Eastern Europe Itineray - comments?
 

Hi,
Below is my proposed itinerary for my spring 2006 trip. Would love to hear comments. I'm looking at this trip as sort of a sampler of several cities and will go back on a future trip for longer stays in the cities I like best. For my return trip home, I had been planning on flying Vienna-London-Houston, but now I'm wondering if I should fly from Ljublana to London, overnight there and then fly out that last day. If I fly Vienna-London-Houston on the final day, it will be a tight connection.

day 1 -arrive Prague, Czech Republic

day 2- Prague

day 3- Prague

day 4 Vienna, Austria

day 5 Vienna

day 6 Bratislava, Slovakia daytrip, return to Vienna for overnight (1.5 hour train)

day 7, 8 - Salzburg, Austria

day 9- Ljubljana, Slovenia

day 10- Bled, Slovenia daytrip (1.5 hour bus)

day 11- Zabreb, Croatia daytrip (2 hour train ride)

day 12-Piran, Slovenia, Somewhere Croatia or Trieste, Italy for daytrip which would be best/easiest?

Day 13-Figure out what city to fly home from

Day 14-fly home

Thanks!

aggiegirl,
It sounds like a fast paced trip- I hope you are young and healthy.

I can only tell you that the train from Prague to Vienna takes 4 and a half hours. That day ends up being just about travel, eating, and checking into hotel. So either day 3 or day 4 should read "travel day".

It is way too much for my liking. I would try to fit in some closer places, Cesky Krumlov, Karlovy Vary for example & allow for more time in Prague & Vienna. Salzburg & the Croatia locales are too far away for the time you will spend there. Bratislava is doable due to its close proximity to Vienna & would be a great, cheaper alternative. Of your 14 days, I would guess you would spend about 4 of those traveling. Venice may be another alternative...

You might also consider doing part of the Danube...I have done the Munich - Prague - Vienna trip as well as a Munich - Vienna - Veince trip. The latter would allow you to do the Danube & include Salzburg, Linz, Melk, etc. When I did the first trip I believe we had about the same amont of time - 2 nights in Munich, 3 in Prague, 3 in Cesky Krumlov, 2 in Vienna (had been there before)& back to Munich via the Danube for 3 days.

I really have my heart set on getting a taste of Slovenia and Croatia. I'm a young and hearty traveller, will pack light and go with the flow. I see for the train from Prague to Vienna that there are morning trains that would get me there by 12:30 pm. that would give me the afternoon to start my Vienna sight seeing. Same thing for Vienna to Salzburg. I was thinking though of adding an extra day to my trip and putting that in Vienna.

Yes, add at least another day for Vienna. We have been there many times and have still not seen everything in this wonderful city. Any idea where you will stay in Vienna?

I have no idea yet where I'll stay in Vienna. I will go budget class, that's for sure. Got any recommendations for particular hotels or part of town?

I have a couple listed on my site:
http://alexstarke.tripod.com/
Also, I have some good places to eat as well. The Fuerstenhof is good, you can get a single there w/o bath for 46 euro a night and I think they still offer a 10% discount for booking online. We stayed there and loved the place. It is right across the square from the Westbahnhof which may help you with your trains. If you have more questions you can email me through my website, be glad to help.

I forgot to mention that the Fuerstenhof also includes a big breakfast buffet with the room. If you are staying in Vienna for more than three days you might want to try an apartment...very good rates with kitchens. Let me know.

Thanks Operaman, I'll check out your website.

I understand that you want to see as much as you can, however, on 5 of your days you are taking day trips which require 3-5 hours of travel each of those days (or more)...how much are you really going to get to see once you get there before having to turn back around & start back ? I think the most important thing is to maximize the use of your time effectively, rather than spending all of your time on trains or buses. Afterall, that is why many of us continue to go back, every chance we get...

if you leave out zagreb, you will buy lots of time and not really miss it. it can be a really dull place, especially after prague, vienna and ljubljana. go directly from slovenia to italy and you will not regret it. none can ever regret going to italy :-)

Hi, I would recommend to spend a night in Bratislava. It is cheaper than Vienna and lot of fun, especially on friday or saturday. You can get cheap drinks and many places to go. In the morning you can get back to Vienna. I am form Bratislava, so if you have any questions about acommodation I can help you ;-)

I'm planning on staying in Vienna for at least 3 days. What are apartments? How do they differ from a hotel? Can you recommend any?
thanks

pliant;
We have stayed at the Kaminek's apartments on three occassions and loved them. Here is the site:
http://www.apartment.at/index_eng.php3/app/3
Any more questions, post another message.

Hey Nuki,
I'm planning on going to Bratislava this summer. I'm thinking of going there after Prague. How long is the train ride? What good hotels are there, in a safe, quiet part of town? Hotels don't need to be budget, just comfortable. Also, I'm thinking about going to Budapest after Bratislava. Any suggestions? How long is the train ride? Any advice you have would be helpful.
Thanks,
peri girl

For inexpensive restaurants, check out my trip report. One is a Turkish restaurant and the other a restaurant (more than a pub) attached to a brewery.

http://www.fodors.com/forums/pgMessa...p;tid=34600618