Prague, Vienna and Budapest

Mel we are doing the same trip in reverse in September by train, which seems to be the best transportation option. The Prague/Vienna train stops in Brno. We also plan to spend a few hours in Bratslava going from Budapest to Vienna.

Bratislava is definitely worth a quick stop, but not much more. It has a cute Old Town, but you can see it pretty quick. If you drive/bus from Prague, you could stop in Brno then Bratislava and onto Vienna. But, I will warn you the highway from Prague to Brno to Bratislava is horrible (it shook my neck for about three hours and my neck was sore for three days). As for flights, there are flights on Czech Air from Budapest to Prague.

Thanks for your replies -greatly appreciate it. I've discovered that the Student Agency Bus goes that way so that is what I'll probably take. The only thing between Vienna and Budapest that seems to be worth taking is the train - anyone take that?
Mel

I started in budapest and took the train to vienna and then to prague around this time last year. Definitely take the train, I enjoyed it. Though I will say the vienna to prague scenery is fairly sparse most of the way. In case you are not familiar with the train systems there, you will need to do point to point between the cities since one of these countries (Czech republic I think) is not part of the eurail system.

Czech Republic has been added to the Eurail global pass. Slovakia has not been.
The train between Budapest and Vienna that I took was from an overnight train (Sighisoara to Vienna). The scenery I would say is nothing special. There are high speed trains that travel regularly from Budapest to Vienna though that will take 3 hours.

Trains are a great option, and I'd recommend that you go with this unless you can find cheap airfare at one of the sites like skyeurope.com Sometimes it actually is cheaper to fly. From Vienna to Budapest, be advised that trains going into Hungary tend to have some theft problems. If you are travelling overnight, get a locking compartment and wear your moneybelt. Train travel is the least stressful option compared to car or plane - you just get on and relax! Visit raileurope.com to get an idea of the schedule and prices. Also, you can buy tickets from this site in dollars, which can possibly save you money.

Check out the "European East" pass - it covers Czech Republic, Austria, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia. 5 days is $299 first class or $209 second class and you can add more travel days if you need them. Train reservations are required so that adds about $20 per segment for 2 travelers to the pass cost. I think this is a relatively new pass, and I am using this very pass next month. I am not sure if this still applies, but I got my passes fedexed to me for free. I was able to make all my reservations online as well.

take the train!