Prague or Budapest - from Salzburg via Vienna
 

Hello,

We’re planning a 10-day trip to Salzburg and Vienna in July, and we need help deciding on a third city for the trip.

We’ve been looking at Prague and Budapest — are there any other places we should be considering? And between those two, which would you add to the trip?
- Which would be more “different” after having seen Salzburg & Vienna?
- We’ll be traveling by train. Is one easier to get to from Vienna? Or maybe particularly scenic?

We also have the option of flying into Munich instead of Salzburg, which is actually slightly cheaper. Would it make sense to do that and see a bit of Munich?

Thanks so much!

Prague and Budapest are both nice cities. Budapest is bigger and less quaint than Prague and will probably be much less touristy. Prague is now mobbed with tourists, though I still love it. I haven't been to Budapest since 2005 and can't say what it's like now, but it wasn't mobbed with tourists then.

I think if you check train schedules, there's not a significant difference between training from Vienna to either Prague or Budapest - probably a little closer to Budapest. I wouldn't use that as the basis of choosing one or the other, though. It's really up to you: what are your interests? What would you want to do in either city?

It's easy to train from Munich to Salzburg - I did. Many people seem to love Munich, but I was happy to enjoy just a few hours there and spend a few nights in Salzburg. I guess you can decide how much cheaper it is vs. how much longer it is vs. seeing one more place.

I would decide this by a coin toss - as the opinions on this board will be strongly split.

To me, both are different from Vienna and Salzburg - and from each other.

Enjoy your trip. You won't go wrong. If it makes sense to fly home from one vs. the other, I would let that be my guide.

I was in Budapest in 2012, LOVED it. We spent 5 days there before moving on to Vienna for 8 days. From Vienna we did a day trip to Bratislava, Slovakia. It fit well and made us see a different country at the same time.

Going to Prague this September, so I can't comment on which one is better... But I think you will find Budapest cheaper...

Good luck deciding!!

Maybe something other than another city? There are lots of beautiful things to see in Austria other than cities: castles, mountains...

~Liz

Have been to both several times and adore both cities. But IMHO Prague is more unique among cities in Central Europe in that it was not damaged in WWII - so it reflects much more the true variety of local architecture and atmosphere. Also has a great music scene.

Yes, there are lots of tourists - but that's so of many places of europe - and they're usually popular for a reason.

Thanks everyone. We're going to do a bit more research over the weekend and make a decision.

(We're now also considering keeping this trip to just Salzburg and Vienna, which will let us take some day trips to Hallstatt, Wachau Valley, etc. So many options!)