Central Europe itinerary

Hi,

I prefer the 2nd option listed..".Berlin-Warsaw.....Budapest" That gives gives the two night train options since you'll be there in the summer, Krakow-Prague and Prague- to Budapest. With or without days trips from Budapest or Krakow, your duration of stay in each city is fine. Given the length of stay listed for Warsaw, Krakow and Budapest, I would be going off on day trips (one per city at least) that are exclusively history focused

Do you have side trips planned using Warsaw or Krakow as the bases? Krakow is really compact - 6 nights is A LOT - unless you plan on taking it really, really slow and going to Zakopane, the Salt Mine, Auchwitz, etc. Krakow (the center) itself can be fully seen in 2-3 full days. Aside from Krakow and Warsaw, I would consider seeing some other towns/cities in Poland (e.g. Wroclaw, Gdansk, etc.). The Polski Bus and trains are very inexpensive....the Polski Bus even has good connections with Berlin.

Good plan, except you could shave some days off each city, except Berlin. I would go with 3 nights in Prague, 3 in Warsaw, 4 in Krakow with perhaps a day trip to Auschwitz. Budapest 4-5 days.

"Beautiful architecture, landscape" - if I should rate and put in order the cities you want to see then 1.Prague, 2.Budapest, 3.Krakow, 4.Warsaw, 5.Berlin. I call Prague and Budapest eye candies. How many nights I would award to each city: Berlin 6 it's huge and a lot to see and do there however architectonically mishmash and not very eye appealing. But you've already been there so maybe three would be enough. Prague, Warsaw, Budapest at least 4 nights. Krakow is smaller - 3 probably would be enough, unless you do day trips. If you still have some time left add Gdansk as Agnes suggested. I consider it even more beautiful than Krakow. When I first came there I did not expect it and was very pleasantly surprised. About Krakow I heard that is second Prague (which IMHO is not) so it probably has something to do with expectation. I would probably skip Belgrade this time, it's too far from your other cities. In which order to see your cities: Logistically this would make sense: Fly to Berlin, train to Prague, fly or train to Budapest, fly to Krakow (according to James from Budapest there is a direct flight from Budapest to Krakow now), train to Gdansk then backtrack by train to Warsaw, fly from Warsaw home.

Belgrade is interesting. If you get there, Novi Sad is worth a day trip. Zagreb's good, too. Lots of youthful energy.

Have you considered adding Dresden and Vienna, which you may find best as a gateway for flights.

7/19 Arrive Vienna (3 nights)
7/22 Prague (4 nights)
7/26 Dresden (2 nights)
7/28 Berlin (3 nights)
7/31 Warsaw (3 nights)
8/3 Krakow (4 nights)
8/7 Night Train (1 night)
8/8 Budapest (5 nights)
8/13 Depart

Ilja, not to Krakow, but to Lviv and from Lviv to Krakow. Each worth seeing and each flight under $100. If I wanted to go to Krakow I would make it the first stop for convenience. Then on to Lviv, then Budapest, then Prague. That way all short connections and cheap flights.

So you guys would not suggest I go to Belgrade? I'm actually wanting to go see it from everything I've heard about it in terms of a vibrant nightlife and a very rich culture. Would you just not work out logistically if I added it as my last leg? But I heard Lviv is really vibrant and has a lot of gems to discover as well.

You should definitely see whatever city interests you. I think you can afford to add Belgrade if you take away some other nights off your other cities (you definitely have too much in Krakow). I don't think you'd be wise adding Lviv on top of that though. You have a nice loose itinerary that can accommodate one other city (Belgrade) but probably not two. I would pick the city that makes the most sense logistically...you don't want to lose too much time in transit. I'm sure either Belgrade and Lviv would be interesting, so go with the one that grabs you.

I added Lviv as it makes for an efficient route with out a lot of long transits. Just my priority of being efficient with travel time .... And Lviv looks way too interesting to skip she it fits so well (haven't made it there yet, but top on my list). Belgrade and Novi Sad make an interesting 2 night stop. I've been there and for my taste and interest in the region, worth the visit; but in a bigger context some may not enjoy as much.