On Saturday 26 September at nine in the morning we pulled out of the Netherlands in our own Seat Leon, the odometer on 59,220 km, and by six in the evening we were in Prague. Ten nights later, after Budapest, Eger and a night in Nuremberg, the same car showed almost 63,000 km. In between we walked 22,000 steps in Prague, 24,000 in Budapest, climbed a hill, rode a forest train, walked a 19 km loop through the Bükk and ate our way through pork knuckle, langos, chimney cake and trout. This is our complete Prague Budapest itinerary: the route, where we slept and what it cost, the vignettes you need, the food and the hikes, with honest verdicts and links to our detailed posts for each stop.
Our itinerary at a glance
- Dates: Saturday 26 September to Tuesday 6 October 2026
- Nights: 2 in Prague, 3 in Budapest, 4 in Eger, 1 in Nuremberg
- Who: the two of us, by our own car
- Distance: the odometer went from 59,220 km to almost 63,000 km
- Driving days: Netherlands to Prague (9:00 to 18:00), Prague to Budapest (9:00 to 15:00), Budapest to Eger (about 1.5 hours), Eger to Nuremberg (about 10 hours, arrived around 18:00)
- Hikes: Gellért Hill in Budapest, Szalajka Valley and the Lillafüred Green Loop near Eger
- Vignettes: Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and Austria, all bought online
- Weather: reat on the days we noted it (Prague, Lillafüred, early October in Eger)
Day by day
| Day | Date | Where | What we did |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sat 26 Sep | Netherlands to Prague | left at 9:00, arrived at 18:00 |
| 2 | Sun 27 Sep | Prague | Kafka Museum, Charles Bridge, Dancing House, Národní pivovar, Old Town Square, Jewish Quarter, Prague Castle, San Carlo; almost 22,000 steps |
| 3 | Mon 28 Sep | Prague to Budapest | left 9:00, arrived 15:00; Váci utca, chimney cake, Chain Bridge at sunset |
| 4 | Tue 29 Sep | Budapest | Fisherman’s Bastion, Parliament, langos, Liberty Square; almost 24,000 steps |
| 5 | Wed 30 Sep | Budapest | Gellért Hill, Heroes’ Square, Vajdahunyad Castle, Gozsdu udvar, Thai massage |
| 6 | Thu 1 Oct | Budapest to Eger | checked out, arrived in Eger at 11:00; castle, basilica, minaret |
| 7 | Fri 2 Oct | Eger | Szalajka Valley hike, then the cave bath in Miskolctapolca |
| 8 | Sat 3 Oct | Eger | Lillafüred Green Loop, 19 km in the Bükk; meals at Szépasszonyvölgy |
| 9 | Sun 4 Oct | Eger | Thai massage in Hatvan at 12:00, Szépasszonyvölgy |
| 10 | Mon 5 Oct | Eger to Nuremberg | about 10 hours of driving, arrived around 18:00; Persian dinner |
| 11 | Tue 6 Oct | Nuremberg | up at 6:00 with a good coffee, on the way home |
Where we slept and what it cost
We booked a different kind of place in every city, and the prices tell you something about the trip. Prague was the luxury stop: Excellent Romantic, booked via Booking.com, at 120 euros per night, with a big room, a private jacuzzi and sauna and a bottle of prosecco. Budapest was the cheapest: the Budapest Spirit Azure Sky apartment complex cost 168 euros for three nights. In Eger we stayed at Egria Apartments, 206 euros for four nights, and we found it excellent. Parking was free at the Prague and Budapest places if you ask for it, and in Budapest you leave the car in the garage of the nearby shopping mall.
| Stop | Where | Nights | Price | Parking |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prague | Excellent Romantic | 2 | 120 euros per night (240 euros for two nights) | free if you ask |
| Budapest | Budapest Spirit Azure Sky, Prater utca 19a | 3 | 168 euros in total | free if you ask, in the garage of the nearby shopping mall |
| Eger | Egria Apartments | 4 | 206 euros in total | free parking |
| Nuremberg | Eco Smart | 1 | 66 euros per night | paid parking |
Added up, the three places we have prices for come to 614 euros for nine nights and 66 euros for the way back in Nuremberg. We are not claiming that as the whole trip budget: the Nuremberg night, food, fuel and tickets are not in it.
The vignettes: what you need for this route
If you drive this route in your own car you need a vignette, an electronic toll pass, in each of the four countries. Our plan listed the Czech Republic for the drive to Prague, Slovakia for the way from Prague to Hungary, Hungary for Budapest and Eger, and Austria for the way back. We bought all four online before the trip, using the official sites. Buying online is the easiest way to be sure that your licence plate is entered correctly, and most vignettes start on the date you set. The Hungarian one is not always sold at every border crossing, so buy it in advance.
| Country | Official site | Our planning price for 10 days |
|---|---|---|
| Czech Republic | edalnice.cz | about 12 euros |
| Slovakia | eznamka.sk | about 10.80 euros |
| Hungary | nemzetiutdij.hu or e-autopalyamatrica.hu | about 15 euros |
| Austria | asfinag.at | about 12.80 euros |
Prague: one full day, two nights
We arrived at six in the evening and had one full day, and that was enough to see the old town, Charles Bridge, the Jewish Quarter and Prague Castle on foot, with the metro for the way back to our place outside the centre. Prague was more expensive than Hungary but we found the food and the beer very good, from a pork knuckle at Národní pivovar to nachos and a beer at San Carlo in Malá Strana on the way down from the castle. For Bruno it is a city that always feels like coming home. The full story, with the route and the step count, is in our post on one day in Prague.
Budapest: three nights, mostly on foot
From Prague we left at nine and arrived in Budapest at three in the afternoon, on good roads with little traffic. We spent three nights there, and on our first evening we walked from Váci utca to the Chain Bridge and crossed it at sunset. On day two we saw Fisherman’s Bastion, the Shoes on the Danube Bank, the Parliament from outside and Liberty Square, and we ate langos at Retro Langos. On day three we climbed Gellért Hill to the Saint Gerard Statue, spent the afternoon at Heroes’ Square and Vajdahunyad Castle, and ended with dinner at Gozsdu udvar and a Thai massage. We kept it cheap on purpose, with street food and free viewpoints, and Budapest was more affordable than Prague. Our route is in Budapest in 3 days.
Eger: four nights, two hikes and a cave bath
From Budapest to Eger took about an hour and a half, and we arrived at eleven in the morning. We used Eger as a base for four nights: a calm town to sleep, eat and recover in between walks. On the first afternoon we saw the castle, the basilica and the Ottoman minaret, and we also saw Dobó Square and the Lyceum. The next morning we drove to Szilvásvárad, took the first forest train at 9:30 up the Szalajka Valley and walked the 4 km back down, with a cave, a quiet waterfall and trout for lunch; the whole thing took us about two hours. The same day we went on to the cave bath in Miskolctapolca, 45 to 60 minutes from Eger by car. Read the details in our Szalajka Valley hike report.
The day after, we drove to Lillafüred, about an hour and a half from Eger, and walked the Green Loop: 19.08 km in 6 hours and 2 minutes, mostly dense forest, with a wrong turn at the first split. It was a long, quiet, well-marked walk and our legs hurt for two days, so on Sunday we drove to Hatvan for a Thai massage at noon and had our meals at Szépasszonyvölgy, the Valley of the Beautiful Women. The full reports are in our Lillafüred hike report and in Eger, Hungary: our base for hiking, wine and rest.
Nuremberg and the way home
On Monday 5 October we checked out of Eger and drove to Nuremberg, a drive of about ten hours that brought us there around six in the evening. We did not visit the city: we needed our rest, we ate at a Persian restaurant and slept a little restlessly. On Tuesday we were up at 6:00 with a good coffee, tired but looking forward to being home and thinking back on a wonderful holiday. If you plan this route, a stopover like this one is a sensible way to break the long drive back to the Netherlands, but plan it as a rest, not as a sightseeing stop.
Driving, fuel and the road
Driving was easy. We drove from the Netherlands to Prague in one go, and between Prague and Hungary there was not much traffic and the roads were good. Fuel prices differed by country: we paid under two euros per litre for 95 octane in the Czech Republic, and in our experience fuelling in Germany was more expensive than in the Netherlands, while Prague and Hungary were cheaper, with Hungary the cheapest. How much you spend depends on your car and your speed, and prices change with the situation in the world, so treat this as what we saw, not as a forecast. We did not record exact totals for fuel, tolls or parking.
What we ate and drank
Food was a big part of the trip, and we kept to simple places. In Prague we ate pork knuckle at Národní pivovar, had nachos with wine and a Pivo at San Carlo, and on the last night had dinner at U Bleckota. In Budapest we ate chimney cake at Vörösmarty tér, langos at Retro Langos and dinner at Gozsdu udvar. In Eger we had several lunches and dinners at Szépasszonyvölgy and fried trout in Szilvásvárad, and in Nuremberg a Persian dinner. Prague was dearer than Hungary, but we did not note meal prices, so we do not quote any.
Not driving from the Netherlands?
We drove our own car and did not book flights or rent a car for this trip, so what follows is a tip for you, not something we used. If you would rather fly to Budapest and rent a car there to reach Eger and the Bükk, Aviasales is one place to search for flights and Auto Europe is one place to compare car hire. These are affiliate links: if you book through them we may earn a small commission, at no extra cost to you.
Our honest verdict and tips
We would do this trip again, and we would give ourselves more time. The route was easy to drive, Hungary was affordable and the three stops are different enough that you never get bored: a luxury apartment in Prague, a cheap walking base in Budapest and a quiet town in Eger for the hikes. Our own advice is the one we wrote down at the end: enjoy the adventure, the food, the sights and the people, make a plan in advance of what you want to see if you want to go prepared, and expect not to see everything. We did not, and as in our own country, there is always something we do not know about.
- Buy your vignettes online before each border, with the right plate number, and choose the 1-day or 10-day option.
- Ask your accommodation for free parking when you book.
- Use the metro day ticket in Prague and Budapest, and park the car for the day.
- Keep a free day after a long hike. We booked a massage for it.
- Plan the long drive home with a stopover, such as Nuremberg.
- Make a list of what you want to see before you go. We did, and still did not see it all.
FAQ
How many days do you need for Prague and Budapest?
We spent two nights in Prague and three in Budapest, and drove between them in six hours. That was enough for the highlights on foot but not for everything. We added four nights in Eger for hikes.
How long is the drive from Prague to Budapest?
We left Prague at 9:00 and arrived in Budapest at 15:00, with little traffic and good roads.
Do you need a vignette for Prague, Budapest and Eger?
For our route we bought one for each of the four countries we planned to drive through, online, in advance. Check the official sites for the current rules and prices.
Is this road trip expensive?
Accommodation for nine nights cost us 614 euros in total, from 120 euros per night in Prague to 168 euros for three nights in Budapest. Prague was more expensive than Hungary.
Can you combine city trips with hiking on this route?
Yes. We combined two city stops with Gellért Hill in Budapest and two hikes from Eger: the Szalajka Valley and the Lillafüred Green Loop.
More European trails
For more trail reports, see our European Trails section.
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