We will be in Central Europe April 24-May 8 (14 nights).
We plan to spend time in Budapest, Prague and Ljubljana.
We'd like to add Krakow or Venice. Any recommendations on if we can add both? If not, which one would you recommend?
Also, would you recommend getting train tickets in advance in the USA?
Thanks!

Where are you flying in and out of?

Venice is an easy drive (or train ride) from Ljubljana. You can be there in 2 hours (by car). Krakow would be a bit more difficult to get to.

Cheers,
Jan

Krakow is wonderful! I enjoyed it very much! So beautiful! I highly, highly recommend it. I have been to Venice, and liked it too, but Krakow is still one of my all time favorites. The first time I went abroad I did get my reservations in the US because I wanted to make sure I wouldn't have any problems. But I discovered it really is not that difficult to just get them while in Europe. If you are wanting a private sleeper for overnight trains you may want to look into reservations, but again, it isn't absolutely necessary.

budapest is omne of my faorite cities in Europe and deserves at least 7 days. Also interesting in Hungary is Pecs worth at least two days. It is a much smaller city than Budapest with a really nice oldtown. Also depending on the weather, you could visit Lake Balaton for a day or oernight. It is the larges lake in central Europe with an average depth of only 8'. Prague deserves at least 3 days for the city but there are seeral 1 or 2 days side trips inclusing a fantastic 13th century UNESCO village easily reached by car or train.

I live in Budapest. I never buy train tickets ahead of time outside of the city that I am traveling from. They charge you a premium. I have checked train fares from Cologne repeatedly and then had a friend there call the station. The difference is sometimes 30 Euros less than what I was quoted online. There is no hassle getting tickets here. I rarely get back to read other responses, so if you have questions, e-mail me. Ryan
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Thanks for your responses.
We're flying in and out of Budapest. I wish we could do it all, but it sounds like we'll have to limit ourselves, especially if we take trains which are probably much slower than just driving.
I've heard renting a car in Slovenia is a good way to see the place. Does anyone know about taking a car from Slovenia over to Venice and back? Would you recommend this?

Driving is definitely the way to see Slovenia. There are so many beautiful places that can only be reached by car! It is very easy to drive to Venice from Ljubljana. It will take about 2 hours. Just park outside the city and take the water taxi in or walk in...depending on which car park you use.
Cheers,
Jan