lingua101

Hi,

I am planning for trip to "central" Europe in late May. Mainly targeting those cities, Berlin, Prague, Vienna, Budapest.

I will be flying in from Singapore. My current plan is to fly to Berlin and arrive there on Friday/Saturday morning. and flying out from Budapest on the following Saturday night. Hence, I will have 9-10 days.

Looking at the map, I am thinking this route:
Berlin - Prague - Vienna (-Bratislava) - Budapest.

I notice there is non-stop flight between Berlin and Vienna/Budapest, which cost quite reasonable.

Also there is non-stop flight between Prague and Budapest which also quite reasonable.

Should I do:
Berlin - Vienna (fly) (-Bratislava) - Budapest - Prague (fly)?


What can I do in that rather "short" period so that I can get the best of those cities?

JBord

I think 4 cities is too many. I wouldn't attempt more than 3 of them, because even flying you will lose a lot of time to travel. Each flight would be 5-6 hours out of your day by the time you get to and from the airport, settled into a hotel, etc. I'd usually recommend a minimum of 3 days in each of these cities.

The best strategy to see a lot in little time is to pick the right hotel in each city. For example, in Prague, you probably want to stay right in Old Town. In Budapest, I'd stay at one of the riverside hotels near the Chain Bridge. Especially in those cities you want to be near a subway/tram/bahn station. By doing this you'll be able to squeeze a few more things in each day.

dulciusexasperis

It is a common mistake travellers make to count days twice.

A travel day whether an arrival/departure day or a day moving from A to B, are not also a day spent IN a place.

For example if you leave your hotel in A by 9am and get to your hotel in B by 1pm, then that day cannot be counted as having been in A or as a full day in B. It is at best a half day spent in B. Arrival/departure days generally can't be counted as days in a place either and again at best may be a half day.

For that reason, I never count any travel days as days IN a place. So let's look at your timing.

You have an arrival day and a departure day. You also are considering 3 moves between places. That is 5 travel days out of a total of 9 days if you arrive on the Friday and depart the following Saturday. There is no way to count 10 days.

If you have 5 travel days out of 9, that translates to 55% of your days being travel days where you will not spend full days IN a place. Does that sound like a good percentage to you?

The common desire is often expressed to want to 'see and do as much as possible'. However the word 'much' is not synonymous with the word 'many'. The way to see and do as much as possible with your available time is to spend your time IN places, not in BETWEEN places. So in travel as in many things, less is more. The less you move, the more you see and do.

I suggest the Rule of 3s for planning a tour of multiple places. That says, never spend less than 4 nights, 3 full days in a place unless it is only an overnight stop between A and B. Note the 'less than', it is a minimum. For example, most people with an interest in somewhere like Rome would say you need more than 3 days to do it justice. A place that will only hold your interest for 1 or 2 days may not be worth the time cost of making the move to get there. Lose a day moving to then only spend 1 full day in the place you moved to? Poor use of time.

Also note the '4 nights, 3 full days'. That allows for the travel day between places. You cannot spend 3 nights and 3 full days in a place, that's where people start counting days twice by ignoring the time spent moving.

So using that rule, your 9 days isn't even enough to visit 3 places. It's enough time for 2 maximum and that's all. Unless of course the purpose of the travel is simply to tick the names off a list.

GUWonder

Just for Prague, Vienna and Berlin — inclusive of trips within an hour or so by surface transport from those cities — I would want 12-14 days.

AlienInTheFatherland

Going between those cities (Berlin-Prague-Vienna-Budapest), even if you want to do all of them, then I would recommend to use the train rather than fly. Would save time and money.

AAMillionaire

I agree that trying to "see" 4 cities in the amount of time you have is too much. Even 3 is a bit much however, I would suggest Berlin, Prague and Budapest. Save Vienna for another time.

JBord

Possibly, but not definitely. But the train is certainly a more comfortable way to travel, and I prefer it.

It depends on the route, of course, but I usually use 4 hours as a rule of thumb. If the train ride is less than 4 hours, probably the way to go. More than 4 hours, the flight will often get you to your destination faster. But I never have more than hand baggage either, which makes a difference.

bitterproffit

I agree with the others. A nice long weekend in Berlin, and then a few days in Budapest (with a day trip to Bratislava if you really want to) would be a very nice holiday. You really only have a week including a travel day. I could easily spend a full week in either place. Personally, I would probably fly between Berlin and Budapest as a train looks like about 11 hours.

Hotel Plug: Hotel Moments in Budapest is a wonderful hotel in a great location on Andrassy near the metro.

JBord

Personally, if limiting it to 2 cities, I would choose Vienna and either Prague or Budapest, and take the train between. If the OP wanted to go to Bratislava, I'd suggest Vienna-Bratislava (for 1 night)-Budapest as a great trip. An evening and a morning in Bratislava is good enough, and it makes for two rather short train rides thus minimizing the travel.

WilcoRoger

All are wonderful cities, but as many others said, 9-10 days are just not enough. 3 of them is also stretching it a bit, any 2 would make a great trip (I'm a bit discounting Bratislava here - if you want to tick that ox, make it a day-trip from Vienna, very easy)

If you were to follow my advice, you'd still have a very tough choice to pick which 2 cities to take

lingua101

Thanks for all the responses. I kind of agree that 9-10 days for 3-4 cities are really rush....

But I really cannot decide which city to drop. Berlin is a must for me. Distance-wise if I have to select 2 cities, then Prague is the one. But I also want to go Budapest

Not so much Vienna and Bratislava, especially the last. I just added these 2 cities because is look nearby.


How about Berlin, Prague, Budapest?

JBord

Ok, if Berlin is a must, you could do these 3, and flying is probably the best course. I'm assuming you haven't been to any before? Two days in each (plus a couple half days for travel) means you'll really just get to see the bigger tourist sights...which is fine. Just plan to go back. But realize, you'll probably feel a bit rushed.

If you Google "Top ten things to do in <city>", you'll get a good idea of what those big tourist things are. Most of them in Prague and Budapest are worth seeing, IMO.

WilcoRoger

Have you considered driving? (even if one way rentals may be expensive) Berlin-Prague is less than 5 hrs and you can leasurely stop along the way. From Prague fly to Budapest, it's too long for driving with your time frame.

lingua101

I do not drive... so driving/renting a car is not an option

lingua101

I noticed that I had post this questions almost 2 years ago. That trip was cancelled, but now I have a confirm trip coming end October.

First half of my trip is pretty much confirm. I was originally thought I have confirmed my second half also but now seems a bit undecided.

The original plan was

Day 1, Mon, arrive in Prague from Berlin by train around 1pm. So I have half day to explore Prague Old town
Day 2, Tue, Prague - thinking to do day trip to Kutna Hora
Day 3, Wed, leaving for Bratislava on 7+pm train. So I still have 8 hours to explore Prague
Day 4, Thu, Bratislava - city tour
Day 5, Fri, Leaving for Budapest by 8am train.
Day 6, Sat, Budapest
Day 7, Sun, flying back home.

I read a fun way to get between Bratislava and Budapest via Komarno/Komarom. I am quite contemplated to do this. But I have 1 big luggage with me. So is it advisable? If it is not, I am thinking to spend 4 nights in Prague and do Bratslava as day trip on the way to Budapest.

Day 3, Wed, Prague
Day 4, Thu, Leaving on 750am train to Bratislava. Arrive at 1150. Explore the city. Leaving on 1757 train for Budapest. Arrive 2020.

I know I won't be able to see much of Bratislava, but will 5 hours enough to get the preview of the city? Also if there is any luggage storage in the station?