From the Balkans to the Baltics, a two month Eastern Europe itinerary

Obviously a serious adventure, Cody. Yes, it does look "rushed" but I understand you reasons/caveats.

Have you checked the feasibility of rail and/or bus connections for each of these proposed legs? Although the distances on a map look reasonable, some things are not as well connected as one might expect. Crossing east-west through the Balkans has always seemed a challenge. And you're planning this for the depth of winter, which I'm sure will complicate things. Be doubly sure everything is running mid-winter, and I'd build in a little buffer for when transport just gets super slow (I would not expect every train and bus to always run like a Swiss watch in these places mid-winter).

I'm currently fine-tuning a trip through the Baltics, so some parts of your itinerary are becoming more familiar to me (through planning, not having been there yet). And I've been to a few other parts. Some thoughts...

You might be short-changing time at Plitvice. I liked arriving mid afternoon, doing a couple hours before closing time, spending the night, doing a few hours the next morning, then moving on. I was traveling by rented car, don't know enough about bus schedules to know if that would allow you do do something similar, but it would be sad to just get in a couple hours there.

One full day and 2 nights in Dubrovnik might be enough.

Krakow to Warsaw can be done in 2.5 hours on the fast train, it certainly won't take you a whole day.

OTOH, can you really go from Warsaw to Kaunas by public transport in less than a day? I don't know. Here's an intriguing alternative: Train from Warsaw to Gdansk. Ferry from Gdansk to Klaipeda on Lithuania's west coast. Bus from Klaipeda to Vilnius. I don't know if that's possible in a day but looks like fun to me (the Baltic Coast is calling to me).

Quite a grand tour you have planned there. Good luck!

I have some experience traveling in the Balkans (most recently in 2015) but have never been to Slovakia, Poland or the Baltic countries.

It sounds as if you have done some research on your transportation options, but I look at Days 8-13 and have massive doubts as to whether things will play out that way. I wouldn't count on making that schedule work even in the summer, when there may be a bit more transportation running. And throughout the trip I am concerned about the impact of Sundays and holidays on transportation schedules, particularly when you must depend on buses.

I trust that you plan to wing it, making your hotel reservations online about a day in advance, right? Otherwise, one missed connection will bring the whole trip crashing down.

Other links that concern me, given your incredibly tight timing, are Istanbul-Plovdiv, Dubrovnik-Mostar (sightseeing)-Sarajevo, and Belgrade-Timisoara.

I agree that Cluj-Napoca to Kosice looks ugly but don't have a better suggestion for you. As for Uzhhorod, beware the variety of spellings that can make online research difficult; I've also seen Uzhgorod and Ujgorod, and to Hungarians it's Ungvar. In any case, in my opinion it's not a particularly interesting place as Ukrainian cities go, but it may be your best option. The bus trip into Uzhhorod will take you through the Carpathians, I believe. Huge chunks of that road are a sea of potholes (just took that road 2 days ago), and I don't want to think about what it would be like if slick due to winter weather. My bus driver (who seemed both careful and competent) wove back and forth, avoiding the worst of the potholes, which was appreciated since the shock absorbers were not the greatest. I wonder about going Cluj-Oradea-Debrecen-Kosice instead, but obviously that chain has an additional link and there's no indication that service between Oradea and Debrecen is very frequent, so that option is probably riskier.

Of the area I'm familiar with, Istanbul is the place that most needs extra time, in my view, and I'm puzzled about why you've allotted an extra day to Dubrovnik, which is relatively small. For me, it's not that so many of the places you're planning to visit require more than one full day to see the highlights; it's the pace of the trip (you need time to eat and do laundry) in an area where travel is vastly more challenging than it is in western Europe and at a time of year when weather may create complications and/or unpleasant conditions. I've experienced a lot of non-air-conditioned buses and trains (and bus/train stations) in the Balkans, so I have to wonder whether they'll be adequately heated in the winter. You're just not going to have any recovery time from the rigors of lengthy bus/train rides, which often mean days of catch-as-catch-can meals. I would expect to get at least a bad cold on this trek and would travel with a generous supply of my favorite remedies.

So I have a couple of suggestions:

• Look into BlaBlaCar, an inter-city ride-sharing service that may be available in part of the territory you want to cover. I have never used it, but in theory it could save you a lot of time on the tough transportation legs.

• Consider traveling directly from Sofia to Montengro, skipping the points in between. It was possible to make the trip in summer 2015 over 2 days, overnighting in Nis, Serbia. The bus trip from Nis to Podgorica was quite beautiful. Podgorica is not a great spot but for me was a necessary overnight stop due to the scheduling. This would remove the most problematic section of the itinerary and give you some extra time to allot to the remaining destinations.

Within the last 2 years another poster (also a youngish male, I think) asked for comments on a planned trip somewhat like yours. He may have come back later with a post-trip report. You may be able to locate one or both posts by searching for Skopje, which is not mentioned frequently here.

I would suggest resting up in Krakow, ie, spend another day there.

For an extra day somewhere, I suggest Klaipeda, (Lithuania), if you want to see a place historical. Unfortunately, the British bombed the place in WW2.

I would spend much more time in Istanbul. It's a megacity with too much too do for just one day. Heck, I would put most (if not all) the extra time you have to that city alone because it's overwhelmingly bigger than all the others in scale. The other place I'd add a day is Sarajevo (much larger than Dubrovnik, which is tiny). I think you already know your trip is overpacked and I'm not sure it's realistically doable, so I won't pile on further.

What was your strategy in allocating time? It doesn't seem to be correlated with city size and breadth of attractions/ things to see and do. IMHO, larger places deserve more time than smaller ones.

Thank you for the great feedback thus far!

Have you checked the feasibility of rail and/or bus connections for each of these proposed legs?

I've used sites like Rome2Rio, The Man in Seat 61, Google, and this site to research public transit options. The trickiest part as been navigating Romania without a car, and the aforementioned Romania to Slovakia transit. I'll take your advice to add buffer time for travel in the Balkans, thank you.

You might be short-changing time at Plitvice.

I'll explore arriving in the afternoon and doing two half days at Plitvice. My main concern is lack of daylight, so I'll check sunset times in Croatia in late December.

Here's an intriguing alternative: Train from Warsaw to Gdansk. Ferry from Gdansk to Klaipeda on Lithuania's west coast. Bus from Klaipeda to Vilnius.

I'll take a look at this route. I grew up on the coast, so beach towns don't have much of an allure for me (doubly so in the winter!), but I'll still explore your suggestion. Thanks!

I look at Days 8-13 and have massive doubts as to whether things will play out that way.

That's very helpful. I'll reconsider this chunk and maybe add more time or rework it.

I trust that you plan to wing it, making your hotel reservations online about a day in advance, right? Otherwise, one missed connection will bring the whole trip crashing down.

Yes, the plan was to travel with a list of lodging options (and using the internet) to book lodging (preferable hostels) 1-2 days in advance. You're right, one missed connection would cause everything to come crashing down.

I wonder about going Cluj-Oradea-Debrecen-Kosice instead.

Yes, the other option I was considering was piecing together some train connections (described here) which sounds very similar to what you're proposing. Neither option sounds great, and I'd prefer not to spend an entire day traveling to Budapest, and another day traveling out, but that might be the safest option?

Istanbul is the place that most needs extra time

You're absolutely right, I felt like I was shortchanging Istanbul too. I'll plan to add at least a couple more days there.

Consider traveling directly from Sofia to Montengro, skipping the points in between

This would have me removing FYROM, Kosovo, and Albania. It sounds like you have some experience in the Balkans... would you consider these sites "not must-sees" (for lack of a better term)?

For an extra day somewhere, I suggest Klaipeda, (Lithuania)

Thanks Fred! I haven't heard of Klaipeda, but I'll look into it.

What was your strategy in allocating time? It doesn't seem to be correlated with city size and breadth of attractions/ things to see and do. IMHO, larger places deserve more time than smaller ones.

Thanks Agnes, and you're right, I'll definitely allocate more time to Istanbul. As for my strategy, I would say I'm not wed to the big city experience. When visiting some of the larger cities in Western/Central/Northern Europe, I usually spend a full day exploring the city itself, snapping some photos of some "must see" sites, perhaps taking a walking tour, or ducking into a museum if the weather is very poor, knowing that I can't see it all. i try to use my remaining time in an area getting outside of a city through day trips or exploring the smaller towns in the area. For instance, the highlight of my trip to Budapest was a day trip to nearby Szentendre, Visegrad, and Esztergom, and the highlight of my trip to Amsterdam was a day trip to Delft, Leiden, and Haarlem.

Thank you again for all of your suggestions everyone! Yes, I know I'm trying to squeeze a lot in, which is something I'm struggling with too. Still, your feedback has been very helpful!

The trickiest part as been navigating Romania without a car,

This should be no harder than anywhere else...in the former Communist countries, the public transit networks are actually quite comprehensive because locals without cars needed to get around (my own family didn't have a car when I was a kid in Poland and that was normal). Travel will be slower than Western Europe but you should be able to get around everywhere except small rural villages by train or bus, certainly the places you outlined.

I'd use Rome2Rio and other websites as a guide only. In the Balkans, you have to go with the flow and things may not work out the way you expect in terms of efficiency from A to B (especially cross-border trips using two separate national systems).

The thinking about big cities is related to the time of year you're traveling. It can be very cold in the Balkans (especially in the mountainous parts) and you'll probably need some choices of indoor things to do. Some places will be likely "dead", for lack of better words, in the off-season (Dubrovnik).

Cody, I haven't been to the places I suggested you drop, and I'm not saying they aren't worth visiting. Albania is definitely on my list for the next time I go to Greece. It's just that it's a difficult area to get around in, I have doubts about the reliability of any bus schedule info not obtained at the bus station once you get there (how's your Albanian?) and your ratio of travel time to touring time is going to be quite high. You've got more destinations than i think you can manage in the time you have available, and I just feel like those are logical cuts from the logistical standpoint.

Also, while it's interesting to travel to off-the-grid places like that, I think you need some time to absorb the experience, because things are not laid out for you on a platter as they are in Dubrovnik, Ljubljana, etc. At the pace you are planning to move, I fear you won't have time for much beyond sleeping, eating and dealing with arrangements for the next travel leg. Perhaps I'm being unduly pessimistic, but my experience in three minor Ukrainian cities so far is that if a tourist office exists, you can't find it, and that doesn't exactly help you plan your time efficiently. Definitely print city maps off the internet and take them with you; they may not be easy to get your hands on quickly when you hit the obscure places.

Hi,

If you do decide on going to Klaipeda, it is also a ferry port. The ferry link is to Kiel/Germany. Since you're going to the Baltic in the winter, expect it to be cold. I would much prefer the summer.

Klaipeda was the former town of Memel, the most northeasterly city in East Prussia in the Germany prior to 1914. It became a Free City after WW1, ie detached from East Prussia, in spite of its overwhelming percentage of German population. In 1923 Lithuania seized it. In 1939 Hitler annexed it, his last "bloodless" conquest.

Cody, one small suggestion: I don't think Pristina is worth visiting, Prizren is. Skopje is a nice modern city.