed when Wolfgang was a young boy before his first concert in Vienna and returned there as an adult. The concert venue is around the corner from the Hotel.

You mention that you like wine, so be sure to visit the wine restaurants called Heurigen. These are located in and around Vienna and feature new local wines. IMO the best Heurigen experiences are found in a section called Grinzing which is easily and quickly reached by tram. Some Heurigen there have lovely garden dining as well.

As far as classical music, both Prague and Vienna have ubiquitous small chamber concerts of fine quality. Tickets are usually inexpensive and the venues tend to be in historical sites and Churches. We enjoy those informal concerts.

Jean

Just me, and I realize you've probably already booked hotels, but I would add a night to Vienna... esp. if that is your first destination and you might be dealing with some jet lag. Vienna isn't one of my top favorites, but 3 nights is only 2 full days.

EatSleepTravel

Restaurants in Vienna - Figlmuller for wiener schnitzel and Plachutta for traditional Tafelspitz. These are sort of touristy but are genuinely good too. You'll need to book in advance. The Figlmuller Wollzeile location is the original one with more character and ambiance.
I really recommend Schonbrunn but it is a little outside of the city and will take at least half a day to visit, see the grounds and tour the castle. Totally worth it I think.

Fleur_de_Lis

Like others, I'd also likely add Budapest as my third city if I were you...BUT throwing out one other suggestion: Ljubljana, Slovenia! Really gorgeous, kind of artsy/hipstery city with a beautiful castle, thriving music scene - including a jazz festival, I believe - and lots to do and see. Also some really pretty surrounding countryside if that's your thing.

In Prague, check out Vinograf wine bar and/or consider doing a day trip to tour some of the wine caves of Moravia. Check out Lucerna music bar for fun concerts/dancing nights. You could also consider a day trip to Cesky Krumlov, an adorable medieval castle town that is just stunning. And yes, I second Vysehrad!