My RS tour ends at Lake Bled in Slovenia towards the end of May, but I have an additional week to travel. I'm torn as to how to spend it. I will have been to Poland (but maybe not enough time in Warsaw) and the Czech Republic (but not enought time in Prague). But I could also go south and visit other countries in the Balkans (e.g. Montenegro, North Macedonia, Albania, and Kosovo). Or maybe a return to Munich (where I lived for two years in the service back in the day). I guess I am primarily interested in comments about the Balkans, but, if you have a strong opinion about any of the others, please share.
Posted by
Chicago
1572 posts
What types of things might you like to do during the extra week? What level of
travel (hectic, relaxed, urban, countryside) would you want? Are you open to
renting a car or will you want to use public transportation/do another tour?
There are no really wrong answers, but no matter what any of us suggest, do
your own research and make your own decisions.
I wouldn't sweat missing Warsaw all that much.
To wit, is there any reason you're omitting Croatia from your list of alternatives?
The tour only covers a small sampling. You could go to Split, Dubrovnik, and/or
Zagreb and that would probably be a week.
Posted by
Salem, Oregon, USA
4409 posts
Assuming you're flying back to Seattle after your extra week, you might focus on places that don't make that return complicated. FWIW, after I took that tour at the same time of year, I caught a train at Lesce Bled station, went to Salzburg, then on to Munich to fly home. I could have easily added enough stops between those to make a full week. Looks like there is a Lufthansa direct flight from Munich.
And I'm not clear from your statement, but if you're not adding at least a full day (better two) in Prague ahead of your tour, I would encourage you to allocate some of your "extra" week to that. The tour barely makes a dent in what you can see and do there.
Posted by
Republic of Texas / U.S.A. / Magyarország / Budapest
27946 posts
ends at Lake Bled in Slovenia
I always say that if there is a place you want to see that you can always find a way to deal with logistics. But you don’t sound driven to see something, so, the logical regional choices are Austria, Switzerland and northern Italy. A lot of good stuff in all. If that interests you then go to the appropriate forums and ask for ideas.
But you said the Balkans. I guess your tour is the one that hits Plitvice and Rovinj and then Bled. So, you haven’t seen much of Croatia.
So, I would say the choices for a week are two:
Fly to Podgorica. Ljubljana is so far from the hot spots in the Balkans that I think the cheap non-stop flight makes sense just to get you situated but it doesnt fly every day and you didnt give us a hard date. I think the dates are Tuesday, Thrusday, Saturday and Sunday. I don’t think there are non-stop from Ljubljana to Dubrovnik or Split, but check me and if there are, those are choices.
Then two choices:
1) NORTH: Kotor to Dubrovnik to the island of your choice to Split to Home
2) SOUTH: Budva to Stari Bar to Ulcinj to Kotor to Home. If you have seen my other posts on here, you would know this is my choice. But make it 10 days and do northern Albania too. My favorite teaser photo: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1yVgn3xowCvlC7FDfqT4Uk-Y3OfvpvXnQ/view?usp=drive_link The rest of the teasers: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1z4-CwCkZCAlH36M42Ul_r9Ae1Dq3xYO_?usp=sharing
Posted by
Republic of Texas / U.S.A. / Magyarország / Budapest
27946 posts
Here is my last two Montenegro Trips. Both about 8 days. They might give you an idea of what you can do in a week.
https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/montenegro/montenegro-2026-part-two-part-one-was-in-june
https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/montenegro/montenegro-trip-report-ef2dbe8e-3b6b-4cc7-a0c6-c1cc3d3f258e
The next Montenegro trip will have me there about the 28th of May. Its a longer trip because I have a nearly a week in Bosnia & Herzegovina before I reach Montenegro. Then a few days in Albania after Montenegro (I think). Albania, just for this: https://maps.app.goo.gl/mUZmH2yFkxXS1U5d8