Budapest
A few months ago, I booked a crazy airfare. Well, you might call it insane, but I call it exciting. Seinfeld might even call it a trip about nothing, but I’m really looking forward to this adventure!
For $271, I booked flights via Priceline, on SkyTeam carriers to Tokyo via Milan/Prague/Amsterdam. For the return flight, I booked a flight on Japan Airlines NRT-JFK for 50,000 AA miles.
Regarding the first leg of the trip, I arrive Milan (MXP) on a Friday morning, and leave again on Monday afternoon, from Prague (PRG). Thus, I have three nights between landing in Milan and taking off from Prague.
The question is where should I spend the weekend and how should I get there? It is not that easy, logistics make it complicated. I do not want complicated. Keep in mind that the trip is in January, and also that I will be traveling solo.
I’m deciding between Milan, Prague and Budapest. I’ve been to Milan and Prague, though not at least 10 years. I have always wanted to visit Budapest and I am trying to decide if it would be insane to plan a visit this trip. That’s where you come in.
On the one hand, it would be relatively easy to get to Prague, and then I would have the entire three nights there. I could easily stay at the Radisson Blu on points, and leisurely enjoy the beautiful city.
If instead I want to go to Budapest, the cheapo airlines don’t seem to work schedule-wise. There is a Lufthansa flight that would seem to be great, leaving MXP at 12:30 p.m. and arriving PRG at 3 p.m. It is pricing at over $700, but last I checked, I could book it as an award via UA for 15,000 miles. I would then stay in Budapest for Friday and Saturday evenings (Radisson Blu). Flights from Budapest to Prague are very expensive, so I was considering experiencing a Sunday night train.
I have questions – lots of questions and could use your help.
Which city to go to?
Logistics of getting there, and where to stay, and what to do.
Is it insane to go to Budapest this trip? Should I save it for another trip? Reality-check (not czech) time.
If you feel that Budapest is do-able, what recommendations can you offer?
If I do choose Budapest, how do you recommend going from MXP to BUD and BUD to PRG and everything in between?
Have you ever taken a BUD-PRG night train?
A New York frequent flyer who elegantly combines her passions for worldwide travel, running a gazillion marathons all over the globe and staying fit ... without sacrificing her fancy for good wine and food.
3 nights in one place ?
I’d take that !
so, you’re saying that Prague is better because I’d have more time there?
Venice. Duh. 😉
If you looked at Venice I think there is an overnight train to Prague you could take. If you choose one of your original 3 I would go to Prague as it is the easiest.
I would make the easy decision and go with Prague…
The answer is obvious, but depends on your travel dates – where is there going to be a marathon that weekend? Budapest is 12 October this year (Prague and Milan have both passed).
You could try looking at http://www.marathonguide.com/races/races.cfm?place=intl http://aimsworldrunning.com/Calendar.htm or http://www.marathonrunnersdiary.com/races/europe-marathons-list.php but if your travel is imminent you might be out of luck for Southern European marathons.
Ian, of course the first thing I do when planning a trip is to see if there’s a race. That’s how I decided on both the Barcelona and Panama marathons. This trip though is in January. And there are no marathons in those cities then. I think though that this thread and the comments has convinced me to go back to Prague (even though I’d love to see Budapest for the first time). If I have more time in one place, then its more likely I’ll have more time to go run there…. and that’s important to me.