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Eastern Europe Itinerary Feedback

Posted by on

Hi there - I am planning a 20 day trip to Eastern Europe and I would love to get your feedback on a few itinerary ideas. Traveling with spouse and 2 teenagers (who love to travel, museums, architecture, etc). Our plan is to fly into Prague and fly home from Munich or Venice. Here is what I am thinking:

ITINERARY ONE
Prague - 4 nights
Cresky Krumlov - (via bus or shuttle/2 hr) - 2 nights
Vienna (via bus or shuttle/3.5 hrs) - 3 nights
Budapest - (via train/3 hrs) - 4 nights
Salzburg (via train 5.5hrs) - 3 nights
Munich (via train 1.5 hrs) - 3 nights
ITINERARY TWO (the end gets complicated)
Prague - 4 nights
Vienna (via train/4.25) - 3 nights
Budapest - (via train/3 hrs) - 4 nights
Zagreb, Croatia (via train/5hrs) - 1 night
Plitvice Lakes National Park (rent car/2 hrs), 1 night
Back to Zegreb to return car and catch a train or bus to Ljubljana Slovenia , 2 nights
Venice (via shuttle/2.5 hours) for 3 nights
(I have one extra night is this scenario - I am not sure if I will have to stay in Zagreb again before heading to Slovenia or if I should add another night somewhere else).

Any thoughts would be appreciated. These are all new cities for me. I have been to Italy, but not Venice and would love to see it.

Posted by
4637 posts

Itinerary One looks OK to me. Itinerary Two I would do differently. From Budapest I would either fly or go by train to Split. Go to Plitvice then back and have some time around Dalmatia coast. Then go to Rovinj and take a ferry to Venice. I would drop Ljubljana (unfortunately) and Zagreb to save time and see the beautiful coast of Dalmatia.

Posted by
7175 posts

I very much like the 2nd itinerary, but would consolidate Zagreb and day trip to Plitivice.

Prague, Czech - 4 nights
Vienna, Austria (via train/4.25) - 3 nights
Budapest, Hungary (via train/3 hrs) - 4 nights
Zagreb, Croatia (via train/5hrs) - 3 nights (with organised day tour to Plitvice Lakes National Park)
Ljubljana, Slovenia (via train/2.5 hours) - 2 nights
Venice, Italy (via shuttle/2.5 hours) - 3 nights

Posted by
575 posts

Tessmg:

Good morning.

Overall, your itineraries strike me as fine. However, there are not a lot of small- to medium-size towns, only Cresky Krumlov in the first one and Plitvice in the second. It might be worth adding one more of these towns given that you'll be in Eastern Europe for almost three weeks. Last June I was in Pecs, Hungary, a gorgeous town about three hours south of Budapest. It's got a relaxed vice, a lot of superb culture and great eateries. I put a Rick Steves post on Pecs. It got a surprising number of responses. If interested, take a look for it.

Otherwise, enjoy Eastern Europe. I was there for 14 days last May and June and had a great time. Cheers.

Posted by
20687 posts

ITINERARY ONE 
Prague - 4 nights
Cresky Krumlov - (via bus or shuttle/2 hr) - 1 night
Vienna (via bus or shuttle/3.5 hrs) - 4 nights including day trip to Melk & Wachau Valley.
Gyor - (via train 1.25 hours) - 1 night
Budapest - (via train/3 hrs) - 3 nights
Eger (option Pecs) 2 nights (via train 2 - 3 hours)
Budapest 3 nights including Szentendre da trip.
Home

Option: trade the Eger trip for a few days in the High Tatras of Slovakia. Worth the effort. My suggestions keep you in Eastern Europe. Save Austria and Germany for another trip.

Posted by
241 posts

Tessmg: I recommend Itinerary One; however, I would change the order and have Vienna after Budapest to eliminate some backtracking between Vienna and Budapest and return en route to Salzburg. I like Jame's comments on staying in Vienna an extra day to take advantage of a day trip to Melk.

Posted by
11 posts

Thank you for the feedback and recommendations on my trip. Since we are using frequent flyer miles for this trip it turns out that we will have to fly home from Munich. Therefore we will focus on visiting Prague, Cesky Krumlov, Vienna/Melk, Budapest and Salzburg. I hope (in the summer of 2017) to plan an extended trip to Croatia as it is a country I am dying to visit. That way I can spend more time exploring that part of Europe. I do have some questions on the best way to lay out my trip but I will put that in a different post. Thanks again!

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