spartanap

I'm in the process of planning a trip to Krakow, Budapest and Prague for early next June. The current plan calls for two days in Krakow, three in Budapest and four in Prague. Airline schedules look best for a flight into Krakow and out of either Prague or Budapest. We are considering night trains for our travel between cities. Based on this:
1. Are the number of days in each city adequate for the must see sites?
2. Which train routes have the best schedules/costs?
3. Considering that time of year, should be reserve our train travel (2 or 3 person compartments) prior to our trip or can we wait until we arrive in each city?
Any other suggestions about the trip are appreciated.

lindy27

I would do 3 days in Krakow if you plan on going to Auschwitz. If not, I would do 4 days in Budapest and 3 in Prague. Budapest is really spread out while Prague is more compact making it easier to see faster.

We book night trains when we arrive in Europe, or 3-7 days out, and it has worked fine so far. Last year we traveled in June. The night train from Budapest-Prague arrives at 3am so you might want to make it so you go Prague-Budapest.

Sher

I just spent three days in Krakow which I felt was not enough. And I spent four days in Budapest which was oe.k.
We took the night train from Krakow to Budapest. It leaves at about 22:00 and if you want the sleeper compartments they come in two person, four person and six person.
We purchased our tickets two days in advance at the train station and were able to receive a discount ticket for the two berth compartment for about E50 which is a very good fare but there are a limited amount of them available. Make sure you ask if there are any special fares when you purchase our tickets as the special fare price was not offered to us immediately. We only received it because we asked specifically about special fares.

Sher

P.S. I do not know if this interests you but there are two new museums in Krakow
One is Underground Rynek which is fantastic and it is under the cloth hall.
The second is the Schlindler Factory Museum which is also wonderful.
IMHO two days in Krakow just will not do it. The city is wonderful.

spiral

Last August we spent three nights (2.5 days) in Budapest and then the same in Prague. We felt we could have spent longer in Budapest but that we had about the right amount of time in Prague. As Lindy27 says, Budapest is much more spread out than Prague. We found we used public transport a lot in Budapest but not at all in Prague.
We used the day train between Budapest and Prague as we know that we do not sleep well on trains. It gave us a pleasant break form walking and it was enjoyable watching the countryside pass by. We got tickets for €29 per person which we bought two days before at Keleti Station. I believe that there also a limited number of tickets for €19 per person but these sell out quickly.

FrenchMystiqueTours

If you are unaware of it makes sure while in Krakow to visit the nearby Wieliczka Salt Mines. Here are some links:

http://www.krk-krakowtours.com/wieli...mine_tour.html

http://www.krakow-info.com/wielicz.htm

annhig

hi spartanap,

mmmm - dare I say that all these places ae quite similar? have you thought about spending longer in 2 of them, or perhaps picking two and then spening a little time in teh countryside in between?

you do run the risk of "eastern european overload" if you try to do them all together.

Were I you, I might consider 4 nights in Krakow and 5 in Prague. from Prague you could then do a side trip to Cesky Krumlov.

iris1745

Here is a little info on Krakow and Prague. Click on the city and then instant for a download. www.inyourpocket.com

atwardowski

I strongly recommend spending at least 3 days in Krakow. As with many first-time visitors, you'll leave feeling a bit rushed and not having seen everything you finally hope to see. If you want to see Auschwitz or Wieliczka (an enormous salt mine), Wawel, the main square and principal museums, the Oskar Schindler factory, the Jewish quarter, etc., then you'll probably need more than 2 days.

I agree with the comment on Prague. Its treasures are more centrally located so you can see a lot without having to travel too much.

BigRuss

What is a "must-see"? If you're just going to check boxes on a list of most common attractions, then you could whip around all three quickly. There are great sites to see that are not in the average travel book or on the "standard" list. What do you really want to see that makes each one unique?

I think the notion that "all these places a[r]e quite similar" is somewhat ridiculous considering the vast differences between the Polish, Czech and Magyar people. They're not just medieval-looking Central European cities and their histories are more than just a 60-year period from 1938-2000 that started when they got screwed before World War II (or screwed themselves, as the Hungarians did by placating the Nazis) and essentially ended about ten years after the fall of the Soviet Union (1917-1991, including the Russian SFSR years) when they began to overcome (some of) the legacies of communism.

annhig

I think the notion that "all these places a[r]e quite similar" is somewhat ridiculous considering the vast differences between the Polish, Czech and Magyar people.>>

of course, Big Russ. if you've got months to spend, doubtless their differences world become very apparent. or if you are a student of central europe. but to most of us, they have more similarities than differences. a bit like trying to visit Venice, Florence and Rome all in one trip, really.

BigRuss

Bollocks. I spent less than a week in each and their differences are readily apparent.

annhig

well, bigRuss, we will just have to agree to differ.

though i will endeavour to do so politely.