Upcoming Trip to Prague, Vienna and Budapest in April / May

As we left, my husband said, "Julie, I'm never leaving here."

Careful Julie; When we arrived and saw the city from the top of Gellert Hill that first night my words were "Dear, we are coming back", that despite the fact we had only arrived about an hour earlier. The place, despite its faults, tends to grab hold of some folks.

It sounds like a great trip. Happy planning.

Just a couple of ideas now . . .
Wine-tasting in the bowels of the Hilton Hotel next to the Fisherman's Bastion. Hungarian wines are excellent and this tasting room is a great experience if you like wine.
The Holocaust Museum is very well done. The Post Office Museum is very interesting - if it's reopened. In fact, all the museums I managed to fit in were well worth the time.

The guys that run the wine tasting in Buda don't reach out to Americans because the US is one place they cant ship their wares. I like the place, but you can do as good in Pest by visiting one of the local wine bars. The one I frequent most often pours you a sample before asking you to buy a glass. Sample two or three then settle in and relax and do a little people watching. Many of the bars also have a fairly decent menu as well.

worldinbetween; I have heard that some people have been able to purchase an apartment in Budapest, then with a good management company they have been able to see a decent return through vacation rentals when they don't use it personally. I have also heard that there might be some US tax advantages that make this even more attractive. At least so I have heard...... That might be an option if you want to keep a foot in the door.

And whats the name of the pub you reference above?

Thanks for all the suggestions and I have made note of them, especially the restaurants as I find them hardest to get a handle on, everyone's taste are so subjective.

I do like wine so intend on trying some Hungarian red wines out, probably will have fill of beer after Prague :-)

I realized after seeing the responses I probably should post this message in the Prague & Vienna forums to get some great ideas there.

We have a blizzard warning / storm moving into our are (Boston, Mass) on Monday / Tuesday so I am getting the emails out trying to get our lodging confirmed.

If I fall in LOVE with Budapest, I'll know about buying place there the way this conversation is flowing 😊

Gene

http://visitbudapest.travel/articles/budapests-best-wine-bars/ is a list of some of the better wine bars in town. I've been to a couple of them and spend a ridiculous amount of time at Kadarka's when in town.

Julie, if I were going to settle down and live in Budapest I think I would look in your neighborhood. Excellent location. Buda is beautiful but just too far removed. I like Doblo wine bar too. About 3 weeks ago I noticed a new place in Kiraly utca just up the road from Kadarka; maybe about house number 50 more or less. Looked real nice .... but alas, if I were to be seen there by the guys from Kadarka I would feel terrible.

We just came back from the same trip except we travelled in January. We used three Rick Steves books and his ideas got us off the beaten track. In Budapest, we saw the ballet (actually went to see the Opera house but the ballet was good too) from restricted view seats which cost 1/10 of the tour of the Opera House. In vienna, we followed rick's instructions to get out of town for a short walk in the vienna woods. Similarly in Prague, where we had coffee in a non-tourist neighborhood. For all three cities, walk and walk and walk.

Gene,
We are planning the same trip in early June, but we are doing it in reverse. We are staying in Budapest 6 nights, Vienna 5 nights, and Prague 6 nights. I am so ready to start this trip right now! It is so hard to wait, but I am getting so many great tips and recommendations from reading the responses to your post and a few others also. Thanks everyone for your input. James and Worldinbetween you are both so helpful. We are staying in the Lipótváros area. We are renting a flat there. We will have bicycles, so hopefully they will help somewhat to widen our travels in the neighborhood.

Thanks for the info Julie. Yes the bicycles come with the flat, so we are really lucky there. It also has an commercial grade espresso machine! We will check out those routes to explore on bike. Hey are there any good places to eat/drink in that area? We will see as many of the historical sites and museums as possible, but we also like to hunt out local places to experience. We always try to find the perfect spot we would want to live when we travel. Not sure why, but it is fun. The Ruin Pubs sound really intriguing. We are craft beer fans, but we also appreciate good wine and coffee. Food-wise, I am a bit afraid of the traditional food menus that I have seen so far. They look delicious but fattening and I an afraid of gaining back the weight I have lost recently so we will want to hunt out places with good salad options and lighter foods.

Kim