Weekend away - Prague or Budapest?

Lulubelle

Hi,
I'm looking to go away for a weekend in December with my boyfriend.
Can someone recommend which city would be best in terms of local attractions, prices, etc.
Thanks.

440Hz

Been to both and they are great places. What we did was fly to Prague, spend three days there and then got the train to Budapest. In my opinion, three days was plenty in Prague but we could have done with more than three days in Budapest. Price wise they are fairly similiar, but for attractions I guess Prague has more. HOWEVER if you want a real eastern european feel I would go to Budapest as it is WAY more traditional. Prague is FULL of tourists, whereas Budapest is still relatively unspoiled. I loved both, and tbh you can't go wrong whichever you pick, but if I was offered a ticket for either in the morning I would want to go back to Budapest before Prague. See a thread that was posted about a week ago on Budapest I posted a few interesting links about sites etc. The Opera in Budapest is a must, even if you are not a fan.
Hope that helps a bit - enjoy!

Local Goddess

I went to Prague last month.The city itself is beautiful and its lovely to walk around,but de people we came across were horrible.Im sure dere are some lovely people from Prague but we didnt come in2 contact with any of dem unfortunetly!de were so rude,we went for dinner one nite and de waiters stood dere laughin at us and talkin bout us for de whole meal,it was mental.we went to a pub another nite and ordered food.we asked could we pay for our stuff seperately cause we werent really familiar with the money.when we asked the waitress and she started shoutin at us and giving out in her language.we were on the metro and some fella just pushed by my friend and she nearly fell,when she challenged him bout it he just looked at her and walked off,deres so many incidents i could go on all day!another thing is its really dodgy.You cant just get in 2 a taxi off the street,u have to get a hotel or pub to ring u 1 because its really really dangerous to get a taxi dats not on the level.at lot of dem arent so if ur goin be very careful of dat.Its cheap enough if u go out of the city center.its still cheap in de center but thing are for nothin if u go out a bit,like drink.we were stayin in praha 5 which is a bit out,de center is praha 1,and out dere a pint of beer cost only 20k,which is de equivillant of bout 80 cent,really cheap! Ive prob turned u off prague for life!besides all dat its a nice place-honest!ive never been to budapest so cant help u dere.Amsterdam is a nice place,but maybe not for a couple holiday!enjoy urself wherever u decide 2 go!

solice

I was in Prague in Sept and I thought the people were lovely. Nice and friendly, had no issues what so ever with them.

TheIceMaker

I've been to both, a lived in Budapest, and would definately pick Hungary over Czech Republic! The people there are so lovely, its the most beautiful city in the world. You have the best of both worlds in the city, on one side, buda which is all the old historic places, on the other side of the Danube is Pest the youger, part, with clubs and pubs n gorg shops. If you go to Budapest go to the Palace Hotel in Buda, it is the most incredidle spa ive ever been to cost you around €10 to spend the whole day there.
Drink food, accomadation are cheap in budapest, but theryre really high class.
You'll never want to leave!! Here's a link

blorg

Haven't been to Budapest (would love to go, it is definately on the list) but have been to Prague twice, both times in the winter, and thought it was really great. It's a lovely city with lots to do and see, and in winter there are not quite so many tourists.

I may be completely wrong here but I have heard from other people that Budapest is 'expensive'; certainly Prague is not.

chump

I'd flip a coin, tbh you'll likely go to both places before you die, so it doesn't really matter which one you see 1st ?

SHAKESPEARE_SIS

Prague is prettier but Budapest is more interesting!

mudbingo

My wife and are in Budapest for a holiday.A waiter in a restaurant tried to overcharge us-and two days later ,after watching the Ireland v.s. Wales a waiter in the Longford "Irish"pub in Budapest- without telling us,-charged us 4 times the requested house price wine -saying they had no house wine!-we asked to talk to the owner-but were told they were Serbs and were not there.
They just shrugged and said sorry -but hard luck.
So check what your getting and check your bill.

Slunk

Havent been to Budapest myself but been in pargue and it was great. Maybe the person above was just unlucky but I found prague very safe. I was stayin out in the suburbs and often got the underground home by myself. Even walking through the suburbs at night you feel safe.

totallytrees

whoever said budapest is expensive, id certainly disagree. we got 2 nights in a 5 star hotel for €200. A mains in a gorgeous restaurant recommended in the rough guide was €8 i remember..this was only October 2009 so prices wont have went up much. Drink in the local bars is ridiculously cheap, a double baileys was €2 and local beers were about €1.50.

@mudbingo - i agree with the overcharges that some places try to pull. its very very common in budapest so if the OP does end up going, keep an eye out for such scams. in our hotel bar, the menu stated a 10cl glass of wine was €6.50..when i went to pay i was told i had been given 20cl glasses (which you wouldnt notice! i just ordered A glass!) so i had to pay €26 for 2 glasses of wine...some joke :mad: