Budapest or Prague?
 

My wife, 15 and 12 year old sons and I are flying into "Central" Europe (caught that discussion from an earlier post) in July and have two days before we join up with our larger family group outside Vienna. We can fly into either Budapest or Prague, then must travel to Vienna. We will also stay in or visit Vienna, Salzburg and Munich, and possibly Graz and/or Zell am See. A couple of Qs: 1) which city - Budapest or Prague - should we visit? Both are new to us and appear to have many similar qualities. 2) Which of them has easier travel connections to Vienna (rental car or train)? 3) What is the relative safety of these 2 cities, as we will be traveling with children? Any help would be appreciated.

Hi, Dave!

My wife and I went to both these cities back in 2001 and really enjoyed both. My wife actually liked Prague better probably because it was more confined at least from her perspective.

There is so much history in both cities. To see the Danube in Budapest, the monuments, Castle Hill, Chain Bridge, etc. is really cool.

In Prague, you have Old Town Square, Prague Castle, and my favorite -- Charles Bridge.

I guess if I HAD to pick between the two -- I would go to Prague.

If you would like a trip report, you can email me at [email protected]

Have fun with your planning!!

I would choose Prague as well - it is amazingly well preserved for a major european city - with thousands of buidlings from the 15, 16 and 17th centuries - is friendly and charming and much of what you want to see is in a fairly confined area.

budapest is also beautiful - but seems less "old" - IMHO a lot of it will remind you of Paris with the 5 story mansard roofed apartment buidlings - and the sights are somewhat more spread out.

Both cities are perfectly safe - with the usual caveats about pickpockets/scammers.

You could not go wrong with either one.

dave,

Forget the car and train. When it comes to traveling between Budapest and Vienna, why not do something completely different? Take a hydrofoil! By traveling along the scenic Danube, you can make to the Austrian capital from Budapest in under six hours, and you have the added option of stopping in Bratislava along the way.

For more information, see http://www.vienna-hydrofoil.hotels-i...com/index.html

Best of luck.

If you haven't been to either city, I'd definitely recommend Prague as the first choice. We've been to both cities, Prague several times and Budapest over last Christmas. Whilst we enjoyed Budapest, Prague is more beautiful and a more compact city to explore.

I felt totaly safe in both cities - obviously beware of pick-pockets in crowded places, like any city. The biggest danger in Budapest is the traffic, as the city is criss-crossed by busy roads.

I too vote for Prague, although we loved Budapest as well. Actually Vienna was the least favorite of the three cities we visited in 2003. If I remember correctly the train ride between Prague and Vienna was shorter than between Vienna and Budapest.

As far as the hydrofoil is concerned, I researched this for our trip thinking it would be something different. When I posted on Fodor's not one positive response was received. Apparently the "scenery" is not very pretty, smoking was allowed and it was quite expensive. We opted not to travel that way so can't give you first-hand information.

Whichever city you choose, I doubt you will be disappointed. I have lots of web sites for Prague and Budapest. If you are interested, email me.

I have just returned from Budapest and I think they are both great cities for a few days but like the others here, I also preferred my trip to Prague. As already mentioned, both cities seem safe so that shouldn't be a factor in your choice.

I don't know how much truth there is in this but I wonder if Budapest may provide more of a contrast to your other cities (Vienna, Salzburg and Munich) than Prague. I also wonder if your children may have more things to suit them in Budapest than Prague but not knowing anything about your children, I can't really say that with any certainty.

more safe pedestrian areas for family in prague.. plus it is so beautiful/ornate looks like a film set.

rent movies of prague used as background before trip for kids to get excited.
one of the 007's i think was filmed there but a google search or fodorites could fill you in i am sure.

Hello dave63,

Just saw that you have only 2 days before you have to join your larger family group outside Vienna. I like both Prague and Budapest very much. However, Prague is the more compact of the 2 cities so, from that point of view, is more feasible.

Actually Prague - Vienna is a longer train ride than Budapest - Vienna is. Either you could fly Prague - Vienna, or you could catch an evening train so as not to make too much of a dent in your daytime sight seeing.

For example, there is a train that leaves Prague at 16:35, changes at Breclav, and gets into Vienna at 21:28. There is another train that departs Prague at 18:03 and gets into Vienna at 22:28 without any changes.

I'm sorry to say I was not enamoured with the hydrofoil when I took it from Budapest to Vienna in September 2004. It might be more interesting if a person stopped to see Bratislava on the way, rather than going straight through as we did. However, your time frame is way too short to permit a stop at Bratislava or indeed to permit a hydrofoil ride at all, in my opinion.

Hello Dave-

I haven't been to Budapest yet - hope to go in May - but I visited Prague in Sept. '03, and absolutely loved it!

I was traveling alone (I'm female), and never felt uncomfortable or unsafe, even when walking alone at night.

If you start looking for accomodations, I would recommend renting an apartment. I rented one in the jewish quarter because it was still a better deal than hotels I found. I'm sorry I can't remember the web-site I used, but I found it by googling "apartments in prague".

Many thanks to all who responded to my "which is better" question. Well, the Fodorites have spoken, and we're going to fly into Prague before heading to Vienna, Salzburg and Munich. I always find helpful advice in this "talk" section; I hope I can occasionally "pay it forward" when answering other Fodorites' inquiries.

Thanks again to all!