Input wanted for extending RS Best of Eastern Europe in 15 Days

I haven't taken that tour, but I've traveled a good bit through central Europe. The itinerary shows that the tour begins in Prague and ends in Bled (near Ljubljana). So I looked at a map...

• Ljubljana is worth an extra day. It has a lot of tourists but is very photogenic. There's quite a bit of interesting architecture, not limited to the area right along the river.
• Renting a car for a couple of days would allow you to drive through the Julian Alps; the itinerary is a bit vague, but I don't think you cover that area. I haven't been there, but a number of people on the forum have, and it sounds like a very good option.
  
• I quite like Zagreb, which has an attractive, bi-level historic district. But museums are a key thing there, so this is perhaps not a #1 recommendation for you. However, for some parts of the US it is easier to get home from Zagreb than from Ljubljana.
• Another place I haven't been is far NE Italy. It is under-touristed. You might pick up a comprehensive guide book to Italy and see what you think about places like Udine and Treviso. With enough time, and assuming you're traveling during the warmer months, you could extend your trip into the Dolomites. I have been there, and it's a great area.

I had to discard most of my plans for Czechia this year for lack of time, so I can't offer much in the way of personal recommendations. I liked both Brno (big city, not terribly touristy) and Olomouc (smaller, pretty, very quiet in July, apparently because the university wasn't in session). Hradec Kralove, closer to Prague, has an attractive historic center and some interesting 20th architecture between that area and the train station. I started out with quite a list of small towns I intended to visit, gleaned from this forum. Places like Tabor and Telc. But Poland absorbed a lot of my Schengen time.

Edited to add: What time of year is your tour? That may matter.

Thanks for your input:) Starting a list now and will whittle it down as the time nears. By the way, forgot to say that our tour starts on July 6th.

I have not been on the tour itself, but I see that on day 6 you will drive through the Tatra Mountains, between Poland and Slovakia. I think that this would be a great place to spend an extra couple of days, especially if you both love nature and bird watching.

The Tatra Mountains are part of the UNESCO World Biosphere Programme due to their many rare and endemic animals and plant species, such as the Eurasian brown bear, European Wolf, and Eurasian lynx. Zakopane is the major resort town in the area and is known as the "winter capital of Poland”. Zakopane makes for a good base to explore the area and its unique flora and fauna.

One of the main sites in the Tatras is the unique lake known as the Morskie Oko (Polish: Eye of the Sea). The lake is flanked by several tall forested peaks. It is fifty meters deep and is the only one in the Tatras with a natural stock of fish (one of the reason why it is called Eye of the Sea).

Thanks so much!

NE Italy would indeed be a nice area to spend a few days at the end of your trip. It is easily reached from Lake Bled by taking the train from the station Bled Jezero (at the other side of the lake from where you're probably staying) to Nova Gorica. Beautiful trip. A taxi ride away finds you at the Italian railway station Gorizia, where you can either go north to Udine (as suggested above), or south to Trieste. Wonderful city, good for a day or two. From there it is a two-hour train journey to Venice, to pick up a flight back home.

I have been on this (wonderful!) tour. We arrived several days in Prague before meeting our tour (reserving those extra nights at the tour hotel) and took a couple of day trips. We also extended even more days at the end of the tour, so we could return to Ljubljana. I had been there before, knew already how much I loved the city and wanted to spend more time there. We only visited Ljubljana for half a day before heading to Lake Bled for the two nights before the end of the tour. Our guide helped arrange the very short and reasonably priced taxi ride back to Ljubljana. We flew home to Denver from there. I wouldn't change a thing we did before and after! I am sure you will enjoy this tour; I was so pleased to see they added back the day they had taken away!

Thanks for those last two replies. Getting excited to plan those extra days. Appreciate the input.

There's also easy busy service from Lake Bled back to Ljubljana if you don't want to pay a taxi. It's only what something like 45 minutes away.

I did this tour when it was slightly longer (16 days). I'd add at least one full day in Prague but two extra would be better. I did a day trip to Kutna Hora (to see the bone church) - pretty small town and a nice train ride. Best tip for photography (and beating crowds) in Prague is to get up very early - Charles Bridge is nearly empty in the early morning hours. I personally loved the Municipal House behind-the-scenes tour (I'm an art deco fan). I notice the tour no longer includes a tour of the Jewish quarter - you should make time for that (on your free afternoon or on one of your early arrival days).

I used frequent flier tickets for this trip, and had to depart from Munich. So I took the train from Lesce Bled train station to Salzburg for two nights, then on to Munich and home. In hindsight, I should have visited Ljubljana instead (the tour covers this now, lucky!).

When I visited Slovenia in 2015 there was nearly always a van-taxi hanging out at the Bled bus station just before the bus headed to Ljubljana was due to depart. The taxi driver was hoping to fill his vehicle with passengers at 7 euros per head. The bus is comfortable enough, but a taxi saves a bit of time and might be worthwhile. If you're potentially interested in the group-taxi deal, don't buy your bus ticket early. Although things may have changed since 2015, at that time I thought taxis seemed a very good deal in Slovenia. One useful thing I was told by the Ljubljana tourist office: It is actually cheaper--at least in that city--to telephone for a taxi rather than grab one on the street. Not driver dishonesty, just some difference in the way the fare is calculated. Again, that was in 2015.

Keep all the ideas coming!! I truly do appreciate it. I have been checking out flights too, flying into Prague, flying back to Minneapolis from Ljubljana. So far, flight costs $1700+!! Hoping as time goes on, I can grab some cheaper tickets so it does help to think about flying into and/or out of different cities. Round trips to/from Prague aren’t any better. Thanks again:)

We did this tour last year. Spent several days in Prague prior to the start of tour. At end of tour we hired a guide who pick us (and our luggage) up at our hotel In Bled, took us on a tour of the Julien Alps for the day and dropped us off in Ljubljana. Spent two nights in Ljubljana, then took a shuttle van to Vienna for a few more nights. Flew home from Vienna. Loved the Eastern Europe tour and our guide. Enjoy!

Guessing that you're on the July 7-21 trip, I fiddled around on Google Flights, extending the dates on both ends. Nothing significantly good happened. If you can go quite early and are willing to fly into Munich, there are fares in the $1200-1300 range departing on Tuesday, July 2, and returning from Ljubljana (or Zagreb) on Monday, July 22. Traveling on Sunday, July 21 is a bit higher, but Munich will save a lot of money.

Also check Berlin and Vienna. You can get to Prague a bit faster from those cities.

At the end of the trip, take a look at flying back from Venice or Milan. At a quick glance, Venice looks cheaper than Milan. I'm not sure it'll save much more than $100, though. There seems to be more money to be saved on the inbound flight.

If you can manage to fly out of Chicago and into Munich, you can probably put together a round-trip for under $1000.