Prague Viena Budapest
 

I have been to Europe (France once, Spain once and Italy three times), but never to central Europe. Fodors has a recommended three-city trip starting in Prague, then to Viena, and ending in Budapest. This looks nteresting to me because I like old places. If I had 2 weeks to do this, would it be worth it? Or are their better places to see in central Europe?

I like to spend at least 3 to 4 days in a single city to take in as much of it as I can. So, would it be feasible to do this in 2 weeks by flying into Prague, taking a train to Viena, taking a train to Budpest, then flying out of Budapest? Any ideas on wow much time to spend in each city?

And is April a good time to go or should I wait until October? (I can't go in May or September because of work and am hesitant to go anytime in the summer because of the crowds.)

Personally, I'd suggest October. I lived in Europe for 11 years (England and Germany) and somehow April just equates to rain in my mind. I spent two weeks in Spain last October and the weather was perfect, but that's Spain, not Central Europe.

Your plan sounds great to me. Eastern Europe is incredible and less expensive than Western Europe. I can't speak on the train travel, because my wife and I drove to all three of your cities using cars rented in Germany. If you are traveling alone, the train would be the way to go.

I spent a week in Budapest and didn't get bored. The sights were beautiful and the people were friendly and kind. The highlight were the tour of the Parliament and the Széchenyi baths and the indoor market. There are some great sights to see around an area called "the Danube Bend" north of the city. Easy for me to get to because I had a car, but I'm sure you can take day trips using a tour bus.

Vienna is beautiful, has great museums, and two incredible palaces to tour. The city seemed compact to me and was great to walk around.

Prague is just fantastic. Not sure of your age, but I understand it is a great place for young people to party. If, like me, your party days are behind you, there is plenty to see and do. The castle complex is breathtaking.

The only place I would add to your itinerary is Krakow. I spent 3 nights there and loved it. Again I drove, so I took a day ride to Auschwitz. The visit is a life changer and really puts things in perspective. Krakow still has most of it's wall intact and has a real medieval feel to it. I loved Polish food and plan on visiting a restaurant called Krakow when I go to Gothenburg Sweden in Feb.

Three or four days is plenty in each location and will give you a good feel for each. I'd go back to any and all in a heartbeat.

I did 2 weeks on basically the same trip...

Prague - 5 nights (day trip to Terezin)
Bus to Cesky Krumlov
Cesky Krumlov - 1 night (wish I had done 2 nights)
Lobo Shuttle to Linz and train to Vienna (think they now go directly to Vienna)
Vienna - 4 nights
Site seeing day tour to Budapest (took my luggage and stayed when the tour went back to Vienna)
Budapest - 4 nights (day trip to Szentendre which was just OK, but looking back I'd go somewhere else)

I went late September - early October, weather was excellent!

Have a great trip!

This is a great thread, thanks for asking as my family wants to hit these sites to. Thanks again.

We did a similar trip several years ago but we did Berlin - Prague - Vienna...

I did the same trip in September, flying into Prague, then a train to Vienna and Budapest and flew home from there. We had 4 nights in each city and didn't feel rushed. My guess is that October would be better weather than April. We liked Vienna the best, but were there over the weekend so that helped, and stumbled upon a wonderful street fest with dancers right out of "European Vacation". The Museum Quarter is great, and there are bars and clubs there at night. If sturm is still in season when you go, you NEED to have some ;-) I would double check with the people working at St. Stephen's in Vienna and Budapest on timing of climbing the tower in Vienna and seeing the hand of St. Stephen in Budapest -- the times on the sign never matched the actual opening and we ended up having to go back more than once. We preferred Budapest to Prague, but expect to be a bit creeped out when you get off the train in Budapest -- sketchy people abound, and I would try to make arrangements for your hotel to come get you bc the taxi drivers will totally take advantage of you. Nightlife in Vienna was the best. If you are a pub person, Prague is for you.

It sounds like a great trip and April should be fine - just be prepared for some rain and possible cool temps at night.

I frankly pefer Prague to Vienna (always seems a little triste) and Budapest - but all 3 are well worth while - and looking at it completely objectively Vienna probably has slightly more to see than the other two - but it probably is also slightly more expensive.

You should count on 3 or 4 full days in each city - with the possibility of some day trips outside (Schoenbrun Palace counts as inside Vienna, but Melk Abbey - gorgeous - is a great day trip).

April sounds like a good time to go. Hopefully Prague won't be crowded with tourists like it is in the summer. The crowds totally ruined the beautiful city for me.

I second the recommendation to go to Krakow. It is especially interesting if you like WWI and WWII history. There are old buildings and relics from the Communist and Nazi takeover days, like Nowa Huta and the Oskar Schindler Factory. And of course, Auschwitz is like an hour away and well worth it. Krakow is fairly inexpensive as well.

If you don't have time for Krakow, I recommend going to the concentration camp Terezin (about 1 hr from Prague) and Kutna Hora where there is an incredible bone church.