Rajen

I'm planning a trip to Central Europe in the fall. We have 9 nights once in Europe and I would like to go to 2 or 3 places/cities. So far, Prague and Krakow look interesting, although I'm also considering Prague and Dubrovnik/Zagreb. Germany and Vienna are not possibilities (my travel partner was there recently) . Budapest is often combined with Prague but, from what I've read, it may be too similar. Once in Europe, we would like to fly to one of the locations and possibly take a scenic train ride to another. It doesn't matter what order we travel in. Help...I'm a bit overwhelmed with the choices, having never been to this part of Europe and starting with an open slate with few restrictions except time. I would very much appreciate any suggestions for destinations or an itinerary.

Kwoo

Hi Rajen,
We just returned from a trip to Czech Republic yesterday. I think I have finished my trip report which I will post soon. We left on Aug 1 and returned on Aug 13 so we had 11 days for sightseeing (10 1/2 really). We spent the entire time in the Czech Republic. Since you only have 9 nights, I would not go to more than 2 cities/countries.

Also, In 2003, we visited Prague and Krakow. I think we were gone for 10 days. We spent 4 days in Prague and then took a daytime train to Krakow. In addtion to Krakow, we rented a car for 2 days and drove to a castle to spend the night and see the countryside. We took the overnight train from Krakow to Prague.

So for the trip we just returned from, we wanted to spend all our time in the Czech Republic. So my recommendation is to stay in one country or visit two at the most. If you try to see 3 cities/countries, you will waste a lot of time traveling between them.

I haven't been to the other places you mention but I do know that my daughter who studied in Prague also visited Budapest and she liked it very much. I don't think she considered it similar to Prague.

I think that Prague and Krakow or Prague and Budapest are common combinations.

Hope this helps.

BigRuss

Budapest is not that similar to Prague. Krakow is in many ways more similar to Prague, but Budapest is nicer than Krakow.

Other than the fact that Budapest and Prague are capital cities on a river in Central Europe, they are quite different historically, culturally and economically. Even their nations' futile revolts against the Soviets are vastly different in tone, effect upon the national conscience and underlying causation.

And as for the people, they are very different. Hungarians are not Slavic, they share ancestry with Finns and Estonians. They have had their country subsumed, divided, annexed, and reconfigured various times and feel each one was to their detriment.

Czechs share ancestry with Slovaks, Bulgarians, Russians, Ukrainians, Belorussians, Poles, and various ethnic groups of the former Yugoslavia, who are Slavic. Their general attitude toward Russians is far different from the Hungarians' opinions.

kja

Hi, Rajen -

I enjoyed each of the destinations you've mentioned, but they are different from each other. (I agree with BigRuss - Budapest is not that similar to Prague. In fact, I think it is interesting to combine them on the same trip to see just how different they are!) I think your choice should depend on what you most want to see and how much time and/or money you are willing to spend getting from one place to another.

Hope that helps!

saige

I'd do Prague and Budapest...in fact have done that and loved them both. If you can, get a hotel room facing the river in Budapest! These are both beautiful cities.

bilboburgler

krakow has a golden centre of mainly religious buildings, great but not a long visit. However there are two large concentration camps near by and an ancient salt mine. I've spent 4 days there and enjoyed it.

prague is a bigger drag but don't go in high summer. worth 3 to 4 days

Budapest is a similar drag and worth similar time. very different sites plus spas!

Vienna is more sophisticated big drag.

If it were me, drop the railway and look at cheap flights skyskanne.com i think budapest, vienna and prague are on flights

BigRuss

To follow up to kja -- that's exactly where my observations come from, a trip to Budapest and Prague.

We preferred Budapest and Prague to Krakow.

Rajen

Thank you all for your informative and educational replies. It sounds like I can't go wrong with any combination. Now I'll check the transportation schedules and the weather to see if either has an influence. I noticed that no one mentioned the two cities in Croatia that I was considering. Perhaps because this is tagged Czech Republic or because they are a little further away?