travelling eastern european sights?

Question

While travelling through cities such as Prague,Vienna,Budapest and Krakow,what are the must see sights in each city?taking in to account a two to three stopover in each place.....

Answer 1

Well Prague was an absolutely GORGEOUS city and one of the cleanest I've ever been to. But there is a lot of good info on that in the other answers.

Personally I hated Vienna. I was there for 2 days, wandered around and took a city tour. Was so bored (I'm not really into composers so going to Mozart museum wasn't exciting to me). I don't think you could possibly spend 2-3 days there. I signed up for a bike tour offered at our hostel. We took a bus a couple hours away from the city. We rode our bikes through lil towns, down to a lake with a beach, went to a bunch of wineries in the area some that were just tiny lil houses with the still in the backyard! It was one of my highlights from EUROPE. Salzburg is not too far outside of Vienna and lots of tours go there. It was fabulous. Lots to see, lots to do, lots of history. Sound of Music was filmed there. I didn't make it to the salt mines (under Salzburg environs in the link) right outside of it but the people that did take that tour raved about it and how impressive it was. When I get back to the region, I would definitely do that.

http://www2.salzburg.info/

Next Krakow. I lived in Warsaw for a month so that was our home base (I dont recommend going there) and one of our first trips was to Krakow. The most important thing about Krakow is just taking in the culture. The center of town has both the Cloth Hall which will have all your shopping needs and the Basilica of Virgin Mary. Go see Wawael (?) castle, a wealth of history and royal palace. A lot of restaurants are underground in Krakow and from the street its just this lil staircase which you might think lead to an apartment. Everyone I met was amazingly friendly. We sat in the outdoor cafes and musicians played the violin, the street statue people were entertaining. And definitely buy some amber jewelry while you are there. It is the big thing in Krakow and gorgeous. Make Krakow a relaxing day to just to soak in the culture and walk around. On your last day in Krakow take a tour to Auschwitz. It's well worth it and incredibly well preserved. It will really touch your heart.

I didn't go to Budapest so I can't be much help there but try these sites. My friends were Australian so they couldn't go to Budapest as they hadn't registered Hungary on their itinerary. But it looks far more decadent than Krakow or Prague. and I'd love to see a Turkish bath.
http://www.budapest.com/citytravel.html
http://www.budapestinfo.hu/en

Answer 2

I was born in Prague, and make it a point to go there every year. First of all, you must experience the food, the sausages and cheeses - and beer (original Pilsner and Budweiser).

After you've rested, go to the Prague castle with the Sv. Vít cathedral and Golden lane.
See the Orloj (clock) on Old town square.
Charles bridge - try to pick time when you have enough room to turn around.
Vysehrad - fortifications 1000 years old.
Václavské namestí (Wenceslaus square). Ignore the people sneaking up on you with a Pssst - change money? You'd probably get forgeries in exchange.
Huge market in Holesovice great prices (run about 50% by Vietnamese).
Finally a small palace in Troja right across the street from the zoo.

Vienna - You ought to see the Schoehnbrunn Palace and walk the grounds to the Gloriette at the top of the hill on the other end of the park. Also visit Hofburg.

Wish I could help with the rest, but don't know a thing about them.

Answer 3

in prague do the muzeum area, old town square, charles bridge, and up to the castle. walking around stare mesto is great, you'll find all kinds of incredible places. in budapest take a walk along the danube, see the parliment building, Matthias Church, the castle, and st stephens basillica. there's obviously a lot more to do in both cities, but these are a few of the highlights.

sorry, it's been awhile since i was in vienna, and never been to krakow.

also, if you're going from vienna to budapest why not stop in bratislava (slovakia)? it's only about an hour outside of vienna and the same way you would go to budapest. you can walk do the old city in a few hours, and it's really cool and with a lot less tourists.

Answer 4

go to my 360 page, I have stacks of photo's on there of Prague and Vienna, fabulous places. For me, simply wandering the streets with a camera was the best way to see both places, I dont like to be too organised when visiting a place, walk down a street, turn a corner and see what suprises lay waiting....always works for me