When I ask friends if they would like to travel to Budapest, Hungary, with Kathy and I, and then to Vienna, Austria, they all look at me like I have three heads. Budapest? Seriously? Well, yes, seriously. I need to go there for the book I'm writing, but more importantly I want to go there because I've heard it's an amazing place and I can stay in a 5 star hotel for less than a Micro-Tel would cost here in the states. Who doesn't want to visit one of the great capitals of Europe?
Apparently, everybody we know.
But in a list of the top 10 Most Overrated Places in the world and where you should go instead, travel writer David Landsel has this to say about Vienna and Budapest:
"#8 Berlin
An awkward teenager of a city, brimming with potential, Germany's big
town has a long way to go before it's nearly as ready for its close-up
as many travel writers (who often visit places like Berlin on
expenses-paid junkets) would have you believe. The best reason for
Americans to bother with pricey Europe these days is to roll around in
the continent's colorful past. Berlin is too modern, too sterile, too
expensive and too unsure of itself to merit much of your time or money.
Instead, try Head to the Hauptbahnhof and buy a train ticket to Prague.
It's only 4 ½ hours away. After stopping to admire one of the most
attractive cities in the world, you will probably be hungry, in which
case you should leave Prague as quickly as possible in order to get to Vienna, where you can eat and drink like a civilized person. From here, it's an easy ride to Budapest,
where you will consume your weight in strudel, go for a schvitz at the
baths in City Park and buy tickets to a classical music concert that
will ideally include everything Dvorak ever wrote."
Prague is awesome, I agree, but three days is plenty to see what should be seen. It's the emphasized part that caught my attention.
Vienna is amazing and my one visit there was all too brief. After luxuriating in Budapest for 4 or 5 days I'd head on to Vienna to enjoy the good life. It would be so much fun, but it seems I'm the only one who thinks so.
