I willbe in Budapest in early June. Interested in doing possibly two days in Vienna, preferably in the heart of the city. Advise regarding train and or hydrofoil. Is the train station in Budapest in an unsavory area? How does the hydrofoil operate, versus the train. Pros and Cons of both. Advise on hotels n Vienna for $300-350/day. Thank you.

Hi; On the Vienna hotel, this one is just behind the cathederal and a lovely place to stay. www.kvu.at/ iris1745/dick

Take the train. I investigated the hydrofoil a couple of years back, and discovered that you really couldn't see much. I didn't have any problems with the train station in Budapest - take a taxi if you're concerned. The metro systems in both Budapest and Vienna are excellent. I don't stay in hotels in your price range, lol, but if I had the money I'd stay here in Vienna: www.hotelamstephansplatz.at/en/home/index.html and here in Budapest: www.fourseasons.com/budapest.

Both are great places to visit, have a good trip!

The river scenery from Budapest to Vienna is not that interesting- add a steep price and a journey of 6 1/2 hours on an old refurbished loud boat. reservations needed so you are locked in a fixed day also.

Much faster and cheaper is the train with a frequent schedule.

www.oebb.at

Numerous good hotels in that price range in Vienna.
You can visit

www.wien.info

for information-
in city center excelent location on the principal boulevard the Ringstrasse - easy walking distance to Opera , Concerts and major sightseeing.

Bristol Hotel
Sacher Hotel
Grand Hotel
Ring Hotel


Near to Stephansdom

Konig von Ungarn ( mentioned above)

the Budapest station not great but you just go to the train.

Most likely I will be at the Corinthia Grand Hotel Royal. Question is walking distance from the sites. I have a meeting there. Also safety in walking to the bridge,etc.

You can walk to some sights from there but you'll also want to take the metro (Oktogon stop). Buy a pass. I'm a solo female traveler, and I felt perfectly safe in Budapest.

JackGlasser - did you see this deal on the Corinthia Grand?
http://hotels.travelzoo.com/international-hotels/559910

thursdaysd - I saw that you were in Budapest for 6 days on your previous trip; what do you think of the location of Corinthia Grand? Yay or Nay?

molker or anyone - I'm looking at OBB website for 1-way trains from Budapest to Vienna, and I see some discounted fares at €19 only! But they are only "tickets by post" which I assume they'll be mailed. When I click on the next page to try to book, everything changed to German and when I clicked next, I *think* I got an error message. Does anyone know any tricks or tips? I assume the 19 euro tickets are limited in supply so I should not wait until I arrive in Budapest to buy them.

yk - I don't really remember that particular street, but the location seems fine. Plenty central, and close to a metro stop. However, in that class of hotel, I would definitely prefer the Marriott, which is right on the river. As I posted up thread, it I had the money I'd stay at the Four Seasons, which seems to have been beautifully renovated.

Thanks thursdaysd. I was just curious because of the deal I linked above. I'm a budget traveler so the cheaper the better.

Molker and anyone else - SORRY I was confused on my earlier post. I'm actually looking to travel FROM Vienna TO Budapest. I just tried OBB website again and I'm looking at the SparSchiene €19 ticket. I was able to select a date and a specific train, and the next page I needed to enter my name and CC info etc (all in German). I didn't continue as I am not sure about the dates yet but want to try out a dummy booking. Do you know if the tickets can be mailed to US address?

yk - if you're a budget traveler definitely look at this place: http://www.ohb.hu/leo/index.en.html - I didn't stay there because they were full for my dates, but I would try them first next time. I think there are also some posts on the board about B&Bs in Budapest.

The first time I went I stayed in a room in a private apt. on Andressy ut. arranged through these people: http://www.tomatour.hu/beut/2009/

yk'; How about the 'Hilton' near the castle at 125euro? We will also stay at the 'Meridien' with points. When are you going? iris1745/dick

thursdaysd & iris1745 - thanks for your help. I don't want to hijack JackGlasser's thread... the trip is not set in stone yet so I was only doing some prelim investigation.

I found a website for a bus that travels between Vienna and Budapest.

Anyone used the bus before? Wondering which is better between train and bus in terms of price / comfort / location of the station?

I checked out the train website, thanks to Molker above. Some ticket prices are lower with "VORTEILScard"...anyone know what that is? I'm looking at VIE to BUD late afternoon in late April and it seems a lot of trains are already fully booked....Does that sound right? I don't have a definite travel date yet (but I'm doing this for sure in late April). So, I just want to see what's out there.

http://orangeways.com/en/wien

That's the bus website

Hey mmyk72 - You know me. Check out this thread:
http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...omment-5545138

There are a few seats left at €19 at the SparSchiene fare for end of April/May 1st from Vienna to Budapest.

Here's the link for the SparSchiene fare for Hungary on Oebb:
http://www.oebb.at/pv/en/Travel_with...gary/index.jsp

The discounted tickets are 19 euros, and the regular fares are 34,20 euros in 2nd class.