If you had to pick one to visit, which do you prefer and why?
I visited both on the same trip. I enjoyed Prague a little more, but that was because I had much better weather there (a fluke, the weather's about the same. . . rain came through while I was in Budapest, when I got to Prague 3 days later, it was warm and sunny). If I had to choose one of them, I'd probably go with whichever is more convenient to get to and from. Or flip a coin.
Personally I would pick Budapest because I was there only four times and in Prague many times. Prague is very scenic with beautiful views across the river toward Hradcany Castle. Cross the river on medieval Charles Bridge. You won't find medieval neighborhoods like Old Town or Mala Strana in Budapest. But Budapest is less crowded, has beautiful views across the river toward Buda, too and has several geothermal spas. Go to typical Hungarian restaurant with lively Gypsy music, have Hungarian good and spicy meal and wine from Tokaj region. In Prague I recommend beer.
I would go to Budapest again in a heartbeat. I did Budapest and Prague in the same trip. I'm glad I got to see Prague, but I'm not keen on returning. There were a great many people in the Old City area, alot of hen party type folks on drunken tours. We stayed in the Mala Strana area and that was lovely. But, I adore Budapest. It is a beautiful city, the people are so kind and helpful, and when I went two years ago the U.S. dollar went very far. We had delicious food, saw beautiful sights, enjoyed the thermal baths, a lovely night in a box at the opera.....it was just wonderful.
Wherever you choose I hope you enjoy.
Budapest. As much as I love Prague, I found Budapest to be enchanting. The baths, the culture, great hotels, delicious food, the shopping...all for generally far less than Prague.
Agree with the others. Budapest is one of my favorite cities, period. Great food, gorgeous architecture, thermal baths, and less tourists than Prague.
My wife and I went to both on the same trip this past May. Prague was nice in many ways, but terribly crowded and overrun with crazy revelers on bachelor parties and such. The old town is packed with tacky souvenir stands. That said, it is definitely a beautiful city with much to offer. We preferred Budapest because it was so much more laid back for a big city and not overwhelmed by tourism. You can just enjoy being there without letting it ruin your stay should you miss this or that sight. Prague perhaps gets a slight edge on the sights. The overall wow factor of the sights does not measure up to London, Paris, Rome (but how many cities do?). Everyone goes to Prague, but we saw almost no Americans in Budapest. Budapest is not exactly undiscovered, but during our stay for some reason it felt that way. Rick's books on these cities are extremely useful, and the hotel recommendations in particular were stellar.
Both cities are wonderful, in different ways. Yes, Prague is more touristy, but if you ignore this it's great. We spent a week in Prague previous summer, we never felt we were overrun with drinking parties (and this was during the World Cup finals, set on a huge screen in the Old Town Square). As for "the old town is packed with tacky souvenir stands", it's a much smaller town with more visitors, again, just ignore them. There is probably just as much touristy souvenir stuff in Budapest, but it's spread out. We were actually put off by the crush of this stuff and people on the 2nd floor of the Great Market Hall.
Bottom line is these are both fantastic places and both deserve a solid visit. We will gladly return to both of these.
I enjoyed Prague more than Budapest. Prague has interesting places to visit on both sides of the river. The central square in Prague was beautiful and had a great time walking throughout Prague. The Charles Bridge was fun and the many spires made a great sight.
In Budapest stayed on the Buda side at the Hilton which had great views of the river and Pest. In Pest I enjoyed visiting the Opera House and the large 2 story market.