Hi. Planning a trip for 2 in mid Oct for around 10 to 11 days. Depending upon available air fares...will either land in Prague or in Budapest....and then travel to the other city.
Planning a short mid stay in Bratislava.
Can anyone suggest a suitable itinerary. How many days in each city. Is train good enough for inter-city commute.
1 travel day
2 arrive Budapest
3, 4, 5 Budapest
6 Morning train to Bratislava (about 2 hours)
7 Bratislava
8 Morning train to Prague (about 5 hours)
9 Prague
10 Prague
11 Flight home
Or if you can live without Bratislava the flight from Budapest is a bit more than an hour and about $125. Then add one day to each Budapest and Prague and do some day trips out of each. For me trains are bearable up to about 3 hours; any longer and I hop a flight on a discount carrier. But if you are certain on seeing Bratislava then the train is all that makes sense.
If you enjoy Disneyland, you will also enjoy staying in District V in Budapest. If you are more into seeing the major sites and experiencing what is unique about Budapest then look in Districts VI or VII.
Trains are the way to go. Personally, after 25+ trips to Europe in the last 12-13 years, I never stay in a city for less than two nights. Having to been in all three cities multiple times, realizing that your first day is going to be impacted with jetlag, I'd do 4 nights in Budapest or Prague, 2 in Bratislava and 4 in the final city. Ideally, you can start in Budapest because I enjoy Prague more (going to be there twice on holiday this year).
We prefer to stay in the city center so we can walk and explore at our leisure. In Budapest, a hotel to consider is the Hotel Zenit (budapest.zenithoteles.com); in Bratislava consider the Radisson Blu (radissonblu.com/en/hotel-bratislava) and in Prague my highest recommendation is the Hotel Pod Věží (podvezi.com).
Bratislava is a great town! We only got to spend a short time there en route from Vienna to Budapest, but we wished we had stayed over. Spend some time in the old town and then go up to the castle (we missed that part). Enjoy!