joseeduardobtesh

I am planning a trip to Budapest and Vienna for the end of March. Will stay in Budapest 5 full days and in Vienna 3 full days. Is is enough/ok ? Any tips on how would you organize the sightseeing ? Thank you happy travelers !

nytraveler

I would reverse the number of days - IMHO Vienna has much more to see and do. Are you planning on going to the mountains for snow sports?

annhig

hi Jose,

have you got an idea of what you want to see in each place? what interests you there?

presumably, or you wouldn't have chosen those places to visit!

on the whole, i would say that there is more to see and do in Vienna, so if anything, i would skew the trip the other way, but not knowing what draws you to these places makes it hard to advise you.

so far as organisation of sightseeing is concerned, it's the same as everywhere - work out what you want to see, and when each place is open, and then try to group as many places as possible which are near each other together.

in Budapest there are the Cathedral, the Parliament and some museums as well as Liszt's house on the Pest side [and the opera house if you're interested] and on the Buda side the Castle, Fisherman's Bastion, and some more museums. seeing that lot, plus visiting a few cafes, should take you a good 3 days.

in Vienna there is really too much to mention, but a few highlights are the many museums, the cathedral, the Hofburg and Schoenbrun Palaces and gardens, the Belvedere, the Prater amusement gardens, the many cafes, the Opera, the Volkstheater, the Heurige of Grinzing and Doebling, etc. etc.

hope this helps!

bethany1

We did Vienna in 3 nights 4 days and it WAS PLENTY! Save the days for Budapest (have not been there yet, but looking into it for May or Oct.)

annhig

Well, Bethany and I have completely different ideas.

I would definitely spend longer in Vienna than i would in Budapest. and unlike Bethany I've been to both.

fourfortravel

Well, living in Vienna and having visited Budapest, I would probably flip the days, and use a day to escape Vienna for the woods or the vineyards, or even a day train to Bratislava. One can only sit in cafes for so long, and after a while the cathedrals all look the same. Vienna offers several easy to moderate hikes/walks, with great public transportation access, that lead to beautiful views over the Danube if you want to escape the museums, plus the opportunity to pause at the heurigen should you be hungry.

BigRuss

Not sure what this means, although it tells me someone missed a LOT of the best of Budapest: <<One can only sit in cafes for so long, and after a while the cathedrals all look the same.>>

Did four nights in Budapest, needed another: Castle, Szoborpark/Life under Communism tour, Heroes Sq./City Park, Parliament, Dohany Utca, St. Iztvan's, Gellert Hill, Danube evening cruise, Moscow Sq, and didn't hit KGB/Terror museum or Margaret Island or a side trip . . .

Delaine

I would at least do 4 days in each city. I agree with those that say that there is more to see in Vienna.

fourfortravel

How many cafes can one sit in in a week? In Vienna, Cafe Hawelka is smoke-filled, grungy, and filled with tourists; Cafe Central is so touristy that their desserts have a logo; and Demel's isn't worth the wait outside of January when all of the tourists are somewhere else. Unless the holiday plan is to seek out the off-the-beaten-path cafes, this is what you get in every major cafe-sporting European city.

Since we don't know the interests of the OP, I still think the major sights of Budapest really can be seen in three full days. In Vienna, four full days.