Brahmama

I wish the Forum had a train section! But since there are several experts on the Germany Forum and we are starting from Frankfurt, I'll start here.

It will be our first visit to Eastern Europe so we want to see all we can. We are 67,70 and probably won't be back this way.

We want to spend a couple of nights in Vienna although we've been there a couple of times.

Our wannasees are Prague/Budapest/Romanian Villages (not Bucharest except connections) ending in Istanbul. We will fly from Istanbul to Frankfurt and after a couple of nights fly back to US.

We want to spend time in villages as well as the big cities. We will have about 3 weeks total. Our interests are music, folklore, agriculture, history, food, wine. We are retired educators and raise cattle and are interested in seeing our counterparts.

We have traveled trains on Eurail and Britrail - also Canada and Mexico since 1974. We've been cruising and taking land trips, but want one last big train trip as it's our favorite way to travel.

We'd appreciate any help on train suggestions / inns or pensions in our destinations / must-sees along the way or any other websites that might be helpful for us.

We will be traveling in October. Thanks for reading through this long post!


(I posted this earlier but forgot to hold down the Germany topic. Sorry about the duplication)

Michael

If by Romanian villages you mean the ones in Maramures, there is no train service to that part of the country. You will have to look for bus services or private car services. The same goes for Bucovina (the painted monasteries) once you reach the main town by train. The Lonely Planet guide may be useful for countries like Romania and Bulgaria.

nrwayne

With three weeks available, you should be able to cover the ground comfortably. I suspect that you are using Frankfurt as a gateway since airfares to and from are more reasonable than to Eastern European destinations. Otherwise, Prague would make more sense. From there, the logical route would seem to be Vienna, Budapest, and down through Rumania, ending up in Istanbul. One of the best resources for European train travel is www.bahn.de, which lists most of the major train routes, schedules, etc. How you will get around through Romanian villages is another story and, unfortunately, something I'm not familiar with, though we're planning a visit there in the next couple of years. Must sees? Just search on Prague, Budapest, and Istanbul and you'll come up with more than enough to keep you busy. Have a great trip.

Brahmama

Thanks for the replies. I have reposted under another title, as we have refined our destinations and had to omit some of the countries.

We will be using a Rail Pass that will include Germany, Austria, Hungary and Romania. We found it cheaper than a point to point. (And easier, except for having to book seat reservations)

Michael,
Romania is our greatest challenge. Perhaps we can find a base in Sighiscara, Brasov, or Predeal and locate a guide to take us around. Do you have any suggestions?

nrwayne,
You are right. We can fly direct from Texas to Frankfurt at a reasonable price. We will probably have to omit the Czech Republic from this trip.

We are looking into flying from Bucharest to Istanbul & back to Budapest to avoid the long train ride for that leg.

Thanks for that great link. It gives me all the train info except prices, but with a pass I don't need that.

You're right. The Romanian Villages are the hardest part!

Michael

We drove, so I am not much help on guides, etc. But I can say that we came across an American woman traveling on her own without a car on the pass between Maramures and Bucovina. She was with a guide from Maramures. So obviously it can be done, and others might have more information in that regard.