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Budapest & Vienna


This Could Be Rotterdam

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Looking to do 4 nights in September for a city break. Flights seem really cheap and airbnb is really cheap in Budapest so that's the option at the moment. But wondering if it's worth getting the train to Vienna, either as a day trip or to split the trip and book an airbnb in Vienna as well. Has anyone been to either? Would we need more than a couple days in both, or better to stay for all 4 nights in one city and do the other at another time?

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I did the train to Vienna a few times when I lived in Budapest  ( in fact I'm doing it again next week with my son as we are doing a lads trip out that way )

I'd say over night it in Vienna the journey as about 2 hrs 45 each way so you wouldn't have long in Vienna if you did it as a day trip  ... Mrs H stayed at the Ibis in Vienna station last week for €65 a night and said it was a nice hotel 

 

If you have to pick one then Budapest has more to see and do than Vienna imo 

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Not much help to you as I haven't been yet but doing Prague, Vienna, Bratislava in September but... Prague was one we wanted to do 3 days in, and then we had the option of 3 days in Vienna and 1 day in Bratislava or vice versa. We went with 3 days in Vienna as we were told there was a fair bit to do and see there.

I've been to Budapest previously and there is plenty to do and see over a 4 day stay.

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Biased, but I really recommend Prague. It's much cheaper than most European cities and offers all the same sites. Food is great here, and the beer is literally cheaper than water.

If you're going to prague, I can give you some great location recommendations are a bit quieter and still awesome. 

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We did Prague a few years ago and fell in love with it, so extending the break by a couple of days and getting to go back is definately an option. Would you recommend two days in each, or i was thinking if we were to do all 3 cities it could be Mon-Wed in budapest with a late train to Vienna, Thursday and Friday in Vienna with a late train to Prague and then a full day in Prague to fly back Sunday morning. As weve done Prague before id rather get more time in the others but would love to go back. 

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Prague is ok, I thought it wa sa lil sleazy in parts. The old town is nice but didnt find there was that much to do.

Budapest I loved what a place would like to go back for sure

Vienna I was thinking of going next year with the missus so I will be monitoring this thread to see if worth going or not. 

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6 hours ago, Demitri_C said:

Prague is ok, I thought it wa sa lil sleazy in parts. The old town is nice but didnt find there was that much to do.

Budapest I loved what a place would like to go back for sure

Vienna I was thinking of going next year with the missus so I will be monitoring this thread to see if worth going or not. 

Honestly if you are saying there is not much to do in prague, you either did no research whatsoever, or didn't even try to do things. Prague as a tourist has a lot to see. 

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7 hours ago, This Could Be Rotterdam said:

We did Prague a few years ago and fell in love with it, so extending the break by a couple of days and getting to go back is definately an option. Would you recommend two days in each, or i was thinking if we were to do all 3 cities it could be Mon-Wed in budapest with a late train to Vienna, Thursday and Friday in Vienna with a late train to Prague and then a full day in Prague to fly back Sunday morning. As weve done Prague before id rather get more time in the others but would love to go back. 

I really want to go to Budapest. It's on my list of places to go. I'll probably to a south eastern europe trip next year. 

Your plans are quite good. Since you've been to prague, it's good to experience new places as well, but Vienna will likely be the most expensive city on your list. 

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1 hour ago, Czechlad said:

Honestly if you are saying there is not much to do in prague, you either did no research whatsoever, or didn't even try to do things. Prague as a tourist has a lot to see. 

I should have highlighted it was a stag I went to.  I think it was a nice place but just nightlife (barring the 10 floor club) was a it meh. Liked the old town we did the boat trip which was kool but I wasn't a fan of Prague tbh out of of all the Eastern European places I have been to

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19 minutes ago, Demitri_C said:

I should have highlighted it was a stag I went to.  I think it was a nice place but just nightlife (barring the 10 floor club) was a it meh. Liked the old town we did the boat trip which was kool but I wasn't a fan of Prague tbh out of of all the Eastern European places I have been to

I don't know much about the nightlife here. I do go out to a few pubs, but I don't go to clubs. 

In terms of site seeing and enjoying your day, Prague has a lot to offer. Plus it is considerably cheaper than places like Vienna and Munich which are often compared to Prague. 

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38 minutes ago, Czechlad said:

I don't know much about the nightlife here. I do go out to a few pubs, but I don't go to clubs. 

In terms of site seeing and enjoying your day, Prague has a lot to offer. Plus it is considerably cheaper than places like Vienna and Munich which are often compared to Prague. 

Yeah price wise i agree with you genrally cheap. The old town was really clean and was very safe.

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2 hours ago, Demitri_C said:

Yeah price wise i agree with you genrally cheap. The old town was really clean and was very safe.

Prague is pretty safe in general. Old town is the touristy area, but there is a lot of cool stuff right around there as well. Letna beer garden and Vyšehrad come to mind. Or if you want to catch some football, Sparta prague play walking distance from old town, and slavia prague is pretty close as well. 

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  • 2 weeks later...

So we're all booked up. Tried to fit Prague in but it added about £200 on for an extra day and a half so we'll just try and do it again early next year for a long weekend instead i think. The air-bnbs are dirt cheap in Budapest and look nice quality/areas. Vienna slightly more expensive but still not extortionate. 

It'll be Sunday (landing midday) until Wednesday in Vienna and then a train to Budapest with flights back on the Saturday evening. What are the absolute must-do's? 

Cant wait to get to Budapest, its been on the list for years so will be a nice one to tick off. 

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3 hours ago, This Could Be Rotterdam said:

So we're all booked up. Tried to fit Prague in but it added about £200 on for an extra day and a half so we'll just try and do it again early next year for a long weekend instead i think. The air-bnbs are dirt cheap in Budapest and look nice quality/areas. Vienna slightly more expensive but still not extortionate. 

It'll be Sunday (landing midday) until Wednesday in Vienna and then a train to Budapest with flights back on the Saturday evening. What are the absolute must-do's? 

Cant wait to get to Budapest, its been on the list for years so will be a nice one to tick off. 

are you a group of mates or you and Mrs Rotterdam ?

 

I always recommend the Lancelot for groups , should be busy on a Friday night , maybe not so much on other school nights .... always a good atmosphere in there , large portions of food (though sometimes a little bit heavy on the oil)  and lots of drunk people having fun  .. they throw in some sword fighting and singing all adds to the fun ... if it's 2 of you and you want to try something Hungarian then look out for Fatal restaurant , same sort of food but less noise 

sightseeing wise , take the funicular up to the castle district and have a walk around that area , Matthias church is rather beautiful inside , you have to pay now I believe to go into the Fisherman's bastion and get the best views across the river onto the Houses of Parliament ( for a higher view go up to the Citadel)  ..walk next door into the grounds of the Hilton and you'll see some old medieval ruins  that a lot of people don't' know about  ..there are wine cellars up there as well if you like your wine 

think you have to pre-book to go into Parliament but go see it from the front , other side of the road is where the 56 uprising was put down and you'll see some bullet holes in the walls still ..on that theme head to Oktagon metro (on the yellow line , mainland Europes oldest underground line  , after ours ) and go visit the House of Terror  .. very harrowing but interesting from there you can walk up to Heroes' Square it's quite nice  with some statues and a  park nearby with a boating lake

away from the traffic then Margaret Island is quite pleasant , large park with a  small petting zoo , nice Lido area  ..

you have countless thermal baths you can visit (Gellert is segregated so when you do the steam and sauna you wouldn't be with your wife / gf   .. but stay there too long in the sauna and some man might make you his wife , if you catch my drift  .... tbf it's not quite as bad as that but it does have a reputation  , so maybe go to one of the other baths , ... if you are near the Gellert there is a small hill there with an underground church built into a cave that's quite popular

 

Vienna I was there on Thursday and Friday  ... mainly just walked about the place looking at buildings but the Natural history museum was well worth the time we spent in it .... check online but the Spanish riding school is there if it's your thing , fairly sure you have to pre-book that  .. you'll be falling over people trying to get you to go see an Mozart recital in the Opera house , I've done it before and it is quite special , but I don't think it's as cheap as it was when I did it back in 1999 !! oh and go to the fun fare from the Third man if you like your iconic film stuff

 

 

 

 

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9 hours ago, This Could Be Rotterdam said:

So we're all booked up. Tried to fit Prague in but it added about £200 on for an extra day and a half so we'll just try and do it again early next year for a long weekend instead i think. The air-bnbs are dirt cheap in Budapest and look nice quality/areas. Vienna slightly more expensive but still not extortionate. 

It'll be Sunday (landing midday) until Wednesday in Vienna and then a train to Budapest with flights back on the Saturday evening. What are the absolute must-do's? 

Cant wait to get to Budapest, its been on the list for years so will be a nice one to tick off. 

 What dates are you in either city? 

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4 hours ago, tonyh29 said:

are you a group of mates or you and Mrs Rotterdam ?

 

I always recommend the Lancelot for groups , should be busy on a Friday night , maybe not so much on other school nights .... always a good atmosphere in there , large portions of food (though sometimes a little bit heavy on the oil)  and lots of drunk people having fun  .. they throw in some sword fighting and singing all adds to the fun ... if it's 2 of you and you want to try something Hungarian then look out for Fatal restaurant , same sort of food but less noise 

sightseeing wise , take the funicular up to the castle district and have a walk around that area , Matthias church is rather beautiful inside , you have to pay now I believe to go into the Fisherman's bastion and get the best views across the river onto the Houses of Parliament ( for a higher view go up to the Citadel)  ..walk next door into the grounds of the Hilton and you'll see some old medieval ruins  that a lot of people don't' know about  ..there are wine cellars up there as well if you like your wine 

think you have to pre-book to go into Parliament but go see it from the front , other side of the road is where the 56 uprising was put down and you'll see some bullet holes in the walls still ..on that theme head to Oktagon metro (on the yellow line , mainland Europes oldest underground line  , after ours ) and go visit the House of Terror  .. very harrowing but interesting from there you can walk up to Heroes' Square it's quite nice  with some statues and a  park nearby with a boating lake

away from the traffic then Margaret Island is quite pleasant , large park with a  small petting zoo , nice Lido area  ..

you have countless thermal baths you can visit (Gellert is segregated so when you do the steam and sauna you wouldn't be with your wife / gf   .. but stay there too long in the sauna and some man might make you his wife , if you catch my drift  .... tbf it's not quite as bad as that but it does have a reputation  , so maybe go to one of the other baths , ... if you are near the Gellert there is a small hill there with an underground church built into a cave that's quite popular

 

Vienna I was there on Thursday and Friday  ... mainly just walked about the place looking at buildings but the Natural history museum was well worth the time we spent in it .... check online but the Spanish riding school is there if it's your thing , fairly sure you have to pre-book that  .. you'll be falling over people trying to get you to go see an Mozart recital in the Opera house , I've done it before and it is quite special , but I don't think it's as cheap as it was when I did it back in 1999 !! oh and go to the fun fare from the Third man if you like your iconic film stuff

 

 

 

 

Great tips, thanks! Itll just be the two of us although Lancelot sounds a good night. Will be sure to feedback after the trip! 

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