Hello, I am wondering if anyone can advise me of the best way of travelling from Vienna to Budapest. I know that the train is cheap and fast but I am trying to see what options might be the best in term of experience. Boat trip on the Danube? Hiring Car driver?
Thanks
Carl
The fastest and cheapest way is by train, 3 hrs. I haven't done the boat trip but know people who have: they said it's much slower than the train (~6 hrs vs 3 hrs) and they said scenery was only so-so (but was kinda fun nevertheless, not sure what they meant if it wasn't the scenery, maybe the scenery is better than they reported?).
I did both, train and boat. Of course boat is more memorable experience but is slower. You go through two locks. One at Gabcikovo is enormous. There is a nice scenery from the point where Danube turns south and leaves Slovakia all the way to Budapest.
