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Eastern Europe Itinerary Planning for First Timers

Posted by on

Husband and I are in the beginning phases of planning our spring Europe trip (usually May). We are pretty settled on Eastern Europe. Neither of us have been (other than me to Vienna) which is fun because we both travelled a decent amount on our own before we met. We try to swing it with work to have 14 full days on the ground (with our travel days bookending that). Here are the initial thoughts and questions:

  • He wants to go to Warsaw and Krakow.
  • I’d like to include Sarajevo and Budapest. But Sarajevo seems far from the other locations we are discussing.
  • We both want to go to Prague
  • I have been to Vienna and I’m not super interested in going back on this trip.
  • All doable? Cut some big ones and include smaller towns?
  • Any must see smaller towns? We like to break up the cities with a night or two in a smaller place.
  • Car or train in this area better in this area? We have done all car trips and all train trips before so are comfortable with either. I personally love train but my husband likes driving. And I’m down to rent a car if it means we access smaller must see areas. If we didn’t get divorced after driving around Ireland I think we’ll be fine. Ha.
Posted by
5109 posts

Ah, memories of my first European trip--it was Prague-Budapest-Krakow. Warsaw should be an easy tack-on. All easy by train. I think Sarajevo would be a bit of an outlier and I would consider saving it for a future trip, perhaps Croatia and Bosnia. Especially since you would like to add on some smaller towns as side trips, which makes two weeks work well. It will depend on your flight options of course, open jaw if you can swing it. Our only side trip was a day trip to Kutna Hora, so others will have advice there.
Your Ireland comment had me cracking up. I know what you mean!

Posted by
8350 posts

With 14 days, I would stick with Warsaw, Krakow, Prague and Budapest. Add Vienna if you have time.
That would give you about 3 days in each of the four cities, with travel time between them the additional days.

In Poland, consider visiting the Aushwitz Concentration Camp, if you are interested in that.

The only other suggestion to add would be Salzburg, Austria, if you haven't been there, but that would take away from your time in the four cities.

Posted by
5 posts

Seconding the recommendation for Warsaw, Krakow, Prague and Budapest. Just be aware that Krakow and Budapest are not connected by nonstop flights or direct trains; the best option is likely a 6-hr bus. Otherwise you could visit the cities in whichever order gets you the best cross-Atlantic flights.

If you choose to include Sarajevo, be aware that it has few nonstop flights, and it's too far out of the way for ground transportation to the rest of your trip. Personally, I'd save it for a trip to Zagreb/Ljubljana or Dubrovnik/Split or Belgrade.

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