Hello

I am trying to plan a trip that will start in Prague, go to Vienna, and then to Budapest. I think I will then need to return to Prague in order to fly back home.
So, what is the quickest way to go from Buda to Prague? I saw that the train ride is almost 10 hours.

Alternatively, does anyone have suggestions for airfares/airlines that I can fly NY-Prague and then Budapest-NY?

Go to Expedia etc. type in jfk,ewr,try it open jaws into Budapest & home from Prague or vis-versa.The first way you described is not the way to go.You can take the train or fly the trip to Vienna.I prefer the train for the short trip,it is less total time hotel to hotel.

I made the Budapest to Prague trip by train last month, the duration was about 6 1/2 hours...still a long day, but better than 10 hours.
Try euraide.com for information and schedules, they are very helpful.

I would try to get a night train. Raileurope.com might be a good source, otherwise I would try a travel agent. The good thing about those is that you can get a sleeper car, that way you can save the money for a Hotel night.

Why you would consider back tracking is beyond me.It is a waste of valuable vacation time.Fly open jaws.

I was just worried that an openjaw ticket was much more expensive than a RT.

My experience in many open jaws trips is that it is only sometimes slightly more money,you will save time and you will also save that backtrack train fare.In the end you will actually save money.

There are about three daily Budapest-Prague trains. One day train and the overnight train take nearly 10 hours. But there is another day train that leaves Budapest around 10 am that gets to Prague in 6-plus hours.

Still, we did an open jaw flight plan -- into Budapest from US, out from Prague -- and inexpensively. Our flights were less than $1200 for the two of us, late May, from central US. Usually you can only get those types of rates from NYC or the East Coast at that time of year.