Steve 96C4S

So, I just realized that with the tax refund I got this year I can finally afford to travel overseas again. It's been a few years since I've had any excess cash after getting divorced last year. I had always wanted to visit Prague and Budapest as I heard they're great places to see for a week so I'm planning a trip there. I love doing museums, seeing the historical sights and general walking around great cities.

Air is like $1250 from DC as of now for October 5-13th week. WOW that's a lot of dough. I went on Kayak.com and that's the best I could find for the week I wanted to go, early October.

Then I thought - hmmm, where else could a newly single 51 y.o. guy go in Europe where I haven't already been? I never wanted to go to Germany before for personal, complicated reasons. But, the BMW and Porsche factory tours and museums are there so I was kind of thinking of these instead of Prague. Not too seriously thinking but, a slight maybe.

I don't drive in foreign countries and only do mass transit so I'd be doing buses and trains ONLY. That's not negotiable. I doubt I'd change my mind but ... hmmm, is the BMW and Porsche factories a better trip than what I originally planned?

I had also thought of Norway, Sweden and Denmark, doing 1 or 2 of these countries in a week. I only have 8 days off to do a trip.

Thoughts? I'm guessing 99% of you would say to do the Germany trip but I'm curious enough to ask anyway.

Thanks for your travel wisdom, however biased it may be )

Steve

P-track

October is high season for Euro city trips so wherever you go you won't be alone, especially major attractions like Barcelona, Rome but Prague also, will be flooded with tourists. As you have found out that translates in high airfares and expensive nights.

For an 8 day trip I would not focus on the carmuseums, the Porsche museum is fantastic but Stuttgart itself is not. I can guess at your reasons for not wanting to visit Germany but Munich is as German as it gets. Mostly in a good way.....

Personally I would combine Prague and Vienna ( closer together as well) but Budapest is great is well. All these cities are safe to wander around, even at night. The public transport in Prague and Budapest are fine, the trains between these cities are excellent.

With only 8 days yu do not want to lose valuable time travelling so I would focus on just two cities.

(Another option is to buy the cheapest ticket you can find to any city in Germany or Holland and take the high speed train to Stuttgart. Visit the Porsche museum and the same day hop on a low cost airline to Prague or Budapest.)

Good luck!

Robert993TT

October is a bit late to visit the Scandinavian countries. Autumn is fast approaching. And 8 days is too little time to be exploring the two Scandinavian countries. Choose one of the countries and focus on a region depending on what you want to experience. This tip applies no matter where you choose to go to the end. There are many beautiful countries and cities in Europe. In Eastern Europe it is cheaper to live and eat as a tourist than in the south, central and northern Europe.

Prague and Budapest are two very beautiful capitals. Unfortunately I have not visited any of them yet. Both cities are on my list of weekend trips.

rich c4s

Hmmm Munich in Oktober? Early October puts you there for the last days of their local festival.

From a cultural, walking the city point of view, I would choose the Prague/Buddapest pair over Munich/Stuttgart. I think the best time to visit Munich is for their Christmas market. Oktoberfest will be crowded and I think is best visited with a group, especially if you are associated with one of the companies sponsoring a tent.

EckFe1

Steve,
My car will still be registered in Oct. So if you're near Nuremberg or Stuttgart, I'll take you on the Autobahn. The experience is priceless. There's also enough twisties in the Swabian Alp, which provides some awesome driving.
Public transportation to the East is definately the better way to go.
Ed

Steve 96C4S

Great advice, folks. I realize 8 days isn't that long so focusing on a smaller area or range of locations is smart, I agree. I was all set on Prague and maybe one more city, but then I thought - hmmmm, I could maybe see the BMW and Porsche factory tours instead.

Still not sure, but leaning to my original plan. I have many weeks off actually but I'm in sales, have a quota to make and only get "quota relief" for that 2 weeks a year. Since I'm using my "quota relief" for another week earlier in the year when I go to attempt Mount Hood in Oregon, early June I thought I'd just do one week in Europe so I don't totally fall behind, sales-wise. I'm a workaholic and ... don't want to have a bad month.

Didn't realize early October was such a big tourist season. That's precisely what I was trying to avoid! Maybe I'll pick a different week then... I'm already taking off Thanksgiving week and was actually thinking about the first week in December instead of October. It'll be cold as heck then I'm guessing so I thought October would be better. I really don't mind the cold though if less people are in town and it's easier to get cheaper flights and more available hotels. I'm taking off Labor Day weekend to attempt Kings Peak in Utah so I was thinking to not take 2 trips in September...

Still trying to do the highest point in each state. At 43 now .

Dryfly57

Where ever you go have a GREAT time. IMHO...Hungary and another city......
Travel safe!

NC TRACKRAT

Right now would be a good time to go. If not, I'd save my money and wait until the fares and crowds go down. You'll have an easier time finding nice lodging, too. You could spend a week in Munich, Rothenberg, Nurnberg, Garmisch, etc. and never get to see it all. The churches, castles, antiquities, food, beer and wine, cleanliness and manicured countryside will blow your mind!

E_T

As a Norwegian currently based in Vienna I'd say Vienna/Budapest and perhaps even the Salzburg region over Norway in October. A stint in Norway would be nice, though, especially the fjords in the western part of the country, but it is also going to cost probably twice as much as if you go to central Europe. If you do come to Vienna, let me know, we can take a trip up to the twisties in Höllental!

IXLR8

The beer is equally good in both of those vacation destinations.

But why go for a mere 8 days? Airfare is a fixed cost.

JPP

If you're going to Budapest .. I'd pm RP993 (Arpad) .. he lives there ;-)

Flying Finn

I'd say do NOT go to Germany. Nothing wrong with Germany but Budapest, Prague and any Scandinavian countries (hey, why no love Finland?!) is good.
Since you're not driving, Denmark, Sweden maybe would be my choruses but on the other hand, if you go Denmark (that would be my no. 1 out of those, maybe Finland would be next. But they're all close (you can ferry between Sweden and Finland in a day or fly in 2 hrs) so you can do at least two. All of the countries you're considering have good mass transit.
If you were driving, you can't beat the mountain roads of Norway.

You really have all good choices, Buda & Prag are reall awesome and so are the Scandinavian countries although as already said, maybe little late weather wise.
In Prague you'll probably spend the least but it's probably not a huge difference anymore.

Hey, you're recently divorced single guy... Forget doing a dedicated car museum trip, plenty of nice women in all of the cities in your list...