Best way from Paris to Budapest?

My two favorite cities. There are probably quite a few options but the one that immediately comes to mind is to fly to Vienna as cheaply as you can. That will get you close. Spend 4 days seeing Vienna, Melk, the Wachau valley. Four days is a good visit for the Vienna area. Then take the train to the city of Gyor; for the town itself and for the winery and the Archabbey about 20 miles away at Pannonhalma (then compare the Abbey at Melk with the Archabbey at Pannonhalma and let me know what you think). Spend the night at converted cloister in Gyor and then move on to Budapest by train. Each train leg is about 1.5 hours.

Thanks. That is exactly the kind of suggestion I am looking for. As far as going to Vienna, do you know if they have any mountain hiking around there? My ideal would be to take some easy hikes, possibly from hut to hut.

Hiking from hut to hut? Then you want to fly from Paris to Switzerland. After you have hiked the alps "hut to hut" there are direct flights from Zurich to Budapest. Or as a less expensive alternate, again, sans huts; you could fly to Vienna but after one or two days head by train through the High Tatras of Slovakia ending in Kosice Slovakia from whence you can get a direct train to Budapest. Along the route Slovakia has some beautiful mountains, natural wonders, parks and hiking trails. I've been a few times but I am no expert but if it interests you I will help you research it. And Slovakia is not very expensive at all.

Thanks. The high Tatras originally sounded interesting, but then someone mentioned the huttes, and I looked into that. Switzerland is extremely expensive and it appears that the most huttes are in Austria and Germany. The next issue would be finding a location somewhat close to Hungary where they have them, which would presumably be around the east of Germany or Austria that fit all of the parameters I am looking for.

One of your options: Fly to Krakow, see it, go by train or bus to Zakopane then by bus to Lysa Polana and visit Morskie Oko
- stunningly beautiful mountain lake on the foot of the highest mountain in Poland - Rysy. The border between Poland and Slovakia runs through the summit. If you are in shape you can conquer the summit. Start in the morning. From Lysa Polana you can go by bus to Stary Smokovec and have your base there. For hikes there see my post under topic Best Destination in Slovakia. It is under Slovakia. It is not exactly hut to hut hiking but even better. You can hike a loop, see several mountain huts on the way, have a refreshment there and carry just a day pack. You will encounter a lot of beauty for much less money than in Switzerland and even in Austria. From Stary Smokovec you will go by a little electrical train called there elektricka to Poprad. From there to Kosice where you can overnight or go by another train to Budapest.

If you want to do hut to hut in Austria or Germany, fly into Munich, not Vienna. Vienna is far from the Alps.

Thanks for the responses. Julie: Thanks for the reality check. I take it that there is no good mountain hiking or scenery arond Vienna. Ilja: Thanks for the great response. I will look for your post in the other place. What you are talking about seems to be more like what I had in mind originally. Also, the circuit hikes returning to a base sounds good. Do you think it would be better (faster/cheaper) to try to get to the mountains of Slovakia from Vienna or from Kracow?

I "think" getting to Vienna will be easier and cheaper than Krakow and while Krakow is closer to the mountains the trip from Vienna to Bratislava then through the mountains ending in Kosice is a very direct and easy route by train. The central major town would be Poprad. But Krakow would work too. Here is a little additional information: http://www.rajectravel.sk/en/hiking-tours?gclid=CM77zoWXzb0CFbTm7AodQHUAzQ where you might get some ideas.

Thanks. Thats a lot to consider.

I have been in the area near and around Poprad and it is lovely. Slovakia is one of my favorite countries. Look up Paradise Park in Slovakia. Here is a start

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slovak_Paradise_National_Park
http://www.slovenskyraj.sk/en.html

The High Tatras (Vysoke Tatry) is quite closer to Krakow than Vienna. When I traveled through the area there was a direct bus between Zakopane and Poprad via Stary Smokovec. It is very hard to find bus connection on internet because buses are run by different companies. In the worse case scenario you would go by bus from Zakopane to Lysa Polana, walk across the border and catch the bus to Stary Smokovec there. And it would still be faster than going from Vienna to Bratislava and then several hours by train to Poprad and changing train there to Stary Smokovec. Poprad has an international airport (small one) so you can fly directly there.

Hi,

I know it isn't you intention of going directly from Paris to Budapest in a short time since you're trying to come up with an itinerary between these two cities. In case (for your information) if you were to consider getting from point A to point B relatively quickly, your ride from Paris to Budapest can be done easily with only one change of trains. Take the CNL night train (if you're adverse to night trains) Paris Est to Munich Hbf, which arrives a bit after 0700, then change to the Railjet (RJ) direct to Budapest. I did most of that route on the CNL except stayed a night in Munich before going on to Vienna for another 4 plus hrs.

I would suggest going from Vienna or Krakow to Budapest.

bl_b, as usual Ilja is wrong......................naaaaa, just kidding. Both are viable options.

Check the flights and the connections and what interests you, throw in Fred's suggestion and you have a number of options to choose from. Have fun.

I checked some travel times, Bratislava to Poprad is as little as 4 hours on the train, then add an hour for the Vienna connection. I'm not sure I wouldn't spend a day at Zilna along the way. I have been told that this is a beautiful train ride; especially Zilna to Poprad. The direct car time from Krakow is about 2.5 hours but I would bet the bus will take closer to 3.5 hours. I would imagine this is a pretty trip as well.

From either Bratislava or Krakow to Poprad: the next stage is the train to Kosice for a night then the next train to Budapest.

So
Day one to either Vienna or Krakow
Day two to Poprad or there about
Day three hiking
Day four hiking
Day five to Kosice
Day six to Budapest

James was told right: the train ride between Zilina and Poprad is very scenic but it's nothing comparing to bus ride scenery between Zakopane and Stary Smokovec. By the way I would not use one day for stay in Zilina. There are many much prettier towns in Slovakia which would deserve it more.

Thank you all for the recommendations. Could someone tell me something about Kosice? I guess that is the best way to get to Budapest from the Tatras? Does it take a whole day to get there and is there anything there to see or visit? thanks

From the center of the Tatras Kosice is about 1.5 hours by train. It shared a title of European Capitol of Culture in 2013 and in preparation for that they did a lot of clean up and restoration in the old baroque central district. It really is a pretty town. You can google the town and get plenty of information. I just knew it had direct trains into Budapest (about 4 hours) which I believe is only possible from Kosice and Bratislava in Slovakia.

Thanks. I will do some more research on my own based on all of your recommendations.