We just returned to the US from a delightful three-city tour, guided in each city by the wonderful Rick Steeves guidebooks. We wanted to offer other folks a few subjective observations which we did not find noted in the guidebooks.
Budapest -- We were led to understand that "service" charges, or gratuities, were generally included on the bills at restaurants, and they are indeed usually shown as such. (However, we usually left a further tip in addition). At one stop, though, the waiter explained that many restaurant owners usually kept the "service" charge shown on the bill, rather than sharing the money with the wait staff, and that his own practice as a local was to ak his waiter/waitress what the practice was at the particular restaurant he was patronizing in Budapest, so that he could decide whether or not to supplement the depicted "service" charge.
We had dinner one night in a guidebook-recommended restaurant in the Jewish District called Mazel Tov. It was very nicely decorated but the food was decidedly mediocre and it was not among the best meals we had during our stay.
The beer in Hungary (and in Vienna) was markedly inferior to the beer in Prague, which was far and away the best on our trip. You cannot even find a drinkable IPA in either Budapest or Vienna.
Vienna -- the most expensive, by far, of the three cities on our trip. Also, the guidebook suggests using the common greeting "gruss gott" to ingratiate an American traveler with locals. That's a no-no, according to a 30's-something desk attendant at our charming little Hotel Beethoven. That is a greeting, which invokes God's blessing, used only by senior citizens and only with other Austrians; we were told, and found, that "hello" is far better when addressing Vienna's locals. The strudel in Vienna is no better than, are we found inferior to, the strudel in Prague. Our hotel's breakfasts, as predicted in the guidebook, were superb; generous and varied. The "naschmarket" (nibble market) is overrated by the guidebook, we thought. It was virtually adjacent to our Hotel Beethoven, so easy to visit for a meal; it consists of a string of different restaurants and cuisines, but we found the food at the two restaurants we sampled (both recommended by hotel staff) to be mediocre and, like every other restaurant we tried, expensive, at least relative to Budapest and Prague.
Prague -- bring very, very sturdy and comfortable footwear if you plan to do a lot sightseeing by foot. (We averaged 9 miles per day of walking). Many, many streets -- and not just in Old Town -- are cobblestoned, as are many sidewalks, so the walking surfaces take their toll. Google Maps, invaluable in all three cities, fared least well in Prague -- its bias, of course, is to follow the shortest route in duration, which invariably led us back to and through the incredibly congested Old Town on many of our excursions. The Old Town is absolutely packed at this time, with waves of tour groups coming every which way. Next time we visit, it will be off-season.
A related point -- we could not imagine the tumult of staying in a hotel in Old Town. We stayed at the Hotel Century Old Town (actually in New Town, just outside Old Town, near Republic Square) and it was a superior location -- we could access Old Town and the Jewish Quarter easily, but could also avoid the teeming crowds which only abated in Old Town later at night.
Unlike in Budapest and Vienna, "service" charges are not included on restaurant bills in Prague.
Best place to buy Cuban cigars -- Casa Habanos on Dlouha near the Jewish Quarter. It was well-reviewed on Trip Advisor, and a local told me while shopping there, that CH gets first-quality cigars from Cuba, as opposed to other resellers in Prague who sell inferior quality cigars.