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Budapest, Vienna, Prague and Berlin - itinerary advice please!

Long time lurker, first post :)

My family (including 2 young adult children, husband and I) are flying into Budapest in August and have 15 nights to work with before flying home from Berlin. Right now our itinerary looks like this:

3 nights Budapest
4 nights Vienna
3 nights Prague
5 nights Berlin, including possible day trips to Potsdam or Dresden

We are pretty set on the # of nights in Budapest but can tweak the others if needed. My main questions are:

  1. Should we reverse the nights in Prague (to 4) and reduce to 3 in Vienna?
  2. If we do this, is a stop in Cesky Krumlov worth it between Vienna and Prague? We are using private transportation between the 2 cities and right now it appears to be more cost-effective for us to do a stopover there rather than stay overnight. I do understand that it can be a mob scene of day trippers during the day like Rothenburg in Germany. However, will we regret not going?

If we skip CK, I would likely just keep the dates as they are and just get to Prague earlier so we would get the majority of a 3rd day there.

I am also interested in what you all think about things that would interest our young adults. We are fairly well traveled and have been to Europe quite a few times over the past several years, but this will be our first trip to this particular region.

High priorities: historical attractions, wandering around, cool “off the beaten path” attractions or tours that are unique to the city. Castles and palaces ok but given our limited time we would probably stick to exploring grounds rather than going inside (plus we’ve had our share of these over the years, particularly in Germany)

Medium priorities: museums - historical generally preferred over art, unless it’s a must-do that we’ll regret not seeing. (This is to accommodate my family because I love art!),

Low priorities: nightlife, shopping

Any and all suggestions appreciated!

Posted by
22047 posts

3 nights in Budapest, of which the first is your arrival night, so, 2 days and a few hours in Budapest.

Given that the best I can offer as suggestion is to stay on the river as that will get you closest to the highest density of interesting things and the views are nice. The Intercontinental or Marriott.

3 nights Vienna (after arrival on a late afternoon departure train), 1 night Cesky Krumlov, 3 nights Prague.

Posted by
22047 posts

For your speed of travel a night in Cesky Krumlov makes sense. Use Bean or CK Shuttle. Arrive about noon and by 3 things thin out a bit. Leave the next day after lunch when things get a bit more crowded.

But if crowds turn you off, you do realize that few places are more crowded than Prague, and probably the least crowded stop is Budapest.

Posted by
3388 posts

Should we reverse the nights in Prague (to 4) and reduce to 3 in Vienna?

Prague is so crowded you’ll be ready to leave. Vienna deserves five nights if you add a day trip to Bratislava by direct train (1h): https://www.bahn.com/en.

I am also interested in what you all think about things that would interest our young adults.

Budapest has ruin pubs and Berlin has street art, pubs that offer activities i.e., climb walls and watch movies. There’s also the DDR Museum that's wll worth visiting. Berlin is a young city. Invest in good guidebooks so you don't miss out.

Posted by
22047 posts

My favorite guidebooks are DK Eyewitness. Buy, read, decide on final details. Fortunately you are going by train and you can get those tickets a few days prior if you are still deciding.

Posted by
6277 posts

Is this 2023 or 2024? Did I miss the dates? If for this season, you could have an issue with lack of available lodging. Have you researched this?
Welcome to the Forum, and safe travels!

Posted by
8 posts

Trip is this August. Hotels are:

Budapest: Hotel Moments
Vienna: Hilton Vienna Plaza
Prague: Hotel Cube or Hotel Paris (both are booked, deciding which one to cancel)
Berlin: Hotel Melia

Hoping we can tweak these if needed should we tweak the itinerary.

Right now we are planning to use private transfers between cities (MyDayTrip or SideTrip). When pricing out options we found that it wasn’t that much more expensive than 1st class train tickets for 4 adults, plus it gives us the option of sightseeing along the way (for example, we plan to stop in Bratislava on the drive between Budapest and Vienna, and possibly Dresden and vicinity on the way to Berlin). In our view it will the most of travel days which would otherwise be kind of wasted.

I’m really interested in learning about things to see/do in Vienna. I can’t seem to get a good read on it for some reason. We spent 3 days in Salzburg 2 years ago as part of our trip to southern Germany and absolutely loved it.

Posted by
116 posts

Budapest: Baths? We enjoyed the outdoor pools at Szechenyi Baths as excursion on recent river cruise. It's not off the beaten path (very crowded indoor pools but it was early spring), but it's a very "European" experience.
Memento Park? House of Terror?
Vienna: day cruise the Wachau Valley section of the Danube? or rent bikes/bike tour along the same?
3rd Man Musuem? KunstHistoriches Museum? Belvedere Musuems and Gardens?
(I researched Budapest/Vienna museums for free time, but we didn't get any. Someday go back for city stays...!)
Prague: black light theater show? (it's a Prague thing. We saw a show ripped off of "Cats"; this was ages ago. The more "I don't get it, it's too European for me", the better :-D
Guided tour of the old synagogues (my travel buddy was Jewish), which I also found interesting for the history.
Berlin: also on my bucket list...!

Posted by
8 posts

SQ, love the idea of black light theater in Prague! That’s the sort of thing that would be memorable in addition to being a local thing. I was also considering the public baths in Budapest.

Posted by
22047 posts

The Hotel Moments is an excellent hotel by all reports. Better than the 2 i recommended, but with 2 days, it would be my third choice. But good.

Last time I checked train tickets, 2nd class were about $35 to Vienna, and for the short trip, there is only a marginal difference between 1st and 2nd. Sometimes, i think 1st class exists to give tourists something to upgrade to. And the train ride is a great experience ... and short 2 5 hours.

Posted by
8 posts

We usually book 1st class because it has more luggage space - we don’t subscribe to the Rick Steves philosophy of only bringing a carryon, sorry Rick :) although we don’t go crazy. It’s also a little upgrade that we like to treat ourselves to in Europe since we go economy/cattle class when flying.

Posted by
22047 posts

Fair. But you haven't seen the 1st class on these trains 🤣

I just checked a random date later in July, 1st class we 35 euro with a seat reservation. But if you are getting a private transfer for 200 or 300 euro, that's what I would do too.

If you do the private transfer, I suggest stopping at the Pannonhalma Archabby instead of Bratislava. (Which by the way, you can do by train/taxi 🤣 as well as car)

Posted by
5619 posts

MaryLeq - I know you’ve made up your mind about not taking a train but I think it may have been a while since you took one. The luggage space is very generous in 2nd class on trains on all of these routes. A second class train seat is much more comfortable than a car seat any day. Plus driving takes longer. Also, I hope you’re using the actual train company websites to compare prices and not a website like RailEurope. But you do you.

Posted by
28954 posts

I think you're going to really hate leaving Budapest after only 3 nights, but those are all great cities, and you don't have much time.

I'd be looking for the fastest transportation between cities that doesn't involve airports.

Posted by
22047 posts

Acraven, having read "We are pretty set on the # of nights in Budapest" I exhibited great personal restraint 🤣🤣

Medium priorities: museums - historical generally preferred over art,
unless it’s a must-do that we’ll regret not seeing. (This is to
accommodate my family because I love art!),

Describes Vienna best.

High priorities: historical attractions, wandering around, cool “off
the beaten path” attractions or tours that are unique to the city.
Castles and palaces ok but given our limited time we would probably
stick to exploring grounds rather than going inside

Describes Budapest best

Posted by
8 posts

We have in fact used trains extensively in Europe, including the last 3 of our trips. And I agree, never Rail Europe or Rail Ninja!

You are all making me rethink the balance of nights between Vienna and Budapest. There are lots of Budapest fans, both in this forum and elsewhere 😀 Something to discuss with my family for sure. I wish we had more time on this trip but I still work full time and have already taken more than 2 weeks off this year for traveling.

Posted by
466 posts

If you have Prague bookings for Hotel Paris and the Cube then cancel the Cube, Paris wins hands down for style, ambience and location.

Posted by
22047 posts

I tried to behave.

If Budapest is your first stop the you will move slow on the first day, so an extra night makes sense. Now the Hotel Moments makes better sense too.

With your limited time, I would stick to the big four.

If you don't have your flights yet, consider flying into Vienna (3 nights but leave late on the last day, as Budapest is beautiful at night), train to Budapest (4 nights), fly to Prague (3 nights), however to get to Berlin.

I am biased, and Budapest is the most interesting, Vienna the least (just my taste, they are all wonderful). My complaint with Prague is that ... well Prague Old Town exists today 90% for tourists. It really isn't a functional part of the city. It's a museum with some pretty wonderful architecture. It is about the same size as Disneyland but does twice the tourist numbers of Disneyland on a typical day. Still, for my taste, more interesting than Vienna. Laugh off the crowds and enjoy. Vienna has some of the most interesting museums you will find anywhere and those may be the city's greatest value; that and all of the shiny, restored 19th and 20th century architecture from the days of the Empire. Vienna's tourist districts spread out more than Prague. Budapest runs from near Vienna in style to a tad gritty, but every inch a functioning city as it was in 1896. The most enjoyable for wanton exploring and discovering. The area of interest to tourists is a very substantial portion of the city.