13 day Itinerary- Budapest--Bratislava--Vienna--Prague, need a bit of help!
Replies: 21 - Last Post: Apr 4, 2012 11:37 PM Last Post By: Visal
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13 day Itinerary- Budapest--Bratislava--Vienna--Prague, need a bit of help!
Well it's not much of an itinerary, because I don't like to plan much when I travel. But I do have a good ideal of what cities i will be in at what time. I usually like to ask around to locals for good sites, other than the usual museums, and tourist traps.Starting off:
Fly int Budapest on Apr 11th-3 nights
Train to Bratislava- 2/3 nights
Train to Vienna- 2/3 nights
Train to Prague by the 19th of Apr- 3 nights
Train back to Bratislava- 1 night- Fly back to Paris
I' am thinking to do Bratislava for 2 nights the first time around, since I have return back to fly out of there. The hostels for Budapest and Prague are booked, I haven't booked the middle of the trip, because I' not sure yet.
So, a few simple questions, is Vienna worth 3 nights?
Any estimates on trains and travel costs between the cities? I'm not against buses either, if they're significantly cheaper.
I' am a black American, from my knowledge I'm not sure on if there has been a wave of migration to these cities, i.e. Africans, Indians, Middle Easterners, Chinese etc.. Like comparable to western Europe. I would just like to be forewarned if the race relations are out of wack there.
Any help is greatly appreciated LPers
1
You did good timing for your cities. Budapest is spread out and has enough to easily fill 4 days with anentire day at the Gellert Spa to soak away. I would try to do Vienna in 2 nights/3days and add a day to Prague. Most of the points of interest are concentrated in the Altstadt- inside the ring road and you can walk
about everywhere in 2 days. Vienna is also very expensive compared with Prague. I think Prague rivals
Paris as the most beautiful city in Europe and there is tons to see- historic buildings of about every architectural
style. Plus Prague is simply a fun city. Enjoy!
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Hi RillahI think you will have a great time on your vacation! My mom is from Bratislava and I've traveled there many times to visit family.
Vienna is 45 minutes by bus from Bratislava. When I go to Slovakia, I usually fly into Vienna and then take the bus. From what I remember, its ~€9...So, pretty cheap!
Budapest and Bratislava are quite less culturally diverse cities than Vienna and Prague, but there is nothing of that matter to worry about, nothing out of whack. I think the only thing that comes to mind is being ripped off in cab rides and stuff like that...so get a second opinion if you want to know a price, or say you got a cheaper price earlier in the day. I speak some Slovak and I get ripped off sometimes. This doesn't have to do with being black, just an obstacle tourists face!
Have a good trip! I hope that helped.
4
Rillah, I just found a 5-day railpass at eurorailways.com good for all your countries for $316 for 5 days in first class train cars or $214 for second class. You could use it for your most expensive transit days-between Bratislava and Budapest and back (2 days) and 2 days for Vienna and Prague and 1 day between Vienna and Bratislava. The final leg of your trip, get a bus ticket as suggested above by KW and your trip is
covered! They call it the "East Pass". Cheers.
5
I have been living in Vienna for 5 years & I never get bored here. The hotel rooms can be pricey but I think the food here is quite reasonable & there are always opportunities to tank up at the sausage & kebab stands. Try Wombats - my nephew stayed there & loved it. Also the public transportation is quite reasonable & you can travel all over Vienna without exerting yourself too much. I really wouldn't spend more than 1 night in Bratislava - there is much more to see in Austria & the Czech Republic.6
@kenko #2, #5 - are you making profit from those passes that you recommend so eagerly?Your advice is basically complete nonsense. Let's see:
Regular return ticket from Bratislava to Budapest costs ~19 euros, even bought 15 mins. before departure in Bratislava main train station. If bought in Budapest it might be approx. 5 euros more expensive.
Bratislava - Vienna return ticket is less than 10 euros.
Vienna - Prague is 29 euros if booked in advance at http://oebb.at (Austrain Railways website)
Prague - Bratislava is 15 euros if bought at least 3 days in advance at https://www.cd.cz/eshop/.
So doing it all by train and booking the Vienna - Prague ticket online possibly soon we get the total price for Budapest - Bratislava - Vienna - Prague - Bratislava: ~25 + ~10 + 29 + 15 = 80 euros. Doesn't even get close to the >200$ cost of the pass. Even if you don't book early and pay the 60 euro full fare for the Vienna - Prague stretch and 25 euro for Prague Bratislava the pass isn't worth it.
If you take a look at the buses: orangeways and studentagency, you'll see that you could even get 10 euro online bus tickets for some of your connections. If you have a fairly fixed schedule and can book online in advance, the passes make no sense at all. Even if you buy your tickets right before departure they don't make any sense too for your route.
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Let me also add a few comments on your itinerary:I would suggest you visit something more than only capital cities. I would suggest cutting your stay in Bratislava to half a day/1 day maximum: Bratislava is nice, but not spectacular compared to Prague, Budapest and Vienna. Instead you could explore some of the Slovakia's more attractive "interior": Slovakia's small towns, medieval castles, mountaineous landscapes. You could for example go by train from Budapest to Poprad via Košice, explore the area around Poprad (the Tatra Mts, Levoča and Spiš castle are the highlights in this area, perfect for a 2 days stay) and then make your way to Vienna, possibly squeezing in a visit to Banská Štiavnica on the way. This would add more variety to your current big-city-only itinerary. I would only spend the half a day before your flight in Bratislava.
If you could switch Prague and Vienna in your itinerary you could then take a simpler route: Poprad - overnight train to Prague - Vienna - Bratislava.
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I don't think going eastward from Budapest into Slovakia makes much sense. The towns are veryspread out, trains are slow, snow is predicted and the train stations are often unheated and freezing.
There are easier places to get to within Austria and the Czech Republic if the OP wants to change
their itinerary.
10
The OP travels in 10 days- do you really think the discounted train tickets you refer to are available?
The Prague-Bratislava discounted tickets are available up to 3 days before departure, no matter how high the demand is. The Vienna - Prague discounted tickets might sell out, but for the date the OP would need them they were still available a few hours ago.
13
Thank you all for the replies!Igor- only 1/2 day in Bratislava, why?
I really would rather not switch Prague to the middle of the trip, but I will cut Bratislava down to 2/nights max.
I just need lodging for Bratislava, and Vienna now.
14
Igor- only 1/2 day in Bratislava, why?
For 3 reasons:1. because you have three much more interesting and more beautiful cities already on your itinerary. Bratislava has many similarities to each of the 3: Budapest, Vienna and Prague, yet is simply not as attractive in terms of architecture/setting/history/nightlife - after Budapest/Prague/Vienna Bratislava simply won't make a big impression. To make things clear: I am not saying here Bratislava is not attractive - it is just less attractive than each of the other 3 capitals.
2. because Bratislava is not the best thing that Slovakia has to offer. The highlights of Slovakia are its mountains, small towns and villages.
3. because currently you have only big cities on your itinerary. Adding some small town/countryside would make your trip more varied, more rewarding and would enable you to get a better picture of the area. Bratislava is the least attractive of the cities on your list, so that's why I suggest going somewhere else instead.
