berlin, prague, vienna, budapest, munich trip HELP

Hi Shira - you are trying to cover a lot of distances, even given the time that you have. From Munich, train times are 4 and more hours to any of your other cities.

Have you already purchased your flights? If not, have you researched flying into ...say ….Munich and out of Berlin or Budapest? Even doing that, you would still have a lot of distances to cover, which will eat in to your time to actually enjoy each city.

Edited to add: even if such an open jaw flight is a bit more expensive, you may find it preferable to traveling back to Munich, consuming significant travel time, which is your most valuable commodity once in Europe!!

If your priority is see all 5 cities, you may wish to consider 1 or perhaps even 2 internal flights. You could fly to Munich and then fly/train to Berlin. From there it's reasonable to travel to Prague, then Vienna, then Budapest. From Budapest you'll either need a long (perhaps overnight) train back to Munich, or fly.

A majority on this forum would advise against overnight trains, but again, depending on your priorities, you may wish to consider it. I personally enjoy them as a fun experience unto themselves, but you will get very clear feedback that I am in the minority and you'll be so tired that your next day of travel may be miserable.

You might also consider dropping (say) Berlin and Prague and saving those for a subsequent trip. From Munich, go (perhaps by way of added city Salzburg) to Vienna, then Budapest and fly/long train back to Munich.

Your age group and your main interests would help me to come up with relevant recommendations.

In total 16 days are not much for these 5 locations. Berlin can easily keep you entertained for a week. Also: these are all cities - no countrysides, no landscapes.

Be aware that every European country is a little bit special on its own, e.g. some basic travel tips for Germany. For Berlin and Munich I would definitely recommend hotels or hostels.

I suggest to fly in / out of Berlin and the most southern city of your trip - so different ones. Otherwise you will waste time and money in traveling back.

Thanks for the advices

We already got the tickets. We really wanted to start in Munich and finish in Berlin, (buying open flight) but they were almost $400 more with 2 or more stops.
We are in our early 30's.

Munich and Berlin are only 4 hrs apart on the ICE Sprinter. You might start this circular trip by going to Berlin immediately after landing in Munich, then working your way back via Prague, Budapest, Vienna, finally back in Munich.

Re: making the most out of trains in light of your priorities:

In that regard night train connections exist between Munich and Berlin, which I've taken a few times), the new night route between Berlin and Vienna (going through Poland), Berlin to Budapest, Munich to Vienna, Prague to Vienna. No problems taking night trains, you won't be the only ones in the cheapest seats on board

Depending on which order you are visiting these cities, you do have the extra option of doing night routes between them.

Of course, your friend would have to be agreeable to that option too.

Still missing interests. Based on your two named sights I guess castles & palaces as well as Nazi & Holocuast stuff plus typical top ones.

Based on given and guessed information I would skip Budapest (little bit out of the way from the other four). For these the order of the round trip is very obvious based on locations in Europe. On the way stops between Munich and Berlin are Nuremberg and Bamberg; between Berlin and Prague it is Dresden.

For rough info about travel options and prices GoEuro can help to collect an overview of costs for round trips clockwise or counter clockwise. Check also ho(s)tel prices at dates - at certain events the accomodation in these cities can get expensive.

For Berlin I recommend a HoHo bus or a walking tour, the German Historic Museum (to understand context of histiry), the top 10 of VisitBerlin and the palaces of Potsdam. Tip: a tour with a German guide increse the chance to get more info than what is standing in a history and guide book. Made last weekend a tour in my own city which was an interestng experience. do not miss to experience some evening atosphere or nightlife at a warm sunny evening.

And do not wonder to find "Florida" icecream in blue cool boxes in supermarkets. It is a beloved local icecream manufacturer which made the jump into mass production. The original shop is in outer district Spandau; at wall times there were lanes of a few hundred meters on high summer Sunday afternoons. Still today there are pictures of Florida artists at the wall.

I did the same 5 cities with 22 nights. You have 15 nights which, I think, means you will have to skimp on some of those cities. 3 nights in a city gives you 2 full days plus maybe a half day, depending on travel time to your next location - you have to plan on at least a half day travel between each of the cities. That doesn't leave you very much time for the city and hardly any for a day trip to somewhere else. In fact, I think Munich is the only city you have on your list that you can do justice to with only 3 nights. Personally for your amount of time I would suggest that you leave Budapest for another time. It's really the outlier in your itinerary. I would transfer immediately from Munich to Berlin, then to Prague, Vienna, and end in Munich since you'll be flying out of there. The other option would be to skip Berlin and go from Munich to Prague to Budapest to Vienna and back to Munich. I know it's tempting to add that 5th location (Budapest or Berlin) but it's really not practical in your time frame.