We recently returned from an 11 day trip to Budapest, Prague and Vienna touring the city and visiting the Christmas markets. Thought I would give some of my assessment as I obtained a lot of information from the travel forums. We flew in and out of Vienna (did not fly in/out of different cities due to rental car) and upon our arrival we drove to Budapest. I chose this because I wanted to end our trip in our departure city and it gave us the opportunity to turn the rental car in early. A lot of people advised me against renting a car but honestly as someone who is limited somewhat by mobility (bad knees) it worked well for us. We parked the car in parking garage at each location by our hotel, paid the fee and purchased a multi day ticket for using public transport during our stay. Our rental cost us roughly $400 for our entire trip and we filled up once for approximately $60. (Note: in eastern European countries diesel pumps are black and might say naptha. Unleaded is green and may say benzene). I’ve included some of the things we really enjoyed as well as hotels and restaurants. Please PM me if any questions.
Budapest recommended:
Hotel Moments, Hungarian Parliament, State Opera, Danube Memorial, St. Stephen’s Basilica, Heroes Square, Paprika Vendeglo (reservations) Strudel House. Not worth it: Great Market Hall, House of Terror
Prague recommended:
Hotel Pod Vezi, Prague Castle, Restaurant Vikarka (inside castle grounds best gulasch) Charles Bridge, Astronomical Clock, Old Town, Bohemia Paper (wonderful little card store)
Vienna recommended:
Hotel Classic Austria Wien (clean and acceptable but probably wouldn’t stay again) , Vivaldi Four Seasons Karlskirche, Schonnbrunn Palace, Stephansplatz, Restaurant Figlmuller (no bier) Not worth it: If you see Schonnbrunn, we felt Hofburg was repetitive