Summer Deals in Central Europe's Star Cities
Published on Tue Apr 13, 2010
Star Bright - Star Value
In this time of the robust Euro, the 8 Star Cities of Europe - Berlin, Bratislava, Budapest, Dresden, Munich, Prague, Salzburg, Vienna - are still stunningly driven by value. Below, read about their parade of well-priced spring and summer delights. From glimmering hotels to summer events, tasty dining to cutting-edge culture - all of the items in our April newsletter can be had at prices that are close to (and in some cases: completely) free.
Berlin
This German capital is replete with riches: cultural, historic, artistic, and more. But what visitors consistently find is that there’s no need to actually be rich to enjoy them.
Israeli Hospitality
Leonardo Hotels, an Israeli brand, opened two new hotels in Berlin last year. The Leonardo Royal Hotel Berlin, the more central of the two, is close to Alexanderplatz, the popular riverfront square. The Leonardo Hotel Berlin is located in the City West district, or Wilmersdorfer Straße.
Free Transport, Anyone?
The Berlin WelcomeCard (starting from 16.90 Euros) is an unlimited pass to all public transport. It also provides either free or heavily discounted (up to 50%) admission to over 150 of the city’s most popular museums and other attractions. To explore Berlin at will, with money left over to play, buy one for 48 hours, 72 hours, or five days, in a choice of two tariff zones.
Soccer Fever
When the World Cup Soccer Championship kicks off in Capetown this June, Berliners will be watching - outside. While the event goes on in South Africa (June 26-July 11), the Straße des 17 (the city’s best-known flea market) turns into a FIFA Fan Fest, with stadium-style screens and spirited fans: all open to (and approved by) the public. On the event’s opening weekend, the city will be throwing a huge party at Olympischer Platz, in front of Berlin’s Olympic Stadium.
Currywurst, Doner Kebab, and More
Eating inexpensively but heartily is not a problem in Berlin. The city’s diverse population ensures a variety of flavors and influences - with quality that rivals the food’s culinary origins. Juicy doner kebab, crisp and delicate falafel, thin-crust pizza and ‘Currywurst’ (spicy, sausage in curried sauce) abound, and they average a mere 2.50 Euros. Our recommendation for Berlin’s best currywurst? Curry 36 in Kreuzberg.
Bratislava
Nicknamed ‘little big country,’ Slovakia imbues a sophisticated quaintness. The same can be said of its capital city, Bratislava (jokingly referred to as ‘little big city’). The city’s energetic pulse belies its small town feel, and vice versa. Continuing the contrast, this deeply historic - and highly walkable - city also wields quite a modern edge.
Cycle and Stay
Stay in the Hotel Danubia Gate. The city’s historic heart is just five minutes away on foot. If you have a bike, even better: cyclists are welcome!
Of Culture and Castles
In its 35th year, the Summer of Culture and Castle Festival is Slovakia’s largest and longest-running festival. From June 20 to early September, the festival offers an abundant array of open-air concerts and shows in over 20 venues. Best of all, many are absolutely free of charge.
A Students’ Pub
Why eat like the locals? Take it a step further and take your meals like a student! The 1st Slovak Pub, on Obchodna Street, is one of the only places in the world where ‘A’s are rewarded with free soup. Even if you aren’t emerging fresh (and freshly dazed) from an exam, true Slovakian pubs such as this are a visitor’s delight: little museums, they narrate the country’s compelling history with curious and authentic items on display, reaching back to a time of Paganism.
Budapest
When night falls, Budapest’s lights twinkle on the sparkling blue Danube. They’re competing for attention: this city has the world’s most abundant set of UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
Stay and Work
Traveling here for business? The Ibis Budapest Váci Út hotel is located on the ‘Pest’ side, just a few minutes on the metro from the city center, in the business heart of the city. For rates, click here.
Sightsee for Free
In 2010, all holders of a Budapest Card receive two walking tours - for free. What’s more, visitors can take advantage of free public transport, free travel insurance, and the many other free benefits and discounts offered by the card for the same prices as last year. Prices include a 48-hour card for approximately 24 Euros ($32), and a 72-hour card for approximately 28 Euros ($38). Buy it online at www.budapest-card.com.
Rod Stewart - in Hungary?
You bet! Sponsored by a massive telecommunications company, Connection Day is an open, public, and completely free event in Budapest. Celebrities like Rod Stewart will be performing at '56 Square (Felvonulási tér, City Park).
Tunnel Dining
There’s a tunnel at the foot of the Buda Castle. Above the tunnel - where views abound - is a restaurant called Manna Lounge. For just 5.50 Euros ($7.50), enjoy a 3-course lunch (dinner rates are similar). Come on Sunday, and the whole family can indulge in a local buffet for 17 Euros ($23). While there, learn more about Budapest, buy a Budapest Card, and get another 15% off your check.
Dresden
This year, the so-called ‘City of Arts’ extends a special call to visitors. Summer offers an exciting program that includes anniversary celebrations, openings and revivals, such as the reopening of the Albertinum and of the Türckische Cammer.
Hotel Complex
The dedication of the Frauenkirche (Church of Our Lady) landmark was closely followed by the opening of the five-star QF Hotel, across the street. The modern hotel occupies four adjacent buildings. Outside, in the quarter, is a complex of exclusive boutiques and restaurants, including one of the city’s most upmarket hair salons. The people-watching is superb.
Whole City Savings
The Dresden City Card (starting at 21 Euros for 48 hours) is valid for travel by bus, rail and S-Bahn (urban railway) anywhere in the city, plus free entry to selected museums and art galleries such as the renowned Alte Meister and Neue Grüne Gewölbe. The card also qualifies the holder for reductions on entry to numerous other museums or galleries and on guided tours of the city by bus or on foot.
Of Exiled Princesses…and Coffee
Anyone interested in Dresden’s famous ‘coffeehouse culture’ - or the scandals of erstwhile royalty - must visit the Café Toscana. The original owner named the establishment after Luise von Toscana, Crown Princess to the throne of Saxony, who left Friedrich August III in 1904 to run off with her children’s language tutor. Scandal aside, Luise remained popular with the people. She maintained a correspondence with the owners of this café, who would send a specially baked cake once a year to the princess in exile.
Dresden City Festival
One of summer’s biggest events is open to the general public. The weekend of August 20, the Dresdner Stadtfest (Dresden City Festival) inhabits the city with the apt theme: ‘Kunst & Genuss’ (Art and Enjoyment).
Munich
Recently, this southern German city was recognized as the European city with the best public transportation. Good call, since Munich is also nearly synonymous with beer. But what visitors don’t know is that year-round, many of its events and festivals are free to the public.
Oktoberfest and Opera
The city’s free events include Oktoberfest. If you’ve been putting off your visit to the famous festival for a while, the time to come is this fall, when Oktoberfest turns 200. Hard to believe, right? The dates for the celebration are September 18-October 4.
Similarly, there’s no charge for admission to the Tollwood Summer Festival on the Olympic Park grounds (from July 1-25 this year). Likewise, the annual Opera Festival boasts two complimentary performances: including a performance of Debussy and Strauss on June 26, in an illuminated city square and Puccini’s ‘Tosca’ on July 10, 2010, outside the National Theater Opera House.
A Picnic in an English Garden
Local food at reasonable prices is part of the experience at the large outdoor Victuals Market (Viktualienmarkt). Purchase fresh cheese, meats, fruit and wine, and take your picnic to the lovely, nearby English Garden. Or, stand and pay tribute - to local sausage - at one of the many so-called ‘standup cafés’ in town.
Munich Packages
The local tourism office offers 2-night packages, bookable from 100-184 Euros (per person, double occupancy, including breakfast). Packages also include 3 free days of public transportation within the city center. Additional features are included, such as a sightseeing tour, family outing, entry to two royal palaces, or 10-Euro coupons at local outdoor markets. Email pauschalen@muenchen.de, or book in person at the Munich Tourist Information Office at Main Railway Station, or in Marienplatz, Old Town Square.
Prague
This summer, the original fairy-tale city boasts exciting new museums, discount admissions, and open-air festivals galore.
10 Monuments, 3 Days
Starting at 200 CZK, the 10 Prague Monuments Pass offers discounted admission to Prague’s best-known monuments, including Old Town Hall and Tower, Old Town Bridge Tower, Lesser Town Bridge Tower, Tower of St. Nicholas Church, Powder Tower, The Maze, Petrin View Tower, Ctenice Castle and Carriage Hall.
United Islands
From June 24-26, Prague’s biggest open-air music festival spreads from the city center, to the Vltava river islands. It’s a wonderful setting for new musicians (both Czech and non-Czech), and fresh musical styles and trends. And it’s well-rounded, with accompanying family events and gastronomic menus and pairings. Entrance? Free.
Chateau Ctenice
The well-priced Chateau Ctenice offers 26 rooms. Extensive renovations nevertheless retained historical touches in this former granary. Downstairs, delicious Czech dishes draw on the latest trends in gastronomy. Create your own menu here: the chefs are flexible and eager to please.
Salzburg
Mozart’s birthplace on the sparkling Salzach River is rife with intrigue. But despite the richness of the offerings - grand Renaissance cathedrals, historic Old Town, high abbeys and fortresses - the city itself which celebrates 90-year old Salzburg Festival this year, is full of bargains.
Home Base
All of Salzburg’s well-known sights are within walking distance of modern but inexpensive Star Inn Hotel Salzburg Zentrum. The Getreidegasse, the cobblestoned shopping street containng Mozart's birthplace, is about 600’ away. Less than 1,000’ away is the Festival House, the Mönchsberg, and the heart of Salzburg. All rooms are air conditioned.
Child’s Play
Like other Star Cities, Salzburg too offers a visitor’s card. In addition to free public transport, the Salzburg Card (starting at 22 Euros) offers one-time entry to all sights and attractions in the city, along with a discount on certain events and tours. A child’s card is half-price.
Siemens Festival Nights
An especially popular fixture on the summer festival circuit, the Siemens Festival (July 25-mid-August) involves free daily presentations of productions such as WHAT? and WHAT? on a large-scale screen in Chapter Square.
Rustic Brewery
This traditional, iconic brewery uses old recipes to brew unusual beers that have reached cult popularity, such as the Urquell, a naturally cloudy wheat beer in production since 1901. Rustic rooms in the main building contrast nicely with the modern space in the annex, where guests can revel the evening away! Waiters wear dirndls and lederhosen.
Vienna
In summer, Vienna blooms - quite literally. The whole of this beautiful city, with its imperial plazas and stately buildings, unfolds into the outdoor sun.
Open-Air Opera
What place more perfect to listen to opera? This May and June, the Vienna State Opera broadcasts no less than 32 live performances on the big - nay, huge - screen. The Herbert-von-Karajan-Platz is directly adjacent to the Opera House – and entry, unlike in the ornate hall, is 100% free of charge!
Pop Music
From May 6–9, up-and-coming Austrian pop singers mount an outdoor stage at Karlsplatz, before the cathedral.
Nacht-Music
From July 3-11, and again from July 19-September 12, summer brings Musikfilm Festival, at City Hall Square. After feasting on culinary specialties from all corners of the world, visitors can watch nightly free screenings of operas, operettas, classical concerts, and ballet.
Summer Phil
The Vienna Philharmonic is one of the biggest highlights of the open-air season. On June 8, in the Schlosspark Schönbrunn, the world-famous orchestra gives a musical masterclass at this free concert, conducted by Franz Welser-Möst.
Dueling Markets
With its wine bars, cafés, and other eateries, Vienna’s Naschmarkt is the city’s best-known gastronomic open-air market. But lately, the Karmelitermarkt is giving it a run for its money. The menu at Marktachterl is full of fine Viennese dishes at more-than-reasonable prices, and the restaurant’s outdoor tables are the perfect place to soak up the sun.
Smokestack, Non-Smoking Hotel
Back indoors, we plucked the highly original, privately-owned Hotel Fabrik out of a pool of about 400 local hotels and pensions. Fabrik is a converted 19th-century textile factory (a brownstone with an eye-catching smokestack), and the value for money is unbeatable. Indoors, the 40 (despite the smokestack, all are non-smoking) rooms are stylish and air-conditioned.