Thank you for the responses to the Christmas 2015 posts.
We are still trying to work out our itinerary for our stay.
The cities that are non-negotiable are Stasbourg/Colmar, Nuremburg, and Vienna.
We live in the US and are discovering one way tickets are more expensive than round trip tickets.
As you consider our plan, please be aware that we are retired and on limited income. Thus, who knows if we can ever return to the region again. That said....
Day 1 Arrive in Frankfurt, train to Strasbourg/Colmar, spend three nights
Day 4 Train to Nuremburg, spend two nights
Day 6 Train to Vienna, spend five nights (due to Marriott points)
Day 11 Train to Budapest, spend four nights (would three be okay?)
Day 15 Train to Prague, spend four nights
Day 19 Train to Frankfurt and fly to states
We are really not sure about Budapest but probablywill never get this close again.
I am also wondering about skipping Salzberg. However, we do plan to do a Switzerland trip in several years and could see it then.
Posted by
Basel, Switzerland
8889 posts
I would change the order: Nuremburg - Prague - Vienna - Budapest.
Taking a train from Pragus to Budapest (or vice-versa) would probably involve going through Vienna.
Try getting an 'open jaw' flight, landing at Frankfurt and leaving from Budapest. If this is not possible, look into a cheap flight from Budapest to Frankfurt, this would save a long train trip back to Frankfurt.
Posted by
Bloomington, IL, USA
9369 posts
Yes, open jaw is the way to go. You will find that they are just about the same cost as a round-trip ticket (maybe slightly more), but will save money and time over one-way tickets. I spent only two nights in Budapest, but probably could have spent more. I did, however, live in Salzburg for six months, and would highly recommend working that in, if possible.
Posted by
Magyarország / Rep of Texas
19525 posts
Okay, I will admit that I am sort of biased because I have been to most of where you are proposing and I prefer Budapest; but that’s subjective. I won’t comment on Strasbourg because I’ve never been there. I am very neutral on Nuremburg. Vienna I enjoyed but I think four full days are too much unless there is a particular interest that you want to exploit. Three full days is ideal for my taste and 2 full days I wouldn’t argue with. You have 3 full days in Budapest which is what I think is a good minimum. With 4 days (steal one from Vienna) I think you would be more pleased depending on your interests (what would your interests be?). Prague at 3 full days is pretty ideal in my point of view but I wouldn’t argue with 2 full days. I am a little concerned about the arrival and the departure. They will be long days.
If you want to go to Salzburg then steal the time from Vienna and do an overnight trip, returning to Vienna for a day before moving on.
0 Depart the US
1 Arrive Frankfurt after a 10 hour overnight journey (including check-in) in Economy Class and board a train for a 2.5 hour journey to Strasbourg
2 Strasbourg
3 Strasbourg
4 Train to Nuremburg; 4.5 hours
5 Nuremburg
6 Train to Vienna: 5 hours
7 Vienna
8 Vienna
9 Vienna
10 Vienna
11 Train to Budapest: 3 hours
12 Budapest
13 Budapest
14 Budapest
15 Train to Prague: 8 hours on the day train or an overnight train.
16 Prague
17 Prague
18 Prague
19 Train to Frankfurt (9 hours) and Fly Home (11 hours including immigration)
Posted by
Magyarország / Rep of Texas
19525 posts
To the question of open jaw. My RT tickets Direct from IAH to BUD cost about the same as a RT ticket from IAH to FRA. So, yes, do a little research on open jaw. If you are going AA or BA through LHR then add a few hours on to my estimated travel time and be sure to give yourself a solid 2 hour lay over at LHR. Its a big airport, security is pretty intense and you will need some time to accommodate AA or BA being late again. I prefer the Houston connection on Lufthansa direct to Frankfurt.
Posted by
New York, NY, USA
11294 posts
To find these open jaw tickets everyone is talking about, use the "multi city" option on airfare websites, rather than searching for "one way" or "round trip." For instance, your first segment may be Omaha to Strasbourg, and your second segment may be Vienna to Omaha. This way, you get the flights all on one ticket, and the price is MUCH less than two one-way tickets.
Posted by
OP
Dallas
57 posts
Thank you to all that made a reply. Each one was very helpful. We have never heard of "open jaw" tickets and did locate them under multi-cities. I think you gave us a great solution.
We will look at reorganizing the end of our trip to Prague-Vienna-Budapest order and fly back to the states from Budapest.
We have a free 5th night in Vienna due to Marriott point system (4 and 5 nights use same number of points). Perhaps we will look into some day excursions there.
Again thank you!