keli22o

I have a week in December. My husband and I were thinking of going to Prague for 3 nights and Budapest or Vienna for another 3 nights. Would this be sufficient time to see major sites in these cities? We would be in Prague 12/26-12/29 take an over night train to Budapest on 12/29 and be in the city from 12/30 until 1/2.
What do you all think? Thank you for your opinions!

firedrago

personally i like Prague than Budapest, since u only have a week, 3-night seems fine. Actually, u can opt for train ride PRG-WIEN-BUP. the train ride from Vienna to Budapest is quite short. If u want (but may be bit rush) u can put up a night @ Vienna and 2 nights in Budapest

noreng

Castles and palaces and museums oh my! All three cities have a lot to see and I don't think you'll have enough time. My wife is Hungarian and we both love art so the museums are primary on our trip which will begin next Monday 9/11! We're sitting on the 7th row of the plane so I don't think there will be many travellers. Watch out for gypsy pickpockets in all tourist spots. They specialize in bump and stall tactics. All the cities are great for walking. I'll have more when we return at the end of the month.

stotz

I was in Prague and Budapest last March. We loved Prague but thought four days in Budapest was too long. In my opionion, once you've seen the Castle and gone to the spas, that's about it for Budapest. I wish we had gone to Vienna instead.

Images2

We spent 5 days in Budapest in June, doing one day trip to Eger. We didn't have time to do all we wanted to, and loved the city!

Larry_M

I agree with stotz. We loved both Prague, where we spent 4 days, and Vienna (3 days), but were somewhat disappointed in Budapest (3 days) in 2004. The first 2 cities just felt more vibrant and alive, while Budapest had a somewhat oppressive overtone ... much of the architecture was communist-block gray circa 1959.

valtor

We had four full days in Budapest and hardly we could see all we wanted! And we did not spend a minute in a spa.
We loved the city, we visited the Parliament, St. Stephan Church, Opera, Synagogue, the Castle, and walked on the nice streets. You can see an Operetta Show, go to nice restaurants, go to Margit Island, etc..

For you need more than 4 days in my opinion, if you want to visit museums and castles also.

I can compare Budapest with Vienna (and I like both), but not with Prague. Prague is very decorated, very nice, but Vienna and Budapest are more impresive.

So, all these three cities are beautiful, it is really difficult to decide.

Images2

The New York Times has an excellent article on Budapest in the Sept.3,2006 edition. It's titled "Budapest is stealing some of Prague's spotlight".

doug_stallings

Three nights in enough to see the highlights of Prague, but I'd like to suggest you consider flying on Smartwings from Prague to Budapest if you include both of those cities on your itinerary. You'll save a lot of travel time. Combining either Prague or Budapest with Vienna will save you a lot of time traveling, though I personally like Prague.

whenzuc

If we have 9 nights, and are flying into Prague and out from Budapest, would anyone suggest another city to stop off in other than Vienna? Suggestions please- places and # of nights. Does Croatia work at all?

SAnParis

I favor Prague as well & I would probably spend a few days in the Czech Rep. & add Vienna (perhaps) before Budapest. Time-wise, 3 & 3 seems about right. There is lots to do in the Czech Rep. outside of Prague though.