My wife and I plan on visiting Eastern Europe in May for about a month. Our time is very flexible and we'd like to visit both Prague, Budapest and other areas of interest in both Hungary and The Czech Republic. We're on a budget but any suggestions from folks who've been there would be greatly appreciated, that is, great food/restaurants, "don't miss" activities, hostels, day trips, smaller towns, etc.
Also, does it make sense for us to buy one-way tickets to Eastern Europe in the U.S. and purchase return tickets in Europe? Thanks.

It doesn't make sense ever to buy any one way tickets. But it does make sense to buy, commonly called, open-jaw tickets. On most search engines it is multi-cities. An open jaw will be nearly the same price as a RT tickets and sometimes cheaper. And an open jaw ticket is always cheaper if you factor in the cost in money and time for returning to your starting point.

Technically, although still often called that in the US, neither the Czech Republic nor Hungary are in "Eastern" Europe, they're considered to be in Central Europe (the "Eastern" is a hangover from the days of the Iron Curtain...).

Instead of two one-ways I'd consider what's called "open-jaw" tickets - you find them by clicking on MultiCity on most airline search sites. For example, fly into Budapest and fly home from Prague. These days such tickets often don't cost more than a regular point-to-point return (what in the US is called "roundtrip" even though there is nothing "round" about it).

Definitely book in advance, not at the last minute while already in Europe, transatlantic flights booked in the last two weeks are rarely advantageous.

That kind of MultiCity ticket saves you all that backtracking just to go board a plane, so even if this kind of ticket ends up being a bit more, not having to do the backtracking will probably still make it worthwhile.

Highly desirable smaller destinations near where you're going? Just a few to look up: Lake Balaton, Eisenstadt, Neusiedlersee, Melk, Linz, Passau, Cesky Krumlov, Ceske Budejovice, Plzen (origin of Pilsener!), and lots more!

This seems trollish, but let's go through it just in case.

"Also, does it make sense for us to buy one-way tickets to Eastern Europe in the U.S. and purchase return tickets in Europe? Thanks."

No, that's daft. You may not receive entry if you lack a return ticket, you will definitely pay a ton for one-way tickets.

"My wife and I plan on visiting Eastern Europe in May for about a month."

Your plan does not include Eastern Europe, it only includes Central Europe.

"we'd like to visit both Prague, Budapest and other areas of interest in both Hungary and The Czech Republic."

Areas of interest are person specific - what interests you? State that, and you'll get more and better recommendations.

"We're on a budget . . ."

So is everyone, even Russian energy oligarchs. Theirs are just larger. What is yours for lodging per night?

"but any suggestions from folks who've been there would be greatly appreciated"

Go googling, buy Fodors books, peruse a great travel website like Fodors.com (where IS my free guide for all this shill work?) for information. There is a ton of information on Budapest and Prague available on this site and the 'net in general.

Check inyourpocket.com for various Czech Repub. cities too.

A good guide book or two should help you tremendously. For lower budget travelers, The Rough Guide and The Lonely Planet are usually good options. Check your local bookstore or library.

My experience is that open-jaw tickets don't cost more than round-trip tickets, but if you rent a car, the fee to drop it off somewhere other than where you rented it can be expensive. Our May trip arrives in Zurich and returns from Amsterdam and the rental car drop fee is $700. It's the cost of seeing what we want to see, but it is pricy.

If it were me I would add Vienna to the mix - the thrid capital of the central european Austro Hungarian Empire (lasted for hundreds of years versus the 50 years of Soviet rule that turned these countries into part of the eastern bloc temporarily).

No drop off fee for taking the train....

For Budapest I highly recomend an apartment from these people: http://www.budapestvacationrentals.c...n_Rentals.html

If you are Art Nouveau fans don't miss southern Hungary, see: http://mytimetotravel.wordpress.com/2012/01/25/pecs/ and the following posts.

For Hungary look at the cities along the North side of the country. There are good road and rail links all the way along and while some of the towns are still recovering from the last 50 years there are some delights. My favorite are
Budapest itself, Gyor, Eger, Miskolc (and its underground spa) and Tokai (for the wine).

Even in May you may need to book and aim to stay in Pension. You may see hotels at the Euro200 for the night type, they are seldom worth anything so avoid.

Czech Rep is mainly Prague. I've visited other parts of the country on business and pleasure and unless you are visiting family or need to visit a Brewery stick to Prague.

Hi,

In Prague make sure you don't miss Prague castle, Charles bridge and the old town square. In fact you can walk all the way (starting at Malostranske namesti tram stop) from the Castle to old town square. For details on the way to go : http://www.visit-prague.net/2010/02/spend-day-prague/

If you like concerts or ballets I would recommend booking tickets at Narodni Divadlo (National Theatre, where you have ballets) or Rudolfinum (in the old town).

As far as restaurants are concerned, if you'd like to try typical Czech food and beer, try Kolkovna group of restaurants. Food is good, and prices are reasonable.
http://www.kolkovna.cz/

Enjoy your trip

Nicolas