Quote:
Originally Posted by Nyah
I'm heading to Europe Friday to check some more cities off my list:
- Vienna
- Prague
- Istanbul
Does anyone have any tips or good recommendations for things to see & do? I've heard Vienna has a really good Holocaust Memorial. Mostly looking for historical stuff & food. I don't know too much about Istanbul or Prague, so any advice would be awesome.
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I have never been to, or am familiar with for that matter, the holocaust memorial in Vienna, but the one in Prague in the Jewish quarter is amazing. Both cities involve a lot of walking and you will only really need to catch a tram or cab in Prague to get to Prague Castle- which takes a good half day to see. You could walk up to the castle, but it is a fairly steep incline up cobblestone streets- not really that difficult though unless you have some older people in your group. Lots of awesome side streets to navigate through in Prague, with old town and Wenceslas Square as two of the most popular spots. Charles Bridge is not far from Old Town and is one of the most visited spots in Prague- which is where you would cross to begin the walk to Prague Castle. If you can get tickets, I would recommend seeing whatever you can in one of the opera houses- particularly the Estates theater, which is where a number of Mozart's operas debuted. The Natural history museum at the one end of Wenceslas square has an amazing exterior, but nothing special past admission. The Mucha museum is a simple and and easy exhibit to get through in an hour or so and definitely worth considering.
Vienna is probably one of the cleanest cities in Europe and will be the more expensive of the two. Belvedere is a pretty amazing museum with a lot of very well known pieces, as is the Leopold. A tour of the Hofburg and Schonbrunn palaces are usually a must for most people- would pick Schobrunn though if you only actually go inside one of the two. St. Stephen's Cathedral is fairly central and pretty incredible. We paid to go to the top on our most recent trip, and it was probably worth the price and wait.
I recall going on a tour of Mozart's house in Vienna, which was pretty cool and only took an hour or so.
Both cities are amazing, particularly at night. Can't really say which I prefer as both are on the top of my list for European cities. Was in Prague for close to a year almost 10 years ago, but went back recently to Prague and Vienna with my wife- prices are steadily going up, particularly in Prague, but it is still one of the "cheaper" options in Europe.
edit- actually, Vienna does require some public transport as well- at least to the Belvedere and Schonbrunn