Itinerary guidance for eastern europe/Austria

Too bad. Your wife wants to go to Prague, you are going to Prague.
Prague is bigger and you can see more there. Salzburg has beautiful surroundings with the Alps. Why don't you try to see both? Go to Prague, then to Cesky Krumlov, Salzburg, Halstatt or vice versa: Salzburg - Halstatt - Cesky Krumlov - Prague -
Zurich etc.

I'm not a big Salzburg fan but I liked Prague very much, so I'm with your wife on this one. Perhaps more helpfully, consider that your itinerary takes you into Alps country in Switzerland, and Prague would offer a contrast.

Not to say that "if you've seen one Alp you've seen them all," any more than to say that "if you've seen one big central European city you've seen them all." Prague and Budapest are very different.

However you two decide this, it's good that you're not trying to cover both Salzburg and Prague in your time frame. Pick one or the other so you can appreciate it.

Its important to realize that the Czech Republic and Hungary are considered to be in "Central Europe" not "Eastern Europe". Once you begin to research their histories and their languages, you will understand that it isn't just because they are in the same time zone as Germany, France, etc. It is also because these are, and have been for centuries, allied closely with Western Europe, not Russia. You will appreciate your visit more if you remember that their domination by the USSR was actually a short (but, yes, significant) period in their history. The Czechs and Hungarians themselves think of themselves as Central Europeans, and I'm sure you won't want to offend them when you are guests in their countries.

Late October is far from ideal time for the Swiss Alps. I would drop that section and do both Salzburg and Prague.
Day1: Fly early morning into Budapest
Day2: Budapest
Day3: Budapest
Day4: Salzburg
Day5: Salzburg
Day6: Prague
Day7: Prague
Day8: Zurich
Day9: Catch Noon flight back to home.

Thanks all for valuable responses. And i will certainly take care by not calling Hungary and Czech as eastern europe.

However one query i have is as mentioned by djp_syd, is it really not worth visiting Jungfaru region of switzerland late October? . As i can see the train to Jungfrau top runs all year ,so i am confused.

If that is the case we may have to subtract our days from Interlaken/Jungfrau and adjust into salzburg and Prague.

Any suggestions are welcome.

Thanks again.

Land in Budapest, spend 4 days, then fly to Prague for 2 days .... then fly on to Switzerland if you must. Better to fly out of Prague and use the saved time for an overnight side trip to Cesky Krumlov and Eger or Pecs.

It’s important to realize that the Czech Republic and Hungary are
considered to be in "Central Europe" not "Eastern Europe".

Actually, I don’t think it’s that “important” to realize.

So comrade, while you may not be in Eastern Europe, you will definitely be behind the Iron Curtain.

I beat this horse to death a few years back and came to the conclusion that there is no conclusion. Currently the EU and UN have a dozen designations depending on the program in question. Heck, they can’t even come to a comprehensive conclusion of what is in Europe and what is in Asia. According to some, the European Games this year were held in Asia. During the Cold War Americans simplified things by dumping all of the countries in the Soviet sphere of influence into one category that we called Eastern Europe. It’s always more effective to have one large evil force. As a result a great many don’t want the stigma that comes with being called Eastern Europe so there is a preference for the term Central Europe.

It is, however, important to realize that after events of 1989/90, there no longer exists an "Iron Curtain".

Maybe....maybe not. Maybe that's what they want you to believe. But you and I know the truth, don't we comrade?!

Hi All,
So after going through permutations and combinations my final itinerary looks like

Day1 Fly into Budapest early morning
Day2 Budapest
Day3 Train to Prague, Reach Prague by Noon
Day4 Prague
Day5 Early Morning train to Vienna, Day in Vienna, Overnight train to Zurich
Day6 Reach Interlaken by Noon
Day 7 Interlaken
Day 8 Interlaken
Day 9 Fly out of Zurich to home.

Please suggest if this itinerary looks OK. I have included Vienna for a day trip so as to cover one more destination.

Vienna as a day trip from Prague is sort of a reach. You will spend a day traveling and not much else. One day in Budapest isn't near enough no is one day in Prague. That trip would exhaust me and I would feel like I missed everything because of too little time. Drop Budapest and drop Salzburg and I might enjoy it.

Hi James,

Thanks for your reply. I have dropped Salzburg off the itinerary added in my latest post. However the reason behind day trip to Vienna is that we want to do break journey to Zurich from Prague, otherwise it would have been a pretty long continuous journey to Zurich.

Please suggest.

Thanks!