Budapest or Barcelona??

People who love Paris and are cold on Vienna generally enjoy Budapest. Don't beat me up. I am entitled to my perception. On the other hand Barcelona is more in the flow of the trip.

I've never been to Barcelona so I can't comment on that, but I loved Budapest. Based on comments I've read on this forum, you either really really like Budapest or you don't much like it at all. I'm sure you'll get recommendations for both cities. Personally if you like Paris and Prague, I think you'll most likely enjoy Budapest. Public transport is easy to use and will get you to all the normal sights most tourists want to see. It's a wonderful city to just wander around in (the old city I mean). Good food and lots of nightlife if that's on your radar. I'm not sure about the weather in April in Budapest and it will probably be warm and sunny in Barcelona so that may enter into your decision.

I'm a big Budapest fan, and you can get there inexpensively from Paris. I don't see any non-stop flights from Budapest to Venice, however. The mountains northeast of Venice make travel to/from Budapest and even Vienna relatively difficult.
I guess that leaves Barcelona--which is best reached from Paris by the relatively new fast train (6 1/2 hours.) I've not been to Barcelona (or Spain), but I hear great things about that Mediterranean city. They're fortunate to have Vueling Airlines going all over Western Europe.

Flying uses up almost half a day. Make sure that the airports for those cheap flights are the main ones - sometimes they use very remote airports and the extra time and cost involved can negate any bargain prices.

I can see the attraction of adding a country but is it really worth it? You could use those 3 days to see more of France: the Loire Valley, Normandy, Alsace either by train or rental car. Or you could spend more time in Italy, again by train.

I never think of London as being modern, so maybe you won't like Barcelona, most of which is modern. Budapest is not modern, but it does look a little run-down and gritty between the beautiful well-kept old buildings. Just to be clear, I loved both Barcelona and Budapest, but then I liked Vienna too.

Thanks for the replies so far! Very helpful - I didn't know about that faster train. And as to the Budapest - Venice route, Skyscanner doesn't pick it up because it's Ryan Air. It runs three days per week, I think, into Treviso.

@Chani - I've given that idea some thought, as it's clearly simpler, but I was worried about finding something significant enough to fill three nights. I get kind of antsy if I don't have enough to do and so I was focusing on a larger city for this additional stop. We don't drive on our trips and so need train or bus. I added a small town on our last trip - Colmar, because it always looked so beautiful in pictures - and using public transit to get there was quite the feat. But once we got there and walked around, I realized there wasn't much there to actually do. I'm trying to be cognizant of that this time. So, we're doing fourth visits to Paris and Venice, first visit to the Cinque Terre and so it seemed that a new metro destination would help balance out the trip.

I would choose Budapest. I hate going to Spain and only do so when my employer makes me go evaluate hotels, restaurants, etc in Spain. If you love Prague, you'll likely love Budapest too and it is a nice change from Western Europe.

Hi,

With that "3 day free window" given those choices, I would take Budapest anytime over Barcelona, even though admittedly I have not been there but Budapest I have. That is recommendable...culturally, historically to be sure, cuisine too. Vienna is pretty easy to get around when you use a combination of the S and U-Bahn and the tram.

I haven't been to Budapest (it is on my list, though). On this trip, I'd go Barcelona, because it's geographically easier. I'd hesitate about a Ryanair flight into Treviso - I refuse to fly RyanAir, and Barcelona seems to have more connections to Venice. I'm very conservative about transit connections, though. If I only have 2 days, I worry about missing flights/delays, and look for places with plenty of options if choice A goes badly. If this doesn't worry you, go to whichever you find yourself drawn to.

It's a question of what draws you. Modernista architecture. Sagrada Familia. FOOD. Seafood. Sun. Picasso. I'm sure there's a similarly enticing list for Budapest. These decisions are so hard!

April in Budapest is generally sweeter to light coat weather but its among my favorite times to be there. The theaters, opera, operetts, jazz clubs, concert halls, etc are alive and the restaurants are starting to put their tables on the sidewalks again.

Here is an event calendar: http://visitbudapest.travel/budapest-events/

"Food is 1000% better in Spain than Hungary."

That is strictly a personal opinion with which I respectfully disagree. I've not been to Barcelona but I prefer Hungarian type food to Spanish food any day - just a personal preference.

Just to pile on, you won't know how you feel about a place until you go, so it's hard to make recommendations. And you can't use your responses to other cities to judge.

I will say that if the decision is about food, for me Budapest wins over Barcelona, hands down. I know lots of people rave about Spanish food, but not me - the wrong food at the wrong hours, as far as I'm concerned. Whereas the food in Hungary, to me, was always delicious (even my goat cheese pizza was special). And here you see the problem - Nancy agrees with me, JG doesn't. There are few "objective facts" about travel - just personal experiences and opinions.

If you do go to Budapest, beware of thinking it will be like Prague or Vienna - it's quite different from each of them (in its way, as different from each of those, as those two are different from each other). I always say that Prague, Vienna and Budapest may be spoken of as triplets, but they are apples, oranges, and bananas.