25 Day Eastern European Intineray Ideas

I've seen all your destinations except Cesky Krumlov and Triglav, but only a few of them recently; last year I made a loop through the Balkans (including Romania, Bulgaria, and Serbia as well as your countries) and spent more than a week in Ljubljana (due to illness) and 4 nights in Kotor. In this response I'm primarily addressing your destinations from Ljubljana south. I've never traveled in April, either.

The good news is that all your stops are fascinating, you've got a lot of variety there, and from Ljubljana on, prices are pretty moderate. The bad news is that ground transportation south of Ljubljana is quite slow, and you'll spend far too little time actually at your destinations if you plan a series of 2-night stops. That area usually requires more buses than trains, and in any case you should figure on covering only about 30 miles per hour. But I found the buses comfortable. The longer trips stopped every 2 to 2:30 house for a toilet/smoking break.

I don't think there's a transportation pass that would help you, but perhaps another responder will know of something.

Border-crossing trips in the Balkans are infrequent, and bus schedules can be especially difficult to pin down from outside the departure country--or even the departure city. I felt I needed to budget time in each city to figure out the logistics for the next leg. It was all part of the experience and not burdensome, but I had a lot more time in each city than you are planning.

Use the Rome2Rio website to get an idea of travel time between your stops. Then figure out where to cut. I'm a huge fan of seeing inland destination as well as the coast, so I hate to say that one possible cut would involve Sarajevo and Mostar. The trip back to Budapest from Sarajevo is particularly problematic--no scheduled bus connection, wacky plane routings, etc. Without actually fiddling with the transit times myself, I suspect if this were my trip I'd add more of northern Croatia and cut both Bosnia and Dubrovnik/Kotor. The latter areas can be combined on a later trip. There's much more to see in Montenegro than just Kotor.

For geographically convenient substitutes for your southerly stops, I suggest checking out Zagreb (lively city with many young people and pretty historic district; feels different from Ljubljana) and the Istrian peninsula. There are lots of B&B-style places and rooms available in people's homes in Rovinj, for one example. If the April weather cooperates, there are outdoorsy side-trips to be made from Ljubljana (including Lake Bled) and Zabreb (Plitvice Lakes!) by public bus.

For sure, add at least one night to Ljubljana. Unless there are special considerations you haven't mentioned, I'd take a couple days from Budapest to allow more time elsewhere--but not all from the end. Given the complexities of transportation in that area, it's prudent to try to be back in Budapest well before your departure date.

Sorry, but unless you are going to hire a car, this is far too much to squash into your timescale. Two nights somewhere is only one day there.

Split needs at least another night, as you should have a day in Trogir. It's 4 hours to Dubrovnik on a bus, so over 5.5 + hours door to door. You need another night in Dubrovnik. At least. Cut Mostar and/or Sarajevo or stay even longer in Dubrovnik and cover as a day trip. Dubrovnik is one of the more expensive destinations. The good news is that you don't need so long in Budapest.

A round trip may not be so economical once you factor in having to get back to Budapest. Train fares are cheapest booked 12 weeks out. You will find as you are travelling in April that services may not run every day or fewer times per day. These days, usually point to point tickets work out cheaper than passes. Check out seat61.com for train info.

I've been to all the locations on your itinerary except the Czech Republic.

I think doing this many destinations without a car is not reasonable. The Balkans don't have much of a rail network, so you'd need to rely more on buses.

Budapest to Prague is 8 hours by train.
Cesky Krumlov to Ljubljana by bus/train is 9-10 hours.
Ljubljana to Split is 7 hours by bus.
Kotor to Mostar is 5 hours by bus.
Sarajevo to Budapest is 8 hours by bus.

Do you really want to spend so much of your trip getting from place to place? These are very long days to be sitting on a bus or train.

Since you've already purchased flights in and out of Budapest, I'd suggest you either skip the Czech Republic or skip the Balkans. Look for destinations you can get to in half a day or so, and chain those together starting and ending in Budapest.

Maybe something like this:

Budapest
Bratislava
Vienna
Prague
Cesky Krumlov
Graz
Budapest

Though much less familiar with the area than the previous posters, and never having traveled in the Balkans, I'd just add that it would seem a shame to miss Vienna while you're so close to it -- an easy trip from Cesky and on to Budapest. I'd give it at least three nights, though, which you can ill afford with all the rest of your plans. And it's an expensive city as well.

I've been through the Western Balkans, and while I loved it, I think it would be difficult to cram that many cities/countries in when you're flying in/out of Budapest. You could skip Prague and Cesky Krumlov to have enough time to travel in between places farther south, but the Czech Republic is pretty awesome. Tough decision! You could do your itinerary in reverse, and if it doesn't seem like you have enough time for the Czech Republic you could just go back to Budapest.

However, if you do end up in Croatia/Bosnia/Montenegro, the balkanviator.com bus website is incredibly helpful, since rail transport isn't fairly common in those areas. And your budget seems incredibly generous, especially for this area.

Ive been lucky to have gone to every place on your itinerary. I would say cut the Czech Republic and give time to places like Lake Bled and Plitvice. I also love Budapest and think it's a great contrast.

Definitely keep Bosnia and Herzegovina. Sarajevo won't be hopping that time of year, but culturally it's so interesting and makes an easy springboard back to Budapest with the long day train. Flying in and out of any of these places to Budapest is expensive and flights are rare. I would make it a loop.

Although, like I said I love Budapest (if you go I recommend Happy Flat-Csaba is amazing-I have stayed like 4 times), you could also fly into Zagreb and out of Dubrovnik and just concentrate your time in the Balkans. If you did that I would say go to Kotor. I haven't been but heard its stunning from other backpackers.

One big tip. Stay at Majdas in Mostar and be prepared to stay for at least 4 nights. It is top notch. It is the best hostel I've ever stayed at.

If you do go to Prague, I recommend Guest House Lida (a reasonable b&b). The owner is very helpful and warm. It's a tram ride south of downtown, but doesn't take long to get there. Last year I visited Split and Dubrovnik- liked both, though liked Split more (less touristy). Not sure you need 2 days in Kotor. Maybe less days in Budapest. Really liked the baths in Budapest. Have a great trip!

An overnight stop in Salzburg between Cesky Krumlov and Ljubljana breaks up an otherwise very long travel day.

Hi,

Time wise it would be more practical if you dropped 2 places. That's a matter of priorities. I would drop Mostar and Cesky Krumlov. Staying in hostels is a good option in Budapest, lots to choose from in that city. Wombats is located there, relatively new, great reviews. If you want to keep the flexibility in the travel schedule, use the bus as a means of getting around. Basically, a good itinerary.

Flying from Dubrovnik to Zagreb, then train to Budapest would free up some time at the back end of your trip.
In this case you may consider Mostar and Kotor as day trips from Dubrovnik.

Budapest (4 Nights)
Train to Prague (3 Nights)
Bus to Cesky Krumlov (2 Nights)
Bus to Salzburg (2 Nights)
Train to Ljubljana (2 Nights) - including day trip to Triglav National Park
Train to Zagreb. Fly to Split (2 Nights)
Bus to Dubrovnik (5 Nights) - including day trips to Kotor & Mostar
Fly to Zagreb (2 Nights) - check Croatian Airlines
Train to Budapest (2 Nights)