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Which Central Europe Cities for 17-Day Trip?

Posted by (Near Atlanta, Georgia) on

Hello fellow travelers,

My 65 year old mother and I will be going to Central Europe for 17 days this October. I have never been to this area, and am hoping to see medieval architecture and experience local cultures. Here are the cities I am interested in, but I really need advice on which cities are a MUST for a first-time visit, as well as how many nights to spend in each. I also need advice on the best route to take.

A side note: I saw how cheap fares are from Munich to Istanbul through Turkish Airlines, and was hoping to end my journey with a 2 or 3 day stop in Istanbul before flying home to Atlanta. Therefore the last city of the tour would be Munich (or possibly Berlin). If we go that route, the total number of days in Central Europe would decrease to 14 or 15.

Prague (would like to do a day trip to a smaller town/castle nearby)
Cesky Krumlov
Vienna
Salzburg (day trip to Hallstatt?)
Budapest
Bratislava
Nuremberg
Munich
(and finally Istanbul)

Thanks so much!

Posted by
3644 posts

Vienna is one of my favorite cities in the world. It has mind-boggling architecture, not medieval, but Jugendstil (Art Nouveau) and fabulous art museums. Three days would only scratch the surface. It is easy to visit the medieval monastery of Melk as a day trip from Vienna.
Cesky Krumlov can easily be seen in a day; but getting there from Prague and back takes up so much time, it’s better to plan to stay a night.

Posted by
4637 posts

For medieval architecture out of your choices you won't find anything better than Prague. Two relatively big medieval neighborhoods. Then Budapest, Vienna and of course ISTANBUL. If you don't have time for the rest, skip it this time. Cesky Krumlov and Hallstatt are little gems and already known well. Expect crowds. Logistically this order would make sense: Prague -> Cesky Krumlov -> Vienna -> Budapest -> Istanbul. From Budapest to Istanbul fly, the rest is doable by train. To make it faster from C.K. to Vienna take a shuttle or at least from C.K. to Linz then train. You got 4 days in each city, one night in Cesky Krumlov. This is how I would do it. I visited all of your cities plus C.K. and Hallstatt.

Posted by
6614 posts

Vienna, Budapest, Prague. I love that their history is interconnected because all were a part of the AustroHungarian Empire. If you are ending in Munich, my advice regardless of the other cities you choose would be to get to Vienna towards the tail end of your trip, enjoy Vienna, take the train to Salzburg and enjoy for a couple days and then take the Bayern train to Munich. As I think this thru more, you could consider the following--Budapest, Vienna (with a day trip to Bratislava), Salzburg (possible daytrip to Hallstat) and Munich (with a day trip to Fussen if castles are of interest)

Posted by
12315 posts

I like Berlin, Dresden, Prague, Vienna and Budapest as a logical swing.

Posted by
4636 posts

I would spend 3 days in Istanbul-there's a lot to see there. We combined our trip to Turkey with Salzburg, Rothenburg and Fussen(because our daughter wanted to see the castle) and Istanbul was our favorite. I would limit other cities to 4-no 2 night stops. However, if you are flying through Munich, you could do 1 or 2 nights in Fussen, a town which I really enjoyed.

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