My wife and I are flying direct r/t from NYC to Prague in late September, spending 3 nights in each city center. Looking for recommendations on can't miss sites and restaurants highlighting the local cuisines. We'll have a car the whole time, so for sites we can (depending on traffic patterns) drive to them from the city center. We'll also spend a full day each driving Prague->Vienna and then Vienna->Bratislava->Budapest to see sites along the way.

Thanks in advance for the ideas!

The Vienna Philharmonic the best in the world if that's your speed. And if they are playing in the Musikverin it's especially spectacular.

My family was in Austria (Vienna and Salzburg) over Christmas a few years ago. Christmas markets were obviously a huge highlight for that time of year, but we also enjoyed these in Vienna:

Schonbrunn Palace
Belvedere Museum
House of Music (Haus der Musik)
Kunsthistorisches Museum
Attended a performance of Vivaldi's 4 Seasons at St Charles Church (Karlskirche)
Attended mass at Hofburgkapelle with the Vienna Boys Choir performing

We are a very musical family...

I was in Vienna & Prague in December and have had clients go to both places. Unfortunately I haven't made it to Budapest so can't offer personal experience.



Vienna:

- Meissl & Shadn: Had my birthday dinner here. The hotel called last minute and the owner added a table for me and my wife. Incredibly cool experience. Food was awesome. Very generous portion of Wiener Schnitzel, we got it with the cranberry sauce. It was amazing. So thin, hands down the best I've had. The Salzberger Nockerl dessert (a souffle) was delicious. Highly recommend! All my clients have loved it.

- Slopik & Lohn: local take on traditional dishes. Moderately priced, frequented by locals. Really solid

- Cafe Central & Cafe Mozart: perfect display of the Viennese cafe culture. Spent hours just watching people walk by

- Cafe Sacher (in Hotel Sacher): original home of the sachertorte cake. Worth the wait in line if you don't make a reservation. The hotel is incredible if you are looking for a place to stay as well.

- Cafe Imperial (in Hotel Imperial…one of my all time favorite hotels): they do a champagne brunch, high tea, and their breakfast was amazing. I have a good contact here if you need it.

- Belvedere was a cool palace visit
- Vienna Opera house: If you can take in an opera or do a tour, highly recommend. Cool to see the place of so many movie scenes.

Prague:

- Kolacherie Celetna - the traditional poppyseed kolache and the blueberry and cream were so good.

- Cerveny Jelen: we did the Czechia board with wild boar, tenderloin, and pork neck. Vetrnik for dessert. Probably the best meal we had on our trip.

- Infant of Prague shrine, lighting of the lamp on St Charles Bridge, Astronomical clock, Prague Castle.

For Vienna

#1 is the Schonbrunn Palace. And I thought I knew a bit of my European history, but somehow didn't know the Habsburgs ruled almost the entirety of Europe for just under a thousand years. The grandeur of that place is amazing to behold and a little unsettling how it sinks in that so much wealth and power could be so concentrated for so long.

#2 I suggest walking around the Maria-Theresien-Platz and going into one of the many museums or art galleries there.

For Prague, my favorite restaurant is here: :^)

Good Eats

Thanks everyone for the recommendations so far!

Hotel Sacher for a Sacher Tort in Vienna after the opera.

I know it's a thing, but I did not enjoy the sacher torte

The Milkman said:

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I know it's a thing, but I did not enjoy the sacher torte

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Totally agree with you. My wife was very excited to get one and none of us liked it, including our kids.

Check out a thermal bath in Budapest. Lukacs and Veli Bej are very nice. Dandar is less crowded and more of a local vibe.

Places to eat would be Cafe Kor, Aszu Etterem, Fat Mama, Comme Chez Soi and Getto Gulyas

Take a dinner cruise on the Danube.

Y'all get Kaiserschmarrn? I thought that was better but still enjoyed the Sacher torte.

Can't beat a warm apfelstrudel with cream. Cafe Landtmann was our favorite for this.

-Attended mass at Hofburgkapelle with the Vienna Boys Choir performing-

We'll be there on a Sunday, there are tickets available so we may pull the trigger on this one. The history of the chapel is unreal as is the history of the orchestra that plays. Thank you!

-Meissl & Shadn-

This is perfect and in a great location. Thanks!

Regarding the mixed reviews of the sachertorte, the pic looks awesome, we are both big chocolate lovers, but the apricot jam in between the cake layers is a turn off. I'll try it anyway (wife says she'll try a bite of mine).

NE PA Ag said:

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-Attended mass at Hofburgkapelle with the Vienna Boys Choir performing-

We'll be there on a Sunday, there are tickets available so we may pull the trigger on this one. The history of the chapel is unreal as is the history of the orchestra that plays. Thank you!

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The mass we attended was on Christmas Day, so it was extra special. The view of the choir is pretty limited depending on where you are seated, but the experience is still worth it. On the way to our seats, we were able to catch a glimpse inside the room where they were warming up and then we were able to interact with many of them outside afterwards.

We visited Vienna last Fall. It is a very clean and accessible city. We did not have a car, so the Hop-On Hop-Off bus with the 3 day Vienna pass was convenient. It seemed the majority of people spoke English around the Ringstrasse.

Highlights:

Go to St. Stephens before sunset, from the South Tower you can see the sun set over the city. We had a nice dinner at Joma (not extraordinary, but good). After that we walked to Cafe Central. There was no line at that time of the day.

If Hotel Sacher is crowded, you can get the same Sacher-Torte around the corner at Cafe Mozart. The most spectacular interior of the cafes we visited was the third floor of Gerstner K.u.K Hofzuckerbacker at Kartner, Str. 51, next to the opera. I really liked Cafe Schwarzenburg as an everyday cafe.

See an opera at Wiener Staatsoper (Vienna State Opera)- one of the World's great opera houses. A suit or even a sports coat and slacks is appropriate for an evening opera. On the website you can pre-order food, drinks and a table for the intermission. Unless you speak German, I would skip the pre-opera Einfuhrungen.

We took a bike tour with Petal Power. If was a blast, very informative and you see a lot of sites in a few hours.

On Saturday morning we went to Natschmarkt to pick up some food for the room and then breakfast. It is busy with a lot of people watching. Be wary of the Middle Eastern cheese salesmen- I bought too much.

Then we took the bus to Shonbrunn Palace. You can spend as much of the day there that you like. It reminded me of Versailles, but did not seem to be as well kept. We bought one of the passes and did the audio tour. The walk up to the Gloriette is worth the view.

Of course check out as much of the Imperial Hofburg Complex as suits you. It will be busy with tourists. The National Library is impressive. See the terrace at the Heldenplatz in the Hofburg Palace where Hitler spoke to an estimated 200,000 to 250,000 in 1938- "he promised us milk and honey" (according to a tour guide). I am sure you have seen the photographs. If you go on Saturday there will be activities there.

I recommend the Upper Belvedere; see Gustav Klimt's "The Kiss".

Men's clothing- stop by Malawon, at Opernrig 23, and visit with Manfred Markowski. A really interesting guy who has had the shop since 1976. That location has been a clothier since 1875.

In late September the weather was great, a bit warm during the day and cooled off at night. I brought a rain coat that I never used.

I used to go to all three for work. Vienna recs are solid.

Budapest: - very much a walking, architecture, and dining experience

Cafe Kor for traditional Hungarian food and the old school Budapest feel.

Coffee at the New York Cafe to experience what the Austro-Hungarian Empire must have felt like pre-WW1

Fisherman's Bastion and Old Town/Castle District for strolling and amazing architecture

Watching the sunset over the Danube from Gellert Hill Citadel

Kreg17 said:

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Y'all get Kaiserschmarrn? I thought that was better but still enjoyed the Sacher torte.

Can't beat a warm apfelstrudel with cream. Cafe Landtmann was our favorite for this.

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Yeah I really liked Kaiserschmarn. The sacher torte felt like a grocery store chocolate cake. Kind of dry and with the glaze on top. And I have a huge sweet tooth so its rare that I'm meh on a dessert.

Vienna

Light of creation at Votive church
Schonbrunn palace and zoo
Video game museum
Prater

We're staying at Hotel Imperial in mid September!

It's probably my all time fave! I've become good friends with the sales director there (and have sent a few people this year)…would be happy to put in a word with her and see what she can do.

We'll be there the 17th-20th

Got it - you can remove your info if you want!

NE PA Ag said:

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My wife and I are flying direct r/t from NYC to Prague in late September, spending 3 nights in each city center. Looking for recommendations on can't miss sites and restaurants highlighting the local cuisines. We'll have a car the whole time, so for sites we can (depending on traffic patterns) drive to them from the city center. We'll also spend a full day each driving Prague->Vienna and then Vienna->Bratislava->Budapest to see sites along the way.

Thanks in advance for the ideas!

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I went with my parents and we stayed a few days at the Ritz Carlton Budapest- very inexpensive and super nice.

make sure you find a nice hotel where they offer "sauna"- one I stayed at in Prague had EIGHT different types of sauna in the hotel!!

also check out Bratislava on your way from Prague to Budapest and LAKE BALATON.

Main synagogue in Prague is amazing- it's a museum today. But the main synagogue in Budapest is both a museum and functioning building- the architecture and art work draws in thousands of tourists a week.

If you're renting a car and driving yourself between the cities, plan night in Cesky Krumlov between Prague and Vienna. It's one of the view larger towns not bombed in WW2 so all the old buildings are original. There's a castle in the center of town. The town is touristy during the day because of day trips from Prague and Vienna, but if you spend the night the evenings are nice.

If you're a Kolache lover, you HAVE to go to Kolacherie Celetna. They even have a map in their store with Kolache locations in the US and a direct line thread from Prague to West, TX! I've been to one on their map in Denver showed them (the Denver owner) a picture of the map.

Quote:

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Light of creation at Votive church

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This was incredible.

Budapest has some fun beer spas. Your spa isn't actually beer - it's heated water and the dump grain in before you soak. They have a tap handle next to the tub and you pour your own, all you can drink. Ruin bars are a blast. The chimney cakes at Karavan are much better than the touristy every color under the rainbow filling with sprinkles you'll be inundated with elsewhere.

The Museum of Alchemy in Prague is awesome.

In Vienna I challenge you to eat a sausage and drink a beer at every sausage stand you pass. The Vienna sausage stand culture recently was given Unesco heritage and culture status.

Figl-Muller in Vienna is the best schnitzel i've eaten by a long shot. Very simple but perfect.

In a lobby of the Sacher Hotel on a table was a list of rules. One of which was that you must be 18 to be in a swingers club. WTF!