Budapest Or Passau? Info Please

[victory2020]

Hello, trying to make a quick decision on weather to do Viking in July from either Budapest or Passau. I will probably stay one or two nights pre cruise & fly home the day I depart. Which city would you fly in to &stay & why? I am solo female & like old, basic historical type hotels & use public transportation

[Roz]

Definitely Budapest. Nothing wrong with Passau, but there's so much more to see and do in Budapest. 

[knoxclone]

Agree with @Roz Budapest is definitely worth more time.  Passau is a lovely city in its own right, but there is so much to explore in Budapest. 

[victory2020]

Thank you. What airport do you fly out of in Passau? Is there public transportation from Budapest airport to city center? How far is the airport?

Edited April 7 by victory2020

[Roz]

Munich is the closest airport to Passau. 

 

My TA arranged for a driver to pick me up at the Budapest airport.  I'm sure there has to be public transportation from the airport to the city center. 

 

I highly recommend the Sofitel Chain Bridge Hotel. 

[Host Jazzbeau]

The traditional advice is to consider Prague the gateway for Passau, often with a stop at Český Krumlov on the way.  So this cruise works equally well in either direction if you can spend a few days at each end!

[CDNPolar]

For us Budapest!  We cannot wait to get back to Budapest which is where our River cruise disembarks in early December.

[knoxclone]

12 hours ago, victory2020 said:

Thank you. What airport do you fly out of in Passau? Is there public transportation from Budapest airport to city center? How far is the airport?

We prearranged a taxi in Budapest  - it was about 30 minutes from airport to our hotel - the Marriott.  Driver was prompt and gave us a running commentary on what we were seeing as we drive.

 

The tram system is quite easy to use and quick and efficient -  the tracks were just along the river and visible from both the ship - and the hotel.  

 

We rode it several times, once down to the Parliament for our tour and once "just to experience it". We were able to buy the tickets from the hotel desk - although that was in 2018, so they may have upgraded the system by now. 

[Daisi]

You could fly into Prague, spend a couple of days there, then get transport to Passau (about 1 1/2 - 2 hrs I think, and as Jaz says, Cesky Krumlov is well worth a visit), or fly into Budapest for a couple of days. Another consideration of flying out of Passau is the Nuremberg airport.

[jpalbny]

13 hours ago, victory2020 said:

Is there public transportation from Budapest airport to city center? How far is the airport?

 

Yes. The airport isn't that far - between 5 and 10 miles?

 

There is at least one bus that runs from the airport to the city center. Looking at my trip report from April 2016, we took the 200E bus and connected to the metro line, then it was a short walk to our hotel (Four Seasons Gresham Palace). Depending on where you decide to stay, one bus vs the other may work better.

 

We used public transport all over Budapest for four days. It got us everywhere we needed to go. If you buy the "Budapest Card" online you can pick up your card at the airport, and that will serve as your public transportation ticket. So you can just get on the bus from there without buying any more tickets.

 

If you want some ideas for what you can do in Budapest, this is my trip report:

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2254214-uniworld-river-beatrice-41016-budapest-to-passau/

 

[papa B me]

I cruised Budapest to Passau for a Christmas market cruise a few years ago.  We are doing this same cruise the first of June and decided to stay with Budapest to Passau and do our pre cruise in Budapest.  There really is a lot to do.  I have been to Prague and love it so it is an option for pre cruise if you want to go Passau to Budapest.  I just like the convenience of starting my trip with a short ride from airport to hotel for pre cruise and flying home from Munich.  Another plus is most cruises from Budapest stay the first night in port so it really give you an extra full day there.  Either is great though.

[victory2020]

I will most likely be taking the Viking transfer from Passau to the airport. So I.m assuming it Munich approx. 3 hours away?

[Roz]

7 minutes ago, victory2020 said:

I will most likely be taking the Viking transfer from Passau to the airport. So I.m assuming it Munich approx. 3 hours away?

 

My Uniworld transfer took about 1.5 hours in the wee hours of the morning. 

[bessinfl]

It's a little under two hours. 

[JordanF]

Budapest!  A great, interesting and delightful city.  Passau is nice, buy way smaller.

[pontac]

On 4/7/2024 at 4:08 PM, victory2020 said:

I will most likely be taking the Viking transfer from Passau to the airport. So I.m assuming it Munich approx. 3 hours away?

 

Be aware that Viking like to ensure guests are at airport check-in for international flights at least 3 hours before flight departure, plus they allow extra time for the journey.

 

For our 11:40 flight from Amsterdam, a journey that took 20 minutes to the airport, we had to put our bags outside the room at 06:30 and the coach was scheduled to leave at 07:45.

 

So, they'll probably allow 2.5hrs for the journey to Munich airport, so if you had a midday flight your coach would leave at 06:00 or 06:30

[victory2020]

8 minutes ago, pontac said:

 

Be aware that Viking like to ensure guests are at airport check-in for international flights at least 3 hours before flight departure, plus they allow extra time for the journey.

 

For our 11:40 flight from Amsterdam, a journey that took 20 minutes to the airport, we had to put our bags outside the room at 06:30 and the coach was scheduled to leave at 07:45.

 

So, they'll probably allow 2.5hrs for the journey to Munich airport, so if you had a midday flight your coach would leave at 06:00 or 06:30

I guess they like to be safe than sorry.  I can sleep on the plane. I'm just hoping it will be direct flight to LA. 

[greydog]

On 4/6/2024 at 1:54 PM, victory2020 said:

 I will probably stay one or two nights pre cruise & fly home the day I depart. Which city would you fly in to &stay & why? I am solo female & like old, basic historical type hotels & use public transportation

Recommend Budapest.  Stayed at this wonderful historic hotel a month ago.  Parisi Udvar (assoc. with Hyatt)   Booked std room online, asked/got jr suite for +$160 at check in.  Good Luck

[Mrs. Claypool]

Parisi Udvar is beautiful, the food is excellent and the staff was very kind when we stayed there several years ago. 
 

If you watch the “Vienna Blood” PBS series, which take place in Belle Epoque Vienna, the two detectives often have tea in the public rooms that greydog has pictured above, as they discuss the gruesome psychological murders that they are investigating!

 

[CDNPolar]

What I love about this discussion is so many people make such great arguments for both cities that I would not know what to choose myself...!  Haha.

 

I think that you won't go wrong either way.

[pontac]

Re hotel Parisi Udva, that was the hotel Viking used at the start of our Budapest to Bucharest cruise in June 2019. I wrote at the time:

 

Parisi  Udvar had opened only two weeks before we got there after a massive renovation. The entrance hall is magnificent, the rooms are spacious and well equipped but the restaurant was luxury priced for inexperienced, slow, inefficient non-luxury service.

 

I assume my last comments were a result of teething problems which are now solved. The hotel isn't like standard modern hotels, rooms differ in layout and there are little public sitting rooms hidden away of upstairs floors.

 

The hotel is a very short easily walkable distance from the boat mooring.

 Two articles about the building that show something of the architecture:

Budapest’s historic Párisi Udvar will reopen renewed by 2018 - English - WeloveBudapest

Interior of Budapest’s new Párisi Udvar Hotel is revealed - English - WeloveBudapest

 

The restaurant

 

and a contented Pontac

 

[victory2020]

Thank you all. I have booked. The problem is I just woke up to my reservation.And my agent has to be flagged to budapest instead of absterdam which is where I wanted the deviation to be. Has anyone experienced having to change arrival cities with viking?

[victory2020]

26 minutes ago, victory2020 said:

Thank you all. I have booked. The problem is I just woke up to my reservation.And my agent has to be flagged to budapest instead of absterdam which is where I wanted the deviation to be. Has anyone experienced having to change arrival cities with viking?

Sorry, talk to text mistakes. I wanted to fly in to Amsterdam but my agent has me flying in to Budapest. Can this be changed?

[greydog]

On 4/7/2024 at 11:08 AM, victory2020 said:

I will most likely be taking the Viking transfer from Passau to the airport. So I.m assuming it Munich approx. 3 hours away?

About an hour from regensberg to MUC so 90 minutes from passau 

 

we stayed at Hilton connecting to airport for extra sightseeing 

[pontac]

19 hours ago, victory2020 said:

Sorry, talk to text mistakes. I wanted to fly in to Amsterdam but my agent has me flying in to Budapest. Can this be changed?

 

Since you're using a travel agent, tell them. If it's their mistake they should sort it at no cost to you.

 

However if it's a set date you want the cruise to start it'll depend on there being vacancies on the boat that departs Amsterdam that day.