Hello,

I have never been to Europe and am making my first trip in March 2006. I would like to travel from US on March 16 to London stay in London 2 days, Then to Austia for 2 Days. I have to be in Prague Mar 21 - 26. Then back to the US on March 26. Is Austria worth 2 days or should I try for Austria 1 day & Budapest 1 day? Is there a train I can take from London to Austria or do I need to fly?

Any help would be greatly appreciated. My head is spinning on which county to vist & so fourth. I have so many places I want to see however limited time frame & want to see as much as possible.

Thanks,
lcoomer

Congrats on planning your first trip!

Unfortunately I think you have falled into the common first-timers mistake: trying to do too much with too little time. For this trip I would skip Austria all together and spend 4 nights in London before making your way to Prague. London is a fabulous city and has so much to see and do. You will lose time the first day and will probably be too jetlagged, especially on your first European trip, to do too much. Even if you spent 4 nights in London before going to Prague you will only be spending 2 whole days there.

If you do decide to go to Austria, I'm assuming you are referring to Vienna? Do not try to go to Budapest as well. You will lose at least half a day getting from London to Vienna and checking into your hotel. That would leave you with 1.5 days, which is simply not enough time. If you try to add Budapest you wouldn't have time to see anything in either city.

I think 4 nights in London and 5 nights in Prague would make for a nice trip without being too rushed.

Good luck!
Tracy

If you want to go to all three cities, you can certainly do it, but I'd make the following suggestion. Fly into London. Spend your two days, then fly to Prague on a very cheap flight with EasyJet or some other discount airline (you'll have to fly from Stansted or Gatwick in all likelihood). Then take the train to Vienna for 2 days (after Prague). Fly back to London from Bratislava on SkyEurope. You might need to spend one more night in London to make the connection, but you'll save tremendously on airfares. Just beware of luggage limitations. It's way too far to take a train from London to Prague.

Unfortunately, the Fodors suggestion won't work for you if you must arrive in Prague on Mar 21.

I'll echo most everything tcreath says. When you factor in inter-city travel time, getting to the airport, 2 days in London and 2 days in Vienna means you'll see very little in London and a bit of Vienna. And 2 days London, 1 day Vienna, and 1 day Budapest means you see almost nothing in any of the three cities.

And if you were to take trains from London to Vienna - it would eat up the best part of 2 days right there. So flying would be your only viable choice.

Since you have not been overseas before you probably aren't factoring how exhausting and sometimes disorienting an overnight transatlantic flight can be.

For you first trip do <b>EITHER</b> 4 days London and 5 days Prague, <b>OR</b> 4 days Vienna/Budabest and 5 days Prague.

And definitely look for open jaw tickets (i.e. into London, out of Prague). That will save you 1/2 a day or more travel time.

oops - that should read

&quot;. . . factor in inter-city travel time, getting to the airport(s), etc. - your 2 days in London and 2 days in Vienna means . . .&quot;

I think the others are right - you're being far too ambitious. I also think you need to do some reading up on the places you're going to, as at the moment, you're wondering if 2 days is too much time to spend in an entire country! (Austria).

Where is the best place to stay in Prague &amp; Vienna?

I haven't been to Prague, but in Vienna we loved staying at Pension Pertschy. It was very central, right off of the Graben and within walking distance of the Hofburg and St. Stephens. The price was pretty good, especially given the location.

http://www.pertschy.com

Tracy

Thank Tracy for the info. Is Vienna the best place to visit in Austria or would another area be as good?
Lisa

I loved Vienna but Salzburg is also a great place to visit in Austria as well. The two are very different though. Salzburg is much smaller than Vienna. Salzburg is in a beautiful setting. I think it depends on what you are after. If you are looking for a big city, head to Vienna. If you are looking for a smaller, more intimate city than choose Salzburg.

Howerver, its also worth noting that flying directly into Salzburg from the U.S. is not cheap. You would be better off flying into Munich and training (about 2 hours) to Salzburg. Also, if you are heading to Prague from Salzburg, the train rides are much longer than those originating in Vienna. Check out http://reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/query.exe/en for train times.

I really liked both places, but given your itinerary I think that Vienna would be the better of the two.

Tracy

I forgot to mention that you should probably pick up a guidebook on Austria and determine what you would like to do. Its a fabulous country; one of my favorites.

In the meantime, you can check out the Austrian tourism website at http://cms1.austria.info/xxl/_site/u...6153/home.html.

Tracy