Hello fellow Fodorites. My husband and I are planning a trip to Prague and Budapest. We plan on being in Prague on Christmas. Can anyone tell us the "not to be missed" sites and events for both locations?

Also, can anyone recommend day trips outside of both cities? We like to explore towns/villages.

Thank you for anticipated advice.

Debbie

hi, debbie,

that's a big ask. what do you like doing? how long will you have in each place? will you have a car?

I can only tell you what we did, going to Prague between Christmas and New Year one year, and Budapest the next.

PRAGUE.
walking round the centre, over the Charles bridge, up to the castle.
The opera [wonderful building and very cheap] and dinner at the opera resturant.
dinner at the town hall and a concert in the concert hall above.
Lunch and beer in a micro-brewery near the botanical gardens.
Dvorvak's house.

BUDAPEST
The opera
The palace/museum at the top of the Buda Hill.
walking out to the baths [begins with an S] and wishing we'd taken our cossies cos it looked fun.
lizst's house [complete with Beetoven's piano - yea, really]
Fish soup in a sports bar on the main rag near the cathedral.
Goulash in a cellar restaurant in Buda.

we spent 3 days in each city.
we prefered Prague.

try searching this forum for both - there are some recent threads which may help.

regards, ann

Thanks Ann. Your trip(s) sound fun. We will not have a car and will have appr. 5 days in each city.

Did you take any trips to towns outside the cities?

hi, drough,

we did two trips - one each year.

we were only there for 3 nights in each place so we didn't do any side trips.

with 5 days in each, you could easily do so, but you'll need to look elsewhere for advice!

Prague at christmas was really lovely.

good luck, ann

drgough - Need a lift to Budapest? We'll be in Prague from the 22nd til the 25th, then on to Budapest. We're only spending two nights in Budapest. This is more of an exploratory visit for us than a serious investigation of the sights of either town.

Right now I'm eagerly awaiting the DK Eyewitness books for Prague and Budapest that I just ordered through Half.com before planning our itinerary. I might also suggest you do a Google search for podcasts of travelogues for both Prague and Budapest. The Rick Steves' ones have given me some good ideas of where to start touring. I plan to put them on my daughter's Ipod so that she can direct us when we get there.

I was there for the entire month of July and posted a trip report listing activities and food. Just do a search on adnil1962 - I posted it the first week of August 2007. Feel free to e-mail me with questions.