Prague or budapest - wwyd?

My sister went to Budapest a couple of years ago - in fact she cycled there from Salzburg, crazy girl! She managed ok with English and German. My SiL is Hungarian and she and her sisters speak excellent English, but her parents and most of the older generation learned Russian/German instead.

I know very little about both cities tbh, they're both on my "places to visit" list though!

Well I've already sung the praises of Budapest. I loved it. You definitely can get by not knowing any hungarian. We bought a guide book with a few phrases in. They love it if you give it a shot. II've never been to prague so don't know how expensive it is but I wouldn't say Budapest was cheap. It's not really expensive just not notably cheap like prague used to be iyswim.

I'm also sorry to hear your FIL is still being a tool.

I would go with Budapest. It is much more unspoilt in my opinion and lots to do. We got by with English when we went a couple of years ago. I can't comment on the relative cheapness as its a long time since l last went to Prague.

I know nothing about Budapest as I've never been but H and I loved Prague.

We went about 4.5 years ago and it was surprisingly cheap - most bars we went to were about £1 a pint. We found cheap accommodation and travelled around the city on their underground system easily enough. Neither of us spoke the language but we picked up a few phrases while there. We managed to get easily enough just speaking English.

Ive been to both, as a tourist to Prague and on a course to Budapest. Both are very pretty. I did a bit of the touristy stuff in Budapest. I went in July and it was the hottest summer they had had for years it was 38 degrees so most of my memory was trying to escape the heat. We were ok with English most of the time but we did have the local course organiser with us most of the time.

I've been to both - Prague was about 10 years ago though, but I've been to Budapest twice in the last 4 years (and would ideally like to go again for a weekend next year).

Both are lovely, I didn't have any trouble communicating in either - in Budapest they were really good with English (we learnt some phrases and gave them ago, the only issue we had was the taxi to the airport, but that was partly the airlines fault).

I will sing Budapest's praises until the cows come home, I wouldn't say it was overly cheap but that may just have been the places we visited. Lots of attractions are easily accessible, and the food is delicious.

Never been to Prague but got engaged in Budapest. We went for a week and still ran out of time for things to do, it's the most beautiful city I've ever been to. We didn't speak a word of Hungarian the whole time we were there and didn't have any problems.

If you can manage the longer journey Flora, I'd go to Budapest if I were you. I've never been myself but I'd always pick visiting somewhere new over somewhere I'd been before, even if it was in different circumstances.

That said, Prague is lovely and I'd definitely go there again, so I'm probably no help!

Sorry that your FIL is still being a nightmare...

For those who have been to Budapest, this might be a stupid question but is there much to see? We are hoping to book a similar trip for the end of May and keep changing our minds where to go. I've never been to Budapest but H has, although only on a stag do so he didn't actually see anything....

If the majority rules, go with Budapest! there's such good reviews about it on here - I'm already having a think about going there ?

I have probably waxed lyrical about this before but I went to both places on one holiday - I don't like to fly if I can help it so OH and I planned a 2 week tour by train and boat that went from London to Cologne, Vienna, Bratislava, Budapest, Prague and Amsterdam. It was the best holiday ever! (We haven't had our honeymoon yet...)

Anyway I know this won't help but both were amazing. Here's a few things we liked about each one:

Budapest: Beautiful scenery around the river, we went up the funincular railway to the castle and had amazing views for miles. Very friendly, lots of nice restaurants and bars. We took a phrase book and got by but everyone speaks English back to you when you try Hungarian anyway. The Spa pools - I am not usually a spa person but we had a day at the Szechenyi baths and it was one of the most blissful days ever. On a totally different note we went to the House of Terror on the site of the former secret police headquarters which was fascinating and chilling. I love their Metro system, it is awesome. There is also a musical fountain in one of the parks which has to be seen to be believed. They also have buffet restaurants which are not just all you can eat but also all you can drink, which is dangerous and hilarious! We also found a really cool kitsch pub with live singers which had a great atmosphere.

Prague: We did a walking tour as it was our first visit and learned a lot about the history. We also did a beer tour, taking us around some interesting places and learned more about all the different types of beer and its heritage. We went to the museum of Communism, which was really interesting too. Lots of nightlife of course and also just a nice place to people watch in a nice café.

Of course we were only in each place 2-3 days so there's lots more you can do. Having typed this, I think the one I am most nostalgic for is Budapest, just because it's so different. I just loved the vibe there.

I love Budapest and would definitely recommend it

I hope you love it now we've bigged it up flora!