Opinions please, trip to include Berlin, Vienna, Prague and Budapest

I have always regretted not going to Budapest when I was in Vienna years ago.

We did a similar trip, although we ended in Munich instead of Berlin.

We flew to Budapest. We took the train from Budapest to Vienna. We took the train from Vienna to Prague. From Prague we went to Czesky Krumlov overnight and then to Salzburg the next day, using Lobo Shuttle. On the way to Czesky Krumlov, we arranged two stops: at Castle Hluboka (pretty, fairy-tailish castle) and at Divci Kamen (old castle ruin). We took the train from Salzburg to Munich, and we flew home from Munich.

In your case, you would probably take the train from Prague to Berlin, instead. https://www.rome2rio.com/s/Prague/Berlin

If you want to start in Berlin, then you'd just reverse it.

Of these cities, Berlin is my favorite. Give it enough time. Wasn’t crazy about Prague due to the large crowds. Save Berlin for last as I am guessing there are better flight options.

We took an Eastern Europe trip in May 2019. We flew into Prague…..where we realized after being there before that it’s prices had certainly increased with its popularity. We love Prague and had been there before but the world has now realized how special it is and they have caught up with Western prices! Still a wonderful place to visit. We rented a car there and drove to Cesky Krumlov,,,,so glad we did as it was charming. Drove on from there to Salzburg….been there before as well but you can never get enough of Salzburg……then on to Hallstatt……yes, do go there even though it has tourists everywhere but still a lovely place to see. Drove on to Vienna and saw it for the first time….loved it! From there we drove to Budapest…….what a city. No wonder they call it the Paris of the East…..could go back tomorrow. It’s prices were still pre-Iron Curtain and we loved that……took a day at the Szechenyi baths and paid for an excellent but inexpensive massage. Flew home from there. We love Dresden as well……beautiful city! We had done it on another trip…….

I flew into Budapest and home from somewhere else (London, I think) back in 2018, I think using United and partners. I got a good airfare from Dulles, so Budapest may be more affordable than you'd guess. The only way to be sure is to use something like Google Flights to price out a bunch of combinations of European gateways for you desired travel days and see what works best.

Budapest and Vienna are an easy and quick rail connection, with the option to stop in Gyor, Hungary, along the way. It has an attractive historic center with a bunch of small museums, and it's a good jumping-off point for the Pannonhalma Abbey. Alternatively, you could divert slightly and visit Bratislava; that would add about 2 hours of transit time including the layover (probably about 30 minutes) in Bratislava. This routing would put you on a different rail line within Hungary that doesn't pass through Gyor. I haven't been to Bratislava but plan to visit the next time I'm in that part of Europe. It doesn't have the depth of sightseeing options you'll find in the cities you're already targeting, but I'm sure there's enough to justify a day or two.

It appears you can travel by rail between Vienna and Prague in about 4-1/2 hours (passing through Brno, an attractive, much less touristy Czech city) and between Prague and Berlin in a bit less time (with Dresden right along the way), so you can do this entire trip by train. It seems Budapest-Vienna-Prague-Berlin, or the reverse, is clearly the most efficient route through your four large cities from the transportation standpoint.

We did that route two years ago and can say going by train is economical and efficient time-wise. Because Budapest is the least expensive city, I would fly into Budapest from the US and get over jet lag there for 3-4 nights. Budapest’s outdoor thermal baths are therapeutic for soaking away jet lag! The most deeply-discounted European train tickets are non-refundable but you’ll save hundreds of euros if you’re comfortable buying them and buying them sooner rather than later. If bought now, you can get tix for the fast Railjet or Regiojet trains from Budapest to Vienna during May for $11-$20. Take a Regiojet train in 4.5 hours from Vienna to Prague for about $14. The Czech national train company, Cesky Drahy, has the least expensive train tickets for journeys in May from Prague to Berlin for $15-$25 available only at www.cd.cz/en. Deutsche Bahn (www.bahn.de/en) allows you to book a ticket from Prague to Berlin (4.5 hours) with an intermediate stopover of several hours in Dresden for as little as $33. DB does this for tickets throughout Germany and between Germany and neighboring countries. www.TheTrainline.com is where you can check fares and schedules and then go to the train company’s website for what usually is the best deal. Train tickets in Europe only get more expensive the closer it gets to the train’s departure time, so you’ll save money the sooner you finalize your itinerary and pre-book your digital train tix online. They e-mail you the ticket with a QR code that you show the conductor, along with your passport when the call for tickets is made.
Have a great trip!

You didn't say how long? For 3 weeks, a good trip is

Prague
Shuttle (CK or Bean) to Cesky Krumlov
Shuttle to Vienna
Train to Gyor/Pannonhalma Archabby
Train to Budapest ... or reverse.

With 2 weeks:
Prague
Train to Vienna
Train to Budapest

Or check the cost of this, which will save you a few hours of travel time (price as multi-city and with the Prague to Budapest leg as a separate ticket)

Prague
Fly to Budapest
Train to Vienna (or reverse)

Minimum nights
Arrival city add 1 night
Vienna 3
Prague 3
Budapest 4
Cesky Krumlov 1
Gyor 1

Which way and which airline? You just have to play with GoogleFlights and figure it out.

For years Berlin was notorious for not having much trans-Atlantic air service. Even with the new airport open (at long last, very long last) it still is common to face a connection to get to North America.

The only non-stop from the U.S. is to Berlin on United Airlines from Newark and Washington-Dulles (after May 25, 2023)

We just flew into Dulles from Frankfurt this afternoon, and the flight was an hour late and many, many missed their connecting flights. I'm going to avoid them in the future on international flights-choosing to go thru connecting airports on different airlines.

We've been to all the cities you've mentioned, including Berlin and Dresden a year ago. They're easily reached by train travel. We loved Dresden but Berlin is our least favorite city of those you mention. We love Budapest and it's so reasonably priced.

My take on Berlin is this: The city itself (as opposed to Potsdam) doesn't have a great deal of historic architecture because of extremely heavy WWII bombing. What the city does have is a wealth of historical sights, especially but not exclusively related to WWII and the Cold War. I found those very interesting. The city also has a great many art and decorative-art museums. Visitors mostly interested in old buildings probably don't need a week in Berlin. Those interested in 20th-century history and/or art will want to settle in for a nice, long visit.

Dresden is easy by train on the way to Prague and well worth at least 2 days. I would use the train for the whole trip - unless you want to rent a car for a few days in Austria. If you want to see the Jewish sights in Prague, plan to do them between Monday and Thursday. They close early on Friday and reopen on Sunday so Sundays are usually very crowded. Berlin probably had a lot more flight options than Budapest. My preference would be to fly to Europe on the most direct route (arriving with less hassle) and fly home with more connections if that's the option.

I regretted not having the time for a day trip to Potsdam from Berlin. From Budapest I did a 4-night loop to see 3 small towns, mostly for the art nouveau architecture: train to Pecs 2N, bus to Szeged 1N, train to Kecskemet 1N, train back to Budapest. I left most of my luggage in Budapest and traveled with a backpack - easy-peasy.

Thanks for the input. Here's the current thinking:

Yes, we're flying out of Dulles. We no longer live close to Dulles (We sold our house in Virginia last year). My oldest son still lives less than fifteen minutes away, however, so we'll visit them for a couple of nights on the way (and way home). We're flying into Berlin and home from Budapest on Aer Lingus, round-trip was a little under $700 each.

The trip is 24 days. First day is lost to travel. Second will be outside, probably walking or biking the Tiergarten and places we only plan to see.

We'll spend four nights in Berlin, two in Potsdam, three in Dresden. Rather than train directly to Prague, we'll get off at Bad Schandau and visit the Saxon-Schweiz park as a day stop then hop on the train and continue to Prague.

I'm still trying to decide how many nights to stay in Prague. We will make a daytrip from Prague but, sacrilege, it won't be to Cesky Krumlov. Instead, we'll train to Kutna Hora (Kuttenburg), which I consider to be much more historical and, hopefully, less touristy.

At this point, my plan is still developing.

If I end up with extra time, I may add a second day trip from Prague to Krivoklat or Karlstejn - interesting castles in the area.

Afterward, we'll continue by train to Vienna. If the train passes through Tabor (haven't mapped where the train stops are), I'd like to do a day stop there too.

I'm thinking five nights in Vienna followed by a day stop in Bratislava, for a walk around old town and lunch, enroute to Budapest.

The train will take you from Berlin to Potsdam in 26 to 35 minutes. I wouldn't change hotels for a place so close unless there's a special reason to do so.

I agree with ^^^^^, since you'll most likely have backtrack to Berlin anyway, to catch the train to Dresden.

See if I guess correctly

1 Depart US
2 Arrive Berlin
3 Berlin (2)
4 Berlin (3)
5 Berlin (4)
6 Potsdam
7 Potsdam (2)
8 Dresden
9 Dresden (2)
10 Dresden (3)
11 Prague
12 Prague (2)
13 Prague (3) with day trip Kutna Hora
14 Prague (4)
15 Prague (5) with day trip Karlstejn.

You know this is all about interests and taste. This gives you 2 full days in Prague which is about my tolerance. Karlstejn is worth the trip. I liked it; never been to Kunta Hora but hear good things. Still, I would pass both to arrive in Cesky Krumlov early one day and leave late the next afternoon. April tourism may not be that bad and the city isn’t bad from mid-afternoon till late morning the next day after all of the day tourists have left.

16 Vienna
17 Vienna (2)
18 Vienna (3)
19 Vienna (4)
20 Vienna (5).

I said its about interests and taste. I would go bonkers before night 4 arrived and be on an evening train to Budapest.

21 Bratislava / Budapest
22 Budapest (2)
23 Budapest (3).

Since you are spending so little time in Budapest, I would do Bratislava as a day trip out of Vienna and use one of the Vienna days for that so at least you have a little more time in Budapest. Or skip Budapest until you have a good solid 4 days to spend there. But, again, taste and interest.

24 Depart

The reason I'm doing a couple nights in Potsdam is I don't want to make it just a daytrip. I want to plan at least one evening in Potsdam itself. The reason for two nights is I want to have at least one full day to see the sights (two nights equals one full day).

Yes Mr. E,

That's my current dilemma. Using up a lot of time in Germany leaves me less to spend in the other countries.

Ideally, I'd have one more night in both Vienna and Budapest. I may compress my time in Berlin one night and add to Vienna.

This is my first trip to Hungary. In this case, I expect to be back to see more.

Deciding is akways tough and you never know what will speak to you until you get there. It's what happened to me almost exactly 20 years ago. I was excited about my first trip to Vienna, but I went bonkers before night 4 arrived and was on an unplanned evening train to Budapest that day. I am sitting in Budapest tonight, so you can guess how that worked out. I have been back to Vienna a few times .... furniture shopping.

Oh, and I have a close friend who thinks Budapest is okay, but returns to Vienna every year ... and she is right too.

That's my current dilemma.

Yep, Berlin is my favourite city in all of Europe and I would never suggest stealing a day away from it and adding it on to cities or towns of way lesser value ... but hey, that's what makes the world go around.

Budapest is not on par with the other places that you are going. Yes, it's picturesque and yes, there are a few things there to see but before I would trim off time in Berlin or Vienna I would drop Budapest. Or...no more than one or two nights.
If you like Salzburg, consider renting a car in Vienna and driving there. Enjoy a Norther route going, and take a Southern route on your return. There is a lot to see and enjoy between Vienna and Salzburg that is often overlooked. The Gosser beer tour is fun....

Travel Boss, don't compromise on a sure bet, if that is what Berlin is for you. There will be other trips.

To assume everyone from every walk of life and every age will have a consensus is sort of denying that we are individuals. I only talk about Budapest so much because I am sort of simple minded and it's the only place I know enough about to be helpful and accurate; not because I think it's the end-all for everyone. Follow your heart ..... and have an amazing trip.

The term I like is what "speaks to you" which is where the answer is and unfortunately there is at best and indication but not an answer until you actually get there. So, maybe a trip with several short stays will give you some ideas for future trips.

A few years ago a couple asked me to help plan a trip to Europe for them (their first). They wanted nature and the sea and bla, bla, bla. So I sent them to Croatia, Montenegro, Bosnia and told them they had to stop in Budapest before they returned home. They loved everything about the plan but Budapest. They told me later that they only went to Budapest so they wouldn't hurt my feelings. This year i helped them purchase a flat in Budapest and in June they will make their 4th visit in 18 months.

I have other acquaintances that have visited me when I was there and the result was "yea, it was good, can I go now". Its all good.

Still, I would pass both to arrive in Cesky Krumlov early one day and leave late the next afternoon. April tourism may not be that bad and the city isn’t bad from mid-afternoon till late morning the next day after all of the day tourists have left.

I agree with this - I enjoyed Prague but loved Cesky Krumlov and it's definitely worth staying there for a night.

It is SO much a matter of preference and time and there’s no right answer. I have not yet been to Berlin (or much of Germany) yet; but for a first visit, it does not seem like you have too much time there. Especially if you arrive in Berlin - you may not be as “up and running” on your first day as later in your trip.

I would be in the camp of taking a night from Vienna and giving it to Budapest, if it weren’t for the fact that you will be visiting friends in Vienna. That brings a different dynamic to your choices. Given that, it looks to me like you have a good progression and flow. And I think you just have to price your own flights and see what works best for where you start. If you flip and start in Budapest, then you may be shorting it a night because of jet lag.

Thanks again for all your thoughts. I'm now locked into flying into Berlin, four nights there and two in Potsdam. Next stop Dresden for three nights. Before completely leaving Germany we'll make a day stop in Bad Schandau on the way to Prague to see the Saxon-Schweitz Park.

In Prague we'll have four nights, with a lot of day trips. First to Kutna Hora, second to Karlstejn. Finally, on our way to Vienna, we'll make a day stop in Brno (see the center and get lunch). Since we'll be there over a weekend, I plan to make the day trips to escape the weekend crowds. We'll cover the few sights we hope to tour in one day and spend evenings strolling and enjoying the (crowded) ambiance.

We have five nights planned in Vienna, seeing sights and visiting friends. I expect we can also slow down here with five days after a fairly rushed itinerary in Prague. On the way from Prague to Budapest, we'll stop in Bratislava to stroll the old center and get lunch.

The last four nights are in Budapest, then, sadly, we fly home - with fresh travel memories to keep us company until the next trip (Italy in October/November?).

Sounds like a great trip

The only non-stop from the U.S. is to Berlin on United Airlines from Newark and Washington-Dulles (after May 25, 2023)

Delta is offering flights, in July at least, nonstop from JFK.