Prague - Vienna - Budapest or maybe Krakow???
 

My husband and I will be traveling in April with another couple to these three cities. Unfortunately, we will only have 12 days to spend. I've begun my research and have an idea of the major hot spots we'd like to see in each city. Thought I'd ask for your advice as to the order in which we should see these cities and what are your favorite spots/highlights in each one. We prefer to hang out with locals and any recommendations for sports or adventure experience would be great too. To complicate matters, my husband and I may split off and skip one of these cities to visit Krakow and Auschwitz instead of Budapest…..Thoughts/suggestions??

If you're going to visit these it makes the most sense to do Vienna second, as the train travel works best that way.

I have not been to Krakow, and it's high on my to do list, but I wouldn't recommend skipping Budapest. My wife and I did this trip in 2012 and Budapest was our favorite of the three by far.

they are all great cities you could spend days in but I think Vienna has more to see and do and is much bigger with sites spread out over a larger area.

sites in Buda and Pest are clustered together - like on fantastic Castle Hill and in Prague also on Castle Hill (both hills have awesome but different castles and other things on them) but 2-3 days fine for either IME

Krakow is an amazing place but an outlier for the other three unless you can arrange to fly into or out of Krakow - otherwise to go to Krakow takes a whole day pretty much each way though there is an overnight train.

Auschwitz is an integral part of a Krakow visit to many but it need not be (some folks just don'gt cotton visiting such grisly sites) - it is an hour or so by bus or train from Krakow - the other main draw outside of Krakow is the Wieliczka Salt Mines just south of town - a UNESCO World Heritage site you are guided thru by retired miners in hard hats to ogle the sculpted rooms (sculpted out of the soft salt rocks - like dining rooms, chandeliers, etc.) and Krakow is Poland's national cultural cap[ital as well - Wawel Castle being the traditional home of Polish monarchs - Krakow is the finest city I have seen in Poland - but again an outlier from the others.

even if you split off Krakow from the others it is still a long detour from the Prague-Budapest-Vienna triangle.

Are you going by train - if so check out these fine sites - www.budgeteuropetravel.com; www.seat61.com and www.ricksteves.com - and if going to all by train then check out the Eastern European railpass that lets you hop on just about any train anytime in all those countries. f driving allow much more time than the train which are getting faster and faster compared to driving in Eastern Europe IME.

Thanks folks for your responses…..I'm not sure I'll every get back to that section of the world which is why I'd like to squeeze in Krakow, but do realize that it is an outlier, and was considering the O/N train. We took the O/N train from Venice to Lucerne a few years back and it was a disaster - the A/C broke and it was in august!!! We may just have to concentrate on the initial three cities as my general sense is that Budapest is not to be missed…..

Prague-Vienna-Budapest is a very common tourist arc, because they are so well connected by direct trains. I did the arc in 2005.

Everyone has different tastes of course, but Vienna was my least favorite place, the one city of the three that I have no desire to return to, though I am glad I visited. It felt pleasant but not particularly exotic or something. I loved Prague, even though it was very touristy, and went back in 2012 (even more touristy but still loved it). It is charming and compact, a great walking city. Budapest (much bigger than Prague) was harder to love - I wouldn't call it quite charming but it was very interesting and somehow slightly intimidating, which makes me want to return someday.

I visited Krakow in 2012 - beautiful city, too bad it isn't better connected to the other three above. I loved Poland, actually - it is a big country with a lot to see, worthy of its own separate trip that includes Krakow. I'm not sure I would go to huge extra effort to fit Krakow into a Prague-Vienna-Budapest vacation, though, especially if you aren't going to do a night train. (I wouldn't do one either - they aren't for everyone.) One possibility is to fly directly into Krakow then train to Prague (I sort of did this but got off the train before Prague for some other stops.) It's a long (daytime) train ride but not bad, maybe 7:30. (I love train travel.)

If I'm following correctly, you are trying to decide between Krakow and Budapest. Tough call!

Krakow is absolutely charming IMO and seeing Auschwitz/Birkenau is extremely moving. If you go to Krakow, don't miss da Vinci's Lady with an Ermine -- she is very, very special.

I thought Budapest had a very interesting mix of architectural styles and a nice mix of green spaces in/near major sites.

I ate well in Krakow; I had wonderfully memorable meals in Budapest.

I took the overnight train from Krakow to Budapest and had no problem, but it was years ago and I actually like overnight trains. To each his/his own!

The good news is that you'll have some great experiences no matter which you choose.

We took the O/N train from Venice to Lucerne a few years back and it was a disaster - the A/C broke and it was in august!!!>

well AC usually ain't a factor in this area - rarely reaches temps like in Italy.

Question; Does that 12 days include travel time, or is it 12 nights?

If 12 nights would you consider an independent tour, that includes hotels, breakfast, 1/2 a day city tour and train/plane tickets for the four cities you mentioned?

Includes three nights in each city.

As an alternative to Auschwitz you could take a day trip from Prague to Terezin. Not a concentration camp, but a demonstration camp where the Nazis attempted (with some success) to convince the world that the incarcerated Jews were being well treated. If your interest is in learning about the holocaust and/or bearing witness it would be well worth your time. We went there as well as on a tour of the Jewish quarter with Wittman tours, which I would highly recommend.

To Iris -- The 12 nights unfortunately includes travel time -- thanks Eliz -- I'll check out Terezin

Iris - could you forward the name of that tour please?

Oh my, I find it hard to imagine that someone could see these 4 magnificent cities in just 12 days! Iris/Richard has done you a great service in suggesting an option, but do think carefully before you commit. I know you said you don't think you'll get back to this part of the world, but that doesn't necessarily mean it would be best to skim through 4 cities and spend extra time in transit when you could instead have a very reasonable experience of 3 of them, so do think through your priorities for each destination carefully. Some other things to consider -- is there any chance that you can add 2 days to the trip? Is there a chance that you would be able to anchor another trip by flying into one of these cities and so skip it now or intentionally short-change it to make time for the others? I'm sure it will prove to be a great trip no matter what you choose; I just wanted to throw those ideas into the ring.

We used this company in the early 90's. They were very efficient. Depending upon your budget, you then select your hotel.

Breakfast every day and a half a city tour in each city.

Train tickets are all arranged. It could be vouchers that have to be exchanged. I forget, but you would get that info with a call to an agent.

As Kia said, Krakow is a wonderful city to visit.

Whatever you decide, have a great trip.

http://www.tradescotours.com/tours/j...al_europe.html

The tour we took was slightly different, but it was 4 cities in 12 nights traveling by train.

We did the Prague, Salzburg, Vienna and Budapest. This was a great trip for us. Very easy.

And as Kia said, Krakow is wonderful. Been twice.

We found Terezin had more impact than Auschwitz because the latter is more of a museum but Terezin is preserved in a more . . . original state. There's less of a tourism impact upon Terezin too because you can go into the cells, bunks, and through the tunnel used to transport prisoners about; but the Gate of Death at Birkenau is clogged outside with tourists photographing it while inside they race to the top of the guard tower to get a vista view of the grounds and in Auschwitz you are restricted to guided tours.

We liked Budapest a lot - it's the "Paris of Central Europe" and there are good reasons for that. It also has distinct history from Vienna (because the Hungarians were the very junior partner of the Austro-Hungarian Empire), Prague (because Budapest was the site of the 1956 Uprising, which is stamped into the Hungarian conscience more than the 1968 Prague Spring into the Czech's world view - unlike the Russians, Czechs and most of their neighbors, the Hungarians [Magyars] are not Slavic) and Hungary had the second-highest number of Holocaust victims even though the Holocaust did not reach it until 1944.

BigRuss: <i>in Auschwitz you are restricted to guided tours.</i>

Actually you aren't. I toured without a guide last year. The restriction is, during peak months, if you arrive after 10am (or before some time in the afternoon), you have to join a guided tour. I planned my trip to arrive before 10am so I was able to move around the camp unrestricted on my own.

Auschwitz is very touristy, it's true, but for many people that's irrelevant - they simply need to see the place. I didn't feel as though the groups of people diminished the experience.

Thanks so much everyone for your help….Iris - I will look into the Tradesco Tours….to KJA, I agree that four cities would be too much in 12 days - the original plan was to do Vienna, Prague and Budapest - but then my husband and I thought we might want to skip one of those and sub in Krakow/Auschwitz -- but still have to flesh that out!

We're planning the same trip in July. In the event it helps, our itinerary is to arrive in Krakow for 4 days/3 nights, taking the overnight train to Prague (4 nights); train to Vienna (2 nights); train to Budapest (3 nights/4 days); fly home from there. It's a bit tight but doable. If we had one city to eliminate it would be Vienna for no other reason than we want to visit the other cities more. Happy planning!

that said Vienna IME has a lot more to see and do than the other cities - I'd add a day to Vienna and do something different - like a day trip to the fabulous Wachau Valley - take the train to Melk, visit the Uber famous abbey there - take a boat down the prettiest stretch of the Danube of the whole darn river IME to Durnstein, a cute wine town - the valley being carpeted at many places with vineyards and then take a train or bus back to Vienna - something different than large cities.

You can buy an all-inclusive ticket for train, boat, Melk abbey admission, etc in the Vienna train station. Very easily done and again something besides cities.

https://www.google.com/search?q=wach...=1600&bih=1074

Thanks PalenQ and Mattian -- it helps a lot!

another of the diverse things to do in Vienna is to go out to suburban Grinzing and visit a Heurige (Heurigen plural) - a wine tavern serving food and only wines grown within the Vienna urban area - you can take a tram out there from the centrum. One of the fun things to do in Vienna - along with riding the Big Wheel in the Prater and the Prater itself!

http://www.wien.info/en/shopping-win...wine/heurige-2

https://www.google.com/search?q=grin...=1600&bih=1074

and yes the fun Prater, one of the most famous public parks in Europe:

http://www.wien.info/en/sightseeing/prater

I did the same tour in April 2013 and was most pleased by Budapest. It's not very touristy this time of the year (can't speak for high season) and I highly recommend the free (tip-based) walking tour. The food is also cheap and very good. We stayed four days but I would have stayed at least five.

Vienna was nice as well, lots to see but there are certainly more tourist traps. I would spend at least four days in each; it depends on what you want to see. I went for the architecture, museum quarter, and classical music, and was not disappointed. I would've stayed four days here (I only stayed 3).

- Prague's Old Town is beautiful but there is little to see beyond the touristy places, and there are some seedy areas in between. Worth seeing but not for more than three days. However, a friend of mine visited a week before me and went bungee jumping -- I might have liked that. The company website is bungee.cz

-Krakow is also beautiful and I found the locals quite welcoming, although this might be part of the tourism machine. Many inexpensive places to eat. Auschwitz is of course a must-see, if a bit heavy.

thanks crazy ferret lady!

Auschwitz is of course a must-see, if a bit heavy.>

some folks revolt at the idea of visiting Auschwitz-Birkenau (nothing anti-Semitic) and I don't blame them - not a must see but IMO a should see - a sobering testimony to horrors that a civilized country (Germany) inflicted on folks they deemed inferior not that long ago - folks who survived the camp still being alive.

Birkenau is the more horrifying as here you see the track platforms where folks were emptied out of stuffed cattle cars and sent right to the adjacent gas chambers or work camps. That one place to me was the most graphic of sites in both camps, about two miles apart but usually called by the collective name Auschwitz. That said there remains relatively little in Birkenau but Auschwitz is much more intact and many more museum buildings, etc.

Bookmarking

12 days - the original plan was to do Vienna, Prague and Budapest - but then my husband and I thought we might want to skip one of those and sub in Krakow/Auschwitz -- but still have to flesh that out!>

Well about the only way Krakow could be included without takin gup too much time is to take overnight trains to it from Prague and from it to Budapest - otherwise save flying it is a long all day bus or train poke - but get a private compartment on those trains, assuming they are available, and go in style - bring wine or whatever food you want aboard and relax - wake up in Krakow or Budapest - the sites I referred to way up above in an earlier post will tell you all about overnight trains and what to expect - you do have to put up inevitably with some noise - wheels going over tracks, station PA announcements, people trekking by in the corridor, etc. so if a light sleeper you may want to eschew the overnight train idea. Otherwise same time, even over flying and the cost of a night in a hotel.