Budapest vs. Prague for a pre cruise stay

We are trying to decide between a pre cruise stay in Prague (for a Eastbound Danube cruise) or a pre cruise stay in Budapest (for a Westbound Danube cruise). We have not been to either city, although we have been to Munich area several times, so we don't want to stay there again. Any opinions appreciated.

Ahh very difficult one!!! They are both brilliant cities.

I would say Budapest as its easier to get around Budapest and see most of it in a few days...

Difficult question though they're both lovely :-)

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

We did a 15 day Viking cruise (which we would never sail on again) from Budapest to Amsterdam. We flew into Prague 3 days early and really enjoyed our visit there. We staying at the Hotel Intercontinental which is very close to the old Jewish quarter and the historic district. We were in walking distance to the Charles Bridge and there were all kinds of restaurants within walking distance of the hotel. We had the hotel get us reservations one night at Coda which is often rated as the best restaurant in Prague. The views, the food and the atmosphere were easily worth the price. I would recommend going to Prague first and then traveling to Budapest to join your cruise afterwards.

Have a great next cruise.

wwinfl91 - what did you think about the Viking ship/service/food/wine? We are in the process of booking a river cruise w/ AMA or Tauck in May 2018.

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

We spend 3 day in Prague before the cruise and loved every minute of it. The Hotel Intercontinental was walking distance to all the sights. Highly recommend it.

Sent from my iPad using Forums

Oh, I just saw the negative comment about Viking. Details please.

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

setexenv - I have been on two Viking River Cruises on the Danube and Rhine and both were excellent. The service, food, wine were all very good and excursions were also great. I really cannot fault Viking, in fact we have booked with them for China and Russia this year!

Budapest and Prague are both fantastic cities but I would agree that Budapest is more accessible on foot and has some wonderful sights.

Enjoy your trips.

Sent from my iPad using Forums

Thanks, my cardiologist did a Viking river cruise and loved it but I do hear the occasional comment that they don't meet the same levels as AMA, uni-world, and Tauck. I hear this from travel professionals.

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Prague is much more scenic. The historic area is easy to get around in and public transportation is cheap and easy to use. However, the hop on hop off bus in Prague us not really worth since it cannot go into the narrow streets in the historic area. The hop on hop off bus in Budapest is a very good touring option taking you to both sides of the river.

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Hi J,

Since you have been to neither, you will enjoy either.

We think that Prague has become too touristy.

We enjoyed our recent stop in Budapest and look forward to visiting again this Spring.

Ira

We've been to both cities and had fantastic times in each, so IMHO there is no "wrong" choice.

However, if you're asking which city have I returned to the most and NEVER get tired of? Budapest....one of my favorite cities in the world!!! So much to see and do, all of it right in the city...the fisherman's bastion has one of the most spectacular views anywhere with great shopping as well. :D

wwinfl91 - what did you think about the Viking ship/service/food/wine? We are in the process of booking a river cruise w/ AMA or Tauck in May 2018.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Apparently not much since she posted:

"We did a 15 day Viking cruise (which we would never sail on again) from Budapest to Amsterdam. "

I agree that if you haven't been to either city - there really is no WRONG choice. Both cities have a lot to do, great places to eat etc

Have a great trip! :)

Here's one to consider - https://www.gct.com/trips/river-cruises/europe/old-world-prague-and-the-blue-danube/2017

Prague is very walkable in terms of tourist attractions. Lots to see and lots to drink and good food to boot. As a result, it is crowded with other tourist doing the same thing. To be specific, it is crowded with American tourists!

Lots of chain hotels in the central of Prague which are walkable to everywhere - Intercontinental, Hilton Old Town (avoid the other one), Marriott, Sheraton, Raddison, etc. I have never found the need to use the tram system myself.

Budapest is a bit more spread out. Taxis tend to rip off tourist. The subway and bus system is good (and cheap). You just know how to use it with a booklet of pre-paid tickets or a two/three day travel pass.

The one thing that Budapest has which Prague does not are thermal baths. There are several places in Budapest to experience hot soak or swim, of which the Széchenyi Baths is the largest of them.

Personally, I think Prague has a lot more charm than Budapest. However, it is more crowded. The one downside of Prague - forget about the tourist walk around. Watch out of the Segways where the users are tourist, not looking where they are going (i.e. looking at the sights) and are probably operating Segways for the first time. If you like Segways, they are plentiful and cheap.

Many thanks for all the helpful posts. It looks as if the cruise we are leaning towards spends 1 1/2 days in Budapest anyway, so likely we will do the Prague 3 day pre-cruise stay. In that way we can see both cities.....

Many thanks for all the helpful posts. It looks as if the cruise we are leaning towards spends 1 1/2 days in Budapest anyway, so likely we will do the Prague 3 day pre-cruise stay. In that way we can see both cities.....

That's what I'd call a WIN-WIN!!! 1 1/2 days in Budapest and 3 days in Prague will give you the highlights of both cities. Have a wonderful time.

Many thanks for all the helpful posts. It looks as if the cruise we are leaning towards spends 1 1/2 days in Budapest anyway, so likely we will do the Prague 3 day pre-cruise stay. In that way we can see both cities.....

Sounds fun. I suspect that you'll regret not having more time in Budapest but absent unlimited time and resources, you have to make a choice somewhere, and there are so many more nice cities to visit than time allows. We are finally going to Prague in May for our first visit. We'll meet up with some of our friends who visited Prague over Christmas and loved it, so we'll have tour guides. If half of what everyone says about Prague is true, it will be amazing. So, I'm certainly not saying that you shouldn't spend time in Prague...

But as a point of reference, our river cruise also had 1-1/2 days in Budapest. That would not have been enough for us. We arrived in Budapest on a Friday afternoon, and had Friday evening and all of Saturday on our own. Sunday was embarkation day but we did stuff on our own all morning, embarked early afternoon, then went out again until dinner. Monday was the day that they had organized ship's tours, but we skipped them and went out on our own that day as well.

So despite three full days of running around, at our pace, and there is still more to be done there. If you have 1-1/2 days, you'll have to pick and choose what to go see, and you'll leave a lot for next trip. Since your time is limited, you might want to arrange something on your own so you move at a faster pace than the ship's tours. If you're comfortable venturing out on your own, Budapest is very easy to DIY. There is a chronicle of what we did there in 3 days at the beginning of my trip report (link in signature).

Many thanks for all the helpful posts. It looks as if the cruise we are leaning towards spends 1 1/2 days in Budapest anyway, so likely we will do the Prague 3 day pre-cruise stay. In that way we can see both cities.....

Oh that's great! You get to see both...have a great time! :)