# Other Places Around The World > Europe Travel General Discussion >  >  Planning a trip next summer to Budapest & Prague.  Would appreciate any "insights" - including hotels, restaurants, how long to stay in each city & what, if any, trips to the countryside we mi

## LMAC

Planning a trip next summer to Budapest &amp; Prague.  Would appreciate any "insights" - including hotels, restaurants, how long to stay in each city &amp; what, if any, trips to the countryside we might consider.

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## stbartslover

Libby, Mom's from Budapest---I speak Hungarian. 
I'll PM you. Jeff

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## Petri

We just came back from a long weekend in Budapest yesterday evening.  The last time I was there was back in 1991 so the city has changed quite a bit -- but not as much as I had expected.

Budapest; We had a Love &amp; Romance package from the New York Palace hotel (a Boscolo Luxury hotel) which is a fully restaured palace and opened a year ago as a hotel.  The building is just stunning, not to mention the lobby and the New York cafe.  As a hotel, it's as good as it can get.  We had booked a superior room that was upgraded to a two-room suite as part of the package.  The package also included a dinner at the restaurant, which is excellent, and breakfast.  The breakfast was just superb and we basicly had a late-breakfast and only had coffee until dinner time.  The package also included 1-hour private tour around the city and we had it booked for a quiet sunday day, no traffic jams or anything to slow the tour down, the guide was very nice student and we got a lot of insights why Budapest and Hungary are what they are today.  A lot of history that we didn't know before.   The package also included private transfers from/to the airport.

I usually don't book any special packages but this time it was an excellent choice, the dinner was fine for the first evening, the room upgrade was nice, the breakfast was "free lunch" and in the top 10 hotel breakfasts I've had, and the private tour was something we'll consider in the future as well.  Before the trip I calculated that the extra benefits were worth the package price (still well below the price for just a room in e.g. Paris or London).

We are "fast tourists" so two days of sightseeing was quite enough for us.  If you're into museums and history, there's a lot more to see.  One doesn't often visit countries that have held their millenium anniversary -- back in 1896 !  Book a private 3-hour tour on sunday to get a full history lesson, you'll be suprised by all the details and history.

Budapest is still relatively inexpensive city but it's closing with western Europe quite fast (back in 1991 it was dirt cheap).  What I didn't like about the city is all the traffic (a lot of cars, dirty air, crazy drivers) and lack of effort to put the buildings back into their glory.  When you compare what have been done at the old towns in Prague or Tallinn, the difference is just huge.  And when you look at the potential all the buildings in Budapest have..  I would love to take a few blocks from Budapest and transfer the buildings to Helsinki.  In general, as was also told by our guide, Hungary started capitalism very quickly but the progress stalled.  I was also expecting a lot more development as I had been in the city 16 years ago.

We get Hungarian wines here but I didn't know that they take them so seriously.  If I went to Hungary for more than a long weekend, I'd probably book a trip around the wine regions.  Perhaps a Spa on the Balaton lake or other parts of the city would be worth a visit as well.  I would also like to see how the smaller villages have developed over the last 15+ years.

Anyway, forget Kempinski, forget Four Seasons, and book a room at the New York Palace.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_Palace_Hotel
http://www.boscolohotels.com/

Prague; A few years ago we stayed at the Hotel Casa Marcello, www.casa-marcello.cz.  It's a historical building that was part of a 1000 year old monastery.  It's a walking distance to all the sightseeing in the old town so very convenient but still in the back streets for quiet nights.  I think the hotel was something one is looking for in an historical city like Prague.

.. We're heading to Tallinn in a few weeks.  A friend needs some help to finish all his single malts before he moves to London in January.

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