Are you going by train - as i suspect a young solo traveler may well be? As you are going to so many places then you may investigate the European East Railpass which would cover all regular trains in Austria, Hungary, Czech Republic, Slovakia and Poland - you did not mention Poland (or perhaps those religious sites you mention are in Poland as i am clueless to those) then i would consider Krakow- esp given your interests - would be of huge interest to you - in any case one of the finest towns in old Eastern Europe - and you also have a UNESCO World Heritage site a few miles to the south - the Wieliczka Salt Mines, where miners thru the ages have carved out huge rooms with chandeliers, etc - and Auschwitz-Birkenau is also an easy daya trip, for something completely different and sobering -

For lots on trains in these countries - and Croatia, etc as well i always spotlight these fine info-laden sites - www.budgeteuropetravel.com; www.seat61.com; www.ricksteves.com and for schedules in all of Europe including all those countries the German Railways web site - www.bahn.de - in Croatia and Balkans in general travel is much slower going than in Czech Rep, Hungary, etc. and often buses may be a better bet - but for Austria, Czech, Slovakia, Poland, Hungary trains go everywhere and are easy to use.

I don't know who Theodore Ramzha is, but Bukovina and Medjagorie are nowhere near the rest of your proposed itinerary. Bukovina is in eastern Romania near Ukraine, Medjagorie is in Bosnia near the Dalmatian coast of Croatia. A Vienna-Budapest-Prague trip can keep you entertained for 12+ days.

Given your religious preferences, which seem to tend toward Eastern Orthodox and not Catholic, you may want to go to Russia or Ukraine if religious iconography is your preference. Poland is Catholic, not Eastern Orthodox, but it is a far more religious nation today than Austria, Czech Republic or Hungary.

You'll have a difficult time hitting Prague, Vienna, Bratislava (a one-day stop at most), Budapest, Bosnia and Croatia in one 12-14 day trip and actually see or experience anything. Unwinding will be out of the question.

If you want a real diverse trip, you can do worse than Prague-Vienna-Budapest or Krakow-Budapest-Vienna/Prague because the Hungarians, Czechs, Austrians and Poles are quite different. As for food: the top cuisines of the world do not include Austrian, Czech, Polish or Hungarian among that list.

hi jersey,

lets start with the basics - have you got a decent map of the area? it will really help with travelling to see what of your potential destinations is near the others.

then destinations - the more you move around, the more it'll cost you in time and money. you might like to think about chosing three or four, and using them as bases for day trips.

then transport - there are terrific networks of trains and buses in central/eastern europe. Lonely planet guides are very good at setting out your options.

language - you want to visit quite a few countries, so learning one language won't necessarily help. We have an Eastern europe phrasebook which we have found useful - if only to find out that "two beers please" is almost the same in most languages in that area. honestly, unless you are going right off the beaten track, though speaking the language might be helpful, English will get you by almost anywhere.

have a great trip!

I agree that you need to start with a map - since you have misplaced several of these places by hundreds of miles.

In 12 days you can touch on Vienna, Prague and Budapest - but the trip would be fairly rushed. These are major central european cities with very comprehensive tourist infrastructures and speaking English - with a couple of greetings/politenesses in the local language - will be fine.

The other places you are talking about are a mystery to me (although there does appear to be a Bukovina in Slovakia - but there are similarly named places in other countries and I can't get it to come up on bahn.de, meaning it may not have train service), would have to take the place of some of the major cities you have listed and based on my never having heard anything about them (despite having been to europe more than 70 times) I would suggest that the infrastructure will be much less well-developed and several phrase books would probably be a good idea. Also I would get details now on train service to find out how accessible they are - and the time from any of the major cities you are planning to visit.

We have visited Krakow, Budapest, Vienna, Prague and all are wonderful. Be aware that if you budget 3 nights in each place, that really gives you only 2 days per city, and part of one day will be a travel day unless you take a night train and sleep there. As much as we love Krakow, for a first-timer, I would suggest Budapest, Vienna, Prague with train service between the cities. You could fly into one city and fly home out of the third, taking the train in between. I think you would have a much better experience if you don't try to cram too much into one trip. You'll be back.

Thank you all for your feedback. I have another question. Is it a bad time of year to travel that area in November? Will it be too cold and rainy? Should I postpone till early spring? Thanks

I've never been there in November so can't answer. We have been there in May/June and September/October and the weather was wonderful, little rain, mild days and slightly cooler nights.

November will be chilly and probably rainy but not full winter yet - so snow is unlikely. Early spring is likely to be the same but days somehat longer. IMHO May or early June are ideal if given the choice.

I would suggest Budapest, Vienna, Prague with train service between the cities.>

But there are also overnight trains between Prague and Krakow and Krakow and Budapest - so Krakow yes is a bit out of the loop but still if night trains are fine with you you travel long distances at night, save a hotel cost and arrive bright and early in the morning. I have taken night trains to and from Krakow. But some folks just do not like overnight trains and i guess if you cannot sleep well with some inevitable noise they would not be in order. But if you can they can be really utilitarian to relocated long distances - esp in areas where the scenery in between - like Prague to Krakow is hardly anything to write home about.

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