Although we’ve visited many places in Western Europe, we had never been to Eastern Europe and decided it was time for some new experiences. This would also be a different vacation in terms of the types of places we visited and how we traveled. On all of our past European trips we had always rented a car and spent our time mostly in smaller towns and the countryside. This would be our first trip of just cities and all train travel. This was also a relatively short trip in each city, 2 nights in Budapest, 3 in Vienna and 3 in Prague. For us, scenery, architecture and dining are the major focuses of our trips. On this one, experiencing the Jewish history of each city was also a goal.

We flew into Budapest and took a taxi to the Starlight Suiten hotel which was a great location right behind the 4 Seasons, close to the Chain Bridge. We dropped our bags and strolled around to get a feel for our area. I like to look at architecture and my wife likes shopping and we did a little of both. After a little jet lag nap, we headed out for dinner to a restaurant recommended by the hotel called Tom George. While we always look at tour books and other information about dining, we also have had great luck with restaurants recommended by the hotels in which we stay. Tom George was a modern, hip kind of place and I have to believe it’s one of the best restaurants in the city. We had a meal that was to die for. I had one of the best risotto dishes I’ve ever eaten. Among other things, it had small pieces of seared goose liver in it and may have been the richest thing I’ve ever eaten. I had no idea that goose liver (or foie gras) was such a popular dish in Budapest. I also had a “Frenched” veal chop that was so good, I wanted to take the bone home and just gnaw on it. My wife had an equally good meal of slices of seared foie gras. It was truly a memorable meal.

The next day we decided to spend the day taking the hop on hop off bus with the highlight being the castle district over on the Buda side of the Danube which offered stunning views over the city. Since our hotel was so close to the 4 Seasons, we decided to eat there and while the meal was very good, it was a distant 2nd to Tom George. One of the new adventures was trying Hungarian wines which I thought were very good. Probably the only one somewhat known in the US is a sweet white wine called Tokai.

The following day we headed to the train station for the 3 hour ride to Vienna. We took the advice I received here on the Fodors board and bought our tickets at the station. I’ll offer some caution about that though. We were unable to get reserved seats and I ended up having to stand for much of the trip on a very crowded train, not fun. My advice would be to buy your ticket upon arrival in the city and get a reserved seat rather than waiting until the day of departure.

After arriving in Vienna, we took an easy cab ride to the Hotel Austria, right in the center of the city near the river. The city was bustling and crowded compared to Budapest. For €5 per day we bought tickets that allowed us to use any of the public transportation. We spent our time in Vienna visiting the various sites including Naschmarkt, the large open air city bazaar, the buildings around Heidenplatz, Schloss Belvedere and others and taking the tram around the ring of the city. Vienna had been heavily bombed during WW II and there was an interesting combination of old and new architecture. One day we decided to hire a private guide to tour the Jewish historic sites and had a very moving tour. Vienna has a walking tour with sidewalk markers through the old Jewish area and with the commentary of the guide was a very worthwhile experience.

Other than some very expensive wiener schnitzel, I can’t say any part of typical Viennese cuisine wowed us. The most popular thing to do in evening was getting a gelato or ice cream and strolling with the crowds.

Since the train ride from Budapest to Vienna left us feeling like we should have been riding hanging out the window along with goats, chickens and other farm animals, we had decided to buy reserved 1st class seats from Vienna to Prague when we initially arrived in Vienna so, we were all set for our trip to Prague. We boarded the train and had a most comfortable and enjoyable 4 hour trip to Prague with the area between Brno and Prague being the most scenic.

Fortunately we did some important operating research and learned to be mindful of 3 things in Prague. Beware of taxis, being short changed in stores and money changers on the street. When we arrived at the Holesevice train station we went to the taxi stand and there were a group of characters hawking their taxi services. When we inquired about a how much it would be for a ride to our hotel in the heart of the old town, we were told it would be 800 Czech Crowns, about $40. Since this was about triple what it should cost we offered 200 and all the men had a big belly laugh and just stood firm rather than negotiate. I guess it’s easier and more profitable to just wait for some fish to come along. Anyway, we had gotten the number of City Taxi from a tour book and called them. They picked us up and the ride was a smooth 300 Czeck Crowns with the tip to our hotel in the 1st district, Hotel Cloister Inn. The hotel was just a couple minutes walk to the Charles Bridge. The 2 taxi companies to use are AAA or City Taxi. Never get into a taxi without a phone number on the side.

Having been ceded to the Nazis as part of the Sudetenland in the late 1930’s, Prague was never bombed during WW II and as a result has retained a substantial part of its historical architecture including large amounts of gothic and baroque. The city is beautiful, especially the areas along the river and the old town square with the famous astronomical clock. We walked and walked and walked. I don’t think we’ve ever put so much mileage on our feet. Also, one day we took an open air bus tour around the city through Martin Tours which was a bus we picked up right off the old town square. That gave a good sense of all the historical sites in the city. We also decided to hire a private guide one day to tour the Jewish sites. It was a fantastic experience and very chilling. In one of the buildings, the interior walls had the handwritten names of the nearly 80,000 Jews, men women and children who were deported to the concentration camps by the Nazis. You can read about numbers and it may not sink in but when you see actual names, dates of birth and dates the people disappeared, it humanizes the magnitude of the immense tragedy. One of the most moving parts of the tour was a display of drawings and simple paintings from the children of the Terezin Concentration Camp. There was a woman who somehow managed to teach art to the children of the camp and some 4,000 of their drawings and paintings reflecting their feelings and experiences in the camp were amazingly preserved. It was an eerie and tearful experience that I will never forget.

Czech cuisine seemed somewhat heavy like that of Vienna and we decided to check out some different options including some French and eclectic spots instead. We had 2 great dinners at Le Terrior and Zatisi. While they were expensive, that’s what we like to do and we enjoyed them very much, including some excellent Czech wines.

A note about 2 of the things I mentioned to be mindful of, counting your change and money changers. It seems fairly common in the tourist areas that you can get shortchanged if you don’t pay attention. It may not be a great deal of money but it can add up. The coins are hard to read and if you go into to some place and just hand over your money and throw your change in your pocket without counting it, you could be had. It happened to us at least a few times. Also, I must have been approached 20 times by men on the street asking me if I wanted to change currency. Just don’t do it. There’s no need to as there are ATM machines and you’ll get a much better rate.

All in all, we had a great time for our first foray into Eastern Europe and look forward to returning sometime in the future. Thanks for reading.

Good report!! I enjoyed it.

Thanks for the report. I have wondered about the food in Prague, as good food is an important part of our travelling as well. Thanks for the restaurant recommendations.

I appreciate your comments. While I have never been to Vienna, I have been to Prague and Budapest twice each. Reading what you wrote just reminds me of the good times I have in each of those cities.

Thanks for the report. Any pictures?

Thanks for the report.

Are ATM's easy to use in Budapest and Prague? Is there an English option?

ATM's in both Prague and Budapest are very easy to use, and yes, English is offered.

Much appreciate the response.

Hello Pugsly and thanks for the report! Curious about the crowded train from Budapest to Vienna though --which day of the week did you travel? (I'm thinking a weekend may be busier than a weekday perhaps?) Also, did you decide not to buy the travel cards for Budapest and Prague -- you mentioned you used them in Vienna. Thanks again-- very well written, succinct report!

Thanks for your report. I am heading for Vienna this summer for a home exchange. We plan on going to Budapest for 4 days/3 nights and are all set up with reservations. We also will be looking at the Jewish sites as well. There are group walking tours of the Jewish area in Vienna that I discovered online and also a outfit called Absolute Walking Tours that offers a variety of tours in Budapest.

I will be in Vienna for almost a month. Prague is not planned for this trip, but it is on my list for "eventually"--whenever that is. Budapest was a priority for me because one of my grandfathers was born in Hungary.

Central Europe is not a place to head for nouvelle cuisine. Although you can finnd all types of restaurants and cuisines in all 3 cities, central eruopean meals use a lot of pork, sausages, pates and game as well as fresh-water fish - with lots of dumplings (which can be light as air or heavy as lead) - esp in the fall you'll see lots of deer, boar, pheasant, goose etc.

Definitely try some of it - as it can be incredibly delicious - if tending to the rich - but it;s a little much twice a day.

But - there are tons of cafes for lighter meals as well as restaurants of almost every type you can think of.

I know Czech cab drivers have bad reputations, but we had a problem with only one. He took us the wrong way around to run up the fare (even though I told him I knew what he was doing and wouldn;t pay) and then refused to stop in front of the hotel (since he knew the doorman would give him grief).

We got out and I just paid him what the fare should have been - he wasn;t happy - and used some very colorful language - but he got a reasonable fare - minus the tip. It's really not an issue of you're firm with the drivers - and threaten the police if they're not co-operative.

Pugsley, where did you find the guide for the Jewish tour? I am leaving for Vienna tomorrow and would love to take that tour.

Check viennawalks.com

They have two walks of Jewish Vienna, one at 1:30pm every Monday and another at 1:30pm every Friday. The walks are reasonably priced.

We just got back from the same trip and also took the train from Budapest to Vienna and went First Class and it was awful. The air conditioning didn't work and it was hot and they had no clue how to fix it. It seemed they only had a couple of people working on the train. The A/C was working in 2nd class and coach. 2nd class were compartments and I think if I were to do it again, I think we would reserve a compartment.

We took the train back and forth to Budapest from Vienna second class during my 4 week home exchange in Vienna. We had reserved seats. We had absolutely no problems with seating or air conditioning not working; the train was on time. Going back to Vienna we ate on the train to use up our forints (Hungarian currency). The food in the dining car was fine, but nothing special.

Over all I had better food in Budapest than I had in Vienna. I recommend Appetito on Castle Hill and Le Jardin de Paris behind the Art'otel in Buda.

I took both Jewish walking tours of Vienna offered by Brigette Timmerman. One deals with new Jewish settlement post World War II. The other one deals with earlier history. They overlap a little but not too much. Each tour was 13 euros and lasts about 1 1/2-2 hours. The tours leave on Monday and Friday at 1:30pm from outside the McDonald's on Schwedenplatz (near the gelato place with a zillion flavors that you should not miss). One tour is given every Monday and the other every Friday.

Hiring a private guide would have been much more expensive and was unnecessary. For Ms. Timmerman's tours you just show up. There is no need to make a reservation.

Walking tours are offered on various aspects/areas of Vienna. Pick up a brochure from tourist information opposite Stephansdom when you arrive. Another tourist information place is opposite the Albertina. I wanted to go on one on the Turkish siege in the 17th century, but never got around to it.

Pugsley, thank you for the report.
Do you have contact information for your private guides in Vienna and Prague?