Prague to Budapest or reverse

[peterdkiwi]

Yes we are just back from Avalon, Basel to Amsterdam cruise and need to do another River Cruise.

Have learnt a lot off Cruise Critic and doing a cruise which was faultless, can't rave enough about it and Avalon.

We are now considering Prague to Budapest in August 2014, this has raised a number of question which I am sure CC members have the answers.

What are pro and cons of Prague to Budapest or the reverse direction.

Some cruises has 2 or 3 days in either city first of after, is this good value.

Some cruises only go Passau to Budapest, other from Nuremberg.

Is the extra cost of doing full Prague to Budapest worth it, I have read a lot of comments on how great these 2 cities are to visit.

As usual, really appreciate your comments, think we are hooked on river cruises now. My DW is also talking about Vietnam Cruise 2015.

[alexandra cruiser]

one new 2 balcony ship AMA.Loved both cities and spent 2 days in ea.but if I had a do over would probably do extra in ea.(in fact doing BUdapest to Bucharest in June).

Cant see a reason why either direction should be a problem,but the dates were just better this way for us.

I think AMA is just a step up in all categories than Avalon,having been on both.Just personal opinion,of course.

Do a lot of research,check member reviews,google,watch you tube videos of ea.boat,etc.Then pick which is better for you.

Loved the trip.Have fun.PS.we inc.the hotels and extra excursions thru AMA and enjoyed the convenience.There is a 4 hr bus ride to ship(inc.with lunch stop and sightseeing)to ship.:)

[rich4karen]

We did Prague to Budapest in June on Viking. Coming into Budapest at the end of cruise at night was the perfect spectacular end of a cruise. The city lights are unbelievable. We spent 3 days in Praque and no extra days in Budapest(we were overnight on boat in Budapest ). We like to start a cruise with pre stays, we are not fans of post cruise stays, however Budapest is a city we would stay after a cruise.

[caviargal]

one new 2 balcony ship AMA.Loved both cities and spent 2 days in ea.but if I had a do over would probably do extra in ea.(in fact doing BUdapest to Bucharest in June).

Cant see a reason why either direction should be a problem,but the dates were just better this way for us.

I think AMA is just a step up in all categories than Avalon,having been on both.Just personal opinion,of course.

Do a lot of research,check member reviews,google,watch you tube videos of ea.boat,etc.Then pick which is better for you.

Loved the trip.Have fun.PS.we inc.the hotels and extra excursions thru AMA and enjoyed the convenience.There is a 4 hr bus ride to ship(inc.with lunch stop and sightseeing)to ship.:)

 

 

We did Budapest to Prague with AMA last year and I agree with Alexandra about Avalon versus AMA and have also cruised with both lines.

 

We enjoyed both cities and have been to Prague twice. It gets extremely crowded in the high tourist season.

 

We always book our hotels independently as we prefer to choose where we stay as well as to save on cost. If convenience is more important than cost, then booking with cruise line is more seamless.

[sippican]

I did a bit of research before choosing which direction to go for our cruise next summer. It really didn't seem to matter much from the information gathered - no real advantage to either. In the end, we chose Prague to Budapest; going with the flow, and wanting to end up in Budapest.

We are doing stays independently in both cities. We found we can save quite a lot of money pre-cruise from what the cruiseline is charging: staying in the same hotel with the breakfast plan and hiring a private guide. We will be using AMA's transfer from Prague to the point of embarkation.($99 pp)

[RachelG]

We did Prague to Budapest on AMA 2 years ago. I wanted to spend a couple of extra days in Prague, so did that at the beginning to give allowance for any travel delay issues.

This fall we are doing Budapest to Vilshofen, again on AMA, with friends. Picked it due to the dates working and wanting to see the river in reverse. Sort of like hiking, you see some things going one way that you don't going the other.

[ARetiredGuy]

I agree with rich4karen. Cruising into Budapest at night and viewing the illuminated bridges and buildings is stunning. We did Prague to Budapest on Tauck a few years ago. Prague and Budapest are interesting cities. You won’t regret seeing them. (When will you be in that neck of the woods again?)

[caviargal]

Our AMA Captain took us for a night cruise in Budapest - we did Budapest to Prague - and it was indeed lovely. We left at 9pm and it was very dramatic lit up.

[dwkucera]

Our AMA Captain took us for a night cruise in Budapest - we did Budapest to Prague - and it was indeed lovely. We left at 9pm and it was very dramatic lit up.

 

I think this is AMA's normal operating procedure when departing Budapest. When we departed on our Budapest to Prague cruise the Captain sailed downstream for a distance than turned around and sailed upstream so we could see all of the illuminated sights as we left Budapest. Not to be missed!

[peterdkiwi]

Thanks for info

Looks like we are going to do Prague to Budapest as we want to spend more extra time in Budapest, possibly up to 5 days, may then go to Istanbul before heading back to NZ.

Now just need to get a good deal for August 2014