Budapest-Vienna-Prague - 10 Days

In Prague we stayed ay the Hotel Hastal. Short walk to town square, beautiful old world building and great service and breakfast. It was in Rick’s book and we booked directly with the hotel. There is a great restaurant on the next block called Lokal, local place, inexpensive. We ate there 2x.
In cesky Krumlov we also used rick’s recommendation and stayed at Castle View Apartments, right in the center, also clean, nice breakfast. Booked directly with them.
In Vienna we booked through booking.com and stayed at Hotel City-Central. A very short walk to the city center, fabulous breakfast, clean and very nice staff. We would stay at any of these hotels again. Price was middle of the road.
In Budapest we stayed on the Buda side at the Hilton - employee discount. If we didn’t get such a great deal I would stay on the Pest side. We walked to town, over the bridge, not horrible but Like I said I would stay on the Pest side.

It's all preference, but I would stat one day more in Budapest, especially given the long trip there. I would take the day from Vienna.

There are actually 3 towns that formed Budapest; Buda, Pest and Obuda. Most of what you are going to see and eat will be in Pest. Read some of the recent posts for information on hotels.

Not too many responses. Odd???

For Budapest, I stayed in Pest at the Best Western Parlament Premier. I liked it alot. People were great, room was spotless and the included breakfast was extensive. It was in a more residential area about 4 blocks from Parlament. Some might want to be closer to Parlament, the river or the Pest market area. In Vienna I stayed in Hotel Austria and very emphatically recommend it. It is close to St. Stephens, smaller and charming, spotless and the best included breakfast I have ever had and any hotel/inn/BnB EVER! People on this forum that stayed there have reported that they were very pleased. I think I'd want the amount of time you have allocated for Vienna is about right, especially if you plan a day to Schobrunn, tho I am really quite a fan of Budapest as well. For Prague, I also am a fan of Hotel Hastal. Nice people, centrally located by the old town, big rooms and also an included breakfast. For all three, I booked via email directly to the inn.

Looking at similar trip in Sept except Prague to Budapest. How do I best get to Cesky Krumlov from Prague and then to Vienna? Thanks

Kerry, it's best to start your own thread so Nitish doesn't receive an email every time someone answers your question.

There are some shuttles to and from Cesky Krumlov. If you use the Search function on this website, you'll probably find some earlier discussions. If that doesn't work, Google ricksteves.com forum Krumlov . Google has a much better Search function.

scythian, thanks for the links. I need to emphasize that from Ceske Budejovice to Cesky Krumlov there is a private operator of this train and you will need to buy a ticket. CD (Czech Rail) ticket is not valid. In January I bought a ticket from Brno to Cesky Krumlov. CD gladly sold it to me. On the train from CB to CK I was informed that the ticket sold to me in Brno was not valid and I had to buy a new one for this private company. How can a simple commoner know that when a professional selling tickets to unsuspecting public does not know that?

We did the Prague>Vienna>Budapest trip a couple of years ago. FWIW - poster James E. was a wealth of information and knowledge.

I loved Prague and Budapest. I was pretty meh on Vienna - but to be fair we were there right at New Years so the gardens and flowers of Vienna were nowhere to be found. Though having said that - I would eliminate a Vienna day from your itinerary.

As for Cesky Krumlov - we took a car service from Prague to there - spent about 5 hours in CK - and then continued on with the same car service (albeit a different car/driver) for the trip into Vienna. Cesky Krumlov is beautiful - but the 'city center' is rather small and can be seen and experienced in that 5 hour window. That could free up an extra night in either Budapest or Prague.

In Budapest - we stayed at the K&K Opera Hotel which was located in a great area.
In Prague - we stayed at the Ventana Hotel - Prague. Which is located right in the heart of the City Center - about a 200 yard walk to the Astronomical Clock.

My wife is a huge Beatles fan - so we had to stop in at the John Lennon Pub in Prague. It was quite nice - and in a great area for wandering and exploring. There's a great beer/bar scene in Prague also - so you won't have any trouble on that end.

Day 1 - Arrive in Budapest (by 11 a.m.)
Day 2 - Budapest
Day 3 - Budapest
Day 4 - Budapest
Day 5 - Morning train to Vienna
Day 6 - Vienna
Day 7 - Vienna , Evening - Proceed to Cesky Krumlov, Sleep at Cesky Krumlov
18 Day 8 - Cesky Krumlov, Evening - Proceed to Prague, Sleep at Prague
Day 9 - Prague
Day 10 - Prague
Day 11 - Fly Out

I made a small change as you are arriving in Budapest tired and because the evenings in Budapest can be beautiful.

If you are asking if you should stay in Buda or Pest, you have done little or no research. The answer for most people will be Pest. Read the forum for hotel discussions.

Dear All,

We had a wonderful trip and i would like to thank you all for your suggestions and time. It was of great help to us.
We did the shuttle from Prague to CK and from CK to Vienna and i think it was a good decision we made...

Thank you all once again...Really Appreciate...!!!

Warm Regards from Goa,
Nitish