I don't speak the language or have a foreign drivers license and I have red hair. Talk about standing out! Apparently red hair is associated with vampires in Hungary. You should have seen the stares when we stopped in Gyor.

I looked up a few basic words before the trip, but never had to use them. English is fairly widely spoken and German is understood everywhere. I've driven all over the world with my California drivers license. You don't need anything special. And tourism is quite high in that area so plenty of Americans abound.

It's a fairly straight drive. If you are in a hurry, you can drive to Vienna from Prague, then take the big interstate-type road to Budapest. We left Prague around 11am and got to Pest before sunset and we made plenty of stops.

Alternatively have you looked at taking a train first to Vienna, then a train to Budapest? I've heard the train from Vienna is good. You might have to take a bus from Prague to Vienna. That should just be 2 hours or so.




[This message has been edited by stimpy (edited 07-29-2003).]