Itinerary help
 

My husband and I are planning to travel to eastern Europe in late September for 8 days (on the ground). Budapest and Dubrovnik area intrigue us (already been to Prague and Vienna). My questions are: how to get from Budapest to Dubrovnik? What are the main side trips from Dubrovnik and how to get around?

We are open to alternative itinerary suggestions too.

I've been to both cities and both are nice and well worth visiting - but perhaps not both with only eight days. They don't seem to go together logistically. There is no direct flight between them that I can see. If you rent a car and drive you'd have a one-way drop-off charge to deal with.

I'd probably shoot for Croatia and do Budapest another time, unless you have other ideas (besides Vienna) of things to see nearby. (Krakow is not a quick train ride but is doable - a beautiful city if you've never been.)

Near Dubrovnik you could visit Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina, or nearby Montenegro. You could see islands along the Dalmatian Coast such as Korcula and Hvar. (Car ferries if you want to rent a car.) You could rent a car and drive from Dubrovnik north and elbow up to Zagreb and drop the car there/fly out from there, stopping at the amazing Plitvice Lakes National Park (a highlight of Croatia for sure). Eight days still isn't much time but you could fit in a little of whatever interests you, at least.

I live in Budapest... One reason we have not visited Dubrovnik yet is that it is so hard to get there from here.

Were we to go, I would probably bus to Vienna airport (from Nepliget bus station), and fly....

Thanks a lot for very helpful information.

The area is Central Europe.

Dubrovnik is small so plane connections are not equivalent to a capital city. It is also difficult to reach by land because there is no rail connection, Croatia is shaped like a backwards 7 with its capital at the top end of the country (which is the main air, rail and bus transfer point), and Dubrovnik is actually cut off from Croatia by land - there's a small bit of Bosnia that separates the rest of Croatia from the far southern coast area that contains Dubrovnik (and the buses take a long time to cross the border twice, at last check).

See here: http://www.europeanvoice.com/article...gap/75117.aspx

or Google Peljesac Bridge

I lived in Budapest for more then 10 years and I love that place, but from Dubrovnik is a little bit ambitious.

I would go to the south - Montenegro is much cheaper and more fun. You ca explore in the mainland, too and you have a great sea from Dubrovnik.