Prague, Vienna, and Budapest

https://store.ricksteves.com/shop/p/eastern-europe-guidebook is probably the best guidance . . . from the horse's mouth

For Budapest I like the DK Eyewitness Guide Book; and I have bought just about every guide book on Budapest over the years.

I stand by Rick Steves for Europe and Lonely Planet for everything else. I've also used the Rough Guides. In my 20s, I used the Let's Go guidebooks, which are oriented towards young people. Though I am not completely sure, I believe they are digital only now.

Rick has good guidebooks for each city but really watch as many YouTube videos as possible. Rick has his video online so just type in his name. It is a good idea to read and if your a visual learner watch. These cities are full of tourists and prepared for all of us to arrive. Language is not going to be a problem and your restaurants and hotels are as good as they come. I would and I have gotten the Rick's city guides and also looked at various itineraries from different tour agencies. We also do hop on and hop off sightseeing bus tours, but I don't recommend Prague or for that matter Vienna. Do the Budapest tour and make sure you do the night river cruise. Also, if you find time you cannot beat a few hours at a spa. Get online, I recommend Booking.com and start hunting for hotels. You're going to pay a premium in the summer. We booked in November. If you can still get into Motel One Staatsoper in Vienna, try them. It's behind the opera house.

Rick has good guidebooks for each city but really watch as many
YouTube videos as possible. Rick has his video online so just type in
his name. It is a good idea to read and if your a visual learner
watch.

But be aware that the Budapest video was made in 2004 and a few things have changed in 20 years. So my favorite Budapest Video. https://youtu.be/1nd5AtZIrTk?feature=shared

The HOHO tour in Budapest is about $51 for buses departing on a set route every 20 to 30 minutes from 9 am to 5 pm. But you also get:
3-day unlimited HOHO pass

• Stops near all the major sights
• Audio guide in 16 languages
• Danube River boat tour
• 1-hr guided walking tour of Budapest

In Budapest a 72 hour TravelCard is about $16 and will take you all of the same places as the HOHO bus, public transportation generally runs every 3 to 6 minutes until at least 11pm (some 24 hour) and the routes are up to you.

• The HOHO equivalent river cruise is about $12. But upgrade to a nice evening cruise or a dinner cruise for $35 to $80 last time I looked.
• No Audio Guide this way.
• Plenty of Free Walking tours ... google.

In Budapest a Mid-range hotel is about $150 in high season.
https://liveadventuretravel.com/is-budapest-cheap/

But to be fair to the HOHO, if you dont want to do a lot of planning. Buy a ticket, take all the routes and you will see all of Budapest's top 10.

We are doing the same trip this May. What I did was hit all the websites such as Fodors.com, Ricksteves.com, Frommers.com, andd TimeOut.com and reviewed what they say about the various cities. I then went to Barnes and Noble and see what travel books worked for me. I have always aim to get the travel books on the individual cities. Frommers has always been a favorite for me. I also like Fodors Top Ten, but only to take on the trip so we don't forget anything that we should do. I then hit the Travel Forums and live on them everyday to get info. The best forum for this trip has been Rick Steves. You find some great people like Mr. E. and TravelTexasMom that are really helpful. I didn't like the TripAdvisor forums as they were not as friendly or helpful.

Hope this helps.

I would not rely solely on Rick Steves guidebooks because they are not comprehensive. He leaves out many interesting places. Based on firsthand experience, I can highly recommend Lonely Planet, Michelin Green Guide, and Rough Guides.

Ah, thanks, Katie! And you are right - there are a lot of really helpful people on the forum. I remember my first foray back into traveling - and into brand new places. Some to answer my first questions were Nigel and Lola - both still answering questions today.

I will say when I first encountered this forum (and TripAdvisor) in planning that trip, I read every single question and answer looking for the nuggets that popped into comments randomly. I started with the two countries I was going to, but just kept going. I used Rick’s books for Prague and Vienna, but by the time I got to Budapest, there was even more here.

Wow, thanks everyone for all your great suggestions! I went ahead and got the Rick Steves Central Europe book so I have a base from which to start, and I will continue adding more info from other sources until my time runs out, LOL!!