Quote:
Originally Posted by MasterG
That sounds like a great plan! I had a similar plan last summer (also my first solo trip, also mid-twenties young professional). I would book the flights and if you aren't sure how long you will be in places don't worry too much about the trains. I never booked a hostel more than a day in advance (sometimes not at all) and was completely fine, but it doesn't hurt for peace of mind if you already know where you are going.
Trains are reasonably cheap (watch out for weird European holidays that you don't know about and the trains are full randomly). Even if you book only a day or two in advance you'll be fine. Trains are certainly a great, unique part of the journey that you can't get in North America.
Buses are less nice and slower, but often ridiculously cheap. Worth considering if that's your angle.
If you are in the Budapest area, would be worth taking a day or two over to Vienna which isn't too much of a hike over (although not on your route at all). One of the nicest cities I have seen and lots of festivals, music and so on. I really liked it and was surprised given it's reputation of being more fancy. Great hostel crowd.
I maintained a similar pace as you seem to be suggesting, about 3-5 days in each city. I had more time so ended up stretching my favourite cities longer at the expense of the "monument chasing" approach of knocking off as many bucket list locations as possible. This approach worked for me, but there is no wrong way to travel though!
Happy travels!
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Thanks! Sounds like this will all be manageable then.
I have started some train route research, and Karkow>Budapest is via Vienna. I wasn't considering staying there only due to what I know of it being pricy. I'm sure there will be some layovers where I could do some exploring.
And yes - I am booking my flights next week. I have started a google map for my monument hit list as well
