prague and budapest
 

planning on visiting prague and budapest in August 2001. can anyone share their experiences of these two cities. love to hear your experiences.

Hi Maggie, I was in Budapest and Prague in Sept 99 and loved both. In Budapest I stayed with a retired chemist and his wife in a room in their flat above Budapest with a great view from the balcony. Dr Fleps (my host) has published a pamphlet of '12 walks in Budapest". I managed to do 11 of them. I was there for 7 days and could have done more. His pamphlet gave good directions as well as one or more paragraphs of history behind each site as well as recommendations for restaurants. I found the Opera house to be beautiful, similar to the one in Vienna and very inexpensive to attend. The National Museum was great and I could have spent another day there. There were more museums than I could possibly attend. Castle hill was very interesting with thousands of books in the Palace museum, some of them hand written contraries before the printing press. There was a small museum dedicated to Inganiaz Semmelweise, a doctor from the early 19th century (profiled in a book named 'The cry and the Covenant') I visited an open air museum about 20 km outside of Budapest where they took all of the Soviet statues after the Soviets left Hungary. I also took a trip to Lake Balaton which is the largest lake in Central Europe for a day. The food was great and very inexpensive.<BR>I then spent 6 days in Prague, also a very interesting city. The architecture is great there and the buildings essentially untouched by the war. The old town is charming and worth just sitting at an outdoor café and observing. They also have a number of musical presentations to offer evenings. I took a day tour to Czesky Krumlov, a wonderful 13th century village. The beer in the Czech Republic is second only to the beer in Germany. The old Jewish cemetery is a must see. I’d never seen anything like it.<BR>One final note. I would have done my trip a little differently if I’d known t was going to take my trip this year. I would have combined Hungary and Romania in one trip and Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia in another separate trip. If I can help further let me know.<BR>Regards Art<BR><BR>

As Art said, both cities are very nice. Prague has beautiful architecture dating back centuries. Budapest was partially destroyed during WWII. Prague has overembraced capitalism while Budapest is just moving that way. We stayed with the Fleps as well and he told of how the upper class would stroll along the Danube on Sunday afternoons. The symphony hall in Prague has been redone but is still reasonable ($16 for balcony box seats) while the one in Budapest is very nice but needs refurbishing ($1.5-$13 for seats). The Charles Bridge at night in Prague is most romantic. They were both part of the same empire with Vienna so similiar yet different. Check nethotels.com for places to stay and events.

Hi <BR>I am touring Prague and Hungary in June give me an email at end of the month & I eill give you the low down <BR>Regards <BR>Keith Greer

there is plenty to do in each city. praha is the better walking city of the two and things are closer together. read some travel info before you go. dont miss the semmelweise exhibit- woman take note he was the one who stopped purpural fever(childbirth fever) by hand washing with carbolic acid. a large accomplishment in his day

Hi, <BR> <BR>In Budapest we had a wonderful tour guide take us around for the day. there were six of us traveling together. Our hotel arranged this, and the guide was so knowledgeable. Also, there are great hot baths in Budapest. Make reservations for the famous restrauant owned by George Lang and one of the Lauder family members. I cannot remember the name, but someone on this site will know. There is great jazz in Prague. Have fun.

Peter, I assume that you also visited the Semmelwiese Museum and birthplace. It also sounds like you've read "The Cry and the Covenent", a great book about Semmelweise.

It called The Gundel Restaurant. Do lunch there it is much cheaper. Water is bottled and cost more than soda. Sometimes the tip is included in the bill. But it was never at that place, at least for me it wasn't.I am going to be Hungary on May 30th. I have to go pack now!!