Hello all,
We are a couple planning a trip to Central Europe in the beginning of august for two weeks.

We will visit Vienna and Prague but not decided on the third destination yet. We are thinking between Budapest or Salzburg or maybe include them both. If we choose to visit the four places, our itinerary would be flying into Budapest, then to Vienna, to Salzburg, and finally Prague.

We want to go salzburg mainly because we want to visit the surrounding alps/lakes and picturesque places (mainly Zell am see or Hallstatt).

Do you think visiting all the four cities in two weeks is preferable or just choosing three?

Need more info: How many days exactly do you have on the ground? As in, does your two weeks include your travel days to/from Europe?

How are you flying (and is it booked) - round-trip or in one city and out another? If not yet booked, plan for a multicity ticket rather than roundtrip.

Also, how are you traveling between cities? Car? Train? And, how many days have you planned thus far for both Prague and Vienna? And, are accomodations booked? If booked, can they be changed (like are non-refundable) if you need to make a change?

I have done a similar trip to Prague, Vienna and Budapest with a day in Bratislava that was two weeks on the ground. My immediate thought is that you have time for one, but not for both. But it does also depend on what you want to see in each location.

Keep in mind that travel between cities eats up time for sightseeing - allow for time checking in/out as well as travel between the two. Think of your itinerary in terms of nights rather than days. 3 nights = 2 days of sightseeing, 2 nights equals 1 day, etc. Your travel days to/from airport also eat up your time on the ground if not yet worked in your total trip timeline.

Hi,

Thank you for your reply, we are planning to travel into one city and travel back home from Prague. As for transportation between cities, we’ll be using train.

We have not yet decided how many days in each city as we still haven’t determined how many destinations we’ll visit. However, we are flexible to add 1-2 days, so the total trip can be 16-17 days including travel time.

I think if we decide to go to the 4 cities, the itinerary will look something like this:

Day 1: Flying from home and arriving to Budapest.
Day 2-4: (3) full days in Budapest
Day 5: Train to Vienna
Day 6-8: (3) full days in Vienna
Day 9: Train to Salzburg
Day 10-11: (2) full days in Salzburg
Day 12: Train to Prague
Day 13-16: (4) full days in Prague
Day 17: Fly back home from Prague

Does this itinerary look good? We do want to make the trip relaxed and not so rushed.

Overall, it's decent itinerary, but really only if you travel to Salzburg to see...Salzburg. in your original post you state, "salzburg mainly because we want to visit the surrounding alps/lakes and picturesque places (mainly Zell am see or Hallstatt)." With only 2 full days in Salzburg and you are planning at least one day trip from it... kind of defeats the purpose of going to Salzburg....

My suggestion, sorry, is to either take those days from Budapest and add them all to Salzburg (or even disperse between them) so you can actually enjoy the lakes and "picturesque" areas youre wanting to include.

Or: keep the three main cities of Prague, Vienna and Budapest and plan a day trip or two from them to hit the countryside a bit.

It takes a long time to get from Salzburg to Prague, and there doesn't seem to be a night train. I would add more time to Budapest and Vienna - I have been to both multiple times and there is loads to see.

So it seems that we should focus on Budapest, Vienna, and Prague and leave out Salzburg. Do you guys have any other ideas for day trips from any of these cities to see some Alps/scenic destinations?

Just personal preference... I'd leave Budapest for another trip and spend time in Salzburg, a less urban environment with lots of easy day-trip options. Maybe fly into Munich. Munich Airport to Salzburg is 2:15 hours, one change. Salzburg-Vienna about 2.5 hours, no change. Vienna-Prague 4.5 hours, no change, but I would stay in Cesky Krumlov one or two nights on the way to Prague.

I don't particularly like trips that are all big cities.

Some day trip ideas from Salzburg.

https://www.lonelyplanet.com/article...-from-salzburg

You can actually do Budapest as a day trip from Vienna.

Salzburg is my favourite place among those you are considering traveling to so I hope you get there! But stay in Strasburg and don't leave for other areas.

I can't believe I read that. There is enough to do and see in Budapest for several days at least.

"Can" it be done is different than "should" be done.

If OP actually wants to sit on a train 5-6+ hours round-trip from Vienna just to see "some" of Budapest, this would work. But not if they actually want to have time to visit any of the sites. I feel Budapest as a "day trip" is a mistake - but I specifically planned 5 days there to cover as much as I could of the city's attractions.

Other than expressing a desire to see alpine scenic areas, the OP has not really expressed what they are wanting to see in each destination.

It's not alpine, but a better day trip from Vienna is to Bratislava with a very small but charming old town. It's only about an hour away. But, it's another city.

OP, I think you and your spouse really need to sit down and determine what you want to see in each area. If you want to have an alpine experience, you either need to cut a city or add more days to your itinerary to fit it all in - without rushing (which you mentioned you do not want to do).

If seeing beautiful mountain scenery is a priority for you, then there is some very nice scenery not so far from Salzburg. St Gilgen is lovely and has a major cable car.. If you don't really care about Salzburg, you don't have to go there to take a train form Vienna to Hallstatt.

oops sorry, I was thinking of Bratislava and not Budapest which is further away.. I stand corrected.