Gate 1 Tour of Budapest & Prague Sept/October
 

Hi, I have posted inquires about Gatre 1 tours before, and they seem to have a good reputation; I got good feedback at Fodors. It will be my first time using a guided tour in about 7 years, since joining Fodors I have been putting trips together on my own. I am thinking of booking a very short trip with them 8 days. Has anyone taken this trip with Gate 1? How was it? any side trips through them you would add or skip?

If any of you have been to Budapest & Prague, what do you think of late October there- I am able to take more time off in the end Oct-Nov time, and since the return flight is from Prague, I was thinking of adding 2 days there at the end.
My other hesiation is that I once went to Italy in late November, cold bleak and humid. Don't want to make that mistake again.

I would need to book within the next 7 days to get the discount. And right now, there appears to be no or very smaill penalty of a single supplement. Thanks for your feedback.

I haven't been to Prague at that time of year but I did visit Budapest in late Oct and it was fine. Sunny, a bit cool but mostly pleasant. Of course that's never a guarantee. What I can tell you is that I've taken 3 Gate 1 tours and I liked every one.

I rarely use travel agents but I would like to recommend one that might be able to get you a better discount on a Gate 1 tour, she has done it for me. In case anyone is wondering I do not work for this agency and I will gain nothing with this recommendation. This is someone I met on Fodors. Ask for Julie.

[email protected]

I understand that early October vs. late October could be a different story, but our experience in both Prague and Budapest was clear and occasionally cool, not bad weather at all. We walked everywhere even in the evening to concerts and the opera and throughly enjoyed ourselves. Budapest even had an outdoor folk fair and sidewalk art sales when we were there in October.

If weather is your only concern, you can check average daily temperatures and weather for various locations online at weatherunderground.com or other online weather sites.

I'd be happy to answer any questions that you might have, the only caveat being that we were there in 2002.

Prague and Budapest are both likely to be considerably cooler than Italy - being north of the alps and part of the central european plain. That would make the weather cool and crisp or possibly rainy and chilly. (It's the fall - that's the weather you wold expect.)

If you want warm weather than time of year you need to go to southern spain or italy.

I don't recommend Prague in late fall if you don't like cold weather.

I don't like cold weather either, but I rolled the dice and went to Prague in late March, knowing that I could end up with either early spring weather or late winter weather. I got the latter--snowy, windy, never got above 38 degrees the entire 10 days. I enjoyed my trip, but would have enjoyed it much more if the weather had been warmer. Of course, the weather was sunny and warm before I got there, and sunny and in the upper 50s the day I left.

Here's a chart of temps in Prague. In October the average low and high temperatures are 41F-55F, November 33F-42F, with a mean temperature of 48F and 37F respectively. Not exactly a heat wave.

http://goo.gl/l3ahw

I travel to Prague 2 or 3 times a year and last year the weather in May was fairly cold and wet,In september warm and dry and in early November usseasonably warm but had one day of heavy rain.
Hard to say how the weather is going to be but late september early october should not be warmish during the day and a bit cooler at night.

I wanted to thank everyone for the replies. I decided I needed to go when it was warmer and have begun planning for 2012.
PM - thank you so much - unfortunately I never heard back from Julie/ready2cruise. I was frustrated by the Gate1 notices, which said air included, when what they really meant was that a package with air was available, and the actual price was much higher than the cover notice showed. I am capable of figuring that out. BUT each time I went to itinerraries and pricing, I found not only was airfare not included, but nothing else was, even no transporation to & from the airport to hotels. I don't need to pay them guided tour prices for a bare bones trip. And by the time i finished adding it all up, and then the with the single suppliment, it was exhorbitant for me. I was considering a tour for countries where I don't speak the language.
Saige - thank you for the offer. I may yet take you up on it!

The weather in Prague/Budapest is what you would expect if you live in the northern half of the US - nothing esp cold - but fall weather in a temperate climate. It will be much colder than areas that are semi-tropical, like FL or desert like much of CA.