OnlyTravel

My wife and I are driving down from Prague to Budapest via Bratislava, Slovakia. The plan is to leave Prague and spend first night in Brno, South Moravia. Then drive to Bratislava and spend two nights. From there drive down to Budapest and spend three nights.
I am looking for tips to rent a one way car and good tourist attractions to stop by on the trip. Also, with seven day for a trip for visiting Slovakia and Hungary is this a good trip plan or would you recommend a different route? Any other travel tips like hotel recommendations, driving precautions, etc would also be welcomed.
The trip is for the first two weeks in May with first 4 days in Prague. Tips for one day trips around Prague would be also helpful.
Thanks,

Michael

If you are allowed to take the car to a different country, you will still incur heavy cross-border drop-off fees.

worldinbetween

Can you consider taking the train?.... Even tiny Bratislava is a tough place to park a car.

I can not recommend much on the trip ( as we always take the train on this route.... Which btw stops in Brno)....

But I have written a lot about these cities as we lived in Bratislava for a year and a half... And now live in Budapest.

Www.worldinbetween.wordpress.com

I have "3 day in" trip reports about each.

OnlyTravel

Thanks Worldinbetween. Your write ups are great and very helpful. Few questions:
1. Can you recommend a good B&B or a hotel in Bratislava. Is there an alternative accomodation you can recommend in Budapest if Bellevue is not available.
2. We are planing to spend a night in Sturovo/Esztergom after reading your write up. Can you recommend which town to spend the night in and any B&B or hotel.
3. Can you recommend day trips around Prague. And is spending a night in Brno a good idea or should we straight go to Bratislava from Prague while driving down south.
4. As I read in Google map the time to drive between Prague to Bratislava is only 3 hours and from Bratislava to Budapest is 2 hours! Is this correct? It seems really short drives thru I suppose hilly roads. We do enjoy driving and stopping by at touristy attractions and countrysides hence although you are recommending the train we are planning to drive. I suppose the hotels and B&B should have parking. I am returning the car in Budapest the same day we get there so no driving plans in Budapest.
Thanks,

worldinbetween

Of course, since we lived in brat, we never stayed in a hotel... If money is no object, stay in the Arcadia or Marrol. We are there the first weekend in may with friends, and will stay in the Hotel Michalska Brana.
I would say, stay in or very close to the old town (I would not, however, stay in the Perguia). The Avance is also fine.... Kinda business like but clean and well located. Do realize, old town Bratislava is pedestrian.... Old town hotels will not have parking, but I am sure a solution exists someplace.

I would probably stay in Esztergom.... But you could easily do this as a day trip from Budapest. Roads will be fast, no problem ( the train goes thru Esztergom, but I did not think the highway did?.... I thought the highway took a completely different route)... My favorite Danube Bend town is actually Vac. ( I also happen to work in Vac)... It is a 30 minute train ride from Budapest.... Just an alternate idea.... But Esztergom is lovely.... I look for hotels on places like trip advisor.... When we walked thru Sturovo, tons of rooms in homes seemed to be for rent.... You could always wing it. Sturovo and Esztergom are a stones throw from each other.

I hear Brno is nice.... We went thru by train and did not stop.... I really can not say. We always go to Prague by train and just stay in Prague. Of course, tourists everywhere will recommend Cesky Krumlov... Cute, very touristy.

All roads in this area are pretty flat and pretty fast. I would tend to believe the driving times. It is definitely 2 hours from brat to Budapest on a fast highway.

My single favorite thing to do in this area is bike.....we always bike bratislava to the Austrian villages. Twelve bucks a day with bikes delivered to your hotel....

In Budapest, hit up a ruin pub... Best one hands down is Szimpla. Voted the third coolest bar in the world ( I can believe it)...

Enjoy.... Expect very little English.... Nice and helpful people.... When in doubt eat the ubiquitous schnitzel..... Drink lots of beer.

If you can not get a hotel in Budapest, come back to me... I only ever stayed at Bellevue. Now, of course, I live here.

OnlyTravel

WORLDINBETWEEN, after reading your comments we decided to travel by train and not rent a car.
So, is Rail Europe the best train to travel? The ticket is First class for two of us is $210 from Prague to Bratislava and $142 from Brat to Budapest. I see other train options but the sites are not in english.
With this trip plan we will have three nights in Brat and three nights in Budapest. So, we want to do one day out of town trips in all three cities of Prague, Brat, and Budapest.
1. Is Cesky Krumlov in Prague a out of town trip by train or bus?
2. What day trip would you recommend in Brat besides bike ride, which we will do.
3. We will take train to Esztergom for a day trip as I read in your website.
Thnaks.

mjdh1957

Never, ever, ever use Raileurope. Wrong train times, cheap tickets not available and abysmal customer service if anything goes wrong. They don't run trains, but are an expesive reseller.

Use the Czech Railways official site http://www.cd.cz/en/ and the equivalent for Slovakia http://www.slovakrail.sk/en.html

worldinbetween

Just buy your tickets here (in the country)... no need to buy any of these routes in advance... We pay 20 Euro round trip Bratislava to Budapest... My husband just paid around 30 euro roundtrip Bratislava/Prague (he was there last weekend). I know this is going to make you nervous, but trust me.... we take these routes all the time - and never buy more than 1 or 2 days in advance.

You can always buy Bratislava to Budapest same day (or Sturovo, etc)... There is a wee chance you won't get a seat (tho this has never happened to me). They allow standing. And about 50 minutes from Bratislava everyone gets off the train in a small town in Slovakia... I forget the name. .. and then you get to sit.

If you buy first class (which Bratislava, Budapest first class is around 10 Euro more)... you will have the entire car to yourself (maybe not quite... but first class is pretty rare). For first class, I would certainly not reserve a seat. (I never reserve a seat on any of these trains)

On Prague to Bratislava (or Brno) you can always buy this when you arrive in Prague... The train station is very central, on the metro line... So very easy to swing in and pick one up.

When we buy a ticket, since we do not reserve a seat (and no one reserves a seat on these routes)... the ticket we buy is open (meaning for any train on that day).. these routes all go about every 2 hours.... So what is the worst thing that can happen?!

A Budapest Hotel I would consider is the Gerloczy... Just went to their cafe this AM.. which I love. 20 room hotel, central but quiet location... Not cheap, not expensive.

On day trips from Brat, let me think on this... Maybe Trnava, Pezinok, Hainburg (Austria), Devin Castle (you can walk there from the higher reaches of Bratislava and take a bus back).... Walk above town to Slavin Monument...

As much as we loved living in Bratislava, Budapest is nicer... I might skew my time Budapest way...

If you like classical music (and even if you don't) get a ticket if something is playing in the Reduta (in Bratislava)... It never sells out. The ticket office is to the left of the main door. You can pick up a ticket 30 minutes before the performance.

Enough for now... Keep asking questions.... We have American company now (leaving tomorrow).. the next crew arrives Wednesday (and we will be toting them to Bratislava). Just spent the day in Vac and had a blast.

worldinbetween

Have you ever been to Vienna?.... I am not the biggest fan, but it is a simple day trip from Bratislava. By now, the boat is running... And also probably running to Devin.

Stop by the music shop in old town and see if Igor's and Vlasta are there( the nicest people in the world)....they can give you some biking hints.... Or any Bratislava hints

easytraveler

First off, if I had the chance again, I'd drive. That is really wonderful country(side) to drive around, especially if you're planning on going to places like Esztergom. That entire bend of the Danube River is wonderful to drive from Esztergom to Visegrad to Szentendre and then to Budapest.

I would also suggest that you look into renting a car starting in the Czech Republic. A lot of times you can rent in one city and return in another city without penalty as long as the return is in the same country. However, check into this with auto rental companies like autoeurope.

If you can start your rental in Prague and return to Brno, that would be a good option. Brno is only about 3-4 hours from Budapest.

The Czech Republic is full of wonderful castles. You could drive from Prague to Cesky Krumlov, stop off to visit a couple of castles along the way. Drive to Bratislava then to Budapest - unless you plan to stay a bit out of town and just park your car in the suburbs, then take the metro into the center of town, then Budapest is a terrible place to drive, especially for a novice. If you plan to drive around Budapest, be sure to get a good map of Budapest (a map that also shows all of the one-way streets!)

When you want to leave Budapest, drive back to Brno and return the car - if you find good rates. Then take the train to Vienna as suggested.

worldinbetween

Visiting the Danube bend is another topic in itself. People talk about Szentendre, Visegrad and Esztergom, but don't forget Vac (I think one of the nicest towns on the bend). There are fun ways to link these towns by boat.... And it makes a really nice day trip from Budapest.

There are certainly ways to deal with a car in the city (and please don't let me dissuade you from getting one). I wouldn't encourage you to leave it in a Bratislava suburb. There are other options, and your hotel can help you with those (they vary based on where you stay)

You can also do a mix of car and train.. Driving around Prague can be lovely... Driving around Bratislava is much less lovely.... Seeing the Danube bend towns, it is completely unnecessary.

You can always email me off my website if you need very specific questions answered..... Whatever you do, relax and enjoy it.

worldinbetween

Btw, which days do you plan to be in Bratislava? We will be biking there with friends, probably May 5 th.

OnlyTravel

Thank you Worldinbetween and Easytraveler for your valuable commnets. So, we are planning to do both drive as well as take trains. We will drive around Prague and see some wonderful castles. Then take train to Brat and ther to Budapest. Three nights each in Prague, Brat, and Budapest. And of course we will buy the train ticket when we are in Prague- thanks for the tip Mjdh1957.
We have been to Vienna so we are going to concentrate in these three countires.
Worldinbetween, I will conact with you on your email.
Any furhter comments and tips for these three capitals and the surroundings for all of you would be appreciated.
Thanks and have fun!