WHEN travelling on the hop-on-hop-off bus in Vienna, I caught the mention of the Greek quarter, which was brimming with restaurants and shops, so we hopped off the bus upon reaching that stop next time round.

It proved to be a lively area with some quaint streets and not so austere as the city centre.

Ellie found the shops and indulged in some retail therapy and afterwards we happened upon an upmarket restaurant, where we decided to go native with a goulash and a wienersnitzell and apple strudel for me.

Unfortunately my wife has developed gluten intolerance, so Austrian pastries were off limits for her.

We had dined Austrian the previous night as well so, on our last night of three, we opted for the Indian Village (sic) - rated the best Indian restaurant in Vienna. This might be hard to understand for those readers in England, but such restaurants are rare in France and our last curry was in February, so we jumped at the chance to indulge and, as it happened, it was the best meal of the holiday. As with the recommended restaurant in Budapest, we went back to the hotel that night, mentally regurgitating the experience.

It was a superb meal, enthusiastically served and with style but I must admit it is the first time I have been served by an Indian waitress displaying a generous amount of cleavage. She also conversed in several other languages with the clientele and told us later they had been open for almost 18 years. Certainly I would recommend the restaurant to any curry connoisseurs.

During our stay, we visited the art galleries, displaying Realism and the Post Impressionist era; discovering the eye-catching Gustav Klimt but probably I will be dubbed a philistine for the fact Egon Schiele left me cold. We saw nearly every building of architectural significance and I was interested to note the large Ferris Wheel, which dominated one of Vienna’s many green areas, was erected over 100 years ago by a Brit - the English engineer Lieutenant Walter Bassett in 1897.

The authorities planned to demolish it halfway through the First World War but lack of funds resulted in its survival until damaged badly in the Second World War. Then it had become historic and subsequently rebuilt. One of the first such wheels to be erected, it is impressive and looked to have more character than the London Eye. Incidentally, Budapest has a similar wheel in the city centre.

It was good to note Vienna and indeed Prague had a number of green lungs: not just a mass of buildings but plenty of parks breaking up the city. We could see the appeal of the Austrian capital but it did seem a little impersonal, whereas the people and the atmosphere in Budapest had been so much more vibrant.

After three days of solid sightseeing we were grateful to be able to put our feet up for five hours, watch a film, catch up with our emails and travel to Prague, stopping briefly en route at Bryno where, would you believe, we were directed to the nearest toilet, which happened to be free.

In many ways, Prague was our favourite of the trio, largely because it is so quaint and the architecture so diverse. Small wonder it attracts more visitors than Vienna. There is an element of yesteryear to the Czech capital, which harks back to our childhood.

You see buildings and cobbled streets and half wonder if Hansel and Gretel lived here, just round the corner from Rumplestiltskin. There was an inn, which might have been used by the Pied Piper en route to Hamlin, just down the road from the cobbler’s Geppetto and his seemingly precious puppet, Pinocchio.

Of course these characters hail from different parts of the Continent but Prague is redolent with old Europe: a touch medieval with many cobbled streets and the “city of 100 spires” certainly boasts some unusual architectural sights. The ancient Charles Bridge with its artisans and painters, the stunning St Vitus cathedral, Wenceslas Square and the even quainter old-town square were superb. They were worthy of their top billing and certainly did not disappoint.

We bought Metro tickets in Prague and Vienna and were amazed we had access to the trains without having to show our 48-hour passes. Apparently they have purges, backed by a police presence, and the fines are severe if you are caught using the facilities without a ticket.

Nevertheless it was strange, walking onto the platform with the ticket still in your wallet. We had a similar experience in Budapest when we opted to catch a tram back to the centre, having just missed the hop-on bus connection. We boarded the tram and looked for someone to pay. Subsequently others boarded the tram without showing a ticket and then disembarked.

Presumably it is a similar system to that deployed by the underground at Prague and Vienna but, when we arrived at our destination, still clutching our money, we signalled to the driver, who just shrugged his shoulders, so we accepted the fact through accident as opposed to design, we had enjoyed a free trip. We liked Budapest.