itinerary: Prague, Berlin, Budapest, maybe Vienna

On a month-long trip, we visited Hamburg, Berlin, Dresden, Prague, Budapest, Bratislava and Vienna before flying to Croatia.
Berlin, Prague and Budapest would make a great two-week itinerary. The trains will get you from Berlin to Prague in 4+hours. From Prague, Budapest is a 6.75-8-hour train ride. (Some travelers stop in Bratislava to break up this lengthy journey). Booking on the Czech national railway website, www.cd.cz/en will get you some of the best deals on train tix— particularly for seniors.
I would suggest 5 days in Berlin, 4 days in Prague and 4 days in Budapest. Train tickets bought from Deutsche Bahn (www.Bahn.de) allow you to do an intermediate stop for several hours in any city along the way at no additional charge when you state what city you’ll be stopping in at the time you buy your online train tickets. This makes a stop in Dresden between Berlin and Prague ideal.
Budapest to Vienna takes as little as 2:40. Prague to Vienna takes as little as 4 hours.
You can get a quick overview of train schedules and fares at www.TheTrainline.com
Have a great trip!

Thanks so much.

You’re very welcome!

Vienna is the best city of all those you mentioned. Berlin a bit thrashy - as RS kinda hints. Prague has some charm but its way over-touristed now. Budapest is interesting. But Vienna takes the case - classy, great food, emperors palace, art galleries, all kinds of concerts, the Stephenplatz church and the central pedestrian area, the 150 year old coffee shops. Vienna is magic. The other ones are now.

Plus I have flown non-stop Vienna to LA. You might be able to do that from Berlin but not the other two.

In fact, I would skip Berlin, and go straight to Prague, maybe Csesky Krumluv, Salzburg, Hallstatt, Vienna. Maybe Melk or Graz.

Lets call it 2 weeks which is 16 days with the last weekend included. That’s 14 nights with the coming and going day. With that you can do quite a bit. Two ideas one with just the cities and one with a few intermediate stops but with fewer cities.

I am not going to get into the debate which is stop is better. That’s so personal that its just a waste of time. I know people who go crazy for each of your stops. You will note that I drop Berlin after the first suggestion. Nothing wrong with Berlin, I can not comment, only been there 1 day on business a lifetime ago. But of the list it’s the one that is easiest to work into a future trip and it’s a rough fit to a Central European sort of trip. IF Berlin had to stay in the mix, then where a city needed to be cut, I would stay Prague if you were old or Vienna if you are young. (and now I will be hammered for that statement).

PLAN A: Get to as many as possible.

• Fly to Berlin - 4 nights
• Train to Prague – 3 nights
• Flight to Budapest – 4 nights
• Train to Vienna – 3 nights (you can train to Vienna then to Budapest, but this is a bit faster and cheap if you can do it on one of the days that the Discount airlines fly non-stop)

PLAN B: Less rushed and more to a topic/region. If Plan A is bit rushed and if you are the type that enjoys more time in your stops, drop Berlin. Nothing wrong with Berlin but it is easier to pair up with a future trip than some of the others and in a way it’s a different “topic” than the others.

• Fly to Prague – 4 nights (I always add a night where you first land for jet lag)
• Flight to Budapest – 5 nights (you can train to Vienna then to Budapest, but this is a bit faster and cheap if you can do it on one of the days that the Discount airlines fly non-stop)
• Train to Vienna – 5 nights (for 5 nights in Vienna it would have to be interesting to me or plan a day trip)

PLAN C: A mix of large and small

• Fly to Prague – 4 nights
• Shuttle to Cesky Krumlov – 1 night (the shuttles let you make better time of the day and they are cheap)
• Shuttle to Vienna – 4 nights
• Train to Budapest, with a stop in Gyor / Pannonhalma for the day – 5 nights (the extra night here is because you will arrive late after spending time in Gyor).

Other considerations:

• Cost: Austria and Germany are going to be 20 to 30% more expensive to visit than The Czech Republic or Hungary.
• Size: My perception of the area in the city that is the attraction for most tourists is that Prague is the smallest (about 1.5 square miles), Vienna not substantially larger, Budapest is more than 5x the size of either and Berlin, well, I suspect like Budapest, but I really don’t know. Size is one factor in how much time it takes to enjoy seeing a location.
• Time of Year: You didn’t say and that could make a big difference.
• Interests and age: ??? What city that you have been to in the past did you love? That’s a good indicator. Which did you not love?

And finally, I shamelessly offer some information on Budapest, not that it’s the end all destination, but its one where I can help. We have a very good local in Vienna as well so post there for her input. Berlin and Prague, not sure about locals, but some good members that go or have gone:

• Favorite Tourism Video of Budapest https://youtu.be/1nd5AtZIrTk?feature=shared
• Anthony Bourdain describing how visually pleasurable Budapest is: https://youtu.be/0nd9DuDGCz0?si=aa0c19KaJHEtabkX
• Favorite Guide Book because its small and does the essentials: DK Eyewitness Budapest Top 10 https://a.co/d/6JD82mf

Budapest Dates: If you are planning for this year, here are some events that might help you set the dates. https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/hungary/list-of-budapest-events-july-through-october-25 If its next year, here are some dates from earlier this year. Event generally fall on the same weekend each year so it’s a start: https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/hungary/dec-thru-june-25

I am a big fan of Vienna. You may want to know that Gate 1 has a tour that includes these cities, plus Warsaw and Krakow. Their hotels have elevators and they handle luggage.

I am waiting on a plumber (on a Sunday, so …. To kill time)

If you havent been to Vienna it would be a shame to be so close and miss it and I say that while not being a huge Vienna fan ... but I do like it. What are the odds that you will get back if you miss it? But if it doesnt thrill you keep the stay to 2 or 3 nights. You can see a lot in a few days.

Getting from Prague to Vienna and Budapest.

Ryanair flies one or two flights a day, every day but Tuesday and Saturday. Prices start at 14.000 HUF (sorry, it’s where I live) but if you are checking a bag count on it costing $100 and you will be close and maybe a bit high. It’s a 1:10 flight so with early check-in and to and from the airport its 5-hour trip.

The train is 6:48 to Prague to Budapest and you still got to get back and forth to the stations and show up a little early, so closer to 8 hours total. But both options are good. Whatever you enjoy.

You should be able to snag a ticket for 30 euro plus 2 euro more for a seat reservation. Stay away from the third-party ticket sites no matter what you hear. Prague to Budapest, check the Czech rail site and Hungarian (MAV). Prague to Vienna check the Czech rail and Austrian (OBB). For Budapest to Vienna or reverse, check OBB and MAV. The reason you check the company at each end is they both sell the same trains but often at different prices. Don’t forget the seat reservation.

Cost of getting to and from the airport
Taxi: Budapest and Prague under $35.00, Vienna under $45.00
Bus: Budapest express bus under $6.50. Free as is all transportation for 65 and older.

Cost of getting around town
Transportation passes good for 4 days (or more): Budapest under $17.00 (free 65 and over). Vienna under $35.00. Prague under $25.00 (free 60? And over Or 65? and over … not sure the age break).

Berlin a bit thrashy ...

à chacun son goût as they say... We did the Berlin-Prague-Vienna itinerary of the Rick Steves tour independently a couple of years before Covid, and Berlin was by far our favorite of the three. I guess some may perceive creative people to be "ruffians" - we found an energy on the streets that was infectuous. We found Vienna to be a bit sedate, but it is by far the easiest city to navigate, especially if you stay inside or just outside the Ring, so it may actually be the best match for your description of your current mode of travel.

Mr. E has suggested a number of viable itineraries - I think you might want to stick to three cities, again based on your described mode of travel and the amount of time you have. All four cities are well connected by a through rail line, so you could avoid flying and the burdensome trips to/from the airport. Look at the RS tour - you could always tack on Budapest at the end - it's an easy train trip from Vienna.

Berlin a bit thrashy ...

The description screams ignore me. All depends on what you are wanting on your trip. Vienna. Budapest, Berlin; three different directions on the compass. Prague, ehhhhhh oh well.

These are all such generous and thoughtful replies. My wife and I are very grateful. Helps to really give us direction to mold a trip!

Some folks do 7 cities and a country in a month and are happy with that. Others want 6 nights in a city to be happy. I have no real formula for every trip. Depends on the destination and my interests in the destination.

For this one, with only two weeks, I tend to agree to keep it to 3 or 4 stops. The two outliers on your list are Berlin and Budapest. If you have been to Budapest before then that might change things (you gave the impression you had been to a few of these). If not, it’s difficult to get back to if you skip it on this trip. Vienna, likewise. I am no huge fan of Vienna, but this is you, not me, but most love it and you don’t know until you try. So I never down talk a place. Okay, maybe Prague ….. no, just kidding. Prague is great too. The one thing I do like about Vienna relative to this forum is the quality of the advice you will get. Great support on Vienna here.

My parents are in their late 70s, early 80s. They are fit and love to travel but similarly describe the need for a slower and more pampered trip. What works for them is to just stay put in one place for a month in a very nice AirBnB (they take the monthly rate which is more economical, paying between $3-4K) and make day trips as necessary. Perhaps in your situation, it is best to select two of the four places you mention and stretch the trip to two weeks, staying one week in each.

Any of the cities you mention have more than enough in terms of days trips and sights to keep you busy for a week. Berlin is the geographical outlier and tends to really attract a young, funky crowd (my 20 year old loved it). Prague is always heaving with people - not very relaxing. I suggest pairing Budapest and Vienna. For Vienna, which is where I have lived for the last 18 years, the city is very accessible and slows down things for you.

For a more upscale experience in Vienna, there are numerous high end hotels where staff will assist with luggage and arrange for taxis to/from the airport or train station. Park Hyatt, Sacher and Imperial hotels come to mind. For a slightly less luxe experience, consider the new Hoxton, Austria Trend on Rennweg, Imperial Riding School or Le Meridien.

I have tried hard to walk the middle on where but guessing on the age group Vienna and Budapest are often favorites. And the two do make a nice mix. They share some similarities in music and performance culture (great operas and in Budapest very good operettas (musicals) and Vienna classical concerts.

One is often defined as polished, the other casual. One is a bit pricy the other a bit more economical so its a balance and that helps. If you guys are over 65 ride the trams in Budapest all day for free (that is true in Prague too I believe). You want a river cruise; Budapest can provide that. You want wine, Hungary and Austria are both excellent ... but different. Food, both have local, neighboring (great Georgian food in Budapest) and Michelin Star. The two make a very well-rounded experience with very little travel time between them …

Throw in Melk, maybe Bratislava, Gyor, Pannonhalma, Szentendre and maybe Eger and you have a 2 week trip and you just saved a ton on plans, trains, automobiles and lost time on the road.

This thread and list of cities/capitals caught my eye, as we're also looking to lace together an itinerary which centers on these places. For our instance and trip duration (about a month), and wanting to leave the driving to someone else, we decided to book RS' Best of Berlin, Prague and Vienna; and continue for an extra week in Budapest [about 2-1/2 hrs via RailJet from Vienna]. We're also leading into the tour with a few days in Amsterdam before making our way to Berlin a day or two ahead of tour. So our itinerary is shaping up to be:

4 nights in Amsterdam,
4 in Berlin,
1 in Dresden,
3 in Prague,
1 in Český Krumlov,
4 in Vienna, and
6 in Budapest.

We've been to Amsterdam and Vienna, but everywhere else will be brand new to us, and that's kind of a recurring theme for our trips; revisiting old favorites while mixing in a few new places. For the latter, we prefer having knowledgable guides to provide context as to what we're seeing for the first time, as well as overall ease and efficiency in getting from one destination to the next. As mentioned in earlier responses, there's no right answer for everybody... just 'right-size' the trip and activity level to match your objectives. Have a great trip!

Matt, I like it.

Great looking plan, great idea of mixing a tour and an extension. You can do a lot with 6 days here.

One terribly picky comment about the RailJet from Vienna. In Hungary there are no jets on the rails as the tracks are not suitable for highspeed. Sure the RailJet equipment comes here, but at the same speed as the EC trains. So pick your train based on what departure time works best for you. Oh, the RailJets are a bit newer and a bit nicer but not so much so that departing at a time that is less desired is worth it.

The other suggestion to look at the OBB site for the tickets AND look at the MAV site. Often the MAV (Hungarian Rail Company) site is less expensive ... but not always. When it is less, it can be quite a bit less. https://jegy.mav.hu/ With either use the phone app to load your ticket for presenting it on the train. Just easier and faster. Oh, and make sure you get a seat reservation.

And on the Hungarian forum there are some resource threads for hotels and things to see and do each month, and restaurants.

Thanks, Mr Ë, for the most helpful local knowledge!

I've bookmarked the MAV site for when tickets become available for purchase on our (2026) dates. Things can always change, but as of now, liking the 11:40 (VIE Hbf) to arrive at 14:19; as this would allow us to sneak in one last kaffeehaus breakfast and arrive at a reasonable time to check into Pest-side hotel after local transportation from Keleti. Late-September, so hopefully your famously good weather at that time of year will be on our side. :)

I love September and October here. You choose well and there are plenty of local things going on at that time of year. Here are some of my favorite. These are this years dates so you will have to watch for next years excat dates, but they tend to be the same weekend each year.

SEPTEMBER

8 thru 17 (last years date, 2025 date not published yet) Jewish
Cultural Festival This is good, very good
https://www.zsidokulturalisfesztival.hu/

27 Wine Lovers Top
100 Wine tasting event at the Corninthia Hotel (always good)
https://wineloversrendezvenyek.hu

11 – 14 Budapest Wine Festival at the Castle (really, really
good - worth planning a trip around) https://aborfesztival.hu/en

OCTOBER EVENTS

11 - 12 Etyeki piknik https://etyekipiknik.hu/en/#programok (excellent)

Nemzeti Vágta (National Gallop) is Oct. 4-5 in Szilvásvárad,: https://vagta.hu/ This is held in Budapest at Heroes Square every few years. Maybe 2026 it comes back. If so, spectacular.

Revolution Day. Oct 23rd National Holiday. Things going on all over
town. Good time to see the culture in action.

And I am not local. Just and extended tourist

My own review of these cities is as follows:

1. (Best) Vienna. This city is probably the most cultured in the world. Great museums, wonderful architecture, exceptional music, outstanding restaurants with cuisine from around the world, and the best public park I've ever visited - the Prater.
2. Prague. This city has even more spectacular architecture, plus outstanding opera and music more generally. Some of the best beer in the world, and great food at a ridiculously low cost. And the views are magnificent from several different locations.
3. Berlin. It's a much grittier place, but the history is so important from many different eras. The fairly recent transition to freedom from authoritarianism is very illustrative, especially to Americans today. It's such an important place to visit. Great nightlife, too.
4. Budapest. I'm not really a fan. The language is unrelated to any other familiar European language, so signage can be very confusing, and their currency (forints) is useless outside Hungary. Some excellent scenery can be viewed from Buda, but it's best experienced on a river cruise as the Parliament building, so iconic, is best viewed from the water. The city is surprisingly expensive in my experience. I do love Hungarian food, though.

This is great. Thanks

The Czech Koruna is good outside of the Czech Republic and the language, being grammatically similar to Russian, is more familiar to the American ear and the Vienna street name Schlachthausgasse is an easy one to remember and pronounce?

Vienna does have some of Europe's best music, which is great for conisuers, but a tremendous amount of it is tourist acts. Make sure you choose wisely if you are a conisuer of such things otherwise no great benefit to the quality in Vienna. Me, I know only pretty good from pretty bad, so I won't pay 200+ euro to hear the best. If culture = museum, then Vienna is tops.

Hard to beat Czech beer .... period, but i like wine. Prague's tiny old town full of medieval architecture is unique. Do buy a architectural style book so you can appreciate it, otherwise medieval is just a word and to be honest maybe other periods are more interesting to many. Prague is the most popular per tourist per square foot, so that's a great reference.

Budapest is the most visually striking capital city in Europe (biased, subjective statement). If your trip to Prague and Budapest isn't at least 25% less than Vienna you made an error in your planning. Hungarian food is pretty okay, but how much carp soup, stuffed cabbage and gulyás can you eat? Fortunately Hungarian wine is the best in Central Europe and a city with a population about the same as Houston has food from all over the world to choose from.

These arguments have been going on for decades. I get those that love Vienna, a lot good to love. The Budapest lovers tend to be a bit cult like ... hmmmm. Prague? It's the beer I think. Now before anyone freaks out. I intended a bit of humor in this. No serious judgments.

My best way to judge a location before a visit is videos. The Budapest one I link above is good and the same guy does a very good one on Vienna. Prague? Open a beer and contemplate.

We have the rough outline for a similar trip for the end of September.

A lot of our routing was dictated by airfare. We found a fabulous fare on BA: Houston-London-Prague and returning Berlin-London-Houston. We looked at different airlines, and different connections. It was amazing the difference in price landing in Prague as opposed to Budapest or Berlin. But going home from Berlin was the best deal.

We are spending 3 nights in Prague, bus to Cesky Krumlov-1 night, CK private shuttle to Vienna with stops along the way (maybe Melk?) 3 nights Vienna, train to Budapest, 3 nights, Ryanair flight to Berlin, 2 nights, flight home.

You talk about a more upscale experience so the more you can hire private drivers or private tours the more relaxing it will be. That way you can structure your day the way you want to and even adjust it on the fly. We are doing more of a small bite of a lot of places trip but we don't anticipate getting to this region again, so this feels right for us. And it isn't as rushed as a Rick tour.

Mr. E, thanks for all of your fantastic advice and recommendations.

Sunny22, Sounds like a perfectly logical plan. I get the concept of saving in one aspect to improve another and the private transfers and guides are always a plus when I travel. One of the reasons I enjoy Eastern Europe so much is I can travel there the way I most enjoy because of the costs.

As a tasting menu its well balanced and you can adjust it a bit based on the time of your trains and the Ryan flight. I used to fly out of Houston a lot (despite that I lived in San Antonio). There was a time Turkish Air couldnt be beat on price, but dont think thats true any longer. As far as not getting back .... sort of what I said 20 years ago and that turned out to be a miscalculation.

The shuttles to Cesky Krumlov are Bean and CK and look at DayTrip.com. Ive used them a few times and it was worth it.

A little more on Budapest is here: https://community.ricksteves.com/users/50322

Sunny22, I predict that, contrary to your expectations, you'll return to some of the places you're visiting.

Thanks so much for those other shuttle names! I don't know why I was thinking to take the bus to CK, but the shared shuttle would be better. We are lucky that we can get most of our hotels with miles, sometimes not as charming but that frees up our budget to get private drivers.

I am very interested to see what we think of each of these locations. There is a constant debate over which city is best and which to skip. I am anticipating Berlin being our least favorite, but it is so historically significant, I think we will enjoy that part of it. And that flight home was the least expensive.

I am very hopeful we can get back to some of these places, but we still have a long bucket list and at our age, who knows how many healthy travel years that we have. So we like to at least to get to some of the highlights, just in case!

sschiickler, Sorry to hijack your post! Have you come up with a plan? When would your trip be?

What places we love, like, and like less is so incredibly subjective and is driven largely by interests and expectations. I cannot comment on Prague and Budapest, though I am scheduled to visit both later this year.

I can comment on Berlin and Vienna. Berlin is my third favorite city in Europe after London and Paris. If you are largely driven by 19th and especially 20th century history, it is history under your feet. And it is the capital of a hugely important European country. It is huge, it rocks with energy because of the number of young people there, and again it offers more 20th century history than any other place on the planet.

I have visited Vienna once. I liked it but need not return. I found it staid and suspect that for many it ranks higher as a place to live rather than a place to visit. I enjoyed Salzburg much more than Vienna.

I understand that for others with different interests, Vienna will rank higher.

No problem at all about the posts veering in variant directions. I love to see how that happens with some posts and it reflects the Travel Forum constituency's love of all things travel. I notice the same thing happens on a lot of Reddit posts. In any case yes we have made a decision that we didn't expect earlier and have sent in a deposit for a tour with Odysseys Unlimited. It's a compromise since we love RS tours but really can't do them any longer because of injuries and Odyssey is a little gentler- they handle luggage etc. and have a comprehensive itinerary most similar to the one offered by RS. We have never booked Odyssey so we'll see how that works out. We decided not to do our own thing because the effort to do things such as lugging luggage on trains. I recently returned from Japan and really couldn't; manage the bullet trains with my bad legs and returned home early.
I learned a lot about the central European countries from so many people who had the kindness to post- places to visit etc. so it was and will be a real help to us as the Forum has been for us on many other occasions. Thanks

Well, it’s good to be able to keep traveling. We all age and have to adjust travel style. It’s wonderful to find a way to be able to keep going!

All the stops being discussed are great. Worst case, you get good beer. I don't know the statistics but at least 2 of the cities on the list seem to get a lot of repeat visitors.

sschickler, a sweet way to get from Vienna to Budapest is DayTrip.com with a stop in Gyor for lunch (outside at Széchenyi tér), and a visit to the Pannonhalma Archabbey along the way. Real low key, door to door service.

If mobility is an issue you can minimize the impact by choosing the hotel wisely. I assume you are over 65 so Budapest and Prague transportation are free.

Kudos again, Mr Ë, for the continued recommendations in and around Budapest. Your Győr-lunch idea at Széchenyi tér sounds just like what the doctor ordered for a relaxing, stress-free afternoon in getting from Vienna to Budapest. Especially on the heels of RS' twelve-day tour, with various souvenirs, sniffles and sundries in tow.

Accordingly, we've 86'd the Railjet plan :) and have reserved Daytrip's (car) service for transportation, detouring halfway at Győr. Thanks again!

The archabbey is a few minutes away and interesting too.

Here is your restaurant at the square (ter = square) https://maps.app.goo.gl/SqtAFmVF9UdZKuJF7?g_st=ac. There will be tables in the square. Kinda nice. 90% will be speaking Hungarian.

Where are you staying in Budapest?

Thanks sir, staying 6 nts at Hotel Moments

Perfect!!!

If the metro stairs get to be an issue, there is a bus that runs much of the same route. Download the BudapestGo App for all the transportation options. Google maps also works pretty well.

I know i am conflating the 3 different people traveling who are using this thread.

We are currently part way through a similar itinerary (yet to go to Berlin). Our trip is/was Budapest x 5 nights (stayed in district 7, walked everywhere from there, was brilliant and couldn’t fault it), Vienna x 3 nights (wasn’t as impressed as I thought I’d be), Prague x 5 nights (currently there and it’s terrific so far - although quite busy), Berlin x 5 nights (can’t comment yet).
Turns out I’d have preferred to add somewhere other than Vienna…mind you the coffee houses were great.
Also Mr.E’s advice for Budapest was excellent - so I definitely recommend his advice.

Turns out I’d have preferred to add somewhere other than Vienna

Those that say things like Budapest was brilliant quite often are somewhat less impressed with Vienna. Those that think Vienna is brilliant often think much less of Budapest. They are just two different animals and for that reason on the first trip in the region its wise to stop at both. 3 nights in Vienna and 4 in Budapest is sort of a minium but 4 and 5 is better. I say that based on size and time it takes, not enjoyment value once you are there.

rwellington your stay in Prague is longer than most do, please do a trip report at some point. Also very curious what you think of Berlin.