How stunning is that photo of Budapest at night? I am going on a big trip in the fall and I am tremendously excited. This is the first trip I have ever gone on with no one to see or no absolute musts. I am planning to spend roughly three days in each city on my trip. I have been putting together a jammed pack list of my must-sees for Budapest, Vienna, and Prague and while it has been exciting it is also a bit daunting. From the research I have done (Trip Advisor, National Geographic Travel, and Virtual Tourist) and the few people I have talked to who have visited one of these amazing cities I have put together my top must see attractions in each city but I would absolutely love your input – have you been to any of these cities? Anything I would be remiss to skip? Please chime in!
Budapest, Hungary: This will be my first city on the trip and as most of the attractions I am thinking about are on the Buda side I have been looking at hotels in that area, let me know if you have any suggestions!
- Danube Boat Cruise
- Castle Hill Walking Tour (includes Fishermen’s Bastion)
- Buda Castle
- Chain Bridge
- Bike Tour of Pest
- Hungary’s Parliament Building
- Shoes on the Danube Promenade Memorial
- Central Market Hall
- Gellért Baths / Spa
Vienna, Austria: I am going to take the train from Budapest to Vienna and spend three days in the capital of Austria. As most of the attractions are inside the Vienna Ring Road and the Innere Stadt district I am planning on staying in a hotel in this area. The plan right now is to visit:
- Ringstrasse / A Ring Tour
- St. Stephen’s Cathedral / Domkirche St. Stephan
- Stroll down Kärntnerstrasse
- State Opera House (Wiener Staatsoper)
- Imperial Palace / Hofburg Palace
- Schloss Schönbrunn (Schönbrunn Palace / Castle)
- Naschmarkt & Brunnenmarkt (Open Air Market)
- Belvedere Palace
Prague, Czech Republic: This last city on my trip seems to be the one with the least amount of must-sees but after reading half a dozen reviews I am extremely excited for the Taste of Prague Food Tour and have ever been in touch with Jan and Zuzi. My plans include:
- Old Town / Old Town Square
- Astronomical Clock
- Charles Bridge
- Lesser Quarter (Mala Strana)
- St. Vitus Cathedral
- Taste of Prague Food Tour
- Prague Castle
- Castle District
I still a few months to plan and many attractions will not let me book this far ahead, including the RailJet trains that do not open until 90 days before. And I loved this Buzzfeed article on 46 Incredibly Useful Safety Tips For Women Traveling Alone. Please leave any travel tips you have as I have never been to Eastern Europe!
Visiting Palaces in Vienna
A Beer Tour in Prauge
Galavanting Around the Schönbrunn Palace
Travel Diaries: Giant’s Causeway 
Michael says
Prague is HUGE on my travel list. I’m really looking forward to the recap after your trip.
Andrea says
Kelly,
We stopped in Prague & Vienna last summer! Both places were awesome. I would recommend extra time to wander around and explore. In Prague the old town square had different performers & it was so much fun to just stop & listen to the music/watch the show etc. In Vienna we did a half day wine tour. I lovvved this! It took is to smaller cities with houses built into the side of a mountain! If you google my Blog Stylish Adventures with AL & then Vienna & Prague…my posts about them will pop up!
Ps. I had never heard of 101 in 1001 before your blog!
Andrea
http://stylishadventures-al.com
Jessica @ Semi-Sweet Tooth says
You are going to be obsessed! Remember that Vienna has a ton of the Sound of Music sights, which are absolutely stunning in their own right. Realizing that it was based on a real family and learning more about their story makes you recognize how amazing they actually are/were (with it being the 70th anniversary of WWII, I wouldn’t be surprised if they have something special going on, too!)
Prague, try not to plan too much. It’s a stunning city just to walk around. You’ll be in one part of the city in the modern district near the train station, walk through a small alley, and instantly be in Old Town where Jason Mraz was in his part of the video for “Lucky.” I’d say that my two favorite things to do (if you have time, again relax during this part of the trip) are to: 1) Go to a rooftop bar that you’ll be able to see from the top of the Astronomical Clock. There’s only one and it’s the top of a hotel. Beautiful. And 2) You can rent paddle boats to cruise around the river. There’s a paddle up bar where the tables will typically be your servers so that you can enjoy a relaxing beverage during sunset on the river. Absolutely stunning.
Sorry, I’ll stop. The perils of having parents that are European tour guides. You’ll have an amazing time, no matter what you do. Relax, and enjoy!
Diva In Me says
Yay!! I can tell you that you’ve some great list already by now. You will love all this 3 places you’ve picked. Great choices!
Budapest – try to walk along the Danube at night. It’ll leave you breathless. If you have time, you can visit St. Stephen Basillica but if you’ve seen enough of churches in your life, you won’t miss out much =)
Prague is one of my favorite among the 3 actually. I love the food there. We went on a hop-on-hop-off bus for 2 days and stopped at almost all of the places of interest and that took out most of our time for the city tour.
Enjoy the trip! =)
Adela Acanski says
Amazing post! Love this cities
Great! <3
http://www.adelaacanski.com/
Alyssa // Runway Chef says
You are going to have so much fun on this trip! It sounds amazing!!