Art

Travel plans have changed<BR>Due to air fares and car rental availability and of course prices, My travel<BR>plans have changed. I'll be flying to Berlin (give me a chance to see the city for a day <BR>without the WALL) on Sept 8th, spend a day there, pick up a car and drive to<BR>Poland (Warsaw and Krakow at least) for possibly a week. Maybe a train trip to Gedansk. I'll then drive down to Bratislava probable for one day based on comments that I've seen here on the forum, then on to Transylvania and on to Bucharest for a few<BR>days. I'll then be returning to Germany through Hungary and stop of 1 day in<BR>Muenchen for the Octoberfest, then on to Frankfurt to fly out of there (and<BR>stop in Sachenhausen for a glass of Apfle wein.) I plan to stay in B&amp;B's,<BR>castles and private homes where available. This is working out so great and<BR>I'm so excited I can't wait. Again if anyone wants to take part in this<BR>fabulous vacation let me know.<BR>Regards <BR>Art

Rex

Bravo, Art...<BR><BR>I am no closer to deciding if this might work for me to travel with you on any portion of this or not. Did you go ahead and lock in an airfare? What did you get? The itinerary sounds pretty aggressive once you leave Poland, but I understand that you are prepared to come back through Hungary relatively quickly since that isn't the goal of your trip this time. If I were to try to plan something to link up with you, it might incude a little bit of Vienna and/or southeast Czech republic before meeeting you in Krakow (just as a for example) - - and then splitting back off form you at Budapest.<BR><BR>How many days are you figuring fom Krakow to Budapest?<BR><BR>Best wishes,<BR><BR>Rex<BR>

nudge

hi art,<BR><BR>i agree with rex. my biggest concern for you is munich!! have you booked your hotel already for octoberfest? if do it now otherwise you WILL BE dissappointed! basically you can say that the entire munich is booked out!<BR><BR>it is a great event, but you must think now about where you want to stay. i have a few tips for accommodation in vienna, prague, berlin, budapest if you need them<BR><BR>good luck<BR><BR>nudge

Shanna

Art, your trip sounds like great fun. How many days total will it be? Rumbling around in the back of my head is a plan to go to Germany in late September. My intention is to stay in Freinsheim, a paternal ancestral home, so I can come back and tell my dad about it while he still recognizes me. This walled, medieval town is on the "wine road" west of the Rhine and has a wine festival 9/23-24, I believe. However, I'm also considering taking the train to Munich one (very long) day for Oktoberfest. September is a bad month for me to be away from work because we do our year-end close-out, but besides the Oktoberfest, my birthday is in September and I really feel like I should be able to take a vacation then regardless! I'd love to go into Eastern Europe, but that's another trip. As this firms up, I'll let you know more. One minor concern: my job is a temporary appointment - won't know until June if it's being extended, so I might be standing in the unemployment line instead. Otherwise, I'm looking forward to a lot of wine and schnapps!

Rex

Just a point of clarification, for what it's worth - - I am NOT "concerned" about the portion of Art's trip that returns to Munich for Oktoberfest. If I were to "cut short" by ending in Budapest (or Vienna), it would be based on total length of trip. <BR> <BR>I have never stayed in Munich for Oktoberfest, but I have driven through Munich in late September, and "right by" the fairgrounds during Oktoberfest, and I was NOT struck that traffic was a nightmare, nor that the city seemed unpleasantly crowded then. It looked like a typical big state fair to me. I wouldn't/couldn't give it a thumbs up or down based on that. not necessarily of interest to me, but I wouldn't knock it for anyone else. <BR> <BR>for the length of time I could spring free for september, Krakow, Romania and some of hungary would consume most of the time I would have available. And if I can spare any extra time, I have never been to Vienna nor to the Czech Republic. <BR>

Art

I don't have all of the details yet, but I'd like to spend 2 days in Warsaw, possibly take a train to Gdansk for a day and then on to Krakow. In the Krakow area, my plans are to visit Auschwitz, the Black Madonna and the salt mines in that area. I'l also like to take advantage of staying in a 15th or 16th century castle if I can. Probable arrive in Krakow around the 15th or 16th of September. On to Romania around the 19th roam around Translvania for a couple of days and then work my way down to Bucharest for a couple of days. Will then cross Hungary with a short stop in Budapest through Vienna toward Muenchen arriving on the 26th. Spend the 27th at the Octoberfest and driver to Frankfurt on the 28th. <BR>Shanna - A total of 22 days for this trip. <BR>Rex - yes I have book my air transport leaving Calif on Sept 7th arriving in Berlin on the 8th. Picking up my car on the 10th after spending a day in Berlin. <BR>I do think that I will pick up a car theft deterrent. The club doesn't seem very effective as they can cut the steering wheel and be gone. I think one of those sticks that locks the steering wheel to the brake pedals? <BR>Regards <BR>Art <BR> <BR>

Linda

Wow!! Your plans sound similar to what I was thinking of doing this fall. I only have 2 weeks though - maybe 2 1/2 if I whine to my boss! Keep me posted.

Peter

Art: driving from Berlin to Warsaw/Krakow/Gdansk hmm... many of german car rental companies do not allow their cars into what they consider eastern europe. Problem 2 you will be sitting on the border for a while with all the Germans comming to Poland for shopping waits sometimes can be very long hours. Problem 3 is that your rental car with German plates will be a theft target in eastern europe. <BR> <BR>I suggest Berlin to Gdansk on overnight train - then same to Warsaw or Krakow. <BR> <BR>I also suggest car renting in eastern europe for any crusing around - they use wastern cars many with AC and some even with Automatic transmission. And many allow you to go take/drop off in other countries. <BR> <BR>I also see you are mentioning large ciities which are reachable by overnight sleeper car trains... Maybe doing Germany and Western Europe first maybe a better option then renting in Eastern Europe with drop off in Poland - after which overnight train to Frankfurt? <BR>

Art

Thanks for your comments Peter. I’ve already explored renting cars in Poland and Romania and found that I would need to rent separately in each country. I’d also have to take a train from Poland all the way down to Bucharest to rent a car and then backtrack. I was able to save over $500 by renting and returning the car in Germany. I have already checked with the Rental company and they allow me to take the car over to Poland and Romania. I'm very aware re the auto theft problem in central/eastern Europe (while in Budapest, another couple staying where I was had their car stolen between 11:00 pm and 6:00 am parked in front of the flat.) I plan on picking up an auto theft deterrent such as the club to take with me. Arriving in Berlin will allow me to see the city for the first time without the wall. We’ll be crossing the Polish border on a Monday which should reduce the lines at the border. I’ll also get a chance to see some of the western part of Hungary.

Art

Thanks for your comments Peter. I’ve already explored renting cars in Poland and Romania and found that I would need to rent separately in each country. I’d also have to take a train from Poland all the way down to Bucharest to rent a car and then backtrack. I was able to save over $500 by renting and returning the car in Germany. I have already checked with the Rental company and they allow me to take the car over to Poland and Romania. I'm very aware re the auto theft problem in central/eastern Europe (while in Budapest, another couple staying where I was had their car stolen between 11:00 pm and 6:00 am parked in front of the flat.) I plan on picking up an auto theft deterrent such as the club to take with me. Arriving in Berlin will allow me to see the city for the first time without the wall. We’ll be crossing the Polish border on a Monday which should reduce the lines at the border. I’ll also get a chance to see some of the western part of Hungary. <BR>

Peter

Most of the cities have guarded parking lots - Krakow old town is closed to trafic. Guarded Parking behind "Dom Turysty" Hotel is less then $10 for 24h and even less if you are a guest of this budget Tourist hotel - with great location and 5min walk to Old town Center. May want to ask for snow tires or chains to be provided with your rental - which may be needed to cross some of the mountains (ie Tatry often get snow in early sept.)

Art

Hi Peter, do you know of a web site for the "Dom Turysty" hotel? <BR>Thanks <BR>Art <BR>

Peter

www.polhotels.com <BR> <BR>Dom Turysty Hotel <BR> <BR>15 Westerplatte Street <BR>31-033 Cracow <BR>Poland <BR>Tel: +48-12 422 95 66 <BR> +48-12 422 95 00 <BR> <BR>http://www.hotelspoland.com/cracow/dom_turysty/