munich or budapest
 

Hello everyone ~ In late May/early June, I plan on being in Prague for 4 days, then Vienna for 3 or 4, followed by 3 days in either Munich or Budapest (all via train). I would love to know which of these last two cities you prefer and why. THANKS to all who can advise me!

I have always thought that Prague, Vienna and Budapest is a great triangle trip. Budapest is closer to Vienna than Munich and it was part of the Austro-Hungarian empire, so you really can see some architectural similarieties. There is a saying that in Vienna, the buildings are completely renovated, in Prague just the front, and in Budapest, not at all. I don't know how much renovation has been done in the last two years, but regardless, Budapest is a beautiful city with a lot of culture and a fascinating history. If you do visit Budapest, you may want to read &quot;Bridge At Andau&quot; by James Michner. It is a description of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution and the courage of the people. <BR>Enjoy,<BR>Jan

I have to agree with SloJan. The contrasts as well as the similarities are interesting among the 3 cities. Vienna and Budapest were the most elegant of cities at one time until history led them to different paths. Munich is a fun city and the day trips are numerous but for this trip, with the other cities, Budapest is the best choice. It is also less expensive and more exotic than Munich.

I wonder how many replies to this thread you can get lissa, without a change in recommendation!!!<BR>I too agree that Budapest is your &quot;natural&quot; choice......Munich is a fine place, and 2 years ago I combined a Budapest/Vienna/Munich itinerary and it was fun to do .....<BR>OTOH: I wouldn't want to have missed Budapest!! Proabably one of the most beautiful cities I can think of,,,,assuming of course that &quot;urban&quot; things are of interest to you.<BR>Munich seems so very modern as a result of the post-war reconstruction that only a handful of areas held the same charm for me as the many places in Budapest did.....<BR>I actually preferred Pest over Buda, but I'm sure many others would tell you exactly the opposite.....It's just all a matter of taste.<BR>In any event, have a great trip and Best Wishes, Dave

Thank you all so much! Since I am a devoted urbanite, as well as a history addict, Budapest sounds like the place for me. Now, of course, I have another question: Where do I stay? I love to be able to step from my hotel/pensionne right into the midst of things ~ lively and beautiful things, preferably! Any suggestions?? Oh, and I'm not wildly wealthy, to put it mildly. THANKS!<BR><BR>

If you have never been to Europe before and are a museum aficionado, I would suggest Munich over Budapest. But if the museum shuffle gets to you after Vienna, then choose Budapest.

lissa - I wish I had the name, and I'm hoping that someone on the board will be able to provide it to you....but our stay was at the Gellert,,,which was really pretty expensive.<BR>The place I'm thinking of is on the Buda side of the river, not very far down from the Gellert, and was very reasonably priced for location, and (at least from the outside) appearances.<BR><BR>It was not an international chain hotel like many on the Pest side but rather a 5 or 6 story &quot;local&quot; hotel. Sorry that my memory is not what it was, but I hope that others will have ideas in Buda as well...I believe there are several guest houses that might fit the bill for you should you decide to go to Budapest!<BR>Best wishes for a great trip! Dave

Budapest -- and everyone has said what needs to be said:) But I'll add that after Vienna it is interesting to see the capital of the junior partner of the Hapsburg empire.<BR><BR>One hotel on the Buda side is Hotel Victoria. We've stayed there several times and loved the hotel and the location and the price. Do a search here for &quot;budapest victoria&quot; and you should get many comments.

Hi Lissa<BR><BR>We were in Budapest in 1999. We stayed in Castle Hill on the Buda side which we really enjoyed. You have the cobblestone streets, and quaintness of a small town. Across the street from us was the Fisherman's Bastion and Matthais Church. There was also the Hilton if you liked a Casino. We went to a concert at the church one night. We walked over to the Pest side (and took a bus too). We stayed at the Hotel Kulturinov, which is one wing of a government building damaged in WWII.<BR>It is far from fancy, we did have a WC and Shower, room overlooked inner courtyard, price was reasonable. Staff friendly. At that time there was only the Hilton and this on Castle HIll, I think I recall reading that another has opened. The Hilton does have rooms with a view of the Danube.<BR>Have a great time, we did. By the way, we did do the Prague/Budapest/Vienna trip but then went on to Venice.

Seconds for Victoria -sounds exactly like Dave's hotel choice as well. Michael has a very good point - Munich's musuems are total world class, Budapest are different league.<BR>One other thing - SloJan has very accurately summed up the architecture situation. Budapest is interesting for that reason, but can be quite depressing for the same reason - the sheer grandeur of streets especially Andrassy Utca and the complete mess that communism represented in having such grandeur rot. One travelling companion to Budapest found it very depressing (admittedly in bleak winter weather) for that reason. Personally I prefer all the other cities and currently live in Vienna and lived in Munich for 18 mths to Aug 2001. But general comments people have made are very valid and in the end you make up your mind depending on your own prefs and personality with these points as useful guidance.

i might just add that budapest is probably the cheapest of the cities listed, but i love them all....take an extra 4 days and add both...why not