nitishraj

Dear Friends,

I need help please. We are a couple and are planning a Trip in May 2019 and have shortlisted a Trip to Vienna, Budapest & Krakow...We have seen Salzburg and Prague..Hence we are not including the same in our trip.

Very Honestly, i do not have a proper plan in mind and hence need help.

- We have 10 days with us excluding Arrival & Departure.
- Should we also include Warsaw in our Trip....?
- Can we add in some Day trips to some smaller cities in this trip?
- How many days in each of the destinations is sufficient to cover the main sights.
- We love Culture, History, Local cuisine etc...

We would love to some suggestions to help us plan our trip and itinerary.

Thanks,
Nitish

kja

Are you sure you can see what you want in Vienna, Budapest, & Krakow in the time you have? I would want 10 days for any pair of the two of them and would find it painfully rushed to add anywhere else. JMO.

fourfortravel

Have you changed your May 2019 trip since your January 30 post?

Help needed with Itinerary & Plan

"Dear Friends,

I need help please. We are a couple and are planning a Trip in May 2019 and have shortlisted a Trip to Italy. Honestly, i do not have a proper plan in mind and hence need help.

- We have 10 days with us excluding Arrival & Departure.
- Rome is top of our list as well as Venice (Hope May is a good time to visit)
- In addition, what else can we plan & see ? Cinque Terre, Florence? (We have seen Milan earlier)
- Can we do this on our own or is it suggested to do a guided tour. (We have done tours on our own earlier in Europe)
- We love Culture, History, Local cuisine etc...

We would love to some suggestions to help us plan our trip and itinerary.

Thanks,
Nitish"

Nonconformist

Note the word shortlisted in the OP - they haven't decided which general area yet afaics.

nitishraj

Hi...we have shifted the Italy trip to October as few other family members also wanted to join and had to reschedule the italy trip to October.
We have now decided ( not shortlisted) to do the trip to Vienna, Budapest and Krakow in May...

Thanks again friends....

Nonconformist

Thanks for the clarification.

Anyway I will agree with those who said you're trying to fit too much in and with only 10 days stick with Vienna and whichever of the others you like the look of more. Budapest would probably be easier logistically.

kja

Please don't worry about seeking advice from Fodorites after changing plans! People do that all the time for all sorts of different reasons. Just do your best to ask what you need to know.

fourfortravel

I agree. At the same time, if the OPs plans, about which s/he sought rather recent advice from Fodorites have changed, a little explanation would go a long way in keeping "unviable" threads from unnecessarily staying afloat.

This being written, since you (the OP) have traveled to Salzburg and to Prague, you must have a slightly more specific sense of what you might want to explore in this new trio of destinations. There exist numerous guidebooks and blogs that can spit up "Must See" lists for you. In general, though, the number of days you seek in each destination depends upon your (more specific) interests and your travel style.

I live in Vienna. Some might write that you need a minimum of one week for Vienna alone; others might write that you can enjoy the highlights of the city in three days. I have escorted visiting family and friends through myriad of itineraries based on their interests. Some have loved the tourist culture of Schloss Schönbrunn while others have loved the more local culture of a vineyard wander and a lazy afternoon at a heuriger staring down over Vienna while enjoying a new wine. Others have loved their entire days spent in art museums. Still others wanted a quick whirl through the Inner Stadt, with their remaining time spent on day trips to Melk Abbey and Salzburg (!) The only way to know what might appeal to you is for you to conduct some research; and, after deciding what is important to you, return with more pointed questions that can help refine your itinerary.

Happy Planning!

PalenQ

For all the dope on train tickets and getting cheaper fares check www.seat61.com; BETS-European Rail Experts and www.ricksteves.com.

nitishraj

Thank you all for your suggestions and patience ...Based on few other factors...we have now decided to delete Krakow and instead add Prague (Doing it for the 2nd time as the 1st time was in 2014 and in December)...Have decided to do Krakow at a later point of time.

After doing some reading, we have made a tentative schedule and here is the same :

Day 1 - Arrive in Budapest (by 11 a.m.)
Day 2 - Budapest
Day 3 - Budapest
Day 4 - Budapest , Evening - Proceed to Vienna, Sleep at Vienna
Day 5 - Vienna
Day 6 - Vienna
Day 7 - Vienna , Evening - Proceed to Cesky Krumlov, Sleep at Cesky Krumlov
18 Day 8 - Cesky Krumlov, Evening - Proceed to Prague, Sleep at Prague
Day 9 - Prague
Day 10 - Prague
Day 11 - Fly Out

We love exploring and sampling local cuisines, culture etc... Would be thankful if i can get some suggestions on "Not to miss" restaurants, Beer gardens/ halls etc...

Also looking for suggestions for some great centrally located budget Hotels in Prague & Vienna & Budapest. In Budapest, we understand, that there is Buda & Pest...Hence, where would one suggest to stay. we would prefer a centrally located place with lot of eating/ drinking options and close to all main sights

Thanks again,
Nitish

kja

At the risk of being repetitive: Are you sure you can see what you want in Budapest, Vienna, & Prague in the time you have? I would want 10 days for any pair of these cities and would find it painfully rushed to include a 3rd city (unless just as a day trip). JMO.

whitehall

Looks like 3 nights in Budapest, 3 nights Prague and 4 nights Vienna. You can see and do a lot in that time frame. And, you say this is a second trip for you to Prague. You obviously know what type of travel suits you. If you have questions about things to do, you can simply google three days in Budapest for example, and you will get a variety of suggested itineraries. In our past visits to all three places, we found numerous airbnb apartments in central areas. Enjoy!

kja

Sorry if I wasn’t clear! Of course you can see a lot with 3 days in each city. You can see a lot with 1 day or 1 week! My question was whether you can see and do what YOU want to see and do in that time.

Some people have sufficient time and money to travel at will. I don’t, and I know that I will never see all the places in this world that I want to see. Some people who aren’t sure how often or extensively they will travel choose itineraries that allow them to “skim” multiple destinations, and that’s a perfectly legitimate choice. My reaction is a bit different: I want to maximize the time I have to actually see and experience the places that I choose to see, while minimizing the time spent traveling between places. Rather than skimming the surface and spending time getting from place to place, I choose to skip some places entirely, even if I am sure I would enjoy them. In fact, I’ve realized that if I can return to a region, the LAST thing that I am likely to want to do is spend my time re-tracing all that extra travel time so that I can go back and finally see the things I skipped the first time, so I might end up not returning specifically because it would mean wasting so much time going from place to place.

No right or wrong choice here – just a set of questions for you to consider as you plan.

I'm sure you'll have a wonderful trip no matter what you choose -- these are magnificent cities, IMO!