Prage-Budapest-Venice-Florence
 

Firstly, I wanted to thank everyone who helped with my last trip, it was incredible.

Well, we are now in the beginning stages of planning our next trip. We are going to give ourselves 16 nights for our trip. We were thinking about flying out of the US to Prague, then Budapest and stop over at Venice for a night (or two) on our way to Florence where we will spend 4-5 nights.

I have not picked specific amounts of time for each location as I still need to figure out exactly what it is we want to see. We do not want to be rushed, though we tend to walk 5+ miles a day while traveling and are thus able to see much in a short time period.

We are mostly interested in food, architecture, drink, and "different" cultures in no specific order. Our favorite way to travel is to get the "big ticket" items out of way and then just wander, taking in the city and its inhabitants.

Please let me know if we will be stretching ourselves to thin. Thanks again everybody!

Prague - 4 days
Budapest - travel time = 7 hours - 3 days
Venice - 2 days
Florence - 5 days

Total = 15 days/16 nights

Looks like this works and sounds like a great trip! I used days since my mind works better that way.

I'm guessing you'll fly from Budapest to Venice since it's a 13/14 hour train ride and even the night trains take a lot of time with several connections.

Even though you can walk a lot in a day, sightseeing takes a lot of time. I also find I use time to take photos and just to enjoy a sight rather than rushing through it. I also like wandering around cities/towns and getting the feel of them.

So, something like this:

Red Eye in Prague (day 1)
Day-
Day-
Day-
Day-
Day-
Day-
Day-

Sorry i hit something on my iphone by accident.


So, something like this:

Red Eye in Prague (day 1)
Day-2-Prague
Day-3-Prague
Day-4-Prague
Day-5-Prague
Day-6-train to Budapest
Day-7-Budapest
Day-8-Budapest
Day-9-Budapest
Day-10-fly to Venice
Day-11-Venice
Day-12- train to Florence
Day-13-Florence
Day-14-Florence
Day-15-Florence
Day-16-Florence
Day-17-fly back to US

That looks good although I would stay in Venice one more day and take the day from Florence but that's my preference.

Four full days in Florence plus the half day for arrival may be a lot - consider day tripping to Siena (one "n") for a day (best by bus, not train) to see its own Duomo, which is a gem. Plan Florence out in advance - the lines for the major museums are LONG and you may need scheduled entry tickets for many or most of them.

Budapest is worth four full days if you have them: Castle, Parliament, St. Istvan's, Dohany street neighborhood and the Weeping Willow, Heroes' Square, KGB/Terror museum, Gellert Hill, Szoborpark are all worth a visit. The train to Budapest will take about 7 to 7.5 hours so you may want to look into a short flight with a discount airline, which would give you another 3+ hours on the ground in Budapest too.

Prague isn't a foodie haven - the Czechs have about 500,000 varieties of dumplings and traditional fare is fair at best; Hungarian food is better (neither compares to Italian). Terezin is a day trip. Czechs and Magyars have fairly different views about their time spent under Soviet domination.

Would anyone suggest taking a day from Prague and spending it in Budapest?

We are planning on taking a couple day trips from Florence (Siena, Balogna, maybe Modena, etc..)

Is Czech food really that bad? Our tastes lean stringly towards mediterranean faire. Of which we know we wont get in Prague or Budapest, but eating well is bery important to us.

We've visited Prague and Budapest, and we felt that four nights in Budapest was more than enough for us. One thing we realized is that we are museum people, and those cities, while having many interesting things, not as many museums as, for example, Rome and Paris. Do take time in each city, however, to visit the Communist Museum in Prague and the Terror Museum in Budapest.

Sounds like you're not planning any time in the countryside of Hungary or the Czech Republic? Your itinerary is good, though mostly focussed on cities. Which is great, of course, if that's what you're looking for.

We're big foodies, mostly interested in good local cuisine (as opposed to high-end stuff). Czech and Hungarian food is not on the upper end of cuisines that most people love. We did sample local favorites, especially in the countryside, but it was not, and couldn't be, a focus of the trip. This would be especially true for people (like us) who aren't huge meat-eaters. Budapest, in particular, does have more high-end places, but their food, I would say generally, is more international than Hungarian in feel.

With 4 full days in Prague, I would be tempted to at least take a day trip to Cesky Krumlov.

I would also considering subtracting 1 night from Florence and adding it to Venice.

Thanks for all the input everyone!

I am beginning to worry that this trip will feel too rushed. With the above mentioned itinerary (or something close) will we be able to have any time to relax? Or will this be a "major sites and move on" kind of trip?

My wife and I both like big cities, however if their are quaint towns near the major cities that should not be missed, we are open to suggestions. Our favorite day while in Rome was one spent at the nearby Orvieto. But with such a tight schedule I would not want to stretch ourselves too thin.

It seems as though the general consensus is to shorten our trip to Florence. How many days do you all suggest for JUST Florence sans day trips. And what day-trips would you take aside from Siena and Balogna? This past month we were in Paris and Rome for 8 nights each and while we do not regret spending that much time in each city, we could have shaved a night or two from each and been just as happy (though we do intend on returning to both cities!).

Hi! Last summer, we visited London, Paris, Prague, Budapest, Venice, Florence and Rome over 21 days and it was great! We didn't feel rushed at all. For the cities you are visiting, we spent 3 nights in Prague, 4 in Budapest, 2 in Venice and 3 in Florence.

In hindsight, 2 nights in Florence is plenty. It is a beautiful but small city. On one of those days, we made a day trip to Pisa to see the Leaning Tower. There were also strikes and peaceful demonstrations while we were there so one of the days, the Uffizi Art Museum was closed. When in Florence, be sure to eat at least one meal at this quaint little restaurant called Coquinarious. It is superb! Authentic Italian restaurant with the freshest pasta and salads ever. The manager is so amazing - he translated the whole menu for us! This restaurant was recommended to us by this local couple we met on the train while enroute to Pisa.

2 nights in Venice was more than enough - even one night will suffice. It is a small city and you can only walk around San Marco plaza, visit the Basilica and look at the Grand Canal for so long. Beautiful little city but not a lot to do. Definitely don't skip it though.

Prague was one of our favourite stops during our trip. This city is gorgeous and full of culture. We took a day trip to Kutna Hora to see the bone chapel. Highly recommended! You can book it thru your hotel. Budapest is so beautiful too - we took a hop-on hop-off bus and visited the Chain Bridge, Great Synagogue and the Castle District.

I think your trip sound fantastic and I hope you have a wonderful time!

I (and I'm sure many others would too) completely disagree with the comment that Venice is a "beautiful little city but not a lot to do." I have been to Venice 3 times, spending multiple nights each time, and still have not been able to see all that I want. There are so many wonderful churches, museums, etc. There are the campaniles of San Marco and San Giorgio Maggiore, the Doge's Palace and all of the charming back "streets" and campos. There are also excursions to Murano, Burano and Torcello.

Cesky Krumlov, which I mentioned previously, is a charming village about 100 miles from Prague.

If you have not been to Venice before, I would spend at least another day. There are so many things to see: many absolutely amazing churches, the other islands (Burano, Murano, Torcello), the ghetto with very interesting synagogues, museums, etc. There are also concerts in some of the churches, interesting markets, etc. After 7 visits, I still have not even made it into any of the museums. It is a wonderful place to explore away from San Marco.

Is Czech food really that bad? Our tastes lean stringly towards mediterranean faire. Of which we know we wont get in Prague or Budapest, but eating well is bery important to us.>>

most of the food we had in Prague and Budapest is not bad, but it is not mediterranean by any stretch of the imagination. you will do a better of course in Venice and Florence,

I agree entirely with the posters above that you want to allow longer for Venice and Florence than kc2117 suggests - we spent a week in both and by no means saw everything that we wanted to see. with your interests in food, you will also find the food there much more to your taste then in Prague and Budapest.

Kc2117 - Thank you for the reassurance and the restaurant recommendation. What did you think about the time you spent in Prague and Budapest? Just enough, too little, or too much?

Delaine - Cesky Krumlov looks amazing! It seems rather difficult to get to. Did you take the multiple train route, or would you recommend driving? It seems the train would be a bit chaotic?

Sassafrass - Do you think adding another day would give us a significant enough amount of time to make the trip there worthwhile?

Annhig - Thank you. I have a Hungarian friend who lets me try some of his creations and while they are very tasty, they are, as you pointed out, far from Mediterranean. I know it is silly to avoid a location because of the cuisine, but I just want to make sure good food can be found however different from my usual preferences. Do you think it would be better to take a day from Prague and add it to Venice, giving us 2 full days there and 4 in Florence?

<< 2 nights in Venice was more than enough - even one night will suffice. It is a small city and you can only walk around San Marco plaza, visit the Basilica and look at the Grand Canal for so long. Beautiful little city but not a lot to do. Definitely don't skip it though. >>

The poster who said this definitely missed the best of Venice. It's so much more than St. Mark's Square!!! One of my favorite museums in Venice was the Ca d'Oro.

What a shame kc's scope was so limited. Same with Florence. Clearly the bone chapel in Kutna Hora impressed him/her rather than the Renaissance art around every corner in Florence or the magnificence of Venice. There was not even any mention of the 2 wonderful cathedrals in Kutna Hora or of the lovely Czech architecture. Here's the bone chapel in case you miss it.
http://modigliani.shutterfly.com/cze...nkfurtpa/44#46


<< I am beginning to worry that this trip will feel too rushed >>

Now that you're asking...If this were my trip I would not combine Prague, Budapest, Venice, and Florence. They are two different trips and you will miss the small towns outside the cities since you do not have enough time. Two years ago I spent 2 weeks in the Czech Republic and didn't have enough time to see everything I wanted to see. I concentrated on the southern part plus Prague and Kutna Hora.

Choose either Prague and Budapest OR Venice and Florence and surrounding small towns in the Veneto and Tuscany.

I love Czech food but it's very different from Italian food. When in northern Europe I eat pork every night and love it. I eat much lighter food in Italy.

You can find decent food in Prague, just don't expect OMIGOSHTHATISSOAWESOME. Prague is not 1970s Moscow or 2010 Minsk. Plus the beer is good and really cheap.

You didn't indicate that you're a museum person like Lexma, so re-configuring your stay for less time in Prague or Budapest for that reason would not make sense.

Don't take a day from Prague. Right now, you arguably have too few, and there are certainly enough day trips you could take (Karlstejn, Thieresenstadt, Cesky Krumlov [a little tougher as a day trip]).

Excuse me, I have just realized I was spelling Bologna "Balogna," woops.

If we were to have an additional 2 days added to the plans, should we alott those days to the cities we have already chosen? Or maybe stop in Bologna for a noght on our way to Florence? Or leave Balogna as a day trip and as I just mentioned, distribute them amongst the listed cities?

Yes, I do think that extra day in Venice would make a difference. With only one day, you would be rushing just to see the San Marco area. It isn't until you leave the touristy areas that you start to appreciate the whole of Venice. It would also give you more time to wander in the evenings to different areas, to take a trip up/down the Grand canal both in the day time and at night and get a sense of the shape of the city. If you haven't already done so, I suggest you read as much as possible about the construction of Venice - pretty amazing.