miguel

Hello, I live in Spain, at some 2,000 kms from Vienna or Prague, and are preparing a trip for next spring or summer visiting Vienna, Czechia, Slovakia, Hungary and maybe some of Poland, in about 3 weeks. Any advice about what to see appart of their capitals? Since we live so far I'm not sure how we should travel, with our own car, or maybe fly there and move by train, but I do not know how they work in Eastern countries, and if -in this case- we would be able to reach other places, apart of the capitals, such as provincial towns and so on. I'm doubting with my own car or fly/train, or maybe fly/train and rental a car (some days?, forgetting the train and all the route by a rentaled car??). <BR>Any advice, please!!!

Lisa

I was in Slovakia last year and traveled up to the Tatra mountains which were beautiful. There were several quaint towns in between. We went by car and the road system is wonderful. With a car, you can stop at the places that intrigue you. Vienna is beautiful as well as Budapest. We are headed to Prague on Monday and will spend a few days in Bohemia or Germany. I'm not sure where yet, they both sound great. We only have 10 days, with 5 days of conferences. I will give you more information when I get back. Lisa

Ben Haines

Fodors <BR> <BR>If you'll tell us more about our tastes we can say more about where to go outside the capitals. Cities, towns, villages, countryside ? Lakes, hills, mountains ? Busy and fashionable, or quiet and old-style ? If youlike music, what kind r inds ? <BR> <BR>I'm afraid I have to tell you that Spanish railways do not compete at all with those of central Europe, where trains are faast, frequent, and cheap. There are trains every hour or two hours on all main lines, and plenty of branch lines to very remote villages. If you can reach the inernational desk in any of the great railway stations of Spain you'll probably find that they have the Thomas Cook European Timetable. You'll see there in tables 1100 to 1299 how strong the services are. On night trains the berths are like those on the normal (non-Hotel) night trains of Iberia, but half the price. But the book does not nclude all the many branch lines. <BR> <BR>If time is short then you ought, indeed, to fly from Spain either straight to one of your intended countries or to a nearby city such as Vienna, which has busses that take an hour from the airport to Bratislava. But if you're in or near Barcelona and time allows you might take the Pau Casals Express from Barcelona to Zurich, and then the night train or the day train on to Vienna or Prague. Again, a good international rail desk in Spain can brief you. <BR> <BR>Please write if I can help further, and to tell us your tastes in smaller places. <BR> <BR>Ben Haines, London <BR> <BR> <BR>

miguel

Thanks for the messages, and to tell you the truth, first of all we were thinking on Viennna, Budapest, Prague and Cracovia. But apart of it, we'd love to visit charming small towns; we've heard something about Pécs and Sopron in Hungary and don't know if Kosice or that area on the road Budapest-Cracovia is worth a stop for a couple of days visiting we are not sure what. For instance, do trains reach all those smaller towns? and what about the lakes (Balaton for instance), or mountains (Tatras?)? By car for instance it is possible to make in a couple of days the Balaton-Pecs round way to Budapest but maybe it is too much to do by train. We're not sure what the most interesting is, but would be very interested to read others' experiences. <BR>If there were similar towns in the Czech Republic or Poland -in Hungary and Slovakia, too, obviously-, we'd thank very much. <BR>

CA

Hello! I lived in Poland for a year, and while I was there, I travelled quite a bit, throughout Poland, and also Budapest, Prague, Vienna, and other places. The train system is great in Eastern Europe. In Poland, all the little towns have a station, and if for some reason (in the mountains, for example) there is no train, there are cheap busses. The train from Warsaw to Krakow is at most $15 round trip, or at least it was two years ago. I actually don't reccommend renting a car unless you will be mostly in small towns - in big cities like Warsaw, driving is quite an adventure! Parking is scarce, and driving can be nerve-racking, especially if you don't know where you're going. Many of Poland's "highways" are nothing like those in France or Germany - they are more like two-lane roads, on which many people drive insanely fast, passing eachother with centimeters to spare! But, I have never been to Spain, so maybe you are already used to this aggresive driving approach! Anyway, the trains and busses are so good, a car isn't really necessary. Have a great trip!! Krakow is a beautiful city!

Ben Haines

Fodors <BR> <BR>That's fine. Sopron is a charming large trown,and Pecs is an interesting city. Eger is perhaps the pleasantest small town of Hungary. Each is on a railway line. <BR> <BR>If you stopped in Kosice it would be to enjoy the city centre, the museum of bell-making, and especially the Ukrainian icons in the city historical museum. <BR> <BR>Trains go through the Tatras on the line from Krakow to Kosice, especially if at the Polish frontier, Plavec, you take the local train toward Poprad Tatry. From there delightful narrow-gauge rack railways run up into the mountains in forty minutes. They run direct from Budapest along both the north and the south shores of Lake Balaton. Trains leave Fnyod on Lake Balaton at 0945 and 1815 and take 3 hours to Pecs. InterCity trains with buffet cars leave Pecs at 0630, 0800, 1330 and 1800 and take 2 1/2 hours to Budapest. As I say, you can check all this at the international desk of a large railway station in Spain. <BR> <BR>There are similar towns and cities in Poland and the Czech Republic: my last note listed them. All are on railway lines, mostly on railway main lines. <BR> <BR>Ben Haines, London <BR>

Lois

Miguel: Spendt 3 nights in Eger, Hungary last November... (East / Northeast of Budapest) this is a Nice town. 3 nights was too much... 1-2 more than ample. Very Pleasant people, surroundings. Stayed at ''Romantic Hotel'', room off garden, it would be good location for couple or group of friends. Old fortress there was less than I'd hoped for, but contained nice art museum. Lovely churches, and a fantastic old Library. <BR>Train Budapest to Eger, 1 change = 2 hours / +... Enjoy, <BR>Lois, Orange County, CALIFORNIA, USA

Stan Szubiak

Miguel, do not miss out on Krakow and Zakopane!!!!!!