Need help with eastern Europe itinerary
 

Because of constraints using ff miles, we are extending our Croatian trip to include Prague (arrival city) and Budapest (departure city). We would like to spend several days in Prague and then head down to Dubrovnik and work our way back to Budapest stopping in Split, Hvar, Trogir and Zagreb. Can anyone recommend the best mode of transportation to do this? I've read that the train system in Croatia is not that good, and that most locals use the bus. That may work within Croatia, but how can we get from Prague to Dubrovnik? I can't seem to find any budget airlines that fly that route. I've looked on whichbudget.com and skyscanner.net. I've checked Croatian Airlines and they have one flight with a two hour layover in Zagreb costing almost $400. Can someone suggest alternatives? We are very much open at this time--the only thing we can't change are our arrival & departure cities and dates. Thanks for any help.

Sorry, I didn't mention that our trip is not until mid-May 2006.

Any suggestions, anyone??

Angela,

Take the train (or Czech Airlines) from Prague to Bratislava. Spend an afternoon there, overnight, and fly out on SkyEurope to Dubrovnik.

SkyEurope also offers return flights to Budapest (through Bratislava).

Thank you, metlc, I was beginning to think I may have made a mistake in planning our itinerary. I will look into the airlines you suggested.

Angela,

I should add that SkyEurope won't be posting their Spring schedule to Croatia for a few months yet. Their existing summer schedule shows three flights a week to Dubrovnik from Bratislava. Two of them are evening flights. The tickets are usually around $60 or so (excent for September 20th -- the last flight of the season.)

Hi
Have you considered renting a car, which will put you on your own schedule rather than depending on various other modes of transportation?

After I checked skyeurope for flights from Bratislava, the fact that they only flew that route on three days made us realize that we needed to somehow change our arrival city altogether. Fortunately we were able to get flights to Dubrovnik, though we had to change our dates.
I had read that many tourists rent cars in Croatia, but it's just going to be my daughter and I and I wouldn't feel comfortable driving on what I've read are some pretty hairy coastal roads. Thank you, though, for the suggestion.

I took students to Czech, Poland, Hungary, Slovakia an Austria this past summer. Trains and busses were plentiful, easy to use and inexpensive. I would recommend going from Prague to Telc by bus and then Telc to Bratislava by bus for a great experience in a restored Rennaisance town. Telc is halfway between Prague and Bratislava. Email me for accomodation information in Telc.