Central Europe Itinerary - Please Critique

The order is usually Prague to Vienna to Budapest You might be interested in these: http://www.lfze.hu/about_liszt_academy/history http://mupa.hu/en/ http://www.opera.hu/en http://concertsinbudapest.com/en/events http://www.filharmonikusok.hu/english Three nights in each of Prague, Vienna and Budapest is pretty much a bare minimum and I would say three FULL DAYS ( a full day being where you wake up and go to bed in the same city) would be more appropriate. Thats without day trips. I could give you enough to keep you happliy busy in Budapest for 5 days. Good day trips (D) and over night (O) trips if you extend the stays are Cesky Krumlov (O), Melk (D), Gyor (D or O), Eger (O), Szentendre (D), and there are others depending on the time of year.

Oh, and in July you might find that the number of venues available for Classical Music are limited. In Hungary for instance most of the classical venues are closed until the end of August. But Hungarian theaters cater primarily to Hungarians who still have a broad appreciation for the arts(which some say makes Hungarian theater very relevant and real). Vienna and Prague rely a lot more on tourists so things might be more available; but do some research so you are not disapointed. Since Vienna doesnt seem to be much better when it comes to summer classical music you could be in Budapest for the Summer Festival. It runs June, July and August and presents classical, pop, etc in a number of indoor and outdoor venues. The performances outside on Margaret Island are particullarly good. The 2013 program isnt out yet but you can get an idea from the 2012 program http://visit-hungary.com/things-to-do/bp-summer-festival-july-aug

The main problem with this trip is the train from Budapest/Vienna to Venice, Ferry to Croatia, then ferry back to Venice. Makes no sense whatsoever. Either one of those train rides are going to be long and include a bus segment. The shortest is 8 hours. Won't be cheap, either. 3 nights for that trip is totally undoable, you'll be in transit the entire time. Honestly, I'd consider doing one or the other (Croatia or Venice). Just because you think "Hey, I can pop right over there" based on the map doesn't mean the trip is easy. With only 3 nights, I'd consider omitting both and spending more time in Czech Republic, Austria, or Hungary to be honest. If you must do one, consider a budget flight. You don't really have time for trains and ferries on that segment of the trip. With only 3 nights in those big cities, you aren't really allowing a lot of time for day trips (remember, 3 nights is more like 2 - 2 1/2 days on the ground because of transiting..) Adding those 3 nights to the big cities would give you time for daytrips.

The Vienna Philharmonic and Opera do not perform during the summer months. There are other orchestras that have concerts in the summer; you can buy tickets from students dressed as Mozart who wander the streets. These concerts are not at the same level as the Wiener Philharmoniker. The musicians are mostly students studying music in Vienna, so it's kind of like Triple-A baseball - you're seeing the performers of the future while they are still in training.

hi julie - i did a similar route last year. only i went to zagreb (and plitvice as a side trip) rather than rovinj. i also had a stop in slovenia. i did: prague - vienna vienna - budapest budapest - zagreb zagreb - bled bled - venice for you, i would consider: prague - vienna vienna - budapest budapest - zagreb zagreb - rovinj (three hours by bus - http://www.akz.hr/default.aspx?id=260)
then rovinj to venice. it makes no sense to go to venice twice. too much time backtracking that you could use to be on vacation. i started out with cesky krumlov on my itinerary as well but ended up taking it off once i started getting really into planning. i wasnt willing to take a day away from prague to go there.

Thank you so much everyone for your suggestions so far. My family will look into these ideas. We have never been to this part of Europe, and I do tend to underestimate transit times. Jennifer - how did you transfer to Zagreb; by train? What did you think of the city?

i took a train from budapest to zagreb. i dont remember the specifics but it was around six hours. my stay in zagreb was more to go to plitvice than zagreb. i did go out and see the sights, but it didnt really strike me as a destination city in itself. other people will disagree, im sure.

Actually I agree with Jennifer that Zagreb is not a destination city in itself.

I've been following this and if it were me I would choose either the Prague, Vienna and Budapest trip or the Croatia and Venice trip but not both for a 16 day trip. After flying in and out there is only 13 days on the ground. On the Prague, Vienna, Budapest plan that will get you about 3 full days in each city and a couple days for side trips. A good compromise and easy to traverse on the trains. BEcause of your interests I would also try and leave no later than 1 June so you can see some top notch classical performances.