I’m planning a 7-day trip in the last week of November or early December to enjoy the Christmas ambiance, festive atmosphere, and importantly, sightseeing. I’m debating whether to:
Spend all 7 days in Budapest or Vienna, explore the city and take day trips to nearby towns
OR
Split my time between Budapest and Vienna maybe 3–4 days in each.
Would you recommend focusing on just one city and its surroundings or is it worth including both Budapest and Vienna?
Any suggestions would be appreciated!
You know it depends on you. You say 7 days but you are coming from India and I dont know flight times. Hopefully you mean 7 full days in Europe? Then I think doning both works if you dont mind short stays. 3 in Viena and 3 in Budapest and one day split between them as a travel day. Sure, why not. Two fairly distinct cultures and two fairly distinct physical environments but just 2.5 hours apart.
Here is the Christmas market thread for Budapest and some other information threads. I believe Emily did some detail on the Vienna Christmas Markets. Look for that as well.
Christmas Markets: https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/hungary/the-christmas-markets-open-soon-in-budapest
Vienna to Budapest by Train: https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/hungary/vienna-to-budapest-by-train AND https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/hungary/vienna-to-budapest-or-budapes-to-vienna-train-tickets-or-budpaest-elsewhere
Hotels: https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/hungary/rs-forum-favorite-hotels-and-their-cost
In 2015, I visited both Budapest and Vienna and returned to Budapest in 2022.
I believe it's worth seeing both cities. Each is distinctive and has its own treasures, culture and flavor. Of the two cities, I slightly prefer Budapest over Vienna, but it is a fabulous city, too. It's like a 51-49 preference.
Budapest has two great small towns nearby worth visiting: Pecs (3 hours or so by train to the south), Eger (1.5 hours or so to the northeast) and others. In addition, wine country is near Budapest.
Vienna has Salzburg and Hallstatt and other great towns. The hiking in Austria can't be beat, given the alpine views, except perhaps Switzerland.
How many nights is seven days?
