Hello-
I'm trying to plan the Hungary portion of my trip to Budapest/Vienna/Prague for the beginning of March.
I've read some nice things about the town of Eger and it seem like the kind of place we'd like to visit. Specifically, there is a winery there that does wine dinners we'd like to attend.

My dilemma is how to fit it into our already packed itinerary.
Here's what I have now:
Day 1-Fly US to Budapest
Days 2-5 Budapest (and maybe Eger)
Days 6&7 Vienna
Days 8-11 Prague
Day 12-Depart Prague

We arrive in Budapest on the morning of Day 2 and I thought we'd spend the first 3 days there, going to Eger (2 hours by train) for day 5. But, if we spend the night there, it's a 6 hour train trip from Eger to Vienna on Day 6, decreasing our already short time in Vienna.
So, is Eger worth it, especially in winter? Should I take a day off of Prague? Should we skip Vienna all together as it probably holds the least interest for me?
Any ideas? Thanks!

We've been to all, so my "qualified" opinion would be to drop Vienna (to be picked up another trip), spend the night in Eger, and give Budapest another day. Each of the four towns has its own precious memories for us.

Perhaps you could catch a cheap flight from Budapest to Prague on one of these popping-up-like-daisies new airlines I read about?

Thanks for the advice. I think skipping Vienna would probably be my first choice. However, I just spoke to my mother (my travel partner for this trip) and she feels very strongly about not missing Vienna, so I guess we have to make that part work.
Is it crazy to make the train trip from Eger to Vienna in one day, thus losing quite a bit of daylight time?
Or, should we break up our Budapest days perhaps, with Eger in the middle?

Perhaps our impressions would help:
Prague: like time-travelling back to 1700/1938, but with 2006-type people. A BIG city which you can only begin to explore in 3 days.
Budapest: like time-travelling back to 1890/1938, but with 2006-type people. A BIG city also, same comment
Vienna: like time-travelling back to 2003, seeing 2006 people go into 1805 buildings. More of a "strictly-business" feel than the other two. Loved the art museum and palace, but it reminds me of Chicago or pre-1967 Detroit.
Eger: warm, friendly, cute, comfortable. Small town feel. I could spend a month there if I could only speak Hungarian. Have to settle for Dordogne (can't speak that either)
Hope this's helpful.

I can't answer to the Prague and Vienna bits, but agree with tomboy on the Hungary recommendations.

We quite liked Eger for an overnight. Pleasant place, a calm center but with a lot to offer for it's size. We liked the Offi Haus right on the square below the castle.

Actually, you could easily spend all those days in Budapest and not run out of things to do, but it might be kind of interesting to do the split, as an excuse to change up Budapest bases. We started and ended a trip in Budapest (but with a couple of weeks away while we drove to Romania, rather than an overnight).

So we did the lead in to the trip staying on the Pest side - lively streets, Varosliget, views of the castle hill. Then on return, we stayed at the bottom of the hill on the Buda side, along the river, at the Victoria hotel (www.victoria.hu), with views of the gorgeous Parliament building and the chain bridge, plus easy access to the funicular to go up to Matyas church and the castle area. Just something to think about if you split the stay.

Thanks for the replies so far..

Tomboy-I will share your impressions with my Mom, but I think she's set on Vienna.

Clifton-We are also probably going to stay at the Hotel Victoria! I'm a sucker for a room with a view, so this place looks great to me. Did you like it? What else can you tell me about Offi Haus in Eger?

Yes, we did like the Victoria and the Offi House very well. Neither are 5*, but both are clean, comfortable and run by very helpful staff.

The views at the Victoria <i>are</i> tremendous though. It's definitely a major selling point.

Left hand view from room #93's balcony (the right hand direction allowed a full view of the Chain Bridge):
http://i1.trekearth.com/photos/16568/bud_parlwidex.jpg

The Offi House was less expensive, but also had a less fanatastic view. Still, from our dormer window, we could site in a second alcove from where the bed was and have a nice look out over the main square and the Minorite Church (worth a look inside). No elevator, so there is a flight of stairs to climb. The woman who runs it was very sweet to us each time we asked for anything, quickly handing us change for parking when we first arrived but hadn't fed a meter. Waved us off of paying her back later. PS, the duck in the restaurant is pretty good with the Bulls Blood red wine the town is famous for.

Not sure if they have their own website, but here's where we found them. Check out the photo gallery, you can see the position pretty well in one of the shots:
http://hungary.egerhotels.com/hoteloffihouse.php

Clifton-
Thanks for the links. Unfortunately, I could not get the first one to work.

Anyone else have any ideas as to how we can organize our itinerary? Thanks!

I agree with a lot of the the above. Eger is small town and the hotels in the town centre are clean. I would use the one actually in the main square (come back if you want the name). Great observatroy in the university tower. Also look out for spas. The one near eger is in a meadow with huts for changing but a fantastic experience for pennies. Also worth looking at Tokai but maybe not after a full atlantic flight. Wine prices could pay for the trip!

Budapest is great but watch out for the mafia taxis who will rip you off. If going to a hotel and with jet lag this is one for pre-booking.

Vienna is my favorite of the big cities. Very upright crowd and worth taking trams to see the centre (stay in centre for me as the weather makes the outskirts less appealing.

Prague is more touristy than Vienna and so I would cut down the time a bit here.

I bicyled most of this and took trains when tired and not over impressed outside the West. Might be worth driving or getting a limo

Just checked flights, Budapest to Prague looks reasonable one way but not Vienna to Prague. That does limit you to train.

Eger also has the famous Valley of the Virgins with a series of linked wine shops, not as good as i expected but the Bulls Blood from Eger is better than that from the Great Plain

Don't miss Vienna Kristina, do Eger in the middle of Budapest and shave a day off of Prague. Sounds perfect to me.

/posted too soon/Budapest and Vienna together historically is another reason to view them both.

I of course have no idea of your hotel budget, but the Duna Marriott on the Pest side has views off its balconies of the Castle and the Buda hills, really spectacular, very comfortable and a great bargain I thought.

Sorry Kristina on the link. I was logged in on the photo site and didn't realize that's why I could see the photo by itself.

Here's the page it's on. You'll be able to see this one. It's not a great photo, but shows what the view looked like.

http://www.trekearth.com/gallery/Eur...hoto162855.htm

Clifton-Thanks for fixing the link. It is a beautiful photo!Now I really want to stay there. I used to post on trekearth too (username is &quot;wired2theworld&quot, but it's been a while. You have some nice photos there.

Fidel and Bilbo-I'm sure we will make it to Vienna after all, but I really don't want to take a day off of Prague-it's been top on my list of places to see for a very long time. We're just going to have to find a way to squeeze everything in.

I think you'll like the hotel. It's went up a little recently I see, but it is worth it. I haven't posted on TE for a little while either, but I recognize that login name of yours from elsewhere, I think. I read a good portion of your rtw site awhile back, if the unique handle isn't just a coincidence. If I'm right, thanks for putting that together. It's something we'd like to do someday too (always &quot;someday&quot;, it seems) Anyway, do enjoy this upcoming trip.

Clifton-
Yes, my trekearth name is from my website:
http://www.wired2theworld.com
I started it when we did our RTW trip and still put all my (albeit shorter) trips on there as well. It's a lot of work, but worth it to me.