Prague to Budapest travel help needed
 

Hi!
Flight in and out of Prague. We want to visit Prague/Vienna/Budapest. I can't imagine a 9 hour train ride from Budapst to get back to Prague. Is this what everyone does? Airfare open jaw seems much higher (into PRague, out of Buda). Our only exp. with Euro trains is in Italy and we had no problems but longest ride was 4 hours. Shld we do an overnight in Bratislava on the way back?

How about open jaw into PRG, out of LON or PAR, or some other city served inexpensively from BUD by a low cost intra-Europe carrier? Se www.whichbudget.com

Best wishes,

Rex

We took a 10:25 am train from Budapest Nyugati Station to Prague Holesovice Station, arriving around 5:15 or so. Check Die Bahn website for schedules. We like trains and so enjoyed the ride through the Danube Bend, but much of the rest of the ride was prosaic. Our plans didn't include Bratislava, but I'm sure it would be a worthwhile stop if you have the time. In any case, we didn't find the length of the train ride so bad, we were very comfortable in 2nd class.

Check the airline Wizz!, at the time they offered $25 one-way flights from Budapest to Prague, much cheaper than the train, but you still have to deal with airport transfers, whereas the train will probably get you closer to where you want to go in town.

Sorry, I just checked Wizz! airline's website and they no longer fly to Prague.

hi eroz- please don't worry about the nine hour train trip. My family did it in Jan. and we had no problems even with the 11 year old. On the way to Budapest we stopped off in Vienna for 2 nights, but caome straight through on the way back. Very pleasant scenery for a lot of the way and a good book took care of the rest. Walking around Budapest all day for several days is exhausting - you'll be glad of the rest!

1. The train trip from Budapest to Prague can be as little as 7 hours. I just checked on Die Bahn.

2. It is at least 30 minutes by taxi to both airports -- Ferihegy (BUD) in particular seems remote from town. When you add in check-in time, luggage retrieval etc you are burning an additional 2.5 hours on top of your 1 hour flight. So flying is faster -- but only 3.5 hours faster.

3. I would not spend the night in Bratislava. The trains Budapest-Bratislava are bearable but slow and old -- NOT at all like the train you could take Budapest-Vienna.

4. If you want to see Bratislava, take a train from Vienna -- only 55 minutes.

5. You can get Budapest-Vienna in 2 3/4 hours and Vienna-Prague in 4.5 hours. To break the return journey, your train-based alternative to the 7 hour direct trip COULD be to take another night in Vienna (not Bratislava).

I have to disagree with tedgale.

Bratislava is well worth a stopover, especially in the summer. Fine Danube-side strand adjacent to an auto-free area of shops and cafes. To my mind, retains a lot of charm that Prague is losing to the Western throngs.

There are regular EuroCity trains between Prague and Bratislava (4 hours) with few stops, as well as between Bratislava and Budapest (2 1/2 hours).

There is no bad advice on this board. But I offer this riposte.

1. My advice was partly predicated on the crummy rail service -- slow, graffiti-sprayed Communist-era train. And I also had my ticket pinched from my pocket in Bratislava station.

2. We were booked for 5 nights in the very nice Hotel Marrols in central Bratislava, while my partner was on business. After 3 nights I was stir-crazy and took the train for a 36 hour trip to Budapest, which seemed like Paris by comparison.

3. Bratislava has its charms but I would not allot it more than a day (except that it has really really great and inexpensive restaurants where the locals, alas, cannot afford to eat.)

4. The salient issue, I think, is this: The alternative is Vienna. It is not much of a contest, even if one has never seen Bratislava and has been in Vienna earlier on the trip.