In November of 99  Maureen & I visited Hungry, Prague and Vienna.  This was a great trip.

The following is not so much as a travel log as the other reports on my sight but a guide for doing a similar trip. This is sort of like a travel article.

Hungry:  This is the smallest of the 3 cities you will visit.  The Pest side
of Buda Pest is where most hotels and shops are. As we only had a 1/2 day this day we wanted to go to the

Jewish Section to see the large temple.  There we got someone to give you a tour.  It is the second largest temple in the world
and one of the oldest.  There is also a main walking shopping street shut down to cars
that is 5minutes away.   This is a fun place to shop, have some pastry and stroll and have some more pastry!
Make sure you go to the river at night.  The bridges are lit up and it makes
the city pretty.

For the second day cross the main bride and go to the vernacular or cable car
to the top of the castle.  There is a large art museum to the left and the
Castle district on the right.  The castle district should take you about a ½
day to go through. There is  Hilton on the top there which is
a great bathroom and rest stop.  We ate at one of the cafes down the block on
the back end of the castle district from Matyas Church.  The castle district
is a great place to walk around.  If you have a book on the area, just follow
it. We used either the Frommers or Fodors.

Unfortunately I was on business and ate in local out of the way places that my client to us to.

They were great but you will need to arrange a cab.  Watch out for cab fares. Ask the hotel to set them straight before you go.
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Food:  The places below come from my local contact as well as where we were.

Rosenstein Restaurant

Budapest, Mosonyi u

Tel:313-4196  (for reservation)

Kehli restaurant

Budapest Mokus u 22

Tel 368-0613

Fatal Restaurant

Budapest Vaci ut 67

Tel 266-2607

Prague:
The first thing you need to do is call Dr. Libuse Ulehova at 420-2 47 14292
Check the country code and you may need to omit the zero when you dial.
  
She gave us a private tour.  When you call reference a couple from N.Y. she
gave a tour to 2 weeks after she gave the private tour of the President of
Israel. Use her of one of her friends. It is much better that a large group
tour and a few dollars more.  You will need her for no more that 4 hours.
Use her when you arrive there so she will get you used to the area.  

Have her take you to the glass factory so you can get their famous flowers

(Do not take cabs. It is a walking town)

EATS:  Opposite the Inter Continental Hotel is a place called the Resturant U
Maxima. Tel 231 9996  GREAT PLACE!  It is decorated with I believe old clocks.
Food is typical for the area. Should be around about $50 to $60 per couple if
you splurge.  Stay away from the bottled water in Prague.  It is very
expensive.  Also have a Budviesser.  It is the original Bud. The difference
is it tastes like real beer and not the pissvasser we have in the U.S.

(**Update: I have gotten mixed reviews on this recently)

Another place that was good was Restaurant Mucha in the old section.
Melantrichova5 Prahal  Tel 26 35 86.

The old Jewish quarter is amazing.  Instead of burning this place Hitler wanted
to create a museum of extinct people.  He screwed up in reverse by doing so
and made one of the Jewish premier places to visit.  You will see what I mean
when you get there!

In the evening stroll around and also take in one of the few classical
concerts that are given.  They have Mozart look likes handing out flyers.

Your hotel will have one sheet flyers on these.

They are good, very local and cheap!

HIGHLIGHT:

The Castle or Palace district is great.  Figure on at least 5 hours for this.

Your hotel or book will tell you which trams to take.  These are safe but make sure your wallet and pocket books are well buried as these trams are know as the pick pocket express.

Take the trams to the top and walk through the castle district slowly. From the top you can see the old bridges. One of them was used for the first Mission Impossible movie.

  Do not miss the 2 large churches  but my favorite place was the tiny street in the back of the castle where the archers use to live.  They are small boutiques and one had a wine shop in it.  There is also an unusual Toy museum and an armory museum above the shops where for a $1 you can shoot a cross bow at the targets. (Its hoky but fun)

After you walk around go out of the castle from the opposite direction and walk down the hills.  You will most likely see artist selling watercolors of the bridge and palace. It is a nice walk. You can lunch somewhere on the bottom before you cross the bridge.

Prague is safe and beautiful  You will have a good time and will probably like this place best.

Vienna:

Key things to see is the Hofbburg Palace in downtown Vienna. There is the Treasury where the crown jewels.  The Jewels and history is great.  The worlds largest emerald is here along with a some pretty crowns. It is a nice to walk in the area.

In the area stick your head in the library.  When we were there it was closed but we managed to stick our head in the door with out the lights.  It is like no other library. Make sure you go in if only a few minutes.

EATS:  For lunch:

We bumped into a beisel you should have lunch (or dinner) It is Maria and Peter Kern, WallnerstraBe 3

Good local food and beer and cheap!  Then go around the street to DEMEL. Ask anyone. You go out the Beisel above and make a right and another right.

In town the St Stephens church offers great views from above, It is a bit of a climb. If you can not make the climb see it at night from below with a drink or snack.

Go to the Summer Palace and take the tour.  It is very easy to get here as it is a direct train for about 10 minutes costing less than a dollar.  The train stops a few blocks from the summer palace.  It is magnificent inside and outside. This is where Princess Elizabeth lived.

OPERA House:  Maureen wanted to say the Opera house so I took her to the Vienna Ballet. You can get tickets from the hotel concierge. Tell him you want good seats. There is a fee for this but it is not bad.  The inside is magnificent. During intermission, wander around until you find the place that you can get strawberries and Champaign.

We were only here three nights and 2 full days.  We splurged and ate at the hotel we stayed at called the Imperial.  This is one of the top hotels in Europe.  Walk in to the lobby and then up the carpet to the balcony.  It is where many world leaders stay.   The food was excellent but not cheap. 

If I get more info on Budapest I will forward it. 

go slow, relax and follow the book. Prague has few neighborhoods in it that are all close.

Do as the locals, visit a pastry and lingerie shop. I do not know why there are so many of each there.

We took Air Malev business class was very professional. Austrian Air’s Business First was like 9 hours of being treated like royalty!

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