Budapest, Vienna, Venice
 

This June my wife and I will be spending 8 days in Europe. We'll be flying into Budapest and out of either Venice or Rome. In our 8 days the places we plan to visit for sure are Budapest, Vienna & Venice for probably 2 days each. Does anyone have any good ideas for our other two days. We will be purchasing a Eurail pass so transportation isn't a problem. Some possible ideas I've had - Berchtesgaden, Salzburg, Ljubljana, Bratislava, Cinque Terre, anything else???

Skip Bratislava.
Mountains, to me, are very sterile once you're amongst them. From afar, pretty.
So of your nominations, I'd take ljubljana or Cinque Terre.

I think all of those are wonderful destinations; in fact, I went to all three last summer, plus Munich. However, I had three weeks! (if you can stand long-windedness, you can click my name & find the report) If you're going from Venice to Vienna by train, that will take most of a day. So 7 of your days are gone, and I'm not sure if your 8th day will be needed for arrival/ departure.
I had 5-6 days in each place, and felt that I could have stayed longer. Also, you'll be "changing" languages at each stop, and changing currency in Budapest. So I really hesitate to suggest adding anything to this itinerary.
I'd check before purchasing a Eurail pass, unless you already have. With only 8 days, it would possibly be simpler and cheaper to buy individual tickets. I know that if you buy in advance, although you are "locked in", there are some significant discounts available.

We have 8 full days in Europe, the overall trip is 10. The plan is not necessarily to go from Vienna to Venice - We plan on stopping at Mathausen (concentration camp) and possibly another stop along the way. However, if we do go straight through I've looked into night trains to avoid losing a whole day. I'm just wondering if there is some little known location in the vicinity of these spots where one might want to spend a day. I've also thought maybe we should just add a 3rd day in each location. Has anyone been to Berchtesgaden? It's the historical aspect of it that is drawing me more so than the mountains - although the Alps are stunning.

Only two days each for Budapest, Vienna, and Venice, and you want to fit in another destination with the two days you have in hand? Methinks you need to reconsider. I'd give any of those cities a minimum of four days, and even at that you would be doing little more than skating over the surface.

Budapest, Vienna, and Venice, and 5 terre good plan
In Italy you can choose many many cities
near venice: Padova, Vicenza, Verona, also good
on the sea Grado, near 5 terre there is Camogli, also Croatia can be a good chance to visit Mali Losjni for example good place

>I've also thought maybe we should just add a 3rd day in each location.

Well worth considering!

>Only two days each for Budapest, Vienna, and Venice, and you want to fit in another destination with the two days you have in hand? Methinks you need to reconsider. I'd give any of those cities a minimum of four days, and even at that you would be doing little more than skating over the surface.

We'd love to stay longer but we have two young kids at home and can't be gone that long. I understand travel - this is my 13th trip to Europe - and many have been for longer stays in one location. However for this trip we want to move around a bit and see a number of sights.

Better to fly into Vienna, train to Budapest and take the night train to Venice. The train isn't all that great but it got us to Venice.

You could do 3 nights Vienna, 3 nights Budapest and 2 nights in Venice. Any less than that you won't be seeing anything.

Otherwise, skip Vienna. Fly into Budapest, night train to Venice and then fly out of Rome.
3 nights Budapest
2 nights Venice
3 nights Rome.

Well, we're flying into Budapest because we found cheap tickets through Hungarian Airlines (about $400 cheaper than anything else we could find). I think we've decided to fly home out of Venice. I wanted a day in Rome but I've been there 4 times already so it's a bit out of the way for just one day. Why do you say skip Vienna - I've thought about doing that or just stopping for a day. The main reason I want to stop there is to go to the Mathausen concentration camp which is about an hour away.

I would try for three days in each. There are side trips possible from both Budapest and Vienna, and of course Venice deserves as much time as possible. For my TR incl. those three cities see http://tinyurl.com/yl24grn

May I suggest that the original poster do more homework and investigsation about the proposed trip.
For example- Vienna to Mauthausen is at least 2 to 21/2 hours by train /bus west from Vienna.
The Mauthausen station is 3- 4 kilometers from the camp itself. This invoves a good walk to reach it or arrangement for a taxi both ways.
Certainly this trip involves a full day in the limited time frame

I suggested to skip Vienna because you mentioned you may fly out of Rome. Budapest to Venice to Rome made more sense.

However, if you are flying out of Venice, then you could train from Budapest to Vienna and take an overnight train from Vienna to Venice.

Have you been to the Melk Abbey? That is a good day trip from Vienna.

With only 8 nights you need to make the trip doable and enjoyable.

I haven't been to Melk Abbey but I just looked online and it looks pretty interesting. Thanks for the suggestion

We took an early morning train from Vienna to Venice. It left around 6:00 and arrived in Venice around 1:00 so you still had a good portion of the day left. We stayed in Mestre and took the bus and saved a lot of time that way plus we were close to the airport for early flight out. Surprisingly we stayed at Marriott properties in Budapest and Vienna which were very reasonable . You have to keep watching their rates as they fluctuate a great deal and have great bargains. You can definitely do Budapest, Vienna and Venice and see quite a bit and have a wonderful time.

>May I suggest that the original poster do more homework and investigsation about the proposed trip. For example- Vienna to Mauthausen is at least 2 to 21/2 hours by train /bus west from Vienna. The Mauthausen station is 3- 4 kilometers from the camp itself. This invoves a good walk to reach it or arrangement for a taxi both ways. Certainly this trip involves a full day in the limited time frame


Thanks for the info. I was going off of what I was told by a friend and had not looked into the time myself. I appreciate the correction, however, may I suggest you have a little tact in how you present the information so as not to come across as condescending in your posts.

Melk Abbey was fantastic! Highly recommended! You can take a train from Vienna and take a boat/train return.

If you're not committed to Venice, I'd suggest Budapest, Vienna, Prague (with a stop in Cesky Krumlov). I loved Venice but think I'd save it for another trip.

You could also do Salzburg, Hallstatt, St. Gilgen and/or St. Wolfgang from Vienna. All gorgeous!

Sorry... I also find many respondents sound much too condescending!

Thanks joannyc -
these are the types of suggestions I was looking for.

Prague would be a great addition. I loved that city, we visited it in 2005. But Venice is one of the few European locations left that I REALLY want to get to. Budapest is our starting point because I have a former (exchange) student of mine that we're going to visit and Vienna just seemed like a convenient stop between the two.

However I have been considering Salzburg. I've heard great things about it. I think we may just buy our ticket into Budapest and out of Venice and then once we get there we can do whatever we feel like doing in between the two.

bg- I very much agree with the numerous posters here who say just to tack on one more day to each city. Please don't sell Venice short. Three days won't do it justice, but much better than two! It is the most unique and beautiful city!

Please also keep in mind that you are going in June. There will be throngs of people whereever you go, as the Europeans are also on vacation in June. The lines will be longer, etc. So I think the suggestion to move each city to three days is a good one.

Have a wonderful trip!

Tactful ? Just stated the truth about mauthausen distances and a need to spend more time to research for a better planned trip. - My opinion - certianly you attempt too many places in too lttle time.