How long to stay in Germany, Prague, Vienna, Budapest, Krakow, Split

Without knowing your travel style and what you like to see and do it's hard to recommend what you should cut. My best advice is to give each city at least 2-3 full days, for Berlin Vienna and Budapest I would recommend 4 if possible, then figure out transportation time between them and add it up. It will be more than 19 days so you would have to cut at least a couple of them or short change the others. If it was me I would cut Krakow and Split since travel time to get there is longer and more complicated. Concentrate on the others since they are more logically located. Definitely plan to fly open-jaw, maybe into Berlin or Munich and out of Budapest or Prague depending on the most efficient route. Good luck with your planning.

I would give at least 3 days to Munich, Berlin, Vienna, Prague, Budapest, and Krakow and 1 day to Split. If you could stay an additional day, Split could have 2 days. If I cut anything, it would be Split.

I would cut Krakow and Split. Too much time to travel to them in your short time. Then I would put your cities in logistical order: Munich - Berlin - Prague - Vienna - Budapest or vice versa. By train: M - B 6 hours, B - P 4 h 40 min., P - V 4 h 10 min.,
V - B 2 h 37 min.
M, P, V, Bud. 4 nights each (equals 3 full days)
Ber. 5 nights (4 full days)
Generally this time is needed if one wants to touch at least surface of these cities.

Make sure you hit Munich at Octoberfest!!
Loads of fun and weather still good!

What time of year?

Munich, 2 nights
Berlin, 3 nights
Vienna, 2 nights
Prague, 3 nights
Budapest, 4 nights
Krakow, 2 nights
Split.Next trip

We are going in July. Sorry, forgot to mention that. Thanks all so far for all of the tips. I will be traveling with a friend of mine who hasn't been to Europe before. We are aiming to travel fairly light (backpack, light rolling suitcase, hostels/air BnBs.) Any more tips would be great!

Kris, based on the new information I suggest:
Munich, 2 nights
Berlin, 3 nights
Vienna, 2 nights
Prague, 3 nights
Budapest, 4 nights
Krakow, 2 nights
Split.Next trip

James, based on new information you did not change anything in your suggested itinerary. Is that what you meant?

Ilja, that would indeed be the case. I tried to think if "July" would have any impact and nope, Split was still too far from the rest and one too many stops .... at least for my ways of enjoyment. Of course, if it were me traveling I would skip Munich as well. But I am trying to be open minded. Oh, and I wouldn't go in between 15 June and 1 August.

Once again, thanks all. We really appreciate the advice. We are thinking of cutting Krakow and keeping Split. Any tips on the route?

It is over 15 hours by train from Budapest to Split with one change in Zagreb. I would look at flying and if there is no direct flight then probably I would save Split for some future trip.

Kris, based on the time allotted, If you're a young Bohemian, I suggest limiting your time to these cities in this order.
Berlin, 4 nights
Prague, 3 nights
Vienna, 3 nights
Budapest, 4 nights
Munich, 3 nights
Split and Krakow: Next trip, as they're off the beaten path.

These are all great cities, and they deserve more time to be seen properly.

"16-19 days, outside of continental travel" not really sure what that means. 16-19 days plus a day between each city to handle travel time?

Split and the Dalmatia Coast pair better with Italy or Montenegro; Serbia even. But not so much with the rest of your trip. Germany works well with France and even the UK. I try to do tight groupings so I don't regret having skipped over something that I will never be able to get back to because I have isolated it in the center of places I have already been.

So I would recommend you do a Prague and north trip or a Prague to Budapest trip or a Dalmatian Coast / Italy trip. If you were to do the Prague to Budapest trip then this would work:

1 Arrive Krakow. This is a tough place to get to so might as well use your transatlantic flight to get you there.
2 Krakow
3 Krakow
4 Krakow to Štrbske Pleso in the High Tatra Mountains of Slovakia (didn’t see that coming did you?)
5 Štrbske Pleso with day trips to Spis Castle
6 Štrbske Pleso with day trip to Orava Castle or hiking or rafting or fishing or …… this is the outdoor part of the trip
7 Štrbske Pleso to Bratislava
8 Bratislava
9 Bratislava to Vienna
10 Vienna
11 Vienna / Melk
12 Vienna
13 Vienna to Gyor/Pannonhalma
14 Gyor/Pannonalma to Budapest
15 Budapest
16 Budapest
17 Budapest to Visegrád and Esztergom,
18 Esztergom to Szentendre and back to Budapest (boat)
19 Budapest
20 Budapest
21 Budapest home

And Prague??? Naaaaaa, changed my mind.

I agree with many others, drop Split and Krakow due to travel logistics. Croatia is hard to get to, and getting there to spend only a couple of days is not worth it. Krakow would be an overnight train ride, or maybe two depending upon how you order it. Connecting Budapest, Vienna, Prague, Berlin is easy as pie. I would consider doing one or the other between Munich and Berlin. They are six hours apart on the train, would kill most of a day. You could do Budapest-Vienna-Munich-Prague-Berlin which would be somewhat logical, but with some long train days that I would prefer myself. I think going Vienna to Munich without stopping in Salzburg would be heartbreaking, but that's just me. Keep in mind there are all big cities and it takes time to get settled and get your bearings. I have been to Munich four times, but on our trip a year ago having just two nights made it seem overwhelming.

Hi,

Your itinerary lends itself to one or two night train rides to max your days. The night train routes are: Munich to Berlin, Munich to Budapest, Berlin to Vienna, Budapest to Berlin, Budapest to Prague, Budapest to Krakow, For 19 days I'm sure you can rearrange your schedule to factor in one or 2 night train rides. That would help in your timing. I would also suggest dropping Split.

The cities on this itinerary are great for staying in hostels, lots of choices in Berlin, Budapest, Munich, Krakow, etc. esp the private independent ones, not those part of HI. Sometimes, if you reserve early enough, staying in a Pension is cheaper than a private room in a hostel. I stay in mostly Pensionen, be it 2 nights or close to 2 weeks in a city, and one or two nights at the hostel.

As for length of stay: Munich 2 nights, Berlin 4 nights if this is your first time there, Vienna 4 nights, Budapest 3 nights, Prague 2, Krakow 3,. Do a night train or two you can add an extra day to add..