Europe - Flying into Budapest, not sure where to go from there...

Hey,

I'm flying into Budapest Jan. 1st and fly back to the states on the 15th. I'm not sure where to go in between; what would all of you recommend? I'm considering either going up through Austria, Slovenia, Czech Republic or going down south through Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, and possibly Romania. Anyone travel in this region much, especially in the winter? Any suggestions on where to go and what to do?

Thanks so much!

Welcome to FT! :)

You may want to try asking a moderator to move this to the Europe forum - http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/europe-477/ - where you may get better results.

BUD's a great city - but I've only spent about 5 days there and that was in the summertime - so I'm not sure what it's like in the winter, nor do I know much about the region, but I've heard some wonderful things about Croatia.

Try the Europe forum.

It is unbelievably cold there in the winter. I've been in November and it was pretty miserable. On the up side, driving there is no real problem (weather issues aside, of course)

Budapest to Prague is about an 8 hour drive. Venice is about 10. Going anywhere east of Budapest, double the time you think it will take - the roads are not good.

Vienna is fantastic and only 2 hrs. Bratislava blows, skip it.

Personally, I see three options:

Spend almost the entire 2 weeks in Budapest. Go to Godollo, all the touristy stuff in BUD, Vienna.

For better weather, I would run south to Venice, then along the Croatian coast (Dbrovnik, Split) and then work your way back to BUD.

The last option, especially if you are interested in the Holocaust, is to go north to Auschwicz and through Poland (Krakow, Wroclaw), maybe over to Prague, and back. There is a lot of history, even in BUD relating to this dark chapter in world history, and it can be quite sobering.

Just thinking in what I would be interested in, I would do something like Budapest - Vienna - Salzburg - Munich - Prague by train. Would give you about 3 days in each. Other options would be including Zurich or Berlin or Bratislava (maybe for a day?), depends on what you want to do or are interested in.

I would definitely keep Prague and Munich on the list. Been to Zurich and could skip it. Been to Prague and liked it. I'm going to Munich in January.

Cheers.

How "in depth" do you like to delve into the history and hidden secrets of a city? The 15 days you mention, when considering travel, already are down to 13 days (you arrive on the 1st, probably late morning or even afternoon, and leave early on the 15th), right?

Don;t plan on BUD-VIE- SZG-MUC-PRG giving you 3 days per city .... you have to figure in travel between the cities.

I either would see two cities (BUD and VIE) or 3 cities by throwing in a stop in PRG. If traveling by train, consider taking the sleeper BUD to PRG; same price as a hotel room and you save a day of travel (unless you really like train tavel). Those two cities, or three cities, often are grouped together in tours.

I can't stand visiting a city for one or two nights ... packing bags, moving to the next city .... rinse and repeat. Not only it is too much lugging around, you don't get a feel for the city you are visiting.

Welcome to FlyerTalk, brianwlackey! :) As mentioned, since we do have a forum dedicated specifically to discussing travel in Europe, we'll re-locate your query as I think you'll get better traction to your question from the experts there. Thanks and have a great trip! /JY1024, TravelBuzz co-moderator

I went in the late fall and although it was warm enough a lot of attractions were closed after the summer. If you like wine the Tokaji is worth a trip. The church at Esztergom is impressive and right across the river is Sturovo Slovenia. There are several towns around lake Balaton but the lake is more of a summer destination.

See the castle district up in Pest and see the sights of Buda. Agree that Vienna would be a good side trip as well as Prague. Watch the gypsies, they are pretty good at pickpocketing and work in teams.

Pictures here:
http://troyandmollyalloverthemap.shutterfly.com/
http://4wheelingoh.shutterfly.com/

For those dates, there will probably be snow on the ground and it will be cold for outdoor sightseeing, which will limit you some, especially in Romania, Bosnia, Croatia & Serbia. The Croatian coastal cities (Split & Dubrovnik) are relatively empty in the winter and you can't swim in the sea and the ferries to the islands run on a more limited schedule which is sometimes disrupted by storms and it's pretty cold (and often rainy) for the coastal national parks (Krka, Kornati, Mljet, Paklenica).
Also be aware that most car rental companies will not allow you to take a car from Hungary into Romania, Bosnia or Serbia and that train travel is not great for circle trips in the southern regions (i.e. from Romania to Serbia or from Serbia to Bosnia) and that, again, driving is tough in the winter (it's not great in the summer in some of those countries).

If it's your first time to Central Europe, I would do Budapest, Vienna and Prague. Be aware that everything will be closed on the first and many things will be closed on the 6th of January as well in Hungary and Austria.

I tend to agree with others who have posted; the "southern route" countries are lovely but in January I would head to Vienna, Prague and Krakow. As with so many of these trips, better to enjoy fewer places than spend too long travelling between many!
I would also agree that Zurich is probably not worthwhile, nor Warsaw. Make sure you have time to both enjoy Budapest itself and see the contrast with Prague - they are, in my view, the two most beautiful cities in central Europe.
Otherwise, of course, it depends very much on both your tastes and your preparedness to, for example, drive yourself rather than rely on trains.
In all cases, make sure you stay right in the centre of the city - these are not mega-cities and you'll be able to walk or tram almost everwhere.

I'd consider Vienna and Prague after Budapest, but not Krakow because it's a pig to get to by train.

Weatherwise, it can be cold, very cold, or mild. Budapest, Vienna and Prague are beautiful in the snow - just wrap up warm and enjoy the sights, nipping into cosy coffee shops or bars now and again.

Here's a fairly cost effective option:
1. Base yourself for a few days in Vienna after Budapest.
2. Buy a 4-day round-trip from Budapest to Salzburg. This currently costs only €39 per person*, is a walk-up fare, and allows break of journey (in Vienna, in this case). This allows you to travel from Budapest to Vienna (day 1 of ticket), then take a day trip from Vienna to Salzburg (on day 2, 3 or 4, on any train you like). Salzburg is worth a day trip (about 2h 45m from Vienna), but not much more, at least in winter. Then you just don't use the Vienna-Budapest leg of the ticket.
3. For the journey from Vienna to Prague you can buy cheap advance tickets on the OeBB website (https://ticket.oebb.at/bin/frame_ticket.pl?ticket=jticket.pl&LANG=EN).

*NOTE: subject to change from December 11. No announcement has yet been made by MAV (Hungarian railways) about special fares for the coming year.

Do the circle trip: Budapest - Vienna - Prague - Budapest. In fact, you can probably get each segment for as little as 19 Euros each way. The Austrian rail site is oebb.at and the Czech one is cd.cz; but I'm not sure about the Hungarian one. Although a walk-up ticket for that route can't be much higher. If you're up for it, you can buy a Bratislava Ticket in Vienna for 14 Euros IIRC and will let you take a day trip to Bratislava (it's a little over an hour by train). Going east of Budapest in the middle of winter when there's less than 8 hours of daylight is not something I would recommend unless you're familiar with that area.

Do the circle trip: Budapest - Vienna - Prague - Budapest. In fact, you can probably get each segment for as little as 19 Euros each way. The Austrian rail site is oebb.at and the Czech one is cd.cz; but I'm not sure about the Hungarian one. Although a walk-up ticket for that route can't be much higher.

You can buy the Budapest - Vienna ticket for €13 (advance ticket for a specific train) on the Hungarian-language-only MAV website - you collect the ticket from a machine at the station. The walk-up one-way fare is more expensive than the walk-up round-trip (valid up to 4 days) fare of €25 (and even more expensive than the €31 option with first 2 days of public transport in Vienna included) - so don't ask for a one-way ticket!

I'd consider Vienna and Prague after Budapest, but not Krakow because it's a pig to get to by train.

Weatherwise, it can be cold, very cold, or mild. Budapest, Vienna and Prague are beautiful in the snow - just wrap up warm and enjoy the sights, nipping into cosy coffee shops or bars now and again.

Here's a fairly cost effective option:
1. Base yourself for a few days in Vienna after Budapest.
2. Buy a 4-day round-trip from Budapest to Salzburg. This currently costs only €39 per person*, is a walk-up fare, and allows break of journey (in Vienna, in this case). This allows you to travel from Budapest to Vienna (day 1 of ticket), then take a day trip from Vienna to Salzburg (on day 2, 3 or 4, on any train you like). Salzburg is worth a day trip (about 2h 45m from Vienna), but not much more, at least in winter. Then you just don't use the Vienna-Budapest leg of the ticket.
3. For the journey from Vienna to Prague you can buy cheap advance tickets on the OeBB website (https://ticket.oebb.at/bin/frame_ticket.pl?ticket=jticket.pl&LANG=EN).

*NOTE: subject to change from December 11. No announcement has yet been made by MAV (Hungarian railways) about special fares for the coming year.

Great idea.

One additional thought. Salzburg is included in the German Bayern ticket, so for about 30 euros (rough estimate), you can take the Deutsche Bahn to anywhere in Bavaria.

Here is a map of German travel options in Bavaria.

http://www.mapsofworld.com/germany/federal-states/bayern/bayern-railway-network-map.html

Any decent airport hotels at BUD?

Budapest to Prague is about an 8 hour drive. Venice is about 10. Going anywhere east of Budapest, double the time you think it will take - the roads are not good.
.

I think we drive a little differently, seems to take me about 6 hours to Budapest :)