AMA Tours in Budapest and Prague

[Shawski]

I will be on AMA's Blue Danube Discovery cruise from Budapest to Prague next month. They have tours in Budapest pre-cruise and Prague post-cruise. Has anyone been on these tours? Are they worth it, or are they just basically bus tours around the towns?

 

Thanks,

Marti

[Lucky Granny]

Hi Marti....I'm glad you asked this question as I'm wondering the same thing myself. We will be on an AMA Romantic Danube cruise in July and would like to plan our free time in both Prague and Budapest but don't know exactly what our tours will include. They don't seem to be long so maybe it's just a bus around the city. This may or may not be worthwhile. Let's hope somebody who has been will tell us.

 

Mary Frances

[Needzavacation]

We were on this cruise last year and did NOT do these tours, but the descriptions are as you described -- combination bus and walking tours around each city, with free time afterwards. The major sites in both Budapest and Prague are all in the central districts and very walkable. Unless you're reluctant to go off on your own, then I'd skip the organized tours -- you can go at your own pace and see what you want to see with no problems. No language issues in either city.

[MVPinBoynton]

We did these tours on our Blue Danube Discovery cruise. We enjoyed the tours. We did more than just drive around. You can see exactly what we did and saw in our review on our website www.thepreismans.com. I have lots of photos of everything.

[yvr49]

We did the Teresen (concentration camp) bus tour from Prague -- it was certainly not a fun happy type of thing, but very educational nonetheless and we were glad to have experienced it.

[Lucky Granny]

We will arrive in Prague the morning of the day before our bus tour and the rest of the day will be free. In addition, the afternoon after the bus tour is free time so parts of both days will be on our own. I am sure we will not skip the bus tour as it is a good idea to have an overall picture of the whole scene in your head and then return to parts that interest you. We will be venturing on our own for parts of the two days and we are trying to figure out what parts of the town will be "done" so we don't need to plan to get there. In Budapest, we are doing a two-day extension on our own and will need a plan to visit whichever sites the cruise tour does not include. Thanks, Mike and Carol for your wonderful reviews....we almost don't need to go. I am encouraged by your review to take pictures of our meals. I love to look at those pictures but feel silly taking them. I will remember how enjoyable they are while we are on our trip and hope I can do it. And we will visit Terezin for its historical experience. Thanks to all for responding.

[MVPinBoynton]

I am encouraged by your review to take pictures of our meals. I love to look at those pictures but feel silly taking them. I will remember how enjoyable they are while we are on our trip and hope I can do it.

 

I used to be self conscious about taking the food pics too. But since they are some of the most popular photos on our reviews, I am happy to do it. It does remind us of some wonderful meals too.

[Shawski]

We did these tours on our Blue Danube Discovery cruise. We enjoyed the tours. We did more than just drive around. You can see exactly what we did and saw in our review on our website www.thepreismans.com. I have lots of photos of everything.

 

Thanks Mike. I had seen your pictures a few months ago when we were trying to figure out where we wanted to go. They helped convince me that the Danube was the cruise we should take.

 

I just looked at them again with my question about the tours in mind. It looks like it is probably worth it to do the tour. Maybe we will just decide once we are there and see what the weather is like and how tired we are from the previous days' travel to Budapest.

 

Marti

[S&LS]

we were on the amadante from prague to budapest and returned home on may 11. we did all of the included tours and found them quite good. there is still plenty of time to do things on your own. dinner is late, so no need to rush back to the hotel. we had 3 pre-cruise days in prague. plenty of time. we did the terezin trip and well worth it. we ended in budapest and took an extra day. we wish we would have taken still one more. you will certainly have a wonderful trip on a first class line

[Lucky Granny]

S&LS, at the risk of being a hijacker of this thread, can I ask about the money you used along your cruise? Was the money in the Czech Republic the same as the money in Slovakia? It has the same name but can't find out if it is interchangeable. Did you have any trouble getting rid of excess money. I know how to get money from an ATM but can't know how much I will need for a very short visit and am wondering about getting rid of, for instance, leftover Euros after only needing them for two days.

 

Mary Frances

[S&LS]

Mary

 

in prague it this own currency "crowns" about 18 to the dollar. Euro's are ok

in budapest they also have their own currency. I don't remember what is called but about 200 to the dollar. We used the atm's as well as exchange services. Hard to get rid of your extra currency. Luckily, we have friends travelling the same path later in the season and gave them our left over currency

 

steve

[franski]

Prague = czech koruna (aka "crowns")

Budapest = forints

 

Many places will have signs advertising prices in both Euros and the local currency - but unless you are using Euros because you don't have local currency, it is often much more expensive to pay in Euros.

 

I just found a 50 koruna bill tucked in my wallet - but it is only worth around $2.50 --> so not worth trying to exchange. We will keep it as a novelty - especially given that koruna may well disappear in the future.

[eldercruser]

The rates as of Friday the 21st:

 

Euro: 1 dollar buys .80 euro or $1.26USD to buy 1 euro.

Koruna (Czech) 1 dollar buys 20.3 koruna

Forint (Hungary) 1 dollar buys 222 forints

 

Of course these are the wholesale bank rates, but the ATM rates are always close to the bank rates.

 

Thus, those traveling right now are getting a 10% discount on their restaurant checks, etc, from those of a month ago.

[jollyjo]

Last time we were out of country we used up our left over foreign currency

in the duty free shops at the airport. Except they wouldn't take coins. I do love getting some European chocolate before coming home! We leave for AMA's Magnificent Europe in 14 days! Thanks Mike for all the great information and pictures, pictures, pictures!

[MVPinBoynton]

You are most welcome jollyjo. Have a great time on your cruise.

[csmg]

the left over currency from short stays in various ports can be included in tips to the crew, etc. they know how to use it and they deserve it.

[big10red]

I will be on AMA's Blue Danube Discovery cruise from Budapest to Prague next month. They have tours in Budapest pre-cruise and Prague post-cruise. Has anyone been on these tours? Are they worth it, or are they just basically bus tours around the towns?

 

Thanks,

Marti

 

Just back from this trip on Amalegro. The tours they provide pack in a lot in a short time. You might not see some of the sites if going out on your own. Its included, so why not. If you get tired of the guides info, just drop back and look on your own.

[Lucky Granny]

We took the bus tours in both Prague and Budapest and they do, indeed, pack a lot of good stuff into a short time. In Prague, we stayed with the tour until they were leaving Castle Hill to return to the hotel. We just told the guide we were staying there a while and would get back to the boat on our own. In Budapest, our cruise ended but we were staying three days on our own. We took the bus tour with AMA upon arrival because it took us to Heroes Square, which saved us a lot of time later because it is a bit of a distance from downtown. Also saw that yellow castle and the nearby bath house (would have to look up the names) that we didn't have time to return to. When AMA picked us up at the airport upon arrival, our tranportation to our hotel was a bus with a guide who talked all the way from the airport to the hotel about what we were seeing. Lots to be learned on a bus tour.