Need Help/Advice on Budapest-Vienna/Salzburg-Prague itinerary for March 2016

I expect our resident Budapest expert, James, will be along shortly to give you the real facts about Easter Monday in Budapest, but you're cramming 3 big cities and Salzburg into a very small time-frame. You can see a lot if you plan carefully and stick to the day's agenda but I have been to all 4 cities (different trip for Prague) and you really need 3 or 4 full days (no travel) for the big ones.

I spent a week in Vienna and made a long day trip to Salzburg by train, just under 3 hours each way, left Vienna at 6:30 am and returned by 9 pm. I felt I saw everything I really needed to see in that long day using a HoHo bus (includes SOM sites but, importantly for me, no singing!) and finishing with several hours in the old section, including about an hour in Mozart Gebursthaus. This was on a Sunday and note that many of the traditional stores are closed, though touristy souvenir places were open--if this matters to anyone in your party.

Prague is jammed with people, and rightly so because it's absolutely gorgeous. Vienna has a wonderfully cosmopolitan and busy vibe, easy to explore the main sites in the Ringstrasse. Budapest felt much less congested and I unexpectedly fell completely in love with it--so much so that next spring I am returning for another week. My visit last year began in Vienna and then I took the train to Budapest, 3 hours. On a Wednesday morning the train was not crowded or full, but remember you have to handle your own luggage and the wheelchair.

Budapest (2 nts) >> Vienna (3 nts) >> Salzburg (2 nts) >> Prague (3 nts) ... sounds good to me.
Austrian Rail (OBB) offers their premium Railjet service to all the above cities.
Quick look at the website ... http://www.oebb.at/en/Planning_your_trip/Barrier-free_travelling/index.jsp

Long-distance traffic
ÖBB uses coaches particularly suitable for people with wheelchairs in many national and international trains in long-distance traffic. These coaches are equipped with wheelchair accessible toilets and the trains are marked with a wheelchair symbol and with the note “with wheelchair bay” or “with wheelchair accessible toilet” in our timetables. There is also a clearly visible wheelchair symbol displayed in the entrance area.
Depending on the type of coach, several wheelchair bays including one seat each for an accompanying person can be reserved free of charge. Subject to seat availability, reservations can be made at the earliest 3 months in advance, at the latest, however, one day before departure.
On many trains, the wheelchair bays are in 1st class. In this case, it goes without saying that passengers with wheelchairs and the person accompanying them can travel 1st class with their 2nd class tickets and can also make use of the “at-seat service” of meals and beverages offered in 1st class.

railjet
ÖBB was the first railway undertaking to implement the use of a completely new technology in European train operation starting from the timetable change 2008/09: this innovation made it possible for the first time to have a vehicle-integrated lift for passengers in wheelchairs on a long-distance train. Three seats are reserved for wheelchairs in every rake of coaches. Also power outlets to charge wheelchair batteries are available. Naturally, the equipment includes tactile elements for visually impaired passengers and special places for guide dogs. The continuous delivery of new trains allows ÖBB to keep expanding this timetable offer.

3/27 (Sunday) - fly from Manila 3/28 (Easter Monday) - arrive in
Budapest around early afternoon (overnight in Budapest) *** I know
it is Easter Monday and a national holiday, I checked with the hotel
and they said that some attractions are still open.

Is Easter Monday a particularly bad time? Do we need to adjust our
scheds because of this? 3/29 (Tues) - Budapest sightseeing 3/30
(Wed) - Budapest sightseeing, leave afternoon for Vienna (overnight in
Vienna) *** We are planning to take the train to Vienna, is this a
convenient option? We will be having our 3 luggages with us and a
wheelchair.

MONDAY: Easter or not, a lot is closed in Budapest (and a lot of Central Europe) on Monday's as a rule. Since you are arriving late in the day I don't think its the end of the world. You are going to be too pooped out to do much anyway. Find good central accommodations (truly central, and not "claimed" to be central) and you will discover that a lot of Budapest's charm is in wandering the streets and river front. Not a bad first afternoon. BUT be sure that you get a good location because the Budapest Metro system isn't friendly to wheel chairs so you will need to walk/wheel a lot. But with the right location that will not be much of a problem. http://visitbudapest.travel/budapest-events/easter/

TUESDAY: Given the situation you might consider a guide with a car.

WEDNESDAY: You are leaving? Seriously? You need at least two more days........

Now, we want to visit some select cities and at our own pace.

Your own pace must be a steady gallop.

Hi crista, thanks four your observations and the HOHO bus and SOM. Yes, I know it's cramming a lot but we only have 10 days and my mom wants to go "city hopping" and see everything. So it's possible to do a day trip to Salzburg, I would keep that in mind, although coming back late at night might be a problem with my parents, as my dad sleeps pretty early. Thanks for sharing your trip, reading it, makes me even more excited.

Thanks David for the sites, much appreciated. I will check them out. My mom can walk fine but not for more than 2 km at a time. We're thinking of train/private car from Budapest to Vienna, train from Vienna to Salzburg and private transfer from Salzburg to Prague. Heard that the train from Vienna from Salzburg is very scenic, that is something my dad would enjoy very much. He really likes to try the long distance trains everytime we are in a new place. When I have finalized the transfers, hope I can still come back and ask you some more questions.

Thanks James for the inputs, good to hear firsthand how it would be on an Easter Monday in Budapest. You are right, as long as there are restaurants we can eat from, we will be happy for our first day. It would also be great for my parents to rest a bit. Currently, we are choosing between the Opera Garden Hotel and the Bohem Art Hotel. We are more inclined towards Opera, is this central enough?

Your comment at the end made me smile...yes, it's a gallop. We've joined the packaged tour from Manila last 2014 and believe me, that one hops from one country to another in a day or two, with just about an hour in each major attraction. So we figured this is a much better improvement, well at least for us, we only have 10 days and my mom wants to see everything. :)

Of the two the Opera Garden is better situated & the Opera Garden is fairly well situated for most. But because of your mother I would look at the Carat Boutique Hotel as it is about the best situated in town.

For the transfer to Budapest check out http://www.silverwings.hu/ Laszlo is one of the most professional people we have dealt with for this sort of thing. We used him about a month ago. Tell him the Bear lady that likes to fish recommended him. We will hire him again for a special assignment in February. Another good company we have used is http://transferbudapesthungary.com/ Not quite of the same caliber but we have used them a couple of times in the past few years for fairly long haul trips with good results. Andrew ILLES can also handle the job; but he is a registered guide so that will cost a few dollars more; but that can be worth it. A prince. He has been helping us for over a decade now: http://guideinbudapest.com/

When you know where you are staying, let me know, and I will give you some nearby things to do and places to eat. Nothing too much for the first afternoon.

That is so gracious of you James, much appreciated and I will definitely let you know where we end up staying. Your tips would really come in handy as this is our first European trip on our own. We are all excited and nervous. I was not aware of the Carat Boutique Hotel, looked up everything in the google map and Opera Garden looks like it's in the middle of everything but will look Carat now.

Keep in mind that I don't recommend hotels. I haven't stayed in enough to be any great judge. I can recommend neighborhoods and locations. That Carat Boutique hotel is pretty much dead center in relation to the sights and activities in town, but anything within a few blocks is good as well. That particular point is centered between
1. District V which is the traditional Disneylandesque part of town; but also where the stunning views of the river exist (especially in the evening), and the Parliament and the Basilica.

2. District VII which is the old Jewish Deportation Ghetto. This is among my favorite parts of town.
3. District VI which is the Opera House, grand buildings and Andrassy ut which is sort of the Champs-Élysées of Budapest

It also puts you at the main metro station where three of the four lines cross. From here you can get just about anyplace by foot or one metro trip.