erof

Planning a trip to eastern europe in May. Will be going to Warsaw, Krakow, Budapest, Vienna, and Prague. What can I expect as far as temperatures and rain.

rex

May I kindly refer you to my post to Jill on http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34541365 - - regarding the use of the term <i>Eastern</i> Europe to refer to countries smack dab in the <i>middle</i> of Europe?

And for weather info, you wil need to anticipate a considerabe variety over this wide geographic region (at a time of year when the only thing constant is change anyhow!) - - see www.weatherbase.com or www.worldclimate.com for statistical details.

Best wishes,

Rex

hsv

This Eastern/ Middle Europe discussion is really leading nowhere.
The countries erof mentioned by stating the towns all (with the exception of Austria) once belonged to the Warsaw Pact states and therefore were generally considered to be and referred to as Eastern Europe.

Furthermore, from today's point of view, even though geographically this might be the middle of Europe, there are not that many European countries further East due to the vast size of Russia, which is why it is completely justifiable to talk of Eastern Europe when referring to Poland, Hungary etc.

This board is meant to provide valuable information - a purpose that will easily be ridiculed if too much supposedly politically correct phrasing is required IMHO.

In order to cater to that purpose, I would expect temperatures in the low to mid 60s F and rainfall somewhat around 3.5 in/sq ft. for the month of May.

Valuable information for Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic can also be found at www.inyourpcket.com.

rex

Rather than re-hashing what I said before - - this is the reason that I referred &quot;erof&quot; to a previous post - - I will just reiterate what I think will be useful info to all travelers visiting Poland, Austria, Hungary and the Czech Republic: the people who actually LIVE in those countries seem to appreciate it when &quot;we&quot; acknowledge that they are in <i>Central</i> Europe.

nytraveler

Calling Austria, Czech republic, Poland etc eastern europe is similar to calling Illinois and Indiana esatern US. It's simply not where they are. And I don't see what the number of countries in each area has to do with anything.

If you prefer to call them former Warsaw Pact countries - or former Iron Cutrain countries - be my guest - but please don;t simply move them at random.

John

Hmmmm. Guess we better call Rick Steves and inform him to rename his guide book from Best of Eastren Europe to Best of Central Europe.

hermit

Eastern Europe sounds better to me. I'm old.

elaine

The countries having all been part of the Warsaw Pact doesn't define them geographically, it seems to me. Lots of countries are in NATO and they are literally all over the map.

www.wunderground.com is yet another website that provides historical info on average highs, lows, and precip. But of course you'll have to check forecasts before you go. I have files on Vienna and Prague; if you'd like to see them, email me at [email protected]

Clifton

For what it's worth, I was recently asked in Budapest if this was my first visit to Eastern Europe. He may have been deferring to what he thought would be my perception of how these things are described, but I didn't see him wince terribly as he asked.

Wouldn't it all depend on how many ways you've decided to divide Europe? 2 ways, 3 ways or into 17 portions?

KT

&quot;Wouldn't it all depend on how many ways you've decided to divide Europe? 2 ways, 3 ways or into 17 portions?&quot;

It certainly would.

Do you think San Francisco is in northern California? It isn't if you divide California into northern, central, and southern (of course in California, &quot;central California&quot; is to the east of northern and southern California).

Similarly, is Florence in northern Italy or central Italy? It can't be in central Italy, because Rome is in central Italy. No, wait, Rome's in southern Italy...

And it's not as if everything divides up into nice, neat quadrants. Much of Italy is as far east as the Czech Republic. Would you call Italy a central European country? Just like Sweden. But we all know Sweden is a northern European country. Just like Latvia.

This way lies madness, or pedantry

Ingo

My friends in the Czech Republic and Hungary consider themselves as &quot;Eastern Europeans&quot;.

Regarding the weather - it is usually a bit colder in May in Warsaw and Krakow than in Prague and yet a bit warmer in Vienna and Budapest. Not that it would make a huge difference.

hsv

Ingo,

saluting you and great you made that one clear once again (my personal experience, too, as I tried to hint).
Not that it would impress the politically correct, but still...;-)

Ingo

hsv,

greetings to you from the sister city! Glad to see we agree on that. Personal experience is what counts ...

Btw, we are currently sending some more water down the Elbe river Had tons of snow over the weekend and now rain, rain ... Hope Hamburg doesn't get flooded

hsv

We already had some flooding over the weekend on the Fischmarkt, but that's not uncommon. When it gets worse, we are going to call in you experts, I suppose !

SloJan

I agree with hsv and Ingo. I am so tired of this insistance on Central Vs Eastern Europe. I lived in Budapest and now, in Slovenia. I still consider Budapest as Eastern Europe (at least in their mentality) and Slovenia is clearly Central Europe. Geographically, you have a point. However, these countries are still Eastern European in mentality.

The weather should be beautiful. Moderate temps in the mid 60s (and maybe higher) and sunny days. It is a great time to travel to that area.
Cheers,
Jan

Clifton

KT, my point exactly. All depends on who's doing the breakdown. Obviously, from the more recent posts, it wouldn't be accurate to say that all Hungarians or all Poles prefer (whatever generality you wish here)

Shoot, no one can even agree on what states make up the Mid-West. I've heard Ohio natives refer to Kansas as &quot;out west&quot; and Kansans call Ohio &quot;east coast&quot;. To NYers and Californians, we're just the &quot;fly-over&quot;. And we're correcting other people on the latest in pop geography?

Why?

rex

My recurring posts on this topic does not mean that I think one term is more politically correct than another. I think it is a revelation to many &quot;less-traveled&quot; Americans that Prague is to Europe as St. Louis is to North America.

I lived in Sacramento for two years, and no doubt about it - - traveling to anywhere (especially over the holidays) on the other side of the Mountain Time Zone is called &quot;going back east&quot; - - whether it's Maine or Nebraska.

I mention this when I see posts about it, as a way to prepare first-time travelers to this UNsettled set of terms - - and let them know that others may bring the geographic facts to their attention as well.

Whether it's eastern Europe or the eastern (time zone of the) United States, it is of course, silly to fail to grasp the differences between Kiev/Sarajevo/Thessaloniki or Pawtucket/Norfolk/Miami.

erof

What does eastern, central etc have to do with my question about the weather. I listed the cities I will be traveling to. Have you been there in May and June and if so what was the weather like?

hsv

erof,

regarding the weather, may I refer you to my first post on this thread?
I haven't been to Poland and I haven't been to Budapest.
However, I have been to Vienna and I have been living for a while in one of the Baltic republics, where the weather should be a bit cooler during May and June. Still, judging from my experience in the region I would think that May and June a preferable months to travel in that area. Whereas you are not secure from experiencing one or more days of rain, you are very likely to also encounter a couple of lovely spring days with temperatures in the 60s. Go ahead and enjoy.

Regarding your other question: I would refer you to my first post, too. It doesn't have anything to do with your question about the weather.