Travel to Berlin , Prague & Budapest

You will have about two and a half days per city, once you allow for travel time between the cities (they're not so close together, so you're looking at longish train rides or short flights). If this is what you want, fine. But don't think you will "see and experience" these cities in that time - you will just get a taste. Again, don't let anyone tell you that you "can't" do this. You can, if you really want to. But you will be tired from all the travel between places as well as running around in each city. I wouldn't do it myself - I'd pick two of these and really enjoy the trip. I loved all three cities, and all three are quite different from each other, so I can't help you narrow it down.

If it were me, I would only do Prague and Berlin, adding Dresden for a day in between, and save Budapest for another time. Prague and Berlin are closer to each other than Budapest would be, and both Prague and Berlin deserve more than 2 1/2 days a piece. I can't tell you how to get there from India, but you should absolutely use Deutsche Bahn for travel between the cities. In Prague, I would stay somewhere in Old Town, as you can easily walk to the sites (all streets in Old Town are cobbled, so be careful!) and in Berlin, I would stay in Mitte, probably off Friedrichstrasse, as these places are less expensive than Pariser Platz or Tiergarten but still more easily accessible to the main sites than the hotels in Charlottenburg.

You can easily route between Mumbai and Berlin a number of ways. Turkish Airways has excellent connections in Istanbul for a relatively short trip11 hrs. total for $876 (summer). All of the major European carriers fly direct from Mumbai to their hubs in Europe. Lufthansa through Frankfurt would be a convenient one. You might just need to shop around for price, but there should be plenty of options.

We are doing those three cities in May but for a longer time period. We have been to Berlin once before for 2.5 - 3 days and it was too short, but we managed to see a lot anyway. If you really want to do these three in your timeframe it can be done. You will see the highlights and give yourself an idea if you'd like to come back. You could take the night train between Budapest and Prague to maximize your actual time in these cities. When are you planning to go. I'll file a trip report when we get back in early June with recommendations of things to do and places to stay. Also, in addition to the great information on this site, tripadvisor is also a good resource.

Thanks All , it seems best would be to cover 2 cities then.It shall be Berlin and Prague...we would prefer serviced apartments if those are possible.Any suggestions ? And re the transfers,whilst train is an option,it can be quite expensive for a group of 4. How about hiring a car ? Can we get hires with English GPS systems ? And what side of the road do they drive in those parts??

They drive on the correct side of the road, e.g. right.

bhogey, when are you planning to go? If you have enough time to purchase tickets in advance, the train will be 29 EUR each (see www.bahn.de ). I'm not sure that renting a car would be much of a savings. What does "serviced apartments" mean?

They drive on the correct side of the road, e.g. right. uh, for a person coming from India that would be the "wrong" side of the road.

thanks again All ! We are planning the trip around mid July.
Non hotel options in Berlin and Prague would help from a budget perspective ! If trains be the better option , should we invest in the Family Pass which allows the freedom to travel as you please ?? And how difficult is it with knowledge of German ??