On to Amsterdam and the Unknown - No ???

I'd consider kicking around B-P for several days. It's at least a 5 day city. Day trips to Szentendre and Godollo can be done as well. There is Pecs, Eger, and several other Hungarian cities.

On the way to Vienna, there is Bratislava, that RS just visited and was quite enthused about (when is RS NOT enthused?). Vienna is a 5 day city as well. Within Austria, there is Salzburg, Linz (Mauthausen work camp is a good visit), Innsbruck, and several other locations.

But I'd tie down the return trip soon.

About to shut down when your message showed up. Thanks, good recommendations. Based on prior experience, we probably will not be able to arrange our return flights until the last week or so of September. Big issue is finding open business class tickets. We are spoiled. We will find a way home. Always have.

"Frankie Goes To Budapest"......sounds like a rock band.

"This will be a lot of new territory for us especially Hungary...."
Are you kidding - with all your travels (and nearly 20,000 Forum posts) - somehow Hungary has managed to elude you?
Be prepared to fall seriously in love - Budapest is very very seductive.
It is my favorite European city - by far. Soon.....you may be singing that same tune.
Unless a stop in Bratislava is included in your float.......relax....don't do it.
(Oh, I get it!)

I highly recomm me some time in Vienna. We were there for 8 days in late September and it was very interesting, with lots to do and see.

For last-minute one-way tickets in Business Class at a reasonable price, try Condor (you may have to get yourselves to Frankfurt, but they do partner with Lufthansa for short flights within Europe). We flew them home last summer and it was a nice flight. The business class seats are not true " lie flat" but it was not an issue for us. The seats were very comfortable for a daytime flight, and the service and food were nice.

Have a great trip.

Awwww I wish you were going to be checking in !! I first moved to Hungary to teach English in the early years after the wall fell — in 1993 — and have returned numerous times since.

Budapest is a fantastic city; the basilica at Esztergom and its dramatic siting; and as someone who used to live in Kecskemet, I can recommend you try to go out to the Grand Plain/ Nagypuszta and catch one of their fantastic horse shows. Eger and Veszprem are both beautiful, heck I loved so many places there (if I do find Szentendre a bit twee).

And if going to Vienna, be sure to spend some time in the Wachau valley — Melk and the like. Fall in that area — and in the heurigen outside Vienna — is lovely.

Have a great time!!

P.s. Bratislava is okay if you need somewhere to kill a day, but I wouldn’t go out of the way to see it.

Had to come back. My apple watch was constantly beeping with the postings. Will make some notes. We are playing the f flyer game for tickets. A lot of business and first class tickets open up in the two week, ten day time period prior to departure. We only booked our tickets to Europe last week when those seats opened for this week. It is game and each year seems to get a little tougher to play.

@Blue --- Europe is a big area and we tend to go slow and often with hit previously visited areas in addition to new areas. For some reason we have been all around Germany but never through Germany. For example -- we probably have been in Rome six or seven times over the past twenty plus years, three or four for Paris, and maybe ten times in London. This will be our third trip to Amsterdam. Maybe half of our trips are repeats so we haven't been everywhere, yet. Still haven't made Berlin but will save it for the next trip.

Not sure you will check this again before you go, but here goes.. We took this trip opposite direction in 2018. We would have liked to spend more time in Vienna. There was a bus drop off since the boat docks away from town center and we should have been braver about taking public transport and seeing more. We did their a.m. walking tour which was Ok and then $$ for their Lippenzaner experience which we thought was a waste of time. The people that did the Schoenbrun (sp?) tour enjoyed their experience. You probably planned better, but just our impressions.

Also, we really liked the Hospital in the Rock on the Buda side close to Matthias Church. Built in 1939 as a secret emergency hospital, it’s 25,00 sq.ft labyrinth cared for patients during WWII and the 1956 Uprising. We’re medical people and WWII buffs, so we thought it was pretty impressive.

Have a great time.

If you drink wine, get to the heuriger taverns in Vienna.

One last check. Thanks again. Will check when we hit Chicago later today.

Have a wonderful time, Frank. Budapest is great, worth several days and so is Vienna. Now it's time to unplug that Apple watch and other electronics. Like me, you must be old enough not to fear being "unconnected" for awhile, even multiple days. Just a Kindle full of books for rainy days and late evenings. Bon Voyage!

Depending on the amount of time, a suggestion would be to either fly home from Vienna or make your way toward Germany - north toward Berlin or west toward Munich - then fly home from Berlin, Munich or Frankfurt.

Toward Munich could include stops in Austria (Salzburg, Halstadt, Linz, Melk...).

Toward Berlin could include stops in Czechia (Prague and others) then Dresden.

My husband and I spent 3 weeks this summer in Czech Republic and Hungary with 8 day RS tour in the middle. I really enjoyed these places in Hungary: Pecs (wine country) and beautiful small city, Szentendre (touristy, artsy community on the Danube). If you have a car and time to roam, these were really nice areas.

Enjoy!