bgsoltis

Spending about a month in Europe in September and having a difficult time trying to create an itinerary. This is my first trip to Europe and I would like to be in the right places at the right time as to events and such. The places I definitely want to hit are Slovakia (Kosice and Presov), Czech Rep. (Prague), Poland (Krakow), Germany (Munich) Austria (Vienna), Hungary (Budapest). Can anyone recommend a logical itinerary that includes all of these places? I appreciate any help I can get! Thanks in advance.

Aramis

What are your limitations on arriving and departing? Does it have to be in and out of a particular city? Can you fly open jaw? Do you have to fly into one and out of another city?

Pegontheroad

I'd get a "Rick Steves Eastern Europe," if I were you. It would have information about Slovakia, Czech Repub., Poland, Hungary, and maybe Vienna. It's compact and will have much of the information you want.

If there are cities or areas not covered in this book, you can get info from other guides.

Michael

In addition to guidebooks, get a map so that you get a sense of the geography you might cover.

bgsoltis

Thanks for your replies. Aramis, I will be driving and would like to spend 2 - 3 days in each of these places except Kosice and Presov Slovakia where I will spend about 6 days. If you can expand with that information, it would be greatly appreciated!

adrienne

All your locations are cities where a car will be a hindrance. Unless you pick up the car in the same location you'll drop it you may find that you have to pay a high one-way drop off charge. It's more practical to take trains between city locations. The exception is leaving Krakow. Polish trains make many stops and take a long time to get anywhere. You should fly from Krakow to your next destination.

I would arrange your itinerary after you find the best airfare since that will determine the order of your trip (what city to see first, second, etc.).

You have enough time to spend 3-4 days in each location plus travel time.

tomboy

I'll try to recap from memory our 2004 itinerary:
US to Frankfurt
Frankfurt to Vienna 3 days, rented a car
Vienna to Budapest, 2-1/2 days, could have spent more
Budapest to Eger, 1 night, then up to the Spis region near Kosice for 2 days
Then to Krakow, 3 days
Then to Prague, 3 days
Then south to Munich, 1 day, then to Vienna and out
Total, aside from the Spis time, was about 2+ weeks

Caution: on secondary roads, beware of crazy Slovak drivers, who'll pass on blind mountain curves on the 2 lane roads.