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Central/Eastern Europe Route Planning Help

Hi everyone,

Last Summer I did a 3.5 week backpacking trip through mostly Western Europe and visited the following cities: London, Amsterdam, Bruges, Paris, Interlaken, Zurich, Munich, Barcelona, Ibiza, and Iceland.

I am now planning a 30-35 day backpacking trip (about 4-5 weeks) through Central/Eastern Europe. I was hoping to get some advice and recommendations on cities to visit and more importantly the route I should take.

The following cities are my "must" visits in Europe:

Berlin
Prague
Vienna
Budapest
Barcelona
Madrid

The plan is to dedicate the last 8-10 days of the trip in Spain. The reason for this being that I have a very good friend who works in Barcelona now so the plan is to visit him there, go to Madrid which I missed last time, and one other city in Spain that I would like to get a recommendation on.

It doesn't matter where I fly into (I'll be flying out of either PHL or Newark NJ though if that matters) but I plan on ending my trip and flying out of somewhere in Spain to get back home.

I figure including my stop in Spain and the cities I mentioned I could probably fit in at least another 3 cities. So I am looking for recommendations on which cities those should be, where I should fly into, and what my route should maybe look like.

Thanks in advance for the help!

Marty

Posted by
7175 posts

Copenhagen (3 nights)
Berlin (5 nights)
Dresden (2 nights)
Prague (4 nights)
Vienna (3 nights)
Budapest (4 nights)
(Fly to) Madrid (4 nights)
Sevilla (4 nights)
Granada (2 nights)
(Fly to) Barcelona (4 nights)

Posted by
15589 posts

I've been do all of them. Highest on my go-to list is Krakow. Maybe you could go from Prague to Warsaw (when I was researching Krakow I found that Warsaw has a lot to see and do), to Krakow. From Krakow you can take a cheap 7-8 hour bus ride to Budapest through scenic Slovakia. Then train to Vienna and fly to Barcelona.

If you don't detour to Poland, the best route is the order you list. Add Dresden before Prague and Český Krumlov after. There are day trips to Melk and Bratislava from Vienna (or overnights).

Spain has lots of great places to visit. Andalusia is hot. July/August is low season, so fewer crowds, but temps in the 90's - 100+ is not unusual. But weather's about the same in Madrid, so I'm told. Granada has the Alhambra; Cordoba the Mezquita. There are cooler places - maybe your friend has ideas. The Pyrenees aren't far from Barcelona . . . . Do include 1-2 nights in Toledo while you're in Madrid.