Best days to avoid in Central Europe locations

I would first suggest you go to the library and check out the Rick Steves Guide to Eastern Europe. Most of the places you are visiting are in that one guidebook. Each guidebook has usually two pages near the front of the book entitled "X at a Glance" (e.g. London at a Glance) which lists the major sites and gives hours and closing days. When I am planning a trip that is always the first place I study to get a summary view of recommended sights. I highlight the closing day to aid in my planning.

The other thing we try to avoid are the "Free Days" and some of the national holidays. Again, depending on local situation Sunday a good day for sightseeing. Without checking schedule, Monday would be close to a universal day for travel.

Depending on what you want to see in Prague, Mondays aren't great days there. The castle is open but a lot of the smaller museums and some of the churches are closed.

I found lots of things to be closed in the smaller towns in Mondays, and some of the museums/sights in the bigger cities. If the "free days" require a reservation, those can often "sell out" much more quickly than other days.

Prague and Budapest have several Jewish sites that may be of interest to you and may be closed on different days than other sites. They will also be closed if your visit coincides with any Jewish holidays.

Eastern Europe is full of Jewish history; an a lot of it is still active and functioning in Hungary. Those sites still controlled by members of the Jewish faith will generally be closed (at a minimum) from sunset on Friday until an hour after sunset on Saturday. You will find that the case more in Budapest than in Prague or Vienna where the Jewish houses of worship are no longer the property of the Jewish peoplle. Of course, rather than avoiding the Jewish houses of worship during the sabbath, I would suggest joining them.

Also , in general, in the region and particularly in Hungary, many if not most museums are closed on Monday.

As for shops being closed on Sunday; they tried this in Hungary a few years ago. It didn't go over well. A few may still be trying to close, but not many. Monday's are fine.

Also check for public holidays. While there may be more closed, the cultural exposure more than makes up for it.

We will be on a similar itinerary this year. As previously mentioned we found the RS Eastern Europe, Budapest & Prague guidebooks helpful in scheduling. We are very interested in Jewish history and have hired a recommended guide on a Tuesday in Budapest. In Prague we booked a Jewish walking tour on Sunday and a guided tour to Terezin on a Monday. We were glad our dates coincided with availability. We have yet to book in Vienna.

If I remember correctly, Vienna closes up tight on Sundays. It’t family day so the parks are crowded, restaurants, etc. The stores, groceries, small busnesses are closed. I also remember, and you should double check this, many places close at noon on Saturday. Museums are open.

If I remember correctly, Vienna closes up tight on Sundays. It’t
family day so the parks are crowded, restaurants, etc. The stores,
groceries, small businesses are closed. I also remember, and you
should double check this, many places close at noon on Saturday.
Museums are open

Budapest doesn't really have the same problem. I checked the little Spar grocery market around the corner from my place and the hours are:

Monday 7AM–10PM
Tuesday 7AM–10PM
Wednesday 7AM–10PM
Thursday 7AM–10PM
Friday 7AM–10PM
Hours might differ
Saturday 8AM–10PM
Sunday 8AM–10PM

I wouldn't even worry too much about weekend traffic either. I would worry more about rush hour. As a tourist, the tourist sites are likely to be more crowded on weekends, making travel on those days better from your point of view. But to be honest, except for a few hot spots like City Park or Margaret Island on the weekend when both locals and tourists hit it, every day is pretty much the same.

In Salzburg and Vienna, most non-touristy, non-train-station shops will be closed on Sunday, but restaurants and tourist attractions will be open (though you may not be able to tour churches during services). On Monday a lot of restaurants will close and some museums.

The best thing to do is to figure out your must-see attractions/restaurants in the area then check their hours online. All the places you're going are tourist hubs and are more exempt from traditional closures than in less popular places but always check or risk disappointment. Sometimes restaurants close on Tuesdays if they're open on Sunday and Monday, for example.

Friday and Sunday are busy travel days for people making a weekend getaway and prices may be higher for flights or trains, but on the latter if you buy your tickets in advance and reserve a seat, you won't be too bothered by this.

Google maps is great for getting current hours (travel guides aren't as current). Short story long:

Start at the Library and check out travel guides for the places you want to go. Decide which sights seem interesting to you (based on your own personal interests). Check out tripadvisor.com's list of things to do in cities (to make sure you didn't miss something you might like). Buy, and take, the travel guide that you like most (I prefer taking a Kindle version for my smartphone).

That gives you a list of things to do. I generally plan one thing in the morning, lunch, then another sight in the afternoon. I can do more but this keeps me from pushing too hard on my vacations. That decides my number of days in a place. I also keep a list of other sights that are a notch below my must sees, things I'll do if I have time. I'll add something whenever I'm up for it and have time.

Once you've done all that, sit down with Google maps on your computer. Click on each of your must sees on the map (or search using the panel on the left). Most sights will show the current hours for the sight. These get somewhat longer as you approach summer then get shorter after summer. Right now is about the shortest hours so check back a little before your trip. For example, if you want to visit the National Technical Museum in Prague, click on it in Google maps, look down on the left panel where it says something like: "open now, closes soon, closed now". There's a scroll down next to that with current hours, click on it. The technical museum is open 9-6, six days a week and closed Mondays.

Monday is a common closing day for European museums, but it's not something to rely on. I wanted to see a museum in Beaune, France. I arrived in town early Monday afternoon but went early on Tuesday only to find out that museum is closed on Tuesday.