Two super seniors plan to begin our trip with a Danube cruise leaving from Prague and terminating in Budapest beginning on April 10. Cruise drops us off in Budapest on April 21 after spending a day in Venice as well as other river towns. We are flexible and do not have to return to the USA until mid May. So far, our thoughts are to additionaly visit Krakow, Berlin, Munich,Frankfurt, taking day trips as we use each city as a base. However, we sure would like to visit Slovania and Croatia, maybe even as far south as Debrovnick and maybe take the ferry to Bari and fly back to the USA from Rome! Might consider giving up Germany to do that! Most of our transport would be by bus and train. Any input, advice, suggestions to help us plan our trip would be gratefully appreciated. Notice we are flexible!
Posted by
Stuttgart, Germany
3050 posts
I find it hard also to choose from destinations when you have that much free time to fill - there's so much to see and do! Honestly it would be hard to go wrong with either "region" as it were. I would consider getting a guidebook that covers all or most those areas and doing some more reading to see what sounds better to you. I just got a Lonely Planet Central Europe guide today that covers Germany, Poland, Austria, Switzerland, Hungary, Czech Republic and Slovakia. Obviously it can't cover all those places in great detail but I hope it will help me narrow down for my own trip planning.
Posted by
Germany, Germany
813 posts
For starters, I think you mean you visit Vienna, Austria the day before ending in Budapest. Yes? If you finish April 21 and have 3-4 weeks, that gives you plenty of time to do some great sight seeing. From Budapest you can head down to Lake Balaton, a popular resort area, then head into Slovenia (Lake Bled, etc.), Trieste, Split, Dubrovnik, ferry over to Italy as you wanted and make your way through Italy. Depending on how fast or slowly you are moving, you could make it to Sicily, up to Capri, then to Rome. Or you could loop through the Northern part of Italy, ending in Rome. Another idea is to head through Slovenia, up to Salzburg, to Munich, and Frankfurt, with day trips from there as you suggested. Try to narrow down what you want to see, if you want warmer (Frankfurt will be colder than Sicily!) weather stay south, etc. Good luck!
Posted by
Ottawa
1446 posts
Why not visit Berlin for a couple of days before starting the cruise in Prague? Then from Budapest, after spending a couple of days there at the end of the cruise, fly Wizz Air to Krakow for 3 days or so. From Krakow, you can take an overnight train to Vienna, with a connection to Ljubljana (Slovenia) the same day. Or you may decide to give Vienna an extra day... In Ljubljana, you can rent a car to visit Slovenia and Croatia, where the driving is not difficult at all and the distances are relatively short (i.e to Postojna, Lake Bled, Ptuj, the Jeruzalem wine route, the Plitvice Lakes, Dubrovnik, Trogir/Split, Sibenik, Zadar, Opatija, Rovinj, etc). After 12-14 days or so, return the car back to Slovenia, in Koper, on Italy's doorstep (Trieste/Venice) - thus avoiding costly drop-off charges. This would be a lovely area for spending a couple of weeks in May!! Fly back home from either Venice or Rome. Have fun!
Posted by
Wynnewood, PA, USA
275 posts
Hal, sounds like a great trip. We just finished a 19 day Krakow -Eger-Budapest - Croatia driving vacation. 3000 km. Our rental car was one-way and the drop-off charge of approx. $200 was well worth it. The narrow Dalmatian coast did not offer a loop route back north so we fly back to the States via DUB. Having a car enabled us to easily visit many more sites than we would have using trains or buses. IMO - don't rush thru Croatia to get onto Rome/Italy. The UNESCO sites in Croatia from Isteria to Dubrovnik were splendid (we missed staying in Opatija but might like to return there someday). RS covers most of the sites but misses Trogir entirely and it was GEM!!!