July 2020 -3 weeks Romania? Bulgaria? Ukraine? Poland?

Consider Warsaw in Poland, very cosmopolitan city with many up and coming hip areas. It's in the centre of the country so from there one can take the high speed train north to Gdansk and Masurian Lakes District or down south to Krakow and further west to Silesia/Wroclaw.

Here's a great article on Warsaw by Rick Steves' co-author Cameron Hewitt: https://blog.ricksteves.com/cameron/2018/09/warsaw-reasons/

Agree with Kaeleku above, one could easily do a 2-3 day side trip to Lviv in Ukraine from Poland. There's a historic rail line that connects Lviv (formally a Polish city pre-WWII) with Krakow and even goes on to Wroclaw.

Thank you both! I checked the Warsaw article and it sounds less touristy and Budapest was one of my favorite vacations so far, so I like the mention of similarity.

I should add this..

I love Budapest and Paris; however, on my last trip— 16 days in Beaune between 5 nights in Paris- that was all I needed in Paris and I’ve recently discovered that I enjoy the small neighborhood cities away from the hustle so much more.

So—- knowing that. Warsaw looks awesome, but I think it’s more like Paris and Budapest? So can you recommend a smaller town in Poland that is not too touristy?

Hi, Wroclaw is my favorite town in Poland, it's a smaller student city and definitely less hustle and bustle than Warsaw. It's the largest city in the historical region of Silesia, but has that neighborhood feel, It's also the least touristed of the 4 major cities of Poland.

At various times, it has been part of the Kingdom of Poland, Bohemia, the Habsburg Monarchy, the Kingdom of Prussia, the German Empire, and finally back to Poland after WWII. The architecture around the old center reflects this unique history, as it incorporates a little of every country that has ruled the city - from Polish Gothic to Austrian Baroque and German Modernist. In 2016, the city was named the European Capital of Culture.

Day trips from Wroclaw into surrounding Silesia are a variety, maybe not blockbuster but still very interesting. The Silesian region is a fascinating area to travel around, full of time-warped old castles, 19th century spa towns, Prussian star fortresses, giant wooden Protestant churches, and rumours of hidden Nazi gold 😉

Here's a pretty good CNN Travel article (with images) on sites in Silesia: https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/lower-silesia-poland-great-places/index.html

thank you - that looks awesome

Hi,

My vote goes to choosing Poland. You could very easily do a day trip or even an over nighter in Lviv.

Keep in mind that city was called Lemberg prior to 1914, the province capital of the province of Galicia and the 4th largest urban center in Austria-Hungary.

No problem with three weeks, a 4th week would even be better if that were possible.

Every time I've been in Poland , ie 3 trips there, it was in July. Be prepared that it could rain or you could encounter a heat wave...just depends. Where we stayed there was no AC if that's of any concern to you. It wasn't for me, certainly I was not going to pay extra for it if we had been asked.

I enjoyed Romania. Lots of varied things to do. I took a guided bus tour which believe was a good idea.

Wroclaw is not terribly large, but I found it quite touristy in the summer of 2018. It's the dwarves, I guess. I loved Poland and spent 5 werks there without seeing all the places on my list.

I think Romania with a dip into Bulgaria (Plovdiv and/or Veliko Trnovo) would be a good choice if only ground transportation between those two countries were not so slow. Romania is much less touristy than Poland, and I think it more closely meets your stated criteria.

So can you recommend a smaller town in Poland that is not too
touristy?

There are a lot, but you won't find them in American tour books which seem to stick only to Kraków, Gdańsk and Warsaw. The only issue is, if it's a small, untouristy place, then aren't you at risk of getting bored? Those day trips in a large country like Poland from a single base can turn into very long days (that's why having one base has its limits). Warsaw is by far the best connected to the transportation network and to other cities, and no, it's not the same scale as Paris.

Other cities to consider:
Poznań
Lublin
Toruń
Łódź
Zamość
Szczecin
Bydgoszcz
Kazimierz Dolny
Katowice

My wife and I are more and more inclined to spend time in Romania. We have been to Timosuara, Oradea, Brasov, Sibui, and Bucharesti. Timosuara will be EU Capital of Culture, along with Novi Sad. They will need to work hard but it might be really great. We enjoyed spending 3 nights there in June. Plenty to do. Oradea also very interesting.

Hi,

I would suggest dispensing with the American tour guides on Poland, use "The Rough Guide Poland" instead. Some towns I would recommend are: Torun, Lublin, Grudziadz, Szczecin.

For some of the lovely and interesting smaller towns I recommend Elblag, Przemysl (in the east), Gniew and Kwidzyn (in the lower Vistula area, Pszczyna, which you do as a day trip from Katowice, etc.

Agnes, acraven, Paul, Fred, Carlos and Keiluku.
etc always
Great advice I’m going to investigate

Based on your feedback, I’m leaning towards Romania and Lviv area of Ukraine as the two countries. It sounds like these are less touristy.

Still looking at Romanian cities. Timosuara Looks gorgeous! Air BB has great places in Lviv.

If we stayed one place 1 week and another city one week- launching out for day trips of course- which would you spend one vs two weeks in?

And what other cities in Romania and Ukraine are possible cities to spend a week.

—- I’m odd- most people spend one night in Beaune and I spent 2.5 weeks with three car trips to other cities.

I think I'd be pretty bored of Timosoara for more than a couple nights. It's a pretty little town but there really isn't much to do.

If you want to spend extended time in Romania, look into Brasov, which is lovely but there's a lot more to do in the extended area. I'd happily recommend the very nice (and inexpensive) hotel we stayed in there. You're well positioned if you have a car to go up north and explore the Marmures more from that location as well. If you don't like big cities I wouldn't recommend spending much time in Bucharest - the one place in Europe I have almost no desire to return to.

That said, I think Poland/Ukraine would make for a better trip.

Lviv
warclow

It seems I can launch to plenty of sites from these two Cities. Overwhelming sounds like skipping Poland would be a mistake!

Another vote for Poland - any city.

Dear Jette, Romania should be on your list for your next travel 😊. There are so many things to do and see, and it is an underrated destination. My opinion is biassed as I am a Romanian, but my experience as a tour guide makes me confident in saying everybody falls in love my country almost instantly. The hard part is to decide to come over. Hope you'll spend your summer in Romania!

I second the recommendation for Brasov as a home base!

The old town is fantastic. I suggest you stay in the Schei District, beyond Poarta Schei, close to Mount Tampa. There are great walks along the old city walls and hiking up Mounta Tampa and into the wilderness literally steps from your door. Sinaia and Peles Castle are an easy day trip, as are Rasnov Fortress and Bran Castle. You can also reach Sighisoara and Sibiu within a couple hours and there are loads of fortified churches, like Viscri, Homorod, and Prejmer within easy striking distance. Plus more beautiful mountains in nearby Poina Brasov, Predeal, and Busteni for hiking, biking, vistas, etc. If you're going in the summer, consider also the long but scenic drive via the Transfagarasan highway.

Timisoara is a lovely city, full of 1989 Revolution history and some fantastic architecture. The city center is great and there is a lovely river walk. Plan to visit Corvin Castle in Hunedoara and the Lipova ruins. If you choose Timisoara as one of your bases, you could consider long day trips to parts of Serbia (Novi Sad?) and Hungary (Szeged?)...I haven't been to Novi Sad and have only driven on the M-43 freeway near Szeged, so I can't really give you any details there.

Two other below-radar cities for a week-long stay in Romania are: Iasi and Cluj-Napoca. Like Timisoara, both are university towns with fantastic culture and architecture.

Iasi has a gorgeous Palace of Culture and a great atmosphere. There's also a cool monastery in town. Day trips to the Painted Monasteries near Gura Humorului and to beautiful Piatra Neamt. Even consider a stop-over in Chisinau, Moldova.

Cluj-Napoca is the most liveable and westernized Romanian city, in my opinion. Access to the Turda salt mines and a day-trip to the citadel and former capital of Alba Iulia. Long day trip to the Apuseni mountains. Cluj can also be used as a springboard to the Wooden Churches in Maramures (for a very long, but worthwhile day trip).

Drum bun!

I do feel a strong interest in Romania and Ukraine. Poland on my list, maybe fly into Poland a few days before the other two?

I’m very excited about this trip - thank you fir your timely responses!

All our pleasure! Romania, Ukraine and Poland worth an extended visit. I am sure you'll have an amazing trip!

Poland on my list, maybe fly into Poland a few days before the other
two?

It sounds like you're trying to do too much in one trip...all 3 countries are quite large. It makes sense to pair Krakow and Lviv, but I doubt you'll find good connections between Ukraine and Romania. And you'll be lucky to be able to fly straight to Krakow unless you're close to one of the few US airports that flies there without going to Warsaw first. One main difference between Poland and Romania (and Romania and other European cities) is that Romania has a lot of forest, nature, and much smaller towns in terms of population. The only large city of over 2 million is Bucharest. That's not true of most European cities, which are much more populated and dense. A large chunk of Romania is rural, with very rural customs (Bukovina, Maramureș, etc.)