Getting to Budapest from Italy
 

My wife and I will be spending 5 days at a villa in Umbria, and then would like to travel to Budapest or Prague(never been to either)for 5-6 days. We've been to Italy a few times, so we don't want to spend the additional time there. I'd like your advice on getting from Umbria to Budapest or Prague. I'm thinking a combination of Train and car, rather than flying. Any ideas?

The problem with driving (which takes 12 hours or so from Perugia, not counting stops), is the crossborder one-way drop-off rental fees that can kill you.

Get online quotes from all these (and any others you may know): Sixt, Kemwel, Autoeurope, Europcar, they can vary greatly, and rules about taking cars across borders can vary, too.

Trains in that part of Europe are slow. Perugia-Budapest takes about 24 hours, the fastest is 19:20 hours and might interest you, it saves you a night in the hotel:
Lvg Perugia (I'm picking Perugia since you don't say what your city in Umbria is) at 15:39, arr. Firenze S.M.N. 17:47, lvg 18:37 arr Venezia Mestre 21:06, lvg 21:32 arr Budapest-Keleti pu 10:59.

From Mestre to Budapest it is a EuroNight train with sleepers and couchettes. How well you'll sleep is anyone's guess - the train stops in about 30 places.

All in all I think you should fly since you have no time to waste on your short vacation. FCO is the nearest substantial airport, although there is a little one near Perugia. Your call.

Perugia to Prague by train takes exactly the same length of time, 19 hours for the fastest train, and there is a night train between Florence and Vienna, or between V. Mestre and Salzburg.

Look up the trains at
http://plannerint.b-rail.be/bin/quer...n?L=profi&

Thank you - we will be staying near Orvietto, but I thought the first leg of the journey would have to be to more of a hub-city like Florence. I'm hoping to find a route that would cut down on time (maybe there's a high speed train to Budapest from somewhere in Austria or Germany). I have driven in Europe quite a bit, so I'm famillar with the cost of a one-way rental. And, I enjoy driving, but I can't seem to figure out the route that is most time effective.

Well, if you can deal with the rental charges, 12 hours isn't bad for driving, the train takes a lot longer. Take it easy, stay the night near Zagreb or so, then follow the route E71 along the southern shores of Lake Balaton.

Trains go via Vienna and take forever. Trains in central Europe - Hungary, Czech Republic etc., are slow. The only sort of fast route is between Vienna and Budapest - but not nearly as fast as the high-speed trains elsewhere in western Europe.

How about a cheap flight from Rome. You could fly wizz air or germanwings to Budapest...lots less time to get there and sometimes these providers have great fares.. have a wonderful time.