May travel prague-budapest-vienna

I am in Prague just about every May and have been for the last 13/14 years. the weather can be very nivce and quite warm during the day and a bit cooler at night but certainly not cold, rain is always a possibility and I have been in Prague when it has rained almost every day for a week and other year it has been lovely and sunny for the whole time.rain never stops me doing things.
https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/ShowTopic-g274707-i96-k6591886-Trip_Report_the_Full_story-Prague_Bohemia.html
https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/ShowTopic-g274707-i96-k2835943-Unclegus_s_Trip_Report-Prague_Bohemia.html
a couple of my trip reports and weather does get mentioned in them .

Here, compare Chicago to Budapest and Prague:
https://weatherspark.com/averages/31158/5/Chicago-Illinois-United-States

Budapest
https://weatherspark.com/averages/32212/5/Budapest-Pest-Hungary

Prague
https://weatherspark.com/averages/32335/5/Prague-Central-Bohemia-Czech-Republic

I have been to Prague and Budapest in May and experienced a wide range of temperatures; Prague cold and rainy a couple of days then warm and sunny, daytime 55-70. Budapest this May was pretty much just hot--average of 85, with one afternoon of rain. Not enough in either city to deter me from getting out and exploring, only used my umbrella once. Layers (I brought sleeveless, short and 3/4 sleeve tops and a light cardi) and a lightweight hooded jacket should do you just fine if you don't want to bother with an umbrella.

I have also been to Vienna, and your plan of 4 days in each city is a good intro; I spent a week there with a couple of day trips, Prague for 4 days and Budapest...well, just be prepared for Budapest to captivate you. My initial 4 days was just a tease so I returned this year for 6 days and next year I plan to return for a longer visit and to a couple of other cities as well.

You can see from the weather sites that the weather in Chicago in May is sort of the average between Budapest and Prague. So if you are good with Chicago in May, you should be good on this trip as well.
You didn’t say how you were getting from town to town, so here are a couple of ideas:
I am very biased on Budapest so this one has more time in Budapest than Vienna and Prague. It also gets you to at least one side trip (Cesky Krumlov). You could swap out one of the days in Budapest and spend it in Melk or Pannonhalma.

5. Depart US
6. Arrive Prague
7. Prague
8. Prague
9. Afternoon Bean Shuttle Prague to Cesky Krumlov
10. Morning Bean Shuttle Cesky Krumlov to Vienna
11. Vienna
12. Vienna
13. Morning Train Vienna to Budapest
14. Budapest
15. Budapest
16. Budapest
17. Budapest
18. Morning flight, Budapest to Amsterdam
19. Amsterdam
20. Depart to US

On this one you might regret not spending more time in Budapest. If that’s the case then drop the day trip out of Prague and put the day in Budapest.
5. Depart US
6. Arrive Prague
7. Prague
8. Prague
9. Prague (include a day trip out of Prague)
10. Morning Train to Vienna
11. Vienna
12. Vienna
13. Vienna (day trip to Melk)
14. Morning Train Vienna to Budapest
15. Budapest
16. Budapest
17. Budapest
18. Morning flight, Budapest to Amsterdam
19. Amsterdam
20. Depart to US

Predicting the weather there is like predicting the weather in Chicago then . . . or any time. My visit was 12 days in mid-May several years ago. It was never cold but the first half was mostly rain and overcast skies, second half was mostly sunny and pretty warm. Still, I had a great trip.

Are you starting in Budapest or Prague? I would allow an "extra" day in your first city to allow for the aftermath of the long-haul flight. Consider that you'll use about 1/2 day each time you move. Of the 3, I found the most to do in Budapest even though that's where I had the worst weather (lots of interesting museums). If it's sunny, Vienna is delightful. If it's not, you won't enjoy the lovely parks and beautiful buildings much at all. So consider if there are enough indoor sights for 3-4 days. There's the Schonbrun Palace (top sight IMO) and top-notch art museums (choose the ones with collections that most appeal to you). In Prague, I spent the better part of one day mostly in the Jewish quarter, one "general sights", one at the castle and one on a day trip to Terezin.

As I live in Vienna, I guess i have experienced May weather here. May is my favorite month as the peonies, lilacs and flowering chesnuts make the city beautiful. No one can predict the rain, no one can predict the temperatures. May in Vienna could be cool or warm, but there is plenty to do inside so weather shouldn't really get in your way.

Thank you all for your input and it helps greatly, I understand the unpredictability of weather( I live in Chicago after all :) ) but as long as the occasional rain did not mar you experience it should be fine. I was looking at weather predictions and it said chances of rain as much as 50-70% with temps in mid 40s at time and that concerned me.

My plan is to fly into vienna and then take the train to Budapest and from ether fly to Prague ( 1 hour ) so as to not waste 7 hours in the train and then fly from Prague to Amsterdam and fly out of there back to Chicago.

Appreciate the itinerary recommendations ! I may spend 5 days in budapest and cut down prague by a day !

My plan is to fly into vienna and then take the train to Budapest and from ether fly to Prague ( 1 hour ) so as to not waste 7 hours in the train and then fly from Prague to Amsterdam

I don't think that's going to save you much travel time - maybe none. I'd only do that if the trans-Atlantic flights made it imperative. It's almost 3 hours on the train Vienna/Budapest which you have whatever your route. So compare the time to fly Prague/Budapest with taking the train Prague/Vienna (4 hours). When you add the added time it takes to get to/from the airport plus the extra time you need at the airport (security, checking luggage, waiting for luggage on arrival), you may even be adding travel time. On the other hand, it's only about 1/2 hour longer to fly from Budapest than Prague, so you could start at either end with Vienna in the middle, then fly to A'dam.

Every time I run the numbers flying Budapest to Prague always seems to make more sense. But you can avoid it all together by going Prague, Vienna, Budapest ( or the other way around) and inserting a night in Cesky K. between Prague and Vienna.

I recommend that you start your trip in Prague and take the overnight sleeper train from Prague to Budapest. It leaves Prague at midnight and arrives in Budapest at 8.30am. It's modern, clean and comfortable, and inexpensive when booked in advance. I took it three weeks ago and I was very impressed.

It's timed perfectly. It leaves Prague at 23:58, so you have a full day in Prague and then simply go the main train station at bedtime, get on to the train and get into a real, made-up bed. The conductor comes by to tell you that he'll wake you at 8am and then off you go to sleep. By the time you wake up, you're in Budapest. As the stations are in the city centres, so no mucking about in airports, it's hassle-free and super time efficient and it saves price of a hotel for the night. It couldn't be better!

(Unfortunately, it doesn't work as well going the other way, as the overnight from Budapest to Prague leaves at 20:05, which means it eats up most your evening.)

Check out the Man in Seat 61's website for more about train travel.

Thanks for the night train info. Good to know as a viable option since I am planning / working on the details on the 2017 trip of seven plus weeks.

@ Sarah...On going to those cities in May, I recommend it. I've been in Budapest three times, 2010, 2014, 2015, as day trips, always in May, weather was nice and pleasant. In Vienna it can rain in May, I've experienced that too, in 2015.