Budapest

[natshala]

Viking offers a pre cruise extension in Budapest for our December river cruise (yes, I know I’m on VO). Just wondering whether anyone has done this and if there’s enough to do in Budapest to make it worthwhile. The hotel looks amazing. Thanks!

 

[CDNPolar]

I have not done this pre-cruise extension but our first time in Budapest was late last year and we had two days there.  We are going back this year and ending our river cruise there again, and I cannot wait.

 

Budapest is an amazing city with so much to discover.  Go for it.

[Peregrina651]

38 minutes ago, natshala said:

Viking offers a pre cruise extension in Budapest for our December river cruise (yes, I know I’m on VO). Just wondering whether anyone has done this and if there’s enough to do in Budapest to make it worthwhile. The hotel looks amazing. Thanks!

 

 

Check out the River Cruising forum. You will find a whole lot more information there than here.https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/115-river-cruising/

 

BTW, there are river cruise roll calls as well. They are done by year and itinerary rather than for a single sailing and are more focused on the specific itinerary. Viking River roll calls have their own sub-forum. https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/851-viking-river-roll-calls/

 

If you do the extension, considering arriving early to have even more time in Budapest.

[OneSixtyToOne]

56 minutes ago, natshala said:

Viking offers a pre cruise extension in Budapest for our December river cruise (yes, I know I’m on VO). Just wondering whether anyone has done this and if there’s enough to do in Budapest to make it worthwhile. The hotel looks amazing. Thanks!

 

On our Grand European Tour we took the Prague extension instead. Budapest was Ok but Prague was amazing. 

[BluebonnetTexan]

Budapest is one of my favorites. I first went there on a business trip in 2015, I think, and determined that it was a place I wanted to bring my husband to visit also. We did the Grand European Viking River cruise starting in Budapest with their extension as our retirement trip in 2017. Along with colleagues showing us the town, we also enjoyed the Viking excursions and recommendations they made. We will be there again when we do Passage to Eastern Europe in 2025 and plan to spend extra days in Bucharest, Budapest, and add Prague if we can.

[Breckski]

We have visited independently - 4 nights if I remember correctly.  In addition, our one river cruise ended in Budapest.  To us, Budapest is only second to Prague in terms of our favorite European city.  There's not a ton of massive, high volume tourist spots like you'll find in Paris, London, Barcelona, etc.  We just like walking around and experiencing the city.  Loved starting up conversations with the locals.

 

Budapest isn't overrun with tourist (yet) like many European cities.  And it's certainly large enough for more than a couple nights.

[natshala]

Wow. Thank you all for your comments and suggestions. I love this forum!

[Peregrina651]

2 hours ago, BluebonnetTexan said:

Budapest is one of my favorites. I first went there on a business trip in 2015, I think, and determined that it was a place I wanted to bring my husband to visit also. We did the Grand European Viking River cruise starting in Budapest with their extension as our retirement trip in 2017. Along with colleagues showing us the town, we also enjoyed the Viking excursions and recommendations they made. We will be there again when we do Passage to Eastern Europe in 2025 and plan to spend extra days in Bucharest, Budapest, and add Prague if we can.

 

I LOVED Passage to Eastern Europe.

 

The Prague extension isn't long enough to soak up the city. It is easy enough to take the train from Prague to Budapest if you extebnd on your own. Or arrive a few days prior to the extension, if you opt for that route.

 

As for Bucharest, to this day I regret not having been able to extend our time there. I know.  I will just have to go again!

[Mike07]

Budapest is absolutely a city I want to go back to. I don't say that about many.

[dreamercruise]

Agree that Prague is amazing. Both Prague and Budapest can easily be done by yourselves (especially for convenience tailored to your desire and degree of fatigue): by walking and public transportations such as trams and buses (we took Uber as well, but not sure if Uber is still available). Years ago, we took a Grand European river cruise from Budapest to Amsterdam. Since there were more flights (and less expensive) to/from Prague than Budapest (guess the rive cruise guests took up all available flight slots), we flew to Prague first to spend 5 days there, then boarded a train (comfortable first class available for booking online) to Budapest, where we spend extra nights before boarding the ship.  We took time doing all the local points of interests, combined with multiple free walking tours (just book online and pay good tips. Best tours ever, and sometimes better than Viking’s). We googled for best restaurants, tried all variations of beer, and had a great time.  

[dreamercruise]

I remember that outside of Prague Airport, there was a bus stand to take you downtown.  The bus was similar to Viking tour buses, but with luggage rack in front. Our hotel was within steps to the bus stop. The amazing part is that the bus fare was only $2USD per person!  The comfort, convenience, and wait time are no different than taking a taxi (taxi stand adjacent).  Just make sure you get local currency at the airport first.

[BluebonnetTexan]

4 hours ago, Peregrina651 said:

 

I LOVED Passage to Eastern Europe.

 

The Prague extension isn't long enough to soak up the city. It is easy enough to take the train from Prague to Budapest if you extebnd on your own. Or arrive a few days prior to the extension, if you opt for that route.

 

As for Bucharest, to this day I regret not having been able to extend our time there. I know.  I will just have to go again!

@Peregrina651 We plan to do our own pre and post in Bucharest and Prague - pending how many days we can add when it comes time to commit with Bucharest as the priority as we don't expect to be back anywhere near there again. We've also looked at just doing a Prague focused trip maybe combined with Berlin. Right now due to family commitments, we can't plan lengthy trips.      

[Breckski]

21 minutes ago, BluebonnetTexan said:

@Peregrina651 We plan to do our own pre and post in Bucharest and Prague - pending how many days we can add when it comes time to commit with Bucharest as the priority as we don't expect to be back anywhere near there again. We've also looked at just doing a Prague focused trip maybe combined with Berlin. Right now due to family commitments, we can't plan lengthy trips.      

Unsolicited suggestion - make it to Krakow if going to Prague.

[BluebonnetTexan]

7 minutes ago, mwike said:

Unsolicited suggestion - make it to Krakow if going to Prague.

@mwike Good point! Makes planning a separate trip even more likely! 

[RRTX2017]

Budapest is one of our favorite cities we've ever visited. We did the Viking post-cruise extension there after Danube Waltz. We had a couple days there as part of the cruise and then a 2-day extension, and we didn't even make it to everything we wanted to see. By our second day there, we were talking about buying an apartment in the city.