Planning a trip for next Summer- was thinking a week in Italy - maybe Florence (already have been to Rome, etc) take teh train east and would like to spend a week in Eastern Europe - any suggestions - thinking a resort on the beach, not sure where to go - cannot find good info. online.
Maybe not the beach the whole time...

Any other suggestion are welcome too!
Thanks!

Anyone???

Are you asking about Black Sea resorts? Or Baltic? You might do well to mention Bulgaria in the message header and re-post (or Romania) if it is the former that you mean.

It would surely be a terribly long train trip to get from Florence to the Bulgarian Black Sea coast.

There is a website with a lot of info at http://www.bulgariancoast.com

There isn't a lot of info posted about Bulgaria here. Others have recommended www.lonelyplanet.com as more useful.

As one final suggestion, the website www.inyourpocket.com has often been mentioned as a useful resource (in case you are looking for Baltic Sea resorts) - and it covers Romania, though curiously, not Bulgaria.

It also has info on Croatia - - with all the various Dalmatian Sea destination choices it offers - - (though I would characterize Croatia as "central Europe", rather than "Eastern&quot.

Best wishes,

Rex

rex,

Should you be looking into a resort at the Baltic Sea, Pärnu in Estonia comes to mind. There is a very pleasant beach and very shallow waters which therefore will warm decently despite the Northern location.
Spa treatments can be taken at various places.
And for those occasional rainy days: The Latvian capital Riga and the Estonian capital of Tallinn are both about a 2 hour drive away.

Another option might be the Lithuanian beach resorts on the Curonian Spit, e.g. Nida. Gorgeous scenery there.

I second Rex's recommendation of the inyourpocket guides and webpages for most all of Eastern European countries.

Le Meridien often has very low rates for one of their Lithuanian resorts. Sign up for the special offers list at LeMeridien.com .

WillTravel,

good hint, but the Villon (I believe it's called) is nowhere near a beach - rather near of Vilnius.

Thank you, this give me some help and direction.

I am trying to figure out where we really want to go, and yes I am sure the train would be so long from Florence to Eastern Europe, but I am not sure exactly where we want to go... maybe we can stop somewhere in between...

Does anyone know about beach resorts in Yugoslavia?

Thanks!

Ummm... maybe you can take a look at the map on www.inyourpocket.com - - there hasn't been a country named "Yugoslavia" for over a decade (though Serbia, which contains its old capital Belgrade still has the internet domain letters .YU as a carryover). But Serbia has no coast. Croatia has 90% of the Dalmatian coast, and Slovenia has about 10%.

I believe that ferry transport across the Dalmatian Sea is an option from certain Italian ports, to get to Croatia. And certainly a possibility from Venice.

rex, oddly enough Serbians will still say "Yugoslavia" when referring to their home country. I've gotten used to this, and now I can tell immediately (without asking) if someone is a Serbian by their use or non-use of "Yugoslavia".

Sorry Rex - my mom was there in the 60's and I just still refer to it as that.

Central Europe only includes Austria, Czech Republic and Hungary.

Austria is only located in that region, but it's just as rich and sophisticated ( and expensive)as most other western European countries.
It's closely related to it's western neighbor Switzerland rather than Hungery or the Czech.

All other countries located below Austria and Hungary are just as poor and crime ridden as Eastern Europe is.

They are officially called eastern European countries, Just like Kentucky and Verginia are not located in the south, but officially they are called southern states, and people there have southern accents.

Ofcourse some eastern European countries are so beautiful, but they usually attracts visitors 'cause they are cheap. So enjoy your trip, and be alert at all times.
Oh yea and never leave your passport at the hotel/hostel.

Virginia *

You can ferry from Venice to the Istrian Peninsula of Croatia on Venezia lines (they have a web site) There is also a ferry from Bari, Italy, to Dubrovnik, Croatia. Both Croatian places are lovely, and worth visting. You can travel up and down the coast via bus and ferry. There are beaches everywhere, but small rocky ones-fun in their own way-and lots of fun islands like Hvar and Korcula. www.visit-croatia.co.uk has some great sources on getting to Croatia from Italy.