pgautam01

Hi Guys:

We are a youngish couple (Mid 30ies) from Mumbai India and travel once or twice in a year. We love visiting new cities and getting immersed in the city, culture and cuisine. We are relatively relaxed travelers and like to visit local places as much as tourist attractions and like offbeat experiences. Also it is not a must for us to visit all the tourist attractions.
I am planning a trip to Prague, Krakow and Budapest in October and wanted a few inputs from you guys. Unfortunately for this trip we have a limited time frame and we are trying to cover 3 cities in 10 days! So following is the plan:

5th Oct fly to Prague reaching at 9.00 am
5th to 8th - Prague
8th Oct take the overnight train to Krakow reaching Krakow in the morning
9th to 10th - Krakow (excluding Auschwitz)
10th Oct take the overnight train to Budapest reaching Budapest in the morning.
11th to 14th - Budapest
15th Oct fly back home.

Questions are:
- Do we have enough time in Prague and Budapest to do justice
- since we are travelling at night mainly we have included Krakow for 2 days/I night. Does this seem do able or over ambitious. We just want to get the feel of the city since we have heard so much and this gives us the opportunity to get a quick taste for a future trip.
- Weather. I know it would be Autumn in Europe and temperatures would range from 6 to 16 degrees.
- Any off beat experience or suggestions you may have. We did a tapas tour in Madrid that we really loved. Something on similar lines would be fun and give us a good understanding of the cuisine and culture. Any one been try the running tour in Budapest. I hear it is great fun.

I have not yet decided on places to stay or sightseeing plans.

Thanks

GP

mytravelove

Yes, 4 full days for each Prague and Budapest is quite good. You'll be able to get a feel for both cities.

Krakow is nice and it's actually pretty small. 2 days are fine.

Weather can be a little unpredictable. You should bring an umbrella but if you're lucky, it'll be a nice "Indian summer"

Some ideas on off-the-beaten track:
Prague: Homeless tour, Foodie tour, Making your own mug, Learning to pour beer
Budapest: Biking tour, Picnic in the park

pgautam01

Thanks mytravelove. Appreciate your feedback. Will definitely check out ur suggestions.

thursdaysd

Budapest:

Spend some time in one of the baths. I prefer Szechenyi but Gellert is good too.

Definitely take an evening cruise on the Danube.

Not my thing, but ruin pubs are popular (look it up).

If it's open, there is a very good museum of Asian gold: Zelnik István Southeast Asian Gold Museum

PalenQ

Have you taken overnight trains - there is always a modicum of noise from inside and outside the train - light sleepers may awake in the other city sleepless - that said I've taken zillions of overnight trains and always or nearly got a good sleep. A private compartment costs a lot more than couchettes but IME is well worth it - for lots of great info on night trains in general and trains in general check www.seat61.com - sage advice on discounted tickets if available; www.ricksteves.com and www.budgeteuropetravel.com.