Hello, My husband gave me a trip to go to Vienna along with my mom (who cannot come) so now a friend will be coming with me.
We are trying to decide what is the best way of doing this trip. We fly into Frankfurt (frequent flyer miles) and should get there at 11am. We then wondered should we take train to Budapest and stay night. Next day Sunday try to get a tour of everything we can see and stay that night. Then Monday, take train to Vienna. I have 2 day tours planned in Vienna one on Tuesday to Salzburg and then Wednesday will be to Melk/Abbey, and then we will try and get a City tour of Vienna for Thursday, and then take train to Prague. I thought Friday we could get tour of Prague, stay night and then Saturday take train back to Frankfurt. We fly out that Sunday at 1 pm. Another thought was going first to Prague from Frankfurt and staying 2 nights, then on to Vienna with days but that Thursday we could have a day tour to Budapest. I just don't know which is better and I don't want to waste a lot of time being on trains and missing highlights of these cities. Another thought was staying in Frankfurt that night, and going to see what Frankfurt has to offer or taking train 1 hour to Budgingen which looks charming. Then take train early am and go Vienna or Budapest? Any guidance would be great. We also have a tight budget so wondering what is best hotels to stay at that are safe, comfortable, clean and conveient to everything. The trains sound confusing but thought ICE trains would be faster. Thanks for any help you all can offer.
Posted by
Huntsville, AL, USA
8312 posts
Your itinerary would be much easier if you were flying into Prague, going by train to Vienna, and train to Budapest. Then, fly home open jaw'd from Budapest. Backtracking to your original destination is expensive and time consuming. I've not been to Budapest or Prague, but K&T Boardinghouse is as reasonably priced a place as you will find in Vienna. Tina is a doll, and her 2 locations cannot be beat.
Posted by
OP
Matthews, USA
4 posts
Okay, thank you so much! Just not sure if we can change or get the frequent flyer points there. I might have to change plans and just see Frankfurt, Munich, Vienna and Budapest and head back to Frankfurt the night before we fly out and see Prague another time. Is there any cheap flights out of Frankfurt to Budapest?
Posted by
Magyarország / Rep of Texas
20073 posts
11 days is fine for Budapest, Vienna and Prague but as mentioned above, get an open jaw ticket. Most of the major airlines have code share flights to both Budapest and Prague. I would do Prague first as it is the most crowded and touristy of the three and Budapest is the msot laid back of the three. If you have to fly into Frankfurt then, if it were me, i would save Budapest for another trip (and Budapest is my favorite of the places you are planning on visiting)
Posted by
OP
Matthews, USA
4 posts
Sorry, what is an open jaw ticket? Thanks.
Posted by
Magyarország / Rep of Texas
20073 posts
Chicago to Prague on the inbound flight and then Budapest to Chicago on the return would be an open jaw ticket. You can go to a site like Orbitz, choose the option MultiCity and then put in the arrival and departure cities and dates. It can many times be the most cost effective way to plan a trip.
Posted by
Northamptonshire, England
33766 posts
all the suggestions about tickets are fine, and ordinarily correct but you are using miles and the trip is next month, right? It might be difficult to change. What you are proposing, Michelle, is a long way from Frankfurt.
Posted by
OP
Matthews, USA
4 posts
Thank you so much for the information! After thinking about everything and the costs, my husband rebanked his miles. Bummer...Hopefully, later this year I can go, finances are just too tight right now, it is a tough economy. I will definitely look into all the advice I have received from everyone when making plans for future travel there. Hope you all have a great New Year and happy travels to you all!