James_P

Here is what I would like to do. please tell me if it is a good itinerary. thanks.
spend approximately 3 days in Budapest then rent a car to do a road trip to:
Szentendre, Visegrad and Estergom (Danube bend)

Then drive to Lake Balaston - where to stay or should we drive around it to see as many places as possible? or skip this area?

Eger - Godollo Palace and Holloko (open air museum)

Then head back to Budapest and fly to Prague for a few days. Buy round trip tickets so we can fly back to Budapest for our return home.

The travel books make these places sound very good. Please let me know what you think.

JulieCallahan

Personally, I would stay in Budapest longer and do a simple half day trip to Szentendre and then day trip either Esztergom or Vac. Both are nice (I like the Danube bend town of Vac). Vac is a 25 minute train ride from Nyugati. Visegrad is pretty much a ruined castle on a hill.

Hungarians adore Balaton. I have seen it but not yet stayed there. I have been told to stay at Balatonfurdo by my Hungarian friends. We plan to do that as a weekend trip this spring. The north end is hilly, vineyards. The south end is beach towns. (Furdo is a hot bath, so that sounds promising).

Then, I would train to Eger for a few nights.

If you can, fly open jaw and leave from Prague rather than return to Budapest.

I am an American living in Budapest. Let me know if I can help you...

James_P

Thanks you. I want to go to the pool in the Gellert hotel and the City park and perhaps on Margrit Island. We originally were going to do 4 days Budapest with a side trip and then train to Vienna and then train to Prague. We will be going in Sept. middle or end - will this be the rainy season?

JulieCallahan

I would be surprised if it rains.. It generally stays dry long after that.

I might suggest the baths in city park plus an old Turkish bath (ex. Rudas). The pool on Margit Island is a huge pool complex - nothing terribly special but it is where the Hungarian national team competes (and maybe trains?).

How long do you have in Vienna? I generally go from Budapest to Prague thru Bratislava. It all depends on how much time you have for that part.

James_P

We have 10 days but two are for travel to and from Europe. I have to divide my time between the different stops. That is why I thought I would skip Vienna this time because I really want to see Prague. I thought I would spend more of my time in Budapest.

While in Prague I wanted to take a side trip to Cesky Krumlov.
So far that is as far as I've gotten.

We have to figure where we will fly in and out of so we can start looking for flights.

JulieCallahan

Ok, with 10 days I would certainly fly open jaw ( ex. Into Prague and home from Budapest).

When you said you train to Vienna then Prague, I thought that implied an overnight. There is a direct train from Budapest Keleti to Prague. It goes thru Bratislava. I think this is the best route. But investigate if going thru Vienna lets you hit Cesky Krumlov for an overnight en route. We went to C. K. as an over night from Prague.

With only 10 days, you will see little more than the cities. I would drop Balaton on this go. And for me, I would replace Eger with Vac... Or do Eger in 1 night.

Both cities require a minimum of 3 full days at a fast pace IMO.

JulieCallahan

Correction to my first post.. The town is Baltonfüred.

I do not want to dissuade you from your ideas. Not sure the cost of driving a car and dropping it off (in which case you could meander past Balaton to C.K. etc.) I am guessing that may be an expensive options. You could also knit these moves together thru a series of hops on buses, trains.

But I do not see fitting in both Eger and Balaton (so many travel decisions... good luck). Think about what you really want to see, and I'll try to help you.