Viking River Cruise

John,

Since the cruise already includes at least one full day of sightseeing in Budapest, I personally would opt for the Prague extension. Just my opinion...

This, of course, depends on whether or not you have any real interest in Prague or whether there are sites in Budapest the limited time will prevent you from seeing. I would go to tourist web sites/blogs for each city and do a little more research before committing one way or the other.

Good advice. Thanks.

Pre or post, that's sort of expensive. A really good hotel in Budapest is under $200 a night.

James is right. You can do it on your own cheaper. Wether to decide between Prague or Budapest is about evenly divided on this forum. Both are eye candies with gorgeous views across the river. (Vltava in Prague, Danube in Budapest). Prague has two medieval neighborhoods. Very few local people live there. Many hotels, restaurants, pubs, souvenir stores, tourists. For samples of local life you have to go to other neighborhoods. In Budapest which lacks these fairy-tale medieval neighborhoods the tourists are more spread around and you can see local life everywhere. Budapest with its wide grandiose boulevards looks like a capital of a bigger country than Hungary which it was. It has some oriental exotic feel - that's a heritage after 100 years occupation by Ottoman Empire. You can taste it in local cuisine, too. Local wine is famous. The most famous is Tokay. If you are into beer - then Prague. Excellent and cheap.
These sites may help you decide:
https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/general-europe/prague-or-budapest
https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/to-the-east/prague-or-budapest-807fdf90-ab0e-4e6b-ad87-6a1a45b1cf66
https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/to-the-east/prague-or-budapest-443231ee-68b3-4ce6-a529-de66f9237a1f
https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/to-the-east/prague-or-budapest-6041fe36-62a2-4ae3-ad86-b9540792d965
https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/to-the-east/prague-or-budapest-f22ff08e-8e96-473e-99bc-03e02a69ccf5
http://www.bbqboy.net/prague-budapest-visit/

Thanks, I will check out the on my own option. Great suggestion.

I would do 2 days at each end. I've heard a few riverboat goers complain that they had wished they had spent more time at each end. I am pretty biased and think you need at a minimum three full days in Budapest. A full day is when you wake and go to bed in the same town so you could say 4 nights. Prague I cold live with 2 full days or 3 nights; and those are minimums. But it depends a lot on your interests and age, average alcohol intake, etc. Unless something in your research just yells "this is me!", I would split it evenly or slightly to Budapest (based primarily on size).

I agree with the other comments that the Viking prices to add on are high. We took the Viking Danube from Budapest to Passau last year and spent three days in Budapest before the cruise and three days in Prague post cruise. Since we were traveling with another couple we rented airbnb apartments in both cities. It was less expensive, convenient, spacious and fun. Since we weren't traveling to Prague with Viking, we used Prague Airport Transfers to get to Prague. I reserved online prior to our trip, a driver met us at the ship, delivered us to our apartment, and the service included a complimentary walking tour the next day with an excellent guide. I hope you enjoy this beautiful and fascinating part of the world as much as we did.

If you really want to spend extra time and can figure out how to book it on your own, do so. We did a river cruise in Germany a few years ago, and booked our own pre-trip in Munich. We just returned from a river cruise of the Douro River in Portugal. The cruise line was going to charge us $400 per person to do 3 days in Lisbon. I found a lovely hotel for 100 euro per night on my own. We used Rick's book as a guide and did all of our touring on our own. The cost for the 3 days was at least 1/2 of what the cruise line was going to charge us. Frankly, we enjoyed our time in Lisbon on our own much more than the cruise, because we could see the things we wanted to see and do them at our own pace.

Having said that, Prague is beautiful, so I would highly recommend spending a couple extra days there if you can.

Our pattern is always a couple extra days at either end on our own. We always do several extra days at the beginning so that we handle jet lag on own instead of during the cruise.

Did you fly into Munich & then go to Budapest? Sounds like a nice option if it's not too complicated.

We did the reverse cruise last year, Nuremburg to Budapest, and enjoyed the cruise. The Danube was too low to sail into Budapest, so we docked elsewhere and were bussed in. Most of the sights we were just driven past, with a stop at Matthias Church and Fisherman's Bastion.

We opted to stay the extra 2 days in Budapest, on our own, at House Belatage ( Maria utca 8 in Budapest.)
Their website is housebelatage.hu We had a huge room and walked or took the subway everywhere. The staff here was most helpful with restaurant recommendations, where to find an ATM, and calling a taxi to the airport. I would not hesitate to stay again.

This was our first time in Budapest and we didn't have time for all we wanted to see. It's very economical, safe and has the cleanest subway system I have every seen!

Enjoy your trip!

I agree with the others who suggest you do both on your own. It is fun to do a little planning on your own – choosing a hotel and getting the lay of the land. It is easy to choose hotels on the web and you don't have to pay in advance unless you want to. Taking a taxi from the airport to your hotel is also straightforward and will save you the transfer charges from Viking. Jkr

At the Budapest end look at the K&K Opera Hotel for a good example of the quality you can find for under $125 a night. For under $300 a night you can do a 5 star like the Cornithian or the Boscolo. Your taxi from the airport will set you back about $25.00

How are the river cruises for sea sickness/swaying etc compared to big cruise ships?

Bump for response

If you do the Viking Prague extension from Nuremberg how do you get there? Does Viking transport you via chartered bus? We are considering doing this same cruise next spring.

I believe if you use Viking's extra tour, it includes transportation...give them a call to make sure.

How are the river cruises for sea sickness/swaying etc compared to big cruise ships?

Well, I've never been on a big cruise ship, but you'll hardly feel any movement on a VRC. Most of the sailing is done at night when you are asleep. Also, there is very little engine noise, at most you may notice a low hum if you're at the stern of the ship.

We added two days to our Rhine cruise from Basel to Amsterdam. We were booked into a luxury hotel with breakfast included. The price also included a morning walking orientation tour of Amsterdam.

I suggest you carefully study what is being offered for the price and decide if it is worth it. Our stay in Amsterdam was a splurge, we normally don't stay in fancy digs. We were also traveling with another much less adventurous couple. I'm sure you could find accommodations for less, it will just take more work on your part. With some careful planning, you might be able to do both for the price of the Budapest stay.

There's another way to look at it. What are your chances of returning to either? Even at the prices VRC charges, it would be much less than trying to come back to see either. You've got over a year to eat P&J's to save your pennies.