Eastern Europe and Balkan Countries

Too broad.

Hi, felicianf, I think what Mr. E meant was that it is difficult to respond to a question like this without more information.

First, can you tell us how long you will be over there? How many nights you are spending in each city? Usually 2 days equates to 3 nights, which makes it a total of 27 nights. Is that correct?

Second, it would really help to know the day you are arriving at the start (is that Warsaw?) and the day that you are leaving to go home (are you leaving from Belgrade?). If you can let us know that, it would be easier to help you plan.

I also think that even if you decide to keep this schedule, it will be easier to get information like city pass benefits, lodging, and walking tours if you do that on a city-by-city basis. You can start a new thread for each city and then ask your questions about each place. Does this all make sense?

That is so exciting that you will be traveling to these places. It is a wonderful area to visit.

EDIT: I forgot ask—are you doing this whole trip by bus? Or are you driving? You mentioned a bus tour. Does this bus take you to each of these cities? And then you find your own accommodation, etc.?

It sounds as though you have already scoped out bus times (departures and arrivals) and know this route works for you. If not, that is your first step. Or maybe this is a transportation only bus tour you have purchased.

I echo Mardee - but I would assume you might mean 2 nights in each city. That would give you a full day plus a portion of a day. If you change locations every day, then you only have a half day, meaning you pick one place/thing, or just enjoy walking the city center.

AirBnB Vs Booking dot com

This will vary city to city. There is no clear winner. Research both and see what you find. Much of it is preference. Some people prefer hotels and some apartments. If you are on a budget, check hostels.

Walking tours

Same variety by city. However many cities have a “free walking tour” that you can google. Then you tip the guide - usually €10-20 per person taking the tour. It’s an inexpensive way to get a 2-3 hour overview. In Krakow, I used https://freewalkingtour.com/krakow/old-town-krakow/

In Sarajevo, I love Tour Mage’s Grand City Tour. https://tourmage.ba/tour/sarajevo-grand-tour/ Have done it twice.

If you visit Auschwitz/Birkenau, that is pretty much your full day.

For such a short stay in each city, I can’t imagine any kind of city pass would be worth it.

Starting from Warsaw, then to Krakow and Bratislava Ljubijana, Zagreb,
Split, Dubrovnik, Sarajevo, and ending in Belgrade.

That is not an easy journey ... but a good one.. but you will benefit from expert help which requires dates.

I think the public-bus trip from Sarajevo to Belgrade takes about 8 hours. Will you be using public buses, or is this some sort of special transportation arrangement? Bus service across borders tends to be rather infrequent, so there's a risk to having a tight schedule like this.

Some of your cities are a lot more sight-rich than others; I wouldn't be happy with such short visits to Warsaw, Krakow, Belgrade and Sarajevo, but I admit to a very unusual degree of interest in Cold War history. Every traveler is different. You really need to hit some guidebooks to figure out what you want to do at each stop..

I would find it difficult to maintain the pace you propose, but I am probably three times your age.

Do consider that with less than two days in each place, you aren't giving yourselves much time to figure things out in each new city. You're traveling soon, so I'm not sure how much time you have for pre-trip research on so many places.

You'll potentially encounter very hot weather at all those destinations, so be sure to read lodging reviews and pay attention to comments about the quality of the air conditioning in the places you're considering. I depend heavily on booking.com reviews but often book directly with hotels after making a selection. I do not use Airbnb at all.

Online tickets for Auschwitz-Birkenau sell out well in advance. You need to buy those ahead of time. You can get within walking distance of the camp by train or bus, and I think some buses go right to the gate.

“ I am probably three times your age.”

Are you 195 years old?

Just kidding. I am 65.

Thank you for your friendly insights.
1. I am planning to make this trip with my wife and our children might join us when they have time.
2. The tour begins in August and we plan to take flux bus and have checked their fares and times.
3. We have already purchased Birkenau camp tickets online.
4. My main concern is to know what specific places we should not miss in each of these cities.

So do you have a half day or a day and a half in each city?

A day and a half.

I travel a lot in Europe, using only public transportation. I've taken lots of buses but made only one or two trips on Flixbus, so this isn't first-hand, experience-based information about that company...

Flixbus has a wide network, but it's apparently rather shallow, with not many buses per day on its routes. (In fairness, as I wrote earlier, border-crossing buses run by any company will be infrequent, at least in the part of Europe you're planning to visit.) I have no idea how well prepared Flixbus is for dealing with mechanical issues on one of its buses.

In July 2015 I opted to take a bus from Messina in Sicily to Lecce in Puglia. It was run by a local bus company, not Flixbus. The train was scheduled to take hours longer than the bus, so the choice to travel by bus seemed a rational decision--right up until the delays started showing up on the departure board. We were at least 4 hours late leaving, and the the bus wasn't air conditioned; that was the mechanical problem they had been trying to fix, but with no success. To the company's credit, it had also tried to find a replacement bus but been unable to.

Long-distance bus trips can encounter delays, and there can be long waits until the next scheduled departure. Your schedule is beyond tight. You could end up with even less sightseeing time in some locations than you have on paper.

You can find lists of Rick's top sightseeing suggestions for some of your stops on this website. Go to Explore Europe, choose one of your countries and scroll down to see whether one of your planned destinations is listed. If so, click on it and then on At a Glance if that is an option. You will only find that as a choice for some of your destinations, but it's worth your time to look. Rick is very good at identifying sights with general appeal.

Hello,

This is certainly an aggressive travel trip. Is this a "Bus Tour" offered by Flix Bus or are you designing your own itinerary and just traveling by bus? It sounds like a "Bus Tour" because you are limited to just 1.5 days in each city. Otherwise, I would suggest staying in some cities longer.

I would suggest Booking.com hotels instead of AirBnB because your stays are so short and AirBnB's have so many extra charges for short stays. In addition, you may want to know in advance the location of your bus station. This will help planning hotel locations as well since it sounds like you will leave early in the morning each travel day if this is a "Bus Tour".

I would pick 2-3 sights in each city and the rest of the time just explore the old town city centers and experience the general feel of the city.

Ok, here are things I enjoyed in some of these cities.
Warsaw: the Polin Museum, an organ concert at Archcathedral Basilica of St. John the Baptist, and the Royal Castle chapel.
Krakow: a walking tour on your half day and then your Birkenau trip. I also like St. Mary’s Basilica. See if you can get dinner and short concert reservations at Klezmer Hois.
Split: Diocletian’s Palace with your afternoon. If you can, maybe a day trip to Hvar or a similar boat trip.
Dubrovnik: walk the city walls, cable car up Mt. Srd.
Sarajevo: the Tour Mage tour, sunset views from the Yellow Fortress, and restaurants Dveri and Nanina Kuhinja.

I haven’t been to Zagreb or Bratislava. Ljubljana I liked but other than wandering I don’t have must do thoughts. Belgrade - got there, wasn’t a real fan. I enjoyed most my day trip to Novi Sad - and it was a good one.

You might be well-served with a walking tour in each city since your time is short. They are not all created equal, but they usually give you a quick overview and some history. I also don’t believe in “must sees”. Have a list of “possibles” but you may find you enjoy most the days you just wander and enjoy being there.