Eastern Europe itinerary
 

hi fordorites....trying to finalize an itinerary for 26 days starting in Prague then taking in Vienna (4 nights), Llubjiana (3 nts) including day trip to Lake Bled, Vienna 4 nts, Zagreb 3 nts, Plitvice Lakes 1 nt, bus to Split 3 nts (day trip to Togir), Hvar 3 nts, Korcula 3 nts, Dubrovnik 3 nts - really want to visit Kotor but tricky to transfer arriving in Dubrovnik on Korcula ferry at night without having to spend overnight in Dubrovnik....is there a late bus that goes to Kotor from Dubrovnik? I believe ferry arrives from Korcula at 6.30pm.
We have few nights left over and wonder if we should fit in Budapest for a few nights but it seems to be tricky to fit in with our path. Having spent time in the other cities, how essential in your opinion is it to include Budapest?

FWIW- My 2 cents. We just spent 3.5 weeks doing some of the cities you list and then on to Spain. We spent about 4 nights in each city. We flew first to Prague, then took the train to BRATISLAVA(did a day train trip to Vienna) , then to Budapest by train. We then flew to Spain and did 3 more cities.

While we were glad to have to visit the cities, we Look back now and think that having to move so often was time consuming and it was tedious to have to unpack/settle in and then repack evey 4 days. You lose almost half a day each time you change cities.

Perhaps you might want to rethink this and adjust the number of stops and length of time in each city. We think that in the future, we will do 6 nights in a city. We often felt we were just getting to know a city and then it was time to move on. We could have easily spent more time in each city.
YMMV

Yes, you're going to spend a lot of time and money on transportation between stops. Is it to be all by bus? Or bus and train? You could use your extra days just to slow down a bit.

There are daytrips to Kotor out of Dubrovnik by tour bus.

You listed Vienna twice. Is that a typo?

Ooops yes Mimar, typo! Only going to Vienna once!! We dont like long days of travel so best to make the stops a little closer. 4 nights is pretty good, we are generally ready to move on by then. It depends on how many day trips we include. There is a lot to do in Vienna. Have decided to stay an extra night in Llbjiana as well as there are great day trips from there also...

"I believe ferry arrives from Korcula at 6.30pm"
Yes, twice weekly in high season only.
There is furthermore a catamaran arriving at 18.35 (4times weekly in July and August).
As to your other questions, I'm referring to my answers to your thread of Dec 3rd.

There's a bus from Korcula to Dubrovnik (via a ferry to the mainland). It leaves early, at 6.45am and arrives in Dubrovnik at 9.30 am.

Might that fit your itinerary?

Sorry, but I'm still confused about your itinerary -- I understand that listing Vienna twice was an error, but am not sure whether you've got something else in there or how your days do / don't add up. Maybe I'm not counting the time in Prague? or maybe that's the time you are thinking of using for Budapest? Does that mean that your listed days include travel time? If so, I'm sorry, but I remain confused, as you seem to be giving relatively short-shrift to Prague and Vienna, while planning on a longer in Korcula / Hvar (combined) than might make sense. And much as I loved Budapest, I don't see a way to fit it in without skipping at least one other destination. But of course, it all depends on what YOU want to see and experience!

FWIW, you might consider a one-day car rental to visit Kotor from Dubrovnik.