Hello!
We are planning a 10-12 day trip to Vienna, Budapest, and Prague from Cleveland. We’re wondering logistically which city would be best to fly into and depart from. Thinking flying into Budapest and taking the train to Vienna and departing from Prague. Interested in your collective thoughts as to this strategy! Thanks to all who respond!
Brian, this is a classic itinerary I think - I visited these three cities together - train between them - the first time I visited any of them. (I loved Prague more than the others and visited Prague again a few years later.) Yes, taking a train between them makes logical sense. I don't think it matters whether you fly into Prague out of Budapest (as I did) or vice versa. Maybe it depends whether flights work out better for you one direction or the others.
I would probably plan it both directions (regarding plane tickets, train connections, etc.) to see if one way makes more sense than the other. When I did my trip almost twenty years ago, I really didn't plan it - it was very "ad hoc." My only constraint was that I was meeting a friend in Budapest, so that's how I set the timing of flying out of there vs. starting there.
I agree, whatever works logistically for you. What worked for us: Budapest>train to Vienna>Cesky Krumlov per CK Shuttle>Prague per CK Shuttle. After Prague we flew to Amsterdam x5 nights. Initially we figured 14 nights in Central Europe (which is doable) but we added 2N to Cesky Krumlov and glad we did! Enjoy your planning!
As others have said, this trio is common and flexible. We flew via London to Prague, train to Budapest, and then train to Vienna and home from there. Our longest stay was Vienna and shortest Budapest. But all 3 cities can fill up many days.
I didn't fly into Prague because it wasn't my first stop but I did visit it first of these three, then I took the train to Vienna (4 hrs), train from there to Budapest (2-1/2 hrs) and flew out of Budapest. That worked very well for me and flying out of Budapest proved to be easy.
As others have said these three are easy to connect so wherever you can find the best (open jaw) flights would be the way I would go. Flying in and out of the same airport would involve some backtracking so open jaw is the best way to go, in my opinion, even if it costs a bit more - it's worth it for the convenience.
This usually comes down to a flights decision. I always say not to finish in Vienna because it's the most expensive of the three and if you are running low on funds it's a scary place to be. So that leaves Budapest and Prague. I live in Prague but based on my thinking that running low on funds at the end of a trip is inevitable then I would end in the best value for money of the three which is Budapest. But clearly if the flight options don't look good from Budapest then Prague also makes an excellent final destination.
Many thanks for all the detailed responses--greatly appreciated! My takeaway is that flexibility seems to be the prime consideration.
Wonderful travels to all!
