annienan

My husband and I are planning a trip in September 2024. We can’t get a direct flight from Toronto, Canada to any of the cities we plan to visit so are open to start our tour at any one of the cities. We are also open to traveling on overnight trains to get from one city to the next. Our tentative plan is to spend 5 nights in Prague, 4 nights in Krakow and 5 nights in Budapest, all exclusive of travel days. Are these enough days in each city? What is best way to travel between cities? In what order should we go the cities? We think we can plan our itinerary when in these cities taking great tips from the generosity of travellers trip reports and comments we have read here and but would appreciate some suggestions around daytrips. We appreciate that everyone’s interests vary. We don’t want to be rushed in our exploration of each city but are open to exploring interesting sites on daytrips outside of the city. We are interested in history, local cuisine and culture. Thank you in advance for your suggestions.

geetika

There are convenient trains between these three cities which I would suggest you take. Haven’t actually looked at a map, but I guess you could fly into Prague first, then Krakow and end in Budapest. Of course it depends on how your flights work out.

We went to Prague in 2007, so it’s been quite a while and I will let more recent visitors to tell you about it.

We are spending 5 days in Budapest end April, we don’t have any day trips planned. A Danube evening cruise, thermal baths, walking tour of both Buda and Pest and a tour of the opera are on the agenda. We also want to visit some of the ruin bars and listen to some music at a couple of places which have live bands.

In Krakow we have four days, with a day trip to Auschwitz Birkenau and a half day to the salt mines. Understand the free walking tours of the Old Town and Jewish quarter are good, we plan on doing that. Also a pierogi making class one morning, which should be fun I think.

Check out Chopin concerts, we’re doing one at Warsaw at the end of our trip.

There’s an overnight train between Budapest and Krakow which we want to take, though the Budapest railway website has a glitch and won’t let us book the berths/compartments, only the seats. The Polish website opens 30 days ahead of travel, fingers crossed we’ll be able to book tberths within the next few days. Will let you know how it works.

annienan

Thank you geetika. Your planned events in both Budapest and Krakow include many of the things we were also planning on. We will now look into the pierogi making class which sounds like so much fun! We read on some Fodor’s threads about some food tours that were enjoyed and recommended. Eating Europe was one name. Food and wine walk with Taste Hungary. We would also love to take in a concert or an opera and will look into what is taking place in each of those cities. Thank you for your time and valuable information!

Elizabeth_S

We did that same itinerary and same number of nights (also from Toronto). Although we had a car. Would you consider driving? Very comfortable driving. Picked up the car the last day in Prague. Having the car enabled us to stop at Auschwitz if that's something you're considering.
I would have loved to have more time in Krakow as we loved it! But if those are the total nights you have, it's a good distribution I think.

Christina

Those cities aren't that close together, but a lot of people want to combine them for some reason. Part of it depends on your airline possibilities, I'd say. It doesn't surprise me you can't get nonstop flights to any from Toronto, but perhaps the ;layover cities and schedule would affect your decision. this is really just personal preference, I always choose my last city to be the one where I can get a nonstop flight home OR at least the shortest flight. That's because I just am tired and want to get home at the end, I'm running out of steam. Upon arrival, the first day is kind of a waste anyway for me due to jet lag so it doesn't matter so much if I get there at 7 am or noon, for example. However, I suspect those are all about the same time travel from Toronto if you fly United/Lufthansa for example and TX in Munich or Frankfurt. I would think Krakow would be a little longer just because it is farther east, so would think it would have to be. So I wouldn't fly home from there. But that's just me.

So it doesn't really matter that much, I guess fare differences could affect my choice or something like that. I always use trains within Europe unless cities are really far apart (like Spain to Switzerland or something). I wouldn't do an overnight train myself so can't advise on those except there aren't that many of them around. Good sleep may not exist, especially if you have to transfer, of course, during the night.

By train, Budapest to Krakow is about 8-9 hours with one transfer HOWEVER there is an overnight train on that route that takes maybe 14 hrs (about 7 pm to 6-7 am). That is the only possible route with an overnight, I think. There is a direct train between Budapest and Prague that takes about 7 hrs. Krakow to Prague takes about 6:30 hrs with a change.

If you want to do an overnight train, therefore, flying into Budapest, then going to Krakow then to Prague and flying home from there would make sense. That sounds like a fairly good order to me, actually.

Leely2

We took an overnight train from Krakow to Prague, booked a private sleeper car. Because I tend to get motion sick, I took a Dramamine. I don't know whether it was the Dramamine or the gentle rocking of the train carriage, but I slept like a baby and arrived in Prague ready to go. So night trains may be worth considering.

I think the Krakow-Prague overnight train is about nine hours with no change. We used Polrail.com to book--it was recommended in one of our guidebooks.

HappyTrvlr

Of these three cities are favorite was Krakow and least favorite was Prague. Prague was over run with tourists when we visited, so not a pleasant experience.
Krakow gave us a delightful experience, all positive. We enjoyed seeing Budapest but Krakow won our hearts.
We visited these cities on three different trips, none on the same trip.

geetika

There’s a through Budapest-Krakow night train, leaving at 7.30pm to arrive the next morning around 6, this is the one I am trying to book. There’s another one with a change at Vienna, takes a little longer, but we’d prefer the direct train.

I read on the Rick Steve forum that the Hungarian trains aren’t very comfortable and one shouldn’t count on a good night’s sleep, but the train is the best option in our case. And it’s okay if we don’t sleep very well one night, our Airbnb host is allowing early check-in for a small fee and we’ll take a little nap before heading out later that morning.

annienan

Thank you Elizabeth! We would prefer not to have a car and the complication of driving in the cities and finding parking. We are really looking forward to Krakow! I think we have decided to fly from Prague to Krakow and then do the overnight train Krakow to Budapest.

annienan

Thank you Happy Trvlr. Im guessing that we will also find Prague busy with tourists at the end of September but will make the most of it. We are hearing such positive comments about Krakow confirming that it was a good choice to include this trip!

annienan

Leely2 and Geetika - I think we have decided to book an overnight train from Krakow to Budapest. We have yet to do that research so might change our minds once we see what the timing looks like and if we can get a sleeper bunk. Thanks so much for your input. We will want a straight through train with no changes along the route. Thanks so much for your input! Greatly appreciated.

geetika

annienan, there is a direct overnight train between Budapest and Krakow which we’re trying to book. Unfortunately the website has an issue and the app recommended by a kind Polish railway agent we spoke to only allows you to buy tickets for travel within Poland. We’re desperately trying to see how to work this out, will get back with an update later this week.

There’s a direct day train too, but obviously we want to take the overnight one. If this doesn’t work we may have to take the train via Vienna, with one change, though ideally we’d like to avoid this.

shelemm

Krakow is thoroughly wonderful. And soooo different from the other places you will be. As where the astonishingly beautiful old town square in Prague is a magnet for tourists, the rynek in Krakow is a bit of different animal. Because of it's vast size in relation to the rest of old town, all Poles who live and work near there pass through it. So it remains very much a place for locals, a true meeting point. Poles from elsewhere also gravitate to it specifically as a central rendezvous place.

Someone from Prague might intentionally avoid passing through their old town square.

Leely2

geetika, have you tried polrail.com? We chatted via email with the guy who runs it and got the tickets we needed. I believe maybe this service was recommended on the InYourPocket guides. I do remember we had to go to the train station in Krakow to pick up paper tickets, but this was in 2016 I think, so things may have changed.

geetika

Thanks Leely2, but when I checked last month polrail had a huge markup, selling the €65 ticket for more than double. It appears they’re an aggregator IMO.

Our Budapest Airbnb host has been very helpful and made some calls for us, he recommended a travel agent I intend calling tomorrow morning. This person will also have a service charge, but hopefully it won’t be so high!

Leely2

geetika, yes, polrail will definitely have a markup--it's a travel agency, I think. For us it was worth it because we were traveling in high season and making arrangements fairly last minute, just a couple weeks before departure.

Good luck and have fun!

JeanLui

I'd personally recommend 4 nights in Prague and 5 in Krakow, in Krakow you can spend one day in the mountains (Zakopane). It is a wonderful place.

shelemm

Zakopane is marvelous, yes, but it is not a day trip form Krakow. It's at least a 2 hour drive and longer by bus.

virginiafish

We went to Krakow and Prague in 2016 and had a wonderful visit in each. We were there "off season" though, in October. I would suggest 4-5 days in Krakow and 3- 4 days in Prague. We had a private tour day to Auschwitz with an excellent guide and a small group tour in Prague and a visit to Terezin. We took the overnight train from Krakow to Prague and found it comfortable and easy. We never had, nor needed, a car. We enjoyed visiting the JCC in Krakow, an amazing organization.

annienan

Thank you Jeanlui for your input regarding number of days in Krakow and Prague. We will look into the private tours in Prague and one to Auschwitz. Do you recall the name of the company you booked with? We will most likely fly from Prague to Krakow and then take the overnight train from Krakow to Budapest.