prague or budapest, lisbon or provence

[catrina]

ok, we've (bf and i) got 2 three night holidays to plan, and we've narrowed our choices down to prague or budapest (in september), and then either lisbon or provence in june or july.

boyfriend has been to prague, i haven't, but he loved it, although would like to see somewhere new.

we've both been to the place in provence where we'd go back to, it was lovely, although would be boring in the rain and requires car hire. but still beautiful and sunny and there's a lake and stuff. neither of us has been to portugal before, although i've heard not so good things about lisbon (albeit from a source who went 25 years ago now).

so, we're leaning towards budapest and lisbon...any thoughts/recommendations? bad idea/good idea? neither of us drink, so cheap beer isn't a major factor in our decision!

thanks.

 

[chilango]

Lisbon is pretty cool - though achingly hip at times. Some cool places nearby to see on half day trips too.

 

[marty21]

went to lisbon a few years ago, some nice day trips on the train from there, as said above, prague, I went to 13 years ago, so i'd say it's changed some since then, went to budapest then too...

provence, beautiful and we went without a car, got the eurostar direct (there's a service to avignon in the summer) again some great train trips there, to arles, nimes, and montpelier, where we also stayed for a week and is a great place...

 

[Cadmus]

I vote for Budapest.

Go somewhere where it's different and unknown.

 

[Roadkill]

Budapest is lovely.

When I was out that way five years ago, I much preferred Budapest to Prague. It was less touristy, friendlier and considerably cheaper. It's also a fascinating and very beautiful city. I'd go back any time.

 

[Belushi]

Both Budapest and Prague are fascinating cities, though I prefer Budapest which has much less of the tourist tack and stag weekends you get in Prague.

Never been to Lisbon but Provence is a beautiful part of France.

 

[zoltan]

BUdapest

 

[zoltan]

BUdapest
The beer aint as good as the czech, but its not bad.The food is rich & creamy & oh so bad for you......but the icicng on the cake is the baths..
After a day in the gellert doing al the various options - salt inhalation/ massges/ swims/ treatments, etc , you feel like you are floating on a cloud........then you can exploit Budapests #2 attraction - probabaly the best Coffe & Cakes & pastries in the world, at a 1/3rd of the prices of Vienna

It may now be as cute as the centre of Praha, but then again, you arent surrpounded by surly black clad American students looking moody & trying to write that existentialist novel, gregarious troops of happy snappy Japanese & packs of almost feral Spanish skoolkids with matching backpacks.

 

[Minnie_the_Minx]

Lisbon's draining on the legs

 

[catrina]

cool, sounds like budapest and lisbon are good choices, then.

what makes lisbon achingly hip?

 

[wrysmile]

Prague tends to be rammed June through September, which detracts from it, although it is still incredibly beautiful architecturally and for my mind one of Europe's loveliest capitals.

Budapest is less touristy - although I think calling it 'undiscovered' is a stretch. I found it very beautiful - lots of grand old buildings, great baths, good atmosphere, food and beer. Nice people too, although Hungarian is a nightmare language. It also struck me as being a very romantic city, although I was there with two friends, so not much opportunity for romance (other than that snog with the random cute Hungarian, but that's another story)

Have fun wherever you choose!

 

[chilango]

cool, sounds like budapest and lisbon are good choices, then.

what makes lisbon achingly hip?

It has, or at least had when I was there, some nightclubs that cost enormous amounts to get and celebs from across europe would fly down for the night. The barrio alto has a lot of very trendy bars, restaurants etc.

Very stylish people too.

Of course, as I lived in Porto we tended to look down on the chi chi Lisbonites!

Oh, and I personally found Prague very dissappointing. Way too touristy.

 

[Hollis]

Porto's great for a visit! Was also abit disapointed with Lisbon..

What about Seville for afew days?

 

[marty21]

Lisbon's draining on the legs

loved the tram that takes you up to the castle though, we stayed in a hotel on that hill

 

[sleaterkinney]

I'd go for Budapest over Prague any day

 

[chilango]

Porto's great for a visit! Was also abit disapointed with Lisbon..

What about Seville for afew days?

Porto is the best. Northern Portugal is beautiful. Great coast, mountains inland, the Douro valley, and Galiza just up the road.

 

[Roadkill]

Budapest is less touristy - although I think calling it 'undiscovered' is a stretch. I found it very beautiful - lots of grand old buildings, great baths, good atmosphere, food and beer. Nice people too, although Hungarian is a nightmare language. It also struck me as being a very romantic city, although I was there with two friends, so not much opportunity for romance (other than that snog with the random cute Hungarian, but that's another story)

Budapest does seem to contain far more than its fair share of spectacularly good-looking blokes!

You're right about the language though - it's completely incomprehensible, although very beautiful, unless it's being yelled in your face by a ticket inspector on the underground who's just caught you fare-dodging ( ).

 

[Roadkill]

Porto is the best. Northern Portugal is beautiful. Great coast, mountains inland, the Douro valley, and Galiza just up the road.

I stayed a week in the Douro Valley, near Vila Real, in 2001. One of the most spectacularly beautiful places I've ever seen, along with Transylvania.

porto's a great city too. very lively.

 

[Minnie_the_Minx]

loved the tram that takes you up to the castle though, we stayed in a hotel on that hill

don't think we even went on one of the funicular railways.

It was pissing down the whole weekend we were there and practically everywhere was shut as we'd gone there for the New Year

 

[chilango]

I stayed a week in the Douro Valley, near Vila Real, in 2001. One of the most spectacularly beautiful places I've ever seen, along with Transylvania.

porto's a great city too. very lively.

Yeah. The national park up at Geres is even nicer. You hike along a hidden roman road through the forest to get to a stunning little lake lake surrounded by mountains.

(Transilvania is great. went to Brasov and saw a wolf padding down a snow covered street....)

 

[Roadkill]

(Transilvania is great. went to Brasov and saw a wolf padding down a snow covered street....)

We missed the wolves, although at Sighisoara you could hear them in the forests outside the old city walls.

Nor did we see anything all that exciting in Brasov - well, until a few months later, when the friend I'd been there with rang me up and told me he'd just seen a programme about brown bears in Transylvania. There was a shot of one sitting at the top of the cable car hoist on the hill just outside the town, right where we'd sat and had something to eat... Apparently, when it's cold they come into the town and raid the bins.

 

[lighterthief]

Provence will be very hot indeed in June/July.

 

[catrina]

right, we've decided on lisbon and budapest.

i was at the locale in provence in july last year, it was so beautiful. nothing like being able to swim in a fresh water lake, and i have never seen a beach like nice before (grew up in the tropics myself).

but, new unexplored territory has won out...so any suggestions of things to do in either lisbon or budapest, fire away!

 

[chilango]

Lisbon:

Barrio Alto
across the river to the docks a communist stronghold - interesting cafes

Belem - cultural centre, great cafes, tower...

eat Pasteis de nata

 

[marty21]

head out to sintra, about an hour from lisbon, funky palace, and the ruins of the moorish castle, slightly rebuilt...the view from the top is amazing

 

[chilango]

head out to sintra, about an hour from lisbon, funky palace, and the ruins of the moorish castle, slightly rebuilt...the view from the top is amazing

Yeah I´d forgotten the name of that place. there´s a toy museum there too which is cool to play in for a couple of hours.

 

[catrina]

well, Budapest was fantastic. I've told my family to go because it was one of the most interesting places I've seen ever, dead cheap, nice weather, and you get massages and saunas in the middle of the city for cheaper than a single tube journey to work! Heavy, but nice, food, too.

Does anyone know what the painted cows are they have all around the city? Very bizarre..

Anyway, we leave for Lisbon on Monday, so any further advice on what to do let us know. It's supposed to be hot and sunny, and we want to see the beach, and probably go clubbing.

Hope everyone's enjoyed their holidays, too.

 

[trashpony]

well, Budapest was fantastic. I've told my family to go because it was one of the most interesting places I've seen ever, dead cheap, nice weather, and you get massages and saunas in the middle of the city for cheaper than a single tube journey to work! Heavy, but nice, food, too.

Does anyone know what the painted cows are they have all around the city? Very bizarre..

Anyway, we leave for Lisbon on Monday, so any further advice on what to do let us know. It's supposed to be hot and sunny, and we want to see the beach, and probably go clubbing.

Hope everyone's enjoyed their holidays, too.

Are they like this?

If they are, it's the cow parade and they are going to ... Lisbon next! Go on - admit it, you're following them

 

[catrina]

Are you serious?!

Like this:

 

[Mapped]

I was in Budapest a couple of weeks ago and wondered what the hell all those cows were about....they were everywhere then at the festival I was at I found out it was all about the CowParade Budapest. It was in commemoration of the painter Tamas Lossonczy.

They even attempted to break the world record for the largest human cow mosiac at the festival

Cow Mosiac

I love the Hungarians