Options--would love your thoughts on 2024 plans. Update 01-07 with more questions!

There is a night train between Budapest and Auschwitz (Oswiecim) / Krakow that stops in Bratislava. Budapest is 2h 30m from Bratislava. Buy a ticket between Budapest and Bratislava and book a sleeper car between Bratislava and Oswiecim / Krakow. This is what I did and got off in Oswiecim and took a taxi to Auschwitz and stored my luggage in the left luggage building at Auschwitz. You won’t be the only one doing this. After touring Auschwitz, catch a bus outside the entrance where you arrived and go to Krakow (1h 30m). This way you won’t have to include Auschwitz as a day trip from Krakow.
Czechia is an outlier for both areas you plan to visit. When do you want to fit this in? A train from Salzburg to Cesky Krumlov requires two transfers taking 4h 30m. It takes even longer from Munich. Innsbruck is 2h from Salzburg by direct train which is a good jumping off point to get to Bolzano (2h 15m): https://int.bahn.de/en.

Night trains don't always provide a decent night's sleep, so I'd be cautious about using them. The Bratislava-Krakow train departs at about 10 PM and arrives just after 6 AM. The May 9 schedule (my randomly selected date) shows it makes seven stops along the way, at 10:47, 11:04, 2:26, 2:35, 4:05, 4:36 and 4:57 (that's Oswiecim). Will you be able to sleep through all that braking and accelerating? Stopping off to see Auschwitz wouldn't work with a 5 AM arrival time, and even if the train ran a lot later, I'd be afraid of being dead on my feet and too fuzzy-brained to understand what I was seeing. If you arrived in town after a nearly sleepless night, you could well have a long, miserable period until you were able to check into your hotel.

All your ideas for that spring trip sound great to me--I've either been to the destinations or have them mentally slotted into my next trip to the area. I think it comes down to how many days you're willing to spend moving from place to place. You could easily spend a full week in Budapest and and five nights in Krakow. Poland has many lovely small towns where you could spend multiple months, but this may not be the year you want to do a deep dive into that country, especially since Budapest is going to take up a lot of your time.

I'd look into transportation between the various areas you've mentioned. Some options will probably be easier than others, which might allow you to streamline your list of options. The easiest would probably be to see some of rural southwestern Poland (an area I do not know at all) and Slovakia. Slovenia isn't as geographically convenient, but it's a rather small country, so you'd be able to cover it pretty decently in the time you'll have left after Budapest and Krakow. But use skyscanner to check on the availability of flights to Ljubljana; I don't think there are a lot of them.

acraven makes a good point about timing of night train if you take it to Auschwitz. I love night trains and took one from Krakow to Prague in June and was able to get a fairly good night’s sleep. I’d suggest either doing Budapest to Krakow or vice-versa. You can drop bags at hotel front desk and then grab an afternoon nap if need be after checking in. I’ve taken bus from Krakow to Auschwitz twice for day trip and it works very well.

I have pondered your trip a few times and had a few thoughts.

Let’s say you have 21 nights. You plan a 5 night stay in Budapest, which I think is wise, especially with a day in Eger (you could even do 6 nights).

Staying 5 nights, though, leaves 16 nights. Krakow will require at least 3 nights - better with 4 since you plan a day for Auschwitz. I also spent 2 days driving through the gorgeous Tatras following the wooden churches after my last Krakow stay.

So, without the Tatras, you have 12 nights remaining. Poland has some wonderful small cities (and Carlos could help you more with specific ones) and if you are already in Poland, why not see more of it? Wroclaw is charming and worth 2-3 nights. Torun the same. Let’s say 3 & 2, leaving 7 nights. You now have some more difficult choices. Warsaw could easily take all 7. Or you could do 6 and give somewhere else an extra night. Or you could continue on up to Gdansk, which can easily fill 4 nights (I had 5).

Another thought would be to head east from Budapest, through Eger, toward Kocise, Slovakia. Gradually make your way to Krakow via the mountains and Zakopane perhaps. You can get to Kocise easily by train and perhaps hire a driver for onward if the busses aren’t convenient.

Just thoughts…..

Thanks folks, really great considerations, perfect insights for this stage of our trip planning.

We have made some progress but have more questions!

Is the night train inevitably disruptive? Yeah, I'm not sure I'll sleep through all that braking and accerating.

We have moved our schedule from May to September due to work considerations, so are thinking now we'll land in Krakow and leave Budapest for the end. Currently this is what it looks like...

Sat Sept 7 arr Krakow mid-morning after TATL red-eye. Spend at least 4 days in Krakow, including a day trip to Auschwitz. Rent a car as we leave Krakow, heading for Brno in Czechia. (About 3.5 hrs by car.) Along the way we've considered stopping somewhere small like Katovice for a night or so (or somewhere else smaller, and less touristed), or detouring a little bit to Wroclaw. Looks like Wroclaw is about 3 hrs from Krakow? After Brno we were thinking we'd drive to Bratislava for a couple of days before we drop the car back in Krakow. But we probably wouldn't do BOTH Wroclaw and Bratislava. That would give us a total of 8-10 days before we hit Budapest. Brno sounds very nice and allows us to dip into Czechia without adding a lot of distance.

So Krakow to Budapest. We don't think we need to drive that part and were thinking the night train. Then a lightbulb went off and I remembered Bratislava is on the way to Budapest, so why not get off the train in Bratislava for a couple of days instead of driving there...Or a train during the day if the night train isn't what we want.

Probably 5 nights in Budapest, I like having a place to settle at some point in the trip, so we'd probably look for an apartment type accommodation. A couple of nights in Eger. I know we could do a day trip but we honestly don't love long day trips, would rather pick up and move. We intend to use the train to get to Eger. (Interested in doing some wine tourism there, and expect we can probably book a local tour to get to estates.) Back to Budapest to get home.

We found we still had a few days. (Won't be flying home til Mon Sept 30 as it's a holiday.) Do we beef up something in there already? Or maybe...fly to Paris? I know that's out of left-field! We are travelling on points and can easily and cheaply add a stopover, and Paris has lots of good routes. We had our first visit to Paris in 2022 (with our kids, then 19 and 22) and honestly it was not stellar. we have talked about going back without them, and we figure we could include 3 or 4 days in the time we have. Though we are also considering renting a car and hitting up a small town near Paris, like Chartres, instead of staying in the city. To be honest, hotel rates in Paris make my eyes water. I want something decent and central, and I'm not willing to pay $350-400 Cdn a night to get that.

Would love more opinions and considerations I may have missed!

the braking and accelerating on night trains is done gently when possible

DEFINITELY do the towns on the Wolfgangsee. Strobl is on my list of favourite Christmas markets.

Help again! Am searching for the night train, but I can't seem to find a place that has the exact schedule and prices. I see some references to train numbers on this page...https://www.eurail.com/en/plan-your-trip/trip-ideas/trains-europe/night-trains/en-chopin but then can't seem to get to the actual schedule or booking.

Eurail is not a train operator and there no special 'Eurail' trains. You use the regular scheduled trains run by the participating train operators, the same trains that we Europeans travel on.
https://www.seat61.com/how-to-use-a-eurail-pass.htm#railpass-or-point-to-point-tickets

The train company may not have released their schedule for the dates you want to travel, and consequently Eurail cannot display the info you seek

Please reconsider using either Eurail or Rail Europe for information. They only show some trains and no money saving techniques. Use the train operators.

The first trip will be sometime in late spring probably and will take
the lion's share--three weeks. Must dos: Budapest and Krakow,
including Auschwitz. (I've been to Budapest, dh hasn't, neither of us
have been to Poland.)

Always buy train tickets from the company that serves the originating country.

So, starting with Budapest.
You have been before so there must be an interest, or you enjoyed and you want to show it to dh and drill down a bit deeper for your own interest.

A “good”, not great, first visit to Budapest and Budapest alone is four full days. But you are experienced and there may be a few things you don’t want to repeat because they didn’t speak to you. But you fill that time with new things. So, still four full days. That will cover a half day in Szentendre as well.

Now for Eger. That’s a day up and a night and a day back to begin to do it justice and if you are really into the wine scene you would need at least one more night. But lets leave it at 2 days. Now your Budapest trip is 6 full days at a minimum.

But, if Hungary interests you there are a couple of other overnight (or 2 night trips):
Gyor and the Archabbey at Pannonhalma https://youtu.be/kBYsexwEbPc?feature=shared and https://youtu.be/NbH6u0J-Xos?feature=shared
Pecs
Lillafüred https://youtu.be/h3Ug63uIXs0?feature=shared
Tihany on lake Balaton https://youtu.be/Jwhd8vO0ZO4?feature=shared

Then other day trips might include:
Szentendre: https://youtu.be/KHTrW5AUs9E?feature=shared
Kecskemét https://youtu.be/u8XY8TxK_4k?feature=shared
Vac (and maybe the Bear Farm nearby) https://youtu.be/InDkSA-tnYg?feature=shared and https://medveotthon.hu/
Visegrad https://youtu.be/36VE0zKOWqA?feature=shared
Esztergom https://youtu.be/8QnjPTTj82c?feature=shared
Or Budapest is surrounded by Vineyards and I know the perfect guide to visit one or two.

(sometimes people try and do Szentendre, Visegrad and Esztergom in one long day trip. Its really too much for a day, but any two of the three can be done in a long day).

Let’s face it, if you want to really soak it in, this is at least an 10 day trip. For hotels, we tackle that next. I have ideas.

Then a week in Slovakia would be a possibility. I think it’s one of the best kept secrets in Europe. The trouble is transportation within the country. Requires a rental car. Possibly train from Budapest to Kosice and rent the car there and drop it off in Bratislava. Followed by a train to Vienna to catch the night train to Krakow? If that sounds tempting at all, I suspect that the forum will help you plan a week in Slovakia.

Finally a week in Krakow.

Or skip Slovakia this trip and just go direct to Krakow and spend 10+ days touring Poland. Texas Travel Mom just spent a month or something there so listen to her.

One last wrinkle. I would do it in reverse so you end up in Budapest where you can hang out and relax and live the good life.

Sooooooo many decisions. Not fair.

Mr E I was cruising the Hungary forum before bed last night (appreciating your expertise and generosity to share it) and I'm so glad you chimed in! Yes, I spent a month in Budapest for work, which is different of course than pleasure travel...would you believe I didn't make it to Castle Hill or the Fisherman's Bastion? So I still have things to discover, and I want to show my husband what I loved. I will sift through your points later today I hope, and probably move to the Hungary forum soon. Would love your thoughts on transpo and accommodations. As we have a longer time there I'd love something more apartment like, so we can settle in (and maybe cook once or twice), but I'm not sure where to look. AirBnB has become a fair bit more trouble than it used to be...

For what you are talking about an AirBnb is probably a good choice. My preference is a block or two each side or the other of Andrassy ut, but stay in District VI as 3 blocks off Andrassy ut, District VII begins and thats sort of a party zone at night. Kiraly utca is the border.

What you can do is look at listings on AirBnb or one of the other listing sites and tell me the address or if the address isn't shown, show me the listing and I can usually track down the building. Then I can tell you about the neighborhood and how far it is from transportation.

I havent heard any local AirBnb horror stories .......... yet. You can always copy a bit of the descriptive text out of the AirBnb listing and use it as a google search. Most of the short term rentals are on multiple platforms and you might find a platform that makes you feel more comfortable. You might even hit on the actual owners website and do business direct. Just make sure its licensed. There are a fair number not licensed. I can help with all of that.

For what you are interested in (i think) it also works because you just keep the airbnb when you do overnight trips. Then come home.

Transportation is easy, you get a 15 day pass for 6.300 ft. (about $18 or a tad more than a dollar a day) and you ride the trams and metro and busses with no effort or fuss. It will even get you half way to Szentendre and the second half is 400 ft (about buck-twenty five).

September is my favorite time of year here.

Hey Joe and Nigel, if you can give me a link for train info I'd love to try it. I did poke around a bit last night and couldn't find much. I know trains in Europe don't have the huge booking window we planners like so I was looking at mid-February as a test case, and still couldn't find what I was looking for. I did find a few that had multiple connections from Krakow to Bratislava or Budapest but changing trains at 3 am is too much for me!

Well, I will be interested in what you find for the night train. I like riding trains, have tons of time so I don’t have to worry if one night of sleep isn’t top quality, but like you not interested in changing trains during the night.

I have staying in a couple of hotels in Budapest but have not had any trouble with Air Bnb there. I admit I haven’t stayed in much variety - but I have reserved and cancelled quite a few. 🤣 An apartment there is a good choice.

I had a couple of nights in Eger and a couple in Lillifured scheduled last Oct and had to cancel - but had planned to go from there to Kocise, rent a car, and return it in Banska Bystrica before bussing on to Budapest. So I will be interested to see what you wind up with.

Likewise I do love Krakow also. It fits me. Poland is very interesting. In June (my second trip), I rented a car for 2 days and followed a number of the wooden churches south of Krakow - it was a beautiful 2 days of scenery.

I looked in the Hungarian rail site and no night trains between Krakow and Budapest. https://jegy.mav.hu/ unless it's a summer thing.

I guess if it were me I would spend 10 days touring Poland with TexasTravrlMoms help, then fly RyanAir from Warsaw to Budapest (80 min and under $100) and do another 10 days or so here.

For Budapest TexasTravelMom and a few others have come so often the past few years that they will need to get residency. So post in Hungary and you will get lots of suggestions.

I had a positive AirB&B experience two years ago while in Budapest for the F1 Race. Studio, just off Hollo u. Only negative was a third-floor walkup. It had AC, which was needed due to the street noise in this part of town.

I couldn’t tell where you are considering returning the car you might rent in Krakow. If not Poland, remember to check for the often (but not always) large fee for dropping in a different country. I did not find driving in Poland hard, except for driving the speed limit when no one else wanted to - lol. However, I would say that unless you have a definite plan to get out into some smaller villages, it might be more trouble than help.

Edit: nevermind, found it. Mr. É might be on to something though, with the suggestion to end up in Warsaw and fly to Budapest from there. It would save back-tracking. With suggestions from Carlos, I rented in Wroclaw and dropped off in Krakow, but you could easily flip it and drop in Warsaw instead. I ended up with several nights in Swidnica, actually staying at hotel on the grounds of the Peace Church, for something very comfy yet fairly unusual.