Best order to visit Prague, Munich, Salzburg, Vienna and Budapest.

I did that trip without Salzburg. I flew into Vienna, then trains to Budapest, then Prague then Munich. To me, the biggest determining factor would be cost of airfare and that depends on your home city. Budapest and Prague would be expensive cities for me to fly into. Train transportation Munich to Salzburg if you go after 9am is inexpensive on a Bayern ticket. Salzburg to Vienna is inexpensive with the Westbahn ticket. I liked Salzburg and did not go to the Nest. You could also do the loop in reverse--Munich, Prague, Budapest, Vienna.

Thanks. We are using miles and we were lucky enough to find a flight Phx to Phl and Phl to Prg. We have a flight out of Budapest but it has two changes so I am open to change it to another city.

How long was your trip?

I'd do it in the order mentioned by you, but there is no need to fly from Prague to Munich. Prague to Munich is a 4-5 hours bus ride (depending on the number of stops) or a 5:45 train ride (tickets for the bus start at approx €19, for the train at €14 if bought from Czech rail; tickets are bus- / train-specific); flying doesn't save much time (if any). Munich to Salzburg is a 1:50 ride for €31/2 with a Bayern Ticket (valid after 9am, all day on weekends), Salzburg - Vienna a 2:30 Westbahn ride for approx. €18 pp using a train-specific and approx €28 using a flexible ticket; train-speficic tickets for ÖBB Railjets start from €19, flexible ones are €54. Pre-booked tickets from Vienna to Budapest (2h 40min) start from approx. €24 pp.

I think you've got the order just right, and will also say that Salzburg is quite lovely, definitely worth an overnight stay. I explored it on a very long day trip from Vienna by train, used the HoHo bus to get to outlying sites and especially enjoyed the old town with a visit to Mozart's Gebursthaus. It's on my list of places to return to, along with Prague and Munich. Vienna and Budapest have already had several return visits :)

Yes, given your flight into Prague, that is the order I would do those cities and fine to leave from Budapest. We had 2 weeks. Remember, I did not go to Salzburg. We did take a day trip on a Bayern ticket to Neuschwanstein.

Thank you for the tips and info. We will keep it as is.

I definitely recommend taking the bus (or at least the train) from Prague to Munich. I made the mistake of flying (which looks faster on an itinerary; it's about a 45 minute flight) but when you factor in the time it takes to drive to the airport (about 30 minutes from central Prague), security, check-in, waiting to board, and then the length of time it takes to get from Munich airport into the city (at least 45 minutes), it was roughly the same amount of time, possibly more.

The train/bus station in Prague is in the heart of the city, and then you can enjoy a relaxing bus ride without all of the hassles of air travel and transport, and arrive in the heart of Munich.