Thinking about Austrian Airlines $1700 pp pkg (air, hotel, trains) to Vienna, Prague, and Budapest. Has any one done this? 3 nights per city. This would just be our intro trip to the region. Wondering if this is a good deal as compared to setting up all myself. This price is for 3 star hotels, which we'd probably do.

Seems easy. But I'm a bit leery about paying more than I need to - and generally I choose small b&b places rather than the blah hotels that I imagine are included in these pkgs.

My primary concern would be the location of the hotels. If they are well situated, it looks like a good deal,. + I am really a fan of Austria Air, anyway. Guess it depends on where you are originating as well.

1) Where are you flying from?

2) What time of year?

3) On average, you should be able to find pensions for €100 per night for a double. So, for 9 nights, we're talking about
€900 for 2 people, which is around $1200.

4) Trains aren't that expensive - I would say probably around €120 for 2 people total.

5) So you do the math and see if it's a good deal or not.

6) Also, agree on the hotel locations, and is breakfast included?

Hey glov,

A bean counter would check www.kayak.com, www.1800flyeurope.com and http://www.flycheapabroad.com/default.aspx for airfare.

He would then look up hotels by searching each city.

Train prices can be found at www.bahn.de, http://www.oebb.at/

Our bean ciounter would then compare the prices.

Sorry, forgot to say we'll be flying from DC

Also be sure you understand whether the package (or the individual items you are comparing to) include all taxes and fees. Those can add up quickly on international flights. And hotel taxes can be high too.