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Transport from Prague to Slovenia-Croatia-Bosnia-Romania

Transport from Prague to Slovenia-Croatia-Bosnia-Romania

Old Jul 20th, 2016, 06:32 AM
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Transport from Prague to Slovenia-Croatia-Bosnia-Romania

Hi,
We are a couple (active, 30s) planning about a 3-week trip starting in Prague, traveling down through Slovenia to Croatia, then through Bosnia to Romania (via Serbia), and up to Budapest where we fly home. Would love some help on transport. We usually rent a car for convenience, but is this doable where we are traveling through so many countries? (I know not all companies have insurance coverage for every country, and there are fees for car badges,etc. for certain countries.) Is it better to do a mix of public transport/car rental? Which would be the best leg of the trip to rent a car? We are on a budget and looking for the cheapest option, but are willing to pay for a bit for convenience.
We plan on hitting most of the major tourist sites (Ljublijana/Bled, Split/Dubrovnik, Mostar/Sarajavo) but would like the option of getting to less-touristy places and nature trials.
Thank you!
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Old Jul 20th, 2016, 06:43 AM
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Before pondering the car issue, I think first you need to pinpoint where you will be visiting in all of those countries. Aside from the issues with multi-country rentals, you may not have time for meandering, and public transport may really be the better option.
21 days:
Prague 3 days
Slovenia 6? days
Croatia at least a week
Bosnia 3 days
Romania ???
Budapest 3 days
When you look at it that way, it makes me wonder if you really want to do all of that in one trip. Are the flights booked?
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Old Jul 20th, 2016, 10:09 AM
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use rome2rio to get a flavour of the best routes
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Old Jul 20th, 2016, 11:09 AM
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If going by train and very viable now check on the re-vamped Eurail Select Pass (saver pass if 2-5 traveling together at cheaper rate) -now you buy up to four countries at a price per country and as trains are cheaper in those places than in most of Europe the price per country an be very low and the overall pass cost low - first class is highly recommended there too by many - for lots of info on trains check www.ricksteves.com; www.budgeteuropetravel.com and www.seat61.com.

consider boat or bus travel along the Croatian coast - reaching islands like Hvar, home of Marco Polo I think.
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Old Jul 20th, 2016, 01:43 PM
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Honestly, I think that's covering too much ground for 21 days. Yorkshire has given you a good estimate on how much time you would need for each place on your itinerary and that's without counting travel days, of which there will be a few - Prague to Ljubljana, Ljubljana to Split, Sarajevo to Romania and Romania to Budapest, so 4 at the very least. Following yorkshire's estimate, you'll reach 21 days while you're still in Bosnia.

With your current itinerary you'll be covering around 4000 km (2500 mi) with almost zero highways between Croatia and Hungary - don't underestimate how time consuming and tiring driving on a regular two lane road is compared to a wide four lane highway. I would try to do less driving and more sightseeing, maybe by cutting out Romania, which is quite a detour - without it you're only looking at a 2500 km (1900 mi) trip, although still very much on the beaten path with no time for getting to less touristy places.

As for international drop-offs and finding a company that will allow you to drive to Bosnia, Serbia and Romania - the first will be expensive, the second very difficult. To give you an idea - Sixt charges €500 to drop off a Czech rental in Budapest, €250 to drop it off in Vienna and doesn't allow cars to enter Bosnia, Serbia or Romania at all. You could consider doing a combination of public transporation and rental car - I would recommend renting a car in Slovenia and Croatia, especially if you wish to get off the beaten path. First of all, however, you need to reconsider your list and get it down to something more manageable for a three-week trip.

Finally, you haven't mentioned when you're travelling, but it could have a large impact on your itinerary - for example, scenic mountain passes in the Slovenian Alps might be closed in the winter and early spring, many sights, hotels, restaurants and bars on the Croatian coast will be closed in the off-season, etc.
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Old Jul 28th, 2016, 01:28 PM
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I used this company last month for a door-to-door shuttle van from Zagreb, Croatia, to Budapest. I found them on www.rome2rio.com. The cost was 80 euros (plus I gave a 20 euro tip). Even though it was a shared van, I was the only passenger. The train would have been about 7 hours including taxis to/from train stations. The van ride was 4 hours. You might check them out to see which cities they service.

http://www.eurobusways.com/

I also think you're trying to cover a lot of territory in a short period of time. Are you locked into your air travel? Are you planning to go as far south as Dubrovnik or will you concentrate on northern Croatia? I just returned from a 24-day trip to Croatia, Slovenia and Budapest. I can't imagine seeing all the locations you mention in 21 days.
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Old Aug 1st, 2016, 11:36 PM
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Thank you so much for the input. We will be traveling mid-September to October. Flights to Prague and out of Budapest are already booked, and for us given our location were the best deal. I had wanted to include Serbia and Romania to visit friends there, bur I am thinking now it is, as you say, overly ambitious. I am thinking of following your advice and to just do Prague to Slovenia and then Croatia. My rough plan is as follows:
Arrive Prague late Sept. 19
Sept. 20-22 Prague
To Cesky Krumlov (night in?)
Austria (Salzberg? 1 night)
To Lake Bled
Ljublijana-
Postojna
Croatia--Rovinj, Pula, Plitivice, Zadar, Trogir, Split (Hvar?)Dubrovnik
Mostar
And from Mostar possibly make our way somehow to Budapest.
Oct. 7 fly out of Budapest
I would love to have car to road trip through Slovenia and Croatia.
Does this itinerary seem manageable given the time? Thank you again in advance for the advice!
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Old Aug 2nd, 2016, 03:24 AM
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You're still budgeting to see more places than you have days after Prague, not realistic IMO. You have 2.5 weeks, which, with travel days, is going to end up being just 2 weeks.

Just to give you an idea of what I'm talking about: to get from Mostar to Budapest, it's easiest to drive your rental to Zagreb, return it there and take a bus or train to Budapest. I don't know when your flight is on Oct. 7, but since it's a 6-hour train ride, I would strongly recommend doing it the day before. The drive from Mostar to Zagreb takes around 5-6 hours. This means that the last day for sightseeing you have (in Mostar) is Oct. 4. If you skip Cesky Krumlov and Salzburg and go straight to Slovenia on Sep. 23, you end up with 11 days for Slovenia and Croatia.
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Old Aug 2nd, 2016, 09:03 AM
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I would love to have car to road trip through Slovenia and Croatia.>

check on drop-off charges if you do not return the car in the country you rented it - often very steep so check and if so plan on circling back to where you rented it.
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Old Aug 6th, 2016, 12:36 AM
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I just did a trip for 24 days to Croatia, Slovenia and Budapest and didn't get to Prague or Salzburg. I can't image fitting in all the stops you want to make in such a short period of time. Is this a vacation or a marathon? Can you at least drop Split, Dubrovnik and Mostar?
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Old Aug 6th, 2016, 10:16 AM
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As noted on your other thread, your plans are WAY too ambitious, IMO. Even if you cut your destination list in half, you would still be trying to see to much, IMO.

I strongly encourage you to plot your trip on a calendar, including time to see the things that make you want to go to these places, along with time for transportation, reaching your hotels and sites of interest, checking in and out, eating, etc.

Good luck!
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