<p>We will be traveling to Vienna to visit our D in October. Since we have never been to Central Europe we will also spend 10-12 days touring the major cities and possibly rent a car to see the countryside. Any suggestions for hotels, restaurants or “must see” sites? Many thanks, as always!</p>
<p>I’ve been to Vienna several times, but never to Budapest or Prague. Those cities are on our list for our next trip. My H has Austrian relatives, so we have never stayed in a hotel. It’s a lovely city, and October would be a great month to visit. Since your D is living there–I assume on a semester abroad?–she may already know here way around. It’s a very walkable city, and public transportation is excellent. Read a good guidebook before you go, because the history of the city is fascinating. Some random recommendations for places to visit:
–See the Ring (the Ringstrasse has some of Vienna’s most beautiful buildings) and the old part of Vienna. There’s also great art nouveau architecture in Vienna.
–Kunsthistorisches Museum (art)
–Holocaust memorial
–Schonbrunn Palace (it can be very crowded)
–Various parts of the Hofburg Palace, including the Spanish Riding School and the museums inside the palace grounds
–Stephansdom (cathedral)
–Mozart’s House
–Go to the Opera, the Volksoper, and/or a concert by the Vienna Philharmonic or Vienna Symphony. We’ve never heard the Vienna Boys Choir, but that’s another good option.
–Take an excursion to the Vienna Woods (Wienerwald), especially Heiligenkreuz, a 12th-century abbey
–Take an excursion to Kahlenberg, which has beautiful city and Wienerwald views.
–Drink coffee in one of the many cafes. We always bring home some Meinl coffee. It’s the popular Austrian grocery store brand, but not like our grocery store coffee at all.
–Eat well. I wish I had recommendations, but we have always gone with family and friends to wonderful restaurants that I no longer know the names of! </p>
<p>Outside Vienna: Our main destination has been Graz, where my H also has relatives. We’ve been to Innsbruck and spent time in Burgenland in the southwestern part of the country. My experience is slightly different than that of the average tourist, but I hope this is helpful. If I think of more, I’ll let you know. Have fun!</p>
<p>Thanks for the suggestions! Yes, my D will be there for a quarter abroad, but I’m going to start planning before she gets comfortable there! I’m going to print out your post and start a “to see” file. What a great beginning!</p>
<p>I can help a little bit with Prague. We stayed at the Cloister Inn, and we can recommend it. It is not a luxury hotel, but it is comfortable and convenient (and not too expensive): [Hotel</a> Cloister Inn](<a href=“http://www.cloister-inn.com/]Hotel”>http://www.cloister-inn.com/)
Their website says it was just refurbished.</p>
<p>See an opera at the Estates Theatre. That’s where they premiered “Don Giovanni”: [Prague</a> Opera: Estates Theatre](<a href=“http://www.estatestheatre.cz/et_history.html]Prague”>MOZART ESTATES THEATRE PRAGUE. DOMINGO!)</p>
<p>Go, even if you don’t like opera. The theater itself is worth it. According to Wikipedia “It is the only theatre left standing where Mozart performed”. They filmed some of “Amadeus” there.</p>
<p>See the small town of Český Krumlov and the castle there. See St. Vitus Cathedral in the Prague Castle. See the Old Town Square (with the Astronomical Clock), the Charles Bridge, and Josefov (the Jewish quarter). Walk into any open church in the old town and be amazed. </p>
<p>Brush up on your German (it is sort of a second language there, and many of the channels on TV in your hotel room are in German) and take a Czech phrase book. If you venture outside of the tourist areas, there are fewer people who speak English (not that that’s a bad thing).</p>
<p>In addition to what geezermom said:
(We used to live in Vienna, my recollections are a couple years old and from the point of view of an ‘expat’, so YMMV.)</p>
<p>I like the Albertina, beautiful palace and renovated drawing museum. Try the Augustinerkeller in the ‘keller’ (cellar), atmosphere and charm unbeatable, food so-so. The Belvedere has the famous Klimts, including “The Kiss”.</p>
<p>Visit the Naschmarkt for lots of local flavor (it is an open-air food market), and check out the buildings around it – lots of that gorgeous Vienna Secessionist architecture.</p>
<p>Take a Fiaker ride around the city. This is not cheap, but well worth it. Don’t forget your video camera. </p>
<p>Eat Schnitzel at Figlmueller. The Schnitzel is bigger than your plate, really. This was my kids’ favorite restaurant. Better to reserve a table, and of course they speak English.</p>
<p>Some info here:</p>
<p>[Restaurants</a> in the Old City - Vienna waits for you](<a href=“http://www.vienna.info/en/shopping-wining-dining/viennese-cuisine/restaurants/vienneses-cuisine-old-city]Restaurants”>http://www.vienna.info/en/shopping-wining-dining/viennese-cuisine/restaurants/vienneses-cuisine-old-city)</p>
<p>While wandering around downtown, stop in for a coffee and a Mont Blanc at Gerstner. This is a famous Viennese coffee house.</p>
<p>Take the (I think #35?) bus up to Neustift-am-Wald, or the streetcar to Grinzing, to have dinner at a Heuriger. The Heurigers are wine-producers that have restaurants, believe me, it is a very Viennese thing to do to go to a Heuriger. If you go to Grinzing, one of the Beethoven houses is up there, and there is a Figlmueller there too.</p>
<p>Sacher Hotel for the famous Sacher torte. Not my favorite chocolate cake in the world, but you have to do this once in Vienna.</p>
<p>Instead of a Spanish Riding School Performance, try to attend a ‘Morning Exercise’. We thought this was fascinating, watching the riders put the Lippizaners through their paces.</p>
<p>I know this is the opposite direction from Budapest, but if you have time, zip over to Salzburg. There is always a lot to do there, music festivals in the Schloss, etc., it’s a lovely town, and if nothing else, you can always do the “Sound of Music” tour. The Mozart Geburtshaus is very interesting. The Marionette Theater is wonderful, and not necessarily for kids. </p>
<p>Try to get to Melk and see the Abbey (they filmed “Name of the Rose” there). All of Tirol/Sudtirol is magical. We stayed in a Bauernhof owned by the same family for 400 years (will see if I can find the name). Detour to the ‘Silent Night’ chapel, where that carol was composed.</p>
<p>Save your opera-going for Prague (we found the Vienna Staatsoper and Volksoper stuffy, expensive and too formal for us). The opera in Prague is performed in a little jewel-box opera house, is astonishingly inexpensive, and the performances first-rate. Also in Prague, the Castle with bears in the moat, the Mucha museum, and inexpensive and beautiful crystal to buy (we bought a beautiful 12-light chandelier for around $250 all packed in a box for export). I would stay downtown if at all possible, as close to City Center as you can. We did that twice (the SAS Radisson) and stayed in a b & B another time, but it was a pain getting into and out of the city at the B & B. You will see Franz Kafka’s face everywhere, but I never saw any cockroaches big or small! (lol)</p>
<p>I think I’d skip Hungary and spend more time in South Bohemia to-from Vienna-Prague. Hluboka Castle (if you’re not castled-out after Austria!), this is really how it looks:
<a href=“http://www.krumlovtours.com/images/VYLETY/hluboka_cely_zamek.jpg[/url]”>http://www.krumlovtours.com/images/VYLETY/hluboka_cely_zamek.jpg</a>
And one of my very favorite places in Europe:
[url=<a href=“Photogallery OIS Český Krumlov”>Highlights]Highlights[/url</a>]
Cesky Krumlov. Anyone who’s been there would understand.</p>
![http://www.krumlovtours.com/images/VYLETY/hluboka_cely_zamek.jpg[/url]](http://www.krumlovtours.com/images/VYLETY/hluboka_cely_zamek.jpg%5B/url%5D){kind=link}
<p>You could always do one of those Danube cruises that take you from Bavaria to Budapest, you will see quite a few spectacular things on the way.</p>
<p>And don’t forget – in Austria they don’t say ‘Guten Tag’, they say ‘Gruess Gott’.</p>
<p>Viel Glueck und Gute Reise!</p>
<p>Sorry to double-post, but in Cesky Krumlov we stayed in the Hotel Ruze (there are a bunch of funny accents in Czech, pageturner got them right, but Ruze has a circle over the u and a bird or something over the z!).</p>
<p>The Hotel Ruze is ridiculously medieval/renaissance, in keeping with the spirit of the town. Suits of armor guard the halls, etc. All of Cesky Krumlov has retained its historic spirit, and they are happy to boast not a single McDonald’s in CK.</p>
<p>I find Salzburg too touristy, but I really enjoyed visiting a salt mine - even though it was a pretty touristy thing to do too! Oh I also loved seeing Mozart opera done by puppets there. Vienna Boys Choir might be available when you are there. Melk is lovely. If you are in a car I highly, highly recommend seeing things in the country. There are some amazing baroque churches in small towns.</p>
<p>You will find both Prague and Budapest surprisingly easy to navigate with only English. For example, in Prague’s subway system, all the instructions and maps include English translations. We found Vienna and Budapest to be similar in some ways, so if you have to choose between Budapest and Prague, I would suggest choosing Prague.</p>
<p>Our favorite guide books are from Rick Steves. He also has a great website at ricksteves.com</p>
<p>We haven’t been to Prague, but Budapest is incredible. I love Austria too. Have fun!</p>
<p>Double check about the rental car. Many rental car companies will not allow you to take the car into Czech due to the high theft. (I could tell you stories…)</p>
<p>Just returned from Prague, Vienna, Salzburg … Our hotel in Prague was absolutely beautiful with a great staff.</p>
<p>[Luxury</a> accommodation in Alchymist Grand Hotel and Spa: The distinct Prague hotel](<a href=“http://www.alchymisthotel.com/]Luxury”>http://www.alchymisthotel.com/)</p>
<p>Click through to find best rates. We stayed in a Jr. suite for about US 200 per night. Everyone’s suggestions are spot on, we used a very reasonable private tour guide I would be happy to share if you pm me. She was very knowledgeable about history and architecture. </p>
<p>Are you renting a car? If so then make sure you get all the stickers you need for traveling from country to country. I highly recommend St Nicholas Church.</p>
<p>I’ve only been to Vienna, and I’d second the suggestions of Geezermom. The only thing I’d add would be to go see a performance of the Lipizaner Stallions at the Spanish Riding School. I’m not a horse person at all and I only went because my daughters wanted to go. I truly enjoyed seeing the horses. Beautiful animals. We also went to a great restaurant purely by chance. It was a Sunday and most everything was closed and we were hungry and just walked into a restaurant that looked like a nice place. It turned out to be one of the top restaurants in the city. It’s name was: Drei Husaren. The staff was welcoming. Plus, the food was great and we really enjoyed ourselves. I checked later and saw that there was a dress code and reservations were required.</p>
<p>In Prague, take the defenestration tour.</p>
<p>I also recommend seeing the Infant Jesus of Prague. It’s sort of the religious version of the Mannequin Pis in Brussels.</p>
<p>We spent a week in Vienna in April; geezermom’s suggestions are great. The best meal we had was at Wrenkh (mostly vegetarian). We were with a group of 10 people–every meal was excellent. We liked going to Demel for cake/pastries. We stayed at Hotel Zur Wiener Staatsoper, which was very convenient, had a lovely breakfast, nice staff, but the smallest bathroom I’ve ever experienced.</p>
<p>Hunt - was the Infant Jesus of Prague in the church where they must have had 1000 dolls dressed up like Jesus?</p>
<p>In Prague you should see the 'Fred and Ginger" building designed by Garry (sp?). It is supposed to resemble Fred “dipping” Ginger in a dance. (this is just a walk by, but kind of a fun detour on your way back to your hotel after dinner).</p>
<p>We took the train from Vienna to Salzburg. Stayed a couple of days (Radisson in Old Town on the main walking street) and then took the train up to Munich. In Munich we stayed at the Le Meridien across from the main train station. It was a fabulous hotel and about a 4 block walk to the main Munich sites. We rented a car from the train station and drove down to the Disney castle.</p>
<p>The deal with renting a car in Europe is that you are penalized for returning it to a different country than where you picked it up. If I remember correctly it was about 2-300 Euros. We use Hertz for 2 reasons. First, it is easier to navigate their website for international bookings, and second because they have better navigation systems it their cars than Avis.</p>
<p>My best tip for traveling to Europe in the fall is to pack a long sleeved silk undershirt. There is a damp chill in the air and it just gets into your bones.</p>
<p>I went to Vienna and Budapest 2 years ago on a business trip. Absolutely fabulous. I recommend both cities highly. You will have a great time! I flew into Vienna, toured there, and then took a boat down the Danube to Budapest (passing Slovakia on the way). I bought the tickets in the States online. </p>
<p>In Vienna, I reco the Hotel Bristol, right across from the Opera (a must see) and within very easy walking distance of everything, esp the Hofburg Palace (you could spend a few days with everything it has to offer). Strongly reco you take a carriage tour to get your bearings on the first day. Also hit Cafe Dremel and Hotel Sacher for pastries – part of the quintessential Vienna experience. I second Figlmuller as an authentic Vienna old-style restaurant. Definitely see the Lipizzaners – a real highlight. (You can also buy those tickets online.) Two easy excursions: Prater (the amusement park, with an old Ferris wheel) and Schonbrunn Palace.</p>
<p>I found Budapest really hauntingly beautiful and it really stuck with me. It’s great to just walk around. It’s actually two cities, Buda (the older, historic section, up on bluffs, where Buda Castle is) and Pest (the more modern part, likely where you will stay). On the Pest side, St. Stephen’s Basilica is one of the most beautiful cathedrals I’ve ever seen. Two must do’s: The Gellert Baths (or another set of thermal baths) and the Doheny Street Synagogue (regardless of whether you are Jewish or not, you will find it fascinating). </p>
<p>FWIW, I had absolutely no problem getting around without speaking the languages (though I make it a point to learn the basics of please, thank you, you’re welcome, etc.). I like the Fodor’s travel books best, followed by Frommer’s. I cannot speak to Prague, as I have not been there. Enjoy!!</p>
<p>I was born in Budapest and have been back frequently (last time in 2005). Unfortunately I can’t give tourist advice because my family has a condo there and when we go it’s like going to a second home. </p>
<p>But I do know that almost everyone who visits has a good experience. Budapest is a beautiful city and there are many day trips you can make from there.</p>
<p>Thank you all. As soon as I get her home from Chicago on Thursday evening and on the plane to Austria Friday afternoon I will go through all your fabulous advice carefully and begin planning our trip. More information is always welcome!</p>
<p>Next time we go to Vienna (could be next year) we expect to stay in a hotel, so I appreciate the suggestions. And now I really want to go to Budapest and Prague. Runnersmom, please post a report when you get back. (This is kind of a CC version of Trip Advisor.)</p>