December in Vienna, Prague, Budapest, and Salzburg questions

Karen do you plan on exploring the Christmas markets in all the cities ? Spend an additional day in Salzburg and drop a day from Budapest.

Since the travel time from Prague to Budapest is 7+ hours and and 5+ hours from Budapest to Salzburg, thought 1 full day wouldn’t be enough. We could add a third night to Salzburg, which gives us 3 1/2 days, but is that too much. (We have a full day before we catch the 10pm train.)

We’ll wander through Christmas markets as we see them, but not the primary mission for our trip.

All Advent Markets will be finished in Salzburg by the time you arrive. Dec. 24 (from noon onwards), Dec. 25 and Dec. 26 are public holidays in Austria, making your stay in Salzburg very, very quiet.

Karen - Here are some highly recommended hotels to stay at from the cities on your itinerary.

Vienna:

K&T Boarding house - http://www.ktboardinghouse.at/index.php/de/

Hotel Austria - https://www.hotelaustria-wien.at/en/

Prague:

Hotel Hastal Prague Old Town - https://www.hastal.com/en/

Hotel Grandium Prague - https://www.hotel-grandium.cz/en/

Budapest:

K+K Hotel Opera - https://www.kkhotels.com/products/kk-hotel-opera-budapest/?utm_source=GoogleMyBusiness&utm_medium=ButtonWebsite&utm_campaign=GoogleMyBusinessReferral

Hotel Victoria - http://www.victoria.hu/

Salzburg:

Hotel Elefant - https://www.hotelelefant.at

Hotel Weisse Taube - https://www.weissetaube.at/

Hotel Imlauer Salzburg - https://imlauer.com/hotel-imlauer-salzburg/

Salzburg is a pretty place, but it's readily accessible from Munich and probably easier to include on a future trip than Prague or Budapest. I'd nix Salzburg and add the time to Prague and Budapest, which are getting shortchanged on the original itinerary.

From Prague to Budapest there are very cheap flights available (Czech Airline).

The website for the Salzburg Christkindlmarkt indicates it will be open Dec 24-26 with limited hours:
https://www.christkindlmarkt.co.at/english/

Well that’s great for the OP - but it will still be very quiet, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

I may be late on this thread but I would also recommend Hotel Hastal in Prague and Hotel Austria in Vienna. If you are looking for an apartment in Budapest, I would recommend Paty’s Place. It is close to K & K Opera that was mentioned up thread. We stayed at all of these accommodations recently.

I think you’ve done a good job with the days you have available but if there would be any to take a day away from Salzburg and add it to Budapest I think you’d be very grateful. BTW we’ve been to Prague, Salzburg and Vienna in various winters and Budapest in the summer.

If you cant spend more time in Budapest, skip it.

As for the Nightjet, sounds romantic. Still, for from between $22 and about $100 (depending on flight and luggage) you can fly on Wizzair or Ryan, Direct, Nonstop in 1:45.

Have you considered a 65-70 minute, non-stop Ryan Air or Czech Airlines flight from Prague to Budapest? Ryan Air is around $50-$100 per person (the higher end for a checked bag). That sounds a lot better to me than a 7-hour train ride.

It appears you are looking more for a taste of the places where you are stopping than an in-depth experience. If that's your goal, I think you're fine keeping the itinerary as is. I went to Budapest for a long weekend to visit friends and spent three nights there. It was worthwhile.

We have our 90 pound dog with us so overnight train is the only option for that distance and time.

Wouldn't it make more sense to travel from Prague-Vienna-Budapest or reversed instead of going from Vienna-Prague-Budapest?Seems to me that you are back tracking and wasting a little time, but either way you will be spending a lot of time on a train since flying is not an option.

Actually a good option is Vienna to Budapest to Prague; because flying from Budapest to Prague is a very good option. Its what I would do.

Here is something I came across about Budapest that was interesting. Will Smith has been filming his new movie Gemini Man in Budapest. The story is here: https://www.towerbudapest.com/en/property_management/news/will-smith-budapest-is-a-gemstone/792?utm_source=Budapest+Property+Market+News&utm_campaign=643270a858-NEWSLETTER_Property_Market_Oct_2019_Re-Sale&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_51591c27d6-643270a858-337363353

A quote from the story:

Will Smith has revealed that he sees Budapest as a gemstone with its
beautiful, historic buildings and blending of the modern world.

“My family and I have had a good time here, and I have been here three
times since Gemini Man now. I really like this city,” he said, but
added that learning the Hungarian language is extremely hard for him.

The actor held a huge concert in the square in front of St. Stephen's
Basilica where an enourmous crowd gathered.

After a recent visit to Budapest, I agree with Will Smith's description: he sees "Budapest as a gemstone with it's beautiful, historic buildings & blending of the modern world." I can visualize the concert by St. Stephen's. Sorry we missed it. Budapest is special.