eastave

My husband and I are starting our trip in Budapest. After our time in Budapest, we are renting a car and driving to Krakow, (with a stop in the Tatras for a night), and then on to Prague (with a stop in Olomouc). I would like to buy a map/maps for navigating while in Budapest. Can anyone suggest a place?

Gaia

No problem, buy a map for Hungary in Budapest and after crossing the border, in the next country, etc. You can get good ones at any gas station. That is what we Europeans do. we never buy them in advance. But what bothers me is your queer route. East-Central Europe is bigger than you think.

dcdee

We purchased a great road atlas at a MOL service station in Hungary for about 1800 Ft. It covered the entire country and included city maps of Budapest. Service stations throughout the areas you will be visiting usually have Freytag or similar maps. Because the maps are quite large, road atlases are easier to handle for car travel. I found a road atlas on eBay that covered Slovenia and southern Poland so I didn't pay much attention to exactly what was available in those countries.

eastave

Thank you for your responses. About the route we have chosen. The Michelin website says it is a 5-6 hour drive between Budapest and Krakow, and around a 6 hour drive from Krakow to Prague. We are doing both segments in 2 days (4 days of driving), so I didn't think that was too much. We are flying into Budapest and out of Prague, so we are dropping the car in Prague when we get there.

okszi

Hi!

Well, I am really sorry, but I am going to disappoint you on the travel times between Budapest and Krakow and Krakow to Prague.
I am a private guide in Hungary and I also do frequent transfers to the neighboring countries.
My last transfer from Krakow to Budapest was 3 days ago.
Due to heavy truck traffic and the construction works on the so called short “highway” that starts about 20-25 miles from Krakow, you have to think about 7 hours at least. It took me 6,5 hours to get from Budapest to Krakow (I left at 4:30 am!) and 6,5 hours to get back. If I would leave from Budapest after 6:00 am, it would probably take me an hour more! Of course the 6,5 hours trips were possible only with a good knowledge of the roads, European style of driving and SIGNIFICANT (where possible) speed limit violations! Without all these it is for sure a way longer drive. There are 2 notorious 15 mile sections of the road, very winding and very narrow. One near Zvolen and the other one before the Polish border, where you have to drag yourself at a speed of 20-25 miles an hour behind a local bus or a big truck, going up or down the hill. There is no way you can pass it without SERIOUSLY (however quite a few people still try it) risking your life. Well, if you have in your possession a Porsche or a Lamborgini, then it is a different situation!
Same thing applies for the Prague-Krakow road. My clients, I have transferred from Krakow to Budapest, were driven from Prague to Krakow a couple of days before. It took them 8 hours to do that. The driver was a local person. They told me some sections of the highway that were marked as such on the map, are simply non-existent in the reality!
Since you are going to stop for the night in the Tatras, I would definitely recommend the village ORAVSKI PODZAMOK (ARVA Vara in Hungarian), a few miles after Dolny Kubin. This is one of the most beautiful castles in Slovakia. The view of the castle, on top of a cliff is something you will never forget! It belonged to a Hungarian noble family, the Thurzo’s. Just to let you know, the nowadays Slovakian-Polish border was the Hungarian-Polish border till 1920.
If you want to stop earlier then BANSKA BYSTRICA is a good option.
Feell free to ask any other questions.
Best regards,
Bela Lukacs

tomboy

He's right.

trip2006

I am hiring a motorhome in Frankfurt April 2006 for two months and travelling around Europe.
I was intending to drive from Vienna to Budapest allow 1 day spend 2 nites in Budapest then drive Budapest to Prague allow 1 day spend 2 nites in Prague and then drive from Prague to Krakow.Allow 1 day then stay 2 days in Krakow.
What are your thoughts and opinions on this route and are my timings realistic? I notice from your threads that these appear to dangerous routes.
Any ideas or thoughts regarding driving in these areas would be much appreciated.
Thanks

Michelezr

I am also interested in "real " driving times-between Vienna and Budapest, Budapest and Prague , and Prague and Cesky Krumlov.

tomboy

A motorhome?
Vienna to Budpest: fine road, but where do you park, on the outskirts? Will you take a tram to the center of the town?
Ditto Bufspest to Krakow
If it's a wide vehicle, you may have a challenge from Krakow to Prague. But then, trucks make it OK.

trip2006

Thanks for your reply Tomboy.
Guess would be best to not take a motorhome into the cities.
Was thinking of leaving Van at camping area and use public transport to get around city areas.Any experience of anyone using travelling from outer areas and using public transport, trams etc. in budapest prague or krakow?
I am planning on travelling from Salzburg to Prague then Prague to Vienna then Vienna to Budapest then Budapest to Krakow.
I intend to take 8 to 10 days to get from Salzburg to Krakow stopping at the destinations mentioned above, then spend around 3 or 4 days in Krakow.
Any thoughts or ideas on this itinerary or the destinations mentioned would be much appreciated.
MJ

tomboy

Trip2006==Sounds great! My wife and I have been to all three cities (staying in pensions out from the center). Fear not their public transit systems. In each city we were maybe 20 minutes tram ride from the centrum. We got to see parts of the city that hotel dwellers never see, and struck up conversations with several natives.
We got lists of Czech/Hungarian/Polish phrases off the internet, so we could ask people for help. Usually, some kind native would reply in English (wearied by our butchering of his/her language, but pleased by the attempt).
Another tip is to get a map of the city's metro/bus system off the web. Another tip is, I recall that the cars of each transit system had a map of that particular line inside where the ads are. So even if we couldn't pronounce the name, we could tell how many more stops to the destination.

trip2006

Thanks for your reply Tomboy.
Do you or any others have any experience driving in Poland?
I am intending to drive a motorhome around Poland for 10 days.
Travelling north from Krakow through Warsaw to Ketrzyn to see the wolf's Lair and then across to Gdansk.
Am not sure yet whether to travel to Berlin via the coast or travel south via Poznan and enter Germany.
Any ideas or thoughts on the destinations or road and travel conditions would be much appreciated.
Thanks

tomboy

We drove from Bardejov, Slovakia to Lancut, Poland (nice, two lane road) in SE Poland. Then westward to Krakow on a road with much construction. But at least it was steady driving. Leaving Krakow, we got off the ring-road expressway one exit early, so took a back road to Auschwitz. The road from Auschwitz south was about the same. Not bad driving; I guess if I had a motorhome I wouldn't have regretted driving there. It's just that in the 13 years since the Wall fell, pent-up demand for cars seems to have been satisfied, but it takes more than 13 years for highway departments to make up for 45 years of neglect and underinvestment.
So in summary, the roads are pre-1955 USA type roads, with lots of traffic. But if you're patient, you'll be ok.

trip2006

Thanks for the reply Tomboy.
Sounds like we are in for a bit of an adventure roadwise. I live in Australia and have travelled extensively over here so we are used to the bad roads. I drove around the states in 94 for 6 weeks and was spoilt with the quality of your highways compared to ours.
The only thing we dont have here is the traffic. In some spots you drive for days without seeing another car!
The more I read about poland, the czech republic, and Hungary, the more i feel like skipping the paris, rome, etc western part of our trip and spending more time exploring this very interesting and beautiful part of europe before it becomes too commercialised.

tomboy

G'day mate! (I just had to say that)
What follows is not a recommendation, merely my impressions.
0)you speak of touring Holland, France, Switz., Italy, CR, SR, PO.
1)if you haven't seen France before, it would be a shame to miss it (both Paris and rural). last fall we did France, and enjoyed it very much, far exceeding my expectations
2)if I were to include another country, it would be Germany (Bavaria) If you took in the Bodensee (Lindau, etc) and went east, you can get good views of the Alps from the north side of them. Not like being IN the Alps, of course, but being in St. Moritz was similar to being in a gravel pit (no greenery anywhere, just grey rock and snow). I suspect the Outback is more scenic. Just my prejudice, mind you.
3)if I had to toss out one country, it would be Switzerland. You'd be in the Tatras anyway; but maybe you like mountains (as I recall from a college course in Geo of Aust., the Blue Mts don't have a lot snow on them.
4)two years ago we toured Germany & Cz Rep, the latter so we could see it before commercialization (same as you). That wet our appetite for a return to Cz Rep this year, + Poland.
If we'd been able to take rental car to Romania, would have seen that too, since "Clifford" 's posting wet our appetite for that.
5)10 days in Poland seems a bit much, but then maybe you have PO background.
My great-grandfather was Slovak, so I wanted to see his hometown; thus our fixation with Cz and Slov Republics; we enjoyed them very much for other reasons (Prague, the smaller towns, the countryside).
6)If I were to add another country, it would be Hungary. We greatly enjoyed Budapest and Eger (eastern Hungary). Many people asked, "Hungary?" and "Poland" with raised eyebrows, when hearing of our trip. I think we all have had this non-color, black & white image of grey, featureless life behind the Iron Curtain, and that's our perception until we see the real thing. From Eger we went north thru Bardejov to Lancut,PO then to Krakow.

trip2006

Thanks for your reply Tomboy and g'day to you
You are the second person to mention Eger in a reply post.
Have done a little research and it looks like a great place so no doubt will be trying to get there on the way into Poland.
Is funny you should mention the questions regarding people and destinations. I am getting the same sort of questions. Which i guess is a good thing for now, as this part of europe does seem to be a little off the tourist radar for now but even reading the posts here that date back a while hungary poland and Czech Republic are definately growing in popularity.
Where abouts did you go in france?
I am going to north eastern as I have interest in WW1 battlefields and also to Normandy for same reason was then going to Paris for 2 days then drive across north of france to geneva (but may skip Geneva after your recomendation) before making our way down to florence.
Was wondering about Lyon?
Did you go there or do any other users have comments on that part of France?
Thanks again for your reply.

tomboy

We spent 18 days in France last fall by car. : 3 nites in Paris (if you go there, check out the Michael Osman tour in the Fodor search box); then 2 nites in Normandy, 2 nites Loire Valley, 2 nights Sarlat in the Dordogne; 2 nites Provence; 4 nites Burgundy. Somehow I lost 3 days. I could be more specific, but I'm thinking maybe you don't want all the precise details.
Saw the WW1 graveyard 20 yrs. ago; the WW2 graveyard at Normandy would be a must for you as well (when you go there, compare their hedgerows to your preconceived notion of them from reading, and imagine flushing Nazis out of them).
In heading north from Provence, we had considered Lyon, but the size of it dissuaded us (it's a BIG town, and we get more of the flavor from small towns and country). Beaune, for example, was much more appealing to us (I was raised in Detroit, my wife in Chicago, so it's not like we're not accustomed to metro areas).