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Vikings Pre booking trips for Danube River Cruise - Prague or extra days in Budapest?


t&c_traveling
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Three years ago, we took a 15-day Grand European cruise from Budapest to Amsterdam. Flew into Prague early and spent four nights there. Took a train from Prague to Budapest and spent two nights there before boarding the river boat. We made our travel arrangement and tour planning, per research on TripAdvisor. The experience was particularly memorable and educational (more so than the river cruise itself). TripAdvisor is right about needing to spend about five full days in Prague, because there are many things to see and do in a relaxed way there. We felt fortunate having ample time to spend in museums and castles/palaces and explore local area/food (sample varieties of beer). In particular, we were able to get into the Budapest palace/museum on our own free day, but could not do so with the Viking cruise because the place was closed on a Monday.

There was no language problem. The area was safe and easy to navigate, mostly by walking and public transportation. We used Uber in Budapest, but no taxi/Uber needed in Prague. The train ride between the two cities was very comfortable. We booked reserved seats online while in US.

One surprisingly interesting thing to learn is that our bus ride from Prague airport to town (luxury feel, local coach bus) costs only $4 USD for three of us. The bus dropped us off within steps of our hotel.

Tip - book as many free walking tours as you like and can fit into your schedule. The tour guides are very good, knowledgeable, and enthusiastic. We learned a lot from the walking tours.

We enjoyed visiting both Prague and Budapest, and shall return some day.

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Three years ago, we took a 15-day Grand European cruise from Budapest to Amsterdam. Flew into Prague early and spent four nights there. Took a train from Prague to Budapest and spent two nights there before boarding the river boat. We made our travel arrangement and tour planning, per research on TripAdvisor. The experience was particularly memorable and educational (more so than the river cruise itself). TripAdvisor is right about needing to spend about five full days in Prague, because there are many things to see and do in a relaxed way there. We felt fortunate having ample time to spend in museums and castles/palaces and explore local area/food (sample varieties of beer). In particular, we were able to get into the Budapest palace/museum on our own free day, but could not do so with the Viking cruise because the place was closed on a Monday.

There was no language problem. The area was safe and easy to navigate, mostly by walking and public transportation. We used Uber in Budapest, but no taxi/Uber needed in Prague. The train ride between the two cities was very comfortable. We booked reserved seats online while in US.

One surprisingly interesting thing to learn is that our bus ride from Prague airport to town (luxury feel, local coach bus) costs only $4 USD for three of us. The bus dropped us off within steps of our hotel.

Tip - book as many free walking tours as you like and can fit into your schedule. The tour guides are very good, knowledgeable, and enthusiastic. We learned a lot from the walking tours.

We enjoyed visiting both Prague and Budapest, and shall return some day.

 

If you are comfortable making the arrangements for hotels and transportation on your own, then I am with dreamercruise, do it on your own because you will be able to spend more time in each city (provided your travel time is unlimited). Moreover, for the same amount of money, you will be able spend more days in whichever city(ies) you choose.

 

That said, if time is an issue or if you are not comfortable making the arrangements on your own (especially getting from city to city), then I would vote for the Prague extension not only because it is a fabulous city to visit, but also because it adds another city to the list of places you have seen (and who knows if you will ever get back that way again).

 

We did the Prague extension for two reasons, the comfort of knowing everything was taken care of and out of sheer laziness. We loved it. We met people who would be traveling with us on the ship. Three nights will give you two and half days in Prague and a day traveling to Budapest (6 hour bus ride with a stop for lunch). The included tour (mostly a walking tour) took us to the Castle district and then back into the town area. We decided in advance that we would leave the tour in the Castle district to see the Lobkowicz (sp) Palace Museum (and my husband still talks about seeing the Beethoven manuscripts in the music room) and to be able to spend more time seeing some of the interiors. The hardest part was finding a cab to get us back to the hotel but a bit of perseverance solved that problem. Don't miss the Mucha Museum!

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On out last Danube cruise we spent time in both. We went to Prague 3 days prior to meeting up with the cruise line (did 2 days with the cruise line) for 5 days total. The advantage of doing Prague with the cruise line is because it is located quite distance from the Danube and they provided the transport. Budapest on the other hand is right on the river.

 

Could have spent more time in both than the 5 days we spent in Prague and the 3 days in Budapest.

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Can’t say Budapest or Prague, only stayed in Prague, but that city is unbelievable. It’s one of the few unbombed cities in WWII and has fantastic architecture. They are tearing out all the old Soviet-style buildings, renovating the old and building new.

 

we stayied in the Old Town area at the Hotel Metamorphis, a block of so from the main square with the Astronomical Clock, and Charles Bridge. Did day tours by locals and on our own. English is spoken by most. Fun restaurants and great nightlife. We got the tram/bus/underground 3-day passes and used it all the time. It was $15pp.

 

the Metamorphis included breakfast at their restaurant and large rooms; no elevator but they carry all the heavy stuff. Windows looked out on all the rooftops. Loved it.

 

We especailly enjoyed the Smetana Hall in the Municpal Bldg. 1880s-1930s designs. Room after room of very exotic design. Went in the evening for a Czech composer concert ($10pp!) and into the American Bar in the basement. I expected to see Hemingway, Bogart and Sidney Greenstreet sitting at the bar. Unbelievable.

 

We are going back next year after an Amserdam-Basel river cruise - staying in Munich a few days then training to Czech Rep area and exploring.

 

Enjoy, Ithink either or both would be great choices. I try to fit in all we can when we fly into Europe!

 

Den

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Tip - book as many free walking tours as you like and can fit into your schedule. The tour guides are very good, knowledgeable, and enthusiastic. We learned a lot from the walking tours.

We enjoyed visiting both Prague and Budapest, and shall return some day.

 

Would you tell me something about the free walking tours you did in Prague?

 

Thanks

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Difficult choice - 2 fantastic cities & I would do both if possible (one pre, one post). I have not visited Prague via cruise - usually take the train & spend several days to a week. The city is simply magnificent (would give a slight edge to Prague over Budapest).

We will be visiting Budapest again this year as our Danube cruise ends there - planning on spending an additional 5 days.

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Difficult choice - 2 fantastic cities & I would do both if possible (one pre, one post). I have not visited Prague via cruise - usually take the train & spend several days to a week. The city is simply magnificent (would give a slight edge to Prague over Budapest). We will be visiting Budapest again this year as our Danube cruise ends there - planning on spending an additional 5 days.

 

I agree...they are both great cities. I think whichever one you pick - you will enjoy. They both offer many things to do/see, great restaurants etc

 

In terms of free walking tours - we find them easily via TripAdvisor or just with a plain old google search. You can often read reviews for them from other travelers and find one (or more) that will suit you. We do them in almost every city we visit when we are traveling. The guides are often a great resource for local restaurants, smaller/less known sites etc

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We did both extensions on our Viking cruise. I know it was more costly to do it that way, but I felt it being "turnkey" was worth the extra money. Everybody said "oh wow, Prague, Prague Prague" before the trip, and while I really liked Prague, beautiful architecture and heritage, I wound up liking Budapest more. It just seemed like a more genuine place - but if you only have time for one, you can't go wrong either way. If you do go to Prague, do yourself a favor and have dinner at the Cafe Imperial. One of the most beautiful restaurants, and best meals I have ever had.

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Thanks for all the info, we are going on a viking grand european tour and booked both Prague and Budapest ourselves. We have 5 nights Prague, and 4 nights Budapest, and cruise begins in Budapest and stays there overnight so get an extra day there as well. We ended up booking air from Prague to Budapest to avoid a very long bus or train ride, just lazy I guess. We also pre-booked concerts in Prague at the Klementinum and also we are there for Prague Proms. Our hotel concierge made them for us, and also dinner reservations at a few restaurants we were interested in, such as, Bellevue- told to get a window table, Field, and Terasa U Zlate Studne. Staying at the Aria. Then in Budapest, we are at the Gresham Palace Four Seasons, and have some dinner reservations at Costes, and Baraka. Anyone know anything about any of these restaurants, or had good or bad experiences there. We love going to jazz clubs in foreign cities, anyone have any suggestions for us in Prague or Budapest? Anyone done any cooking classes in either place, that would also be fun? will be glad to pass on our reviews after we return in early August. Thanks again for any feedback.

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One of AmaWaterways' excursions when I was in Budapest was a goulash making class at the Sofitel Hotel's kitchen. Completely enjoyed helping to make a big pot of goulash along with about a dozen others & listening to the chef give its history. We all then sat in the hotel's restaurant & ate what we'd created, and were given our kitchen aprons as "souvenirs". Quite a fun & memorable experience!

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Booked our first River cruise from Budapest to Passau in Dec 2019. Deciding if 2 days extra in Budapest or 3 days in Prague of neither. Would love some advice and suggestions on previous experiences. Thank you in advance

 

 

If you can only do one, I would do extra days in Budapest for the sole reason that if you have any flight issues on the way over, you will already have extra time booked in Budapest to absorb any delays. In a worst case scenario, this would offer good insurance against missing the start of your cruise. It will also give you time to get adjusted to the time difference.

 

Our personal preference is to book a private guided tour or at least a half day. A good guide is worth their weight in gold, and by booking a private tour, you can work with the guide to tailor the tour to your particular interests, and always have the guides full attention, and they can work with you, possibly ahead of time, to help you with plans for the remainder of your time.

 

Ex. We are cruising Budapest to Passau in September. We'll call our arrival in Budapest day 1. Some of us arrive mid morning, a few others don't arrive until early evening. We have a hotel in Budapest that day and board the ship on day 2, but the ship overnights and doesn't leave until sometime on day 3. Our family has booked a private guide for a half day tour on the morning of day 2. Our guide has already offered suggestions for those of us arriving early on day 1. As it gets closer, we'll firm up what our tour on day 2 will cover, and use our guide's suggestions for what to do on our own the afternoon/evening of day 1 while waiting for the rest of our family to arrive. Then at the end of our tour on day 2, we'll have lunch somewhere at our guide's suggestion, go back to hotel to get bags and board ship, and then spend the rest of the afternoon/evening doing whatever else our guide has suggested for the remainder of that day, and likewise for the following morning and/or afternoon before the boat departs.

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Would you tell me something about the free walking tours you did in Prague?

 

Thanks

Sorry about late reply. I have been busy preparing for my next cruise.

Free tours in Prague, contact info@extravaganzafreetour.com. Website http://www.extravaganzafreetour.com. You can make reservation directly via website or call 420 721 713 601. We reserved online when we arrived in Prague.

Tour#1 OLD Town & Jewish Quarter, 2 hrs duration, starts 11AM and 3:30PM daily

Tour #2 Charles Bridge & Prague Castle, 1.5 hrs duration, starts 1PM and 5PM daily

Tour #3 Communism and Bunker Tour, 3.5 hrs duration, starts 11AM, Mon, Wed, Fri, and Sat. This one is not free. Price 600 CZK or 22 EUR (includes entrance fee to nuclear bunker)

We did the first two tours. Ran out of time, so we did not do the Communism tour. Instead, we spent a full day in the castle area. We also revisited some of the places on our own in between dinner. We could have easily stayed one more day.

 

Free tours for Budapest: sign up via http://www.triptobudapest.hu/v2/tours/the-original-tour/

We did two walking tours using their service.

 

All of the free walking tours were guided by enthusiastic, knowledgeable professionals/volunteers who speak English fluently. The tours are top notch, and are much better than those included or paid excursions from cruise ships. We learned a lot from the tours, which are among the memorable highlights of our trip.

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On out last Danube cruise we spent time in both. We went to Prague 3 days prior to meeting up with the cruise line (did 2 days with the cruise line) for 5 days total. The advantage of doing Prague with the cruise line is because it is located quite distance from the Danube and they provided the transport.

 

We did the same, but booked the trip on our own. Stayed right near the city center of Prague. We loved Prague! Our cruise ended in Budapest after having an overnight. We debated whether or not to spend an extra night before returning home. Glad we didn't because we were so tired after the cruise was over and felt like we had seen enough of Budapest. Wonderful city, as well.;)

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We just returned from our Viking Danube cruise Nuremberg to Budapest, we booked the Prague pre cruise extension with Viking. I am glad we visited Prague and booked through Viking. Given the transfers and included walking tour the price was not unreasonable. I agree with others that it was nice to meet up with people on your cruise before the cruise started. Viking has their own reception desk in the Prague Hilton. They had quite a presence there with passengers from several ships staying at the Hilton. The Prague Hilton was about 20 minute walk from the central area, but it was a very nice hotel and had a nice grocery store right across the parking lot.

 

One thing to keep in mind is if you can only book one extension and choose Prague you will still see Budapest because your cruise likely goes there. Not true if you book the Budapest extension and not Prague, you will not see Prague.

 

Budapest is just beautiful especially all of the historic buildings lit up at night along the river. Although we did not book the Budapest extension, others on our ship did, and they were put up at the Castle Hilton. This would be an ideal place to stay - right next to the castle district. It would be great to stay there because you could get up before the crowds and get some outstanding photos. This area is very touristy - sits up on the hill overlooking the river. It is an easy walk down the hill to the river bank however.

 

Can't go wrong with either - but I likely would vote for the Prague extension since you see Budapest with a cruise stop.

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Very rarely do we book cruise line extensions but we are going to Prague pre-cruise with Viking on our upcoming river cruise. Usually, we DIY. The complication of getting to Passau from Prague made the decision for us. If we had gone ourselves,we would have flown to Munich from Prague and then taken a train( dragging luggage) to Passau. It would not have been much cheaper in the long run. Viking is not cheap but it gives good value and they have a fine product. Our cruise doesn't go to Prague but it ends in Budapest. This way we get to both places.

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