Last yr i spent 3 weeks in Budapest in November.
I loved it, but would like to meet a new city,
I like food wine and ill be resting a lot to return refreshed!
Im more into people watching -chatting vs museums. Suggestions for an odd traveller who likes spending a few weeks in one place?
I am open to a river cruise, but have never been on a cruise. Jette
I've been to a number of the larger cities in Central Europe, and my favorite is Budapest. But since you have done that, my second favorite is Kyiv. But two weeks? With two weeks i would travel a bit. Kyiv, Odesa and Lviv; all reachable on Ukraine Airways for under $100. Kyiv, great city. Odesa great party town, Lviv great historic town. These are also about the most affordable places in Europe right now. Third choice would be Bucharest tied with Sofia. But again its as much about the day trips and the overnighters as it is the city. A fourth option, also not one city is the wander up an down the coast of Montenegro. Budva, Bar, Ulcinj; all about an hour apart and all worth 3 to 5 days.
Or take up fly fishing and head to the Ukrainian Carpathians or the mountains of Montenegro or the High Tatras in Slovakia or a number of good places in Slovenia....
Thank you James!!! You helped me last year in Budapest! I’m looking forward to pushing my comfort zone a bit further!!!
Jette
I liked all the Ukrainian cities James mentioned, and Kiev probably could keep you busy for 2 weeks if you're adamant about staying in one place. I am clueless about November weather anywhere is Europe, so I don't know how it would compare to what you had in Budapest. Research for my trip this year indicated that Budapest would be warmer than Prague in May.
I'm a big fan of both Romania and Bulgaria but prefer the secondary cities to the capitals. I think 2 weeks would be way too long for me in Bucharest or Sofia, but I confess that I gave each city only about 24 hours, which wasn't a fair chance.
I spent 5 weeks in Poland this summer and loved it. Warsaw was more attractive than I expected (though it cannot match Krakow and Gdansk), and it has many, many 20th-century historical memorials/museums that can keep a person busy for a long time if she is interested in that period (as I am). November weather in Poland, though...
Berlin also has enough for 2 weeks if a person is a 20th-century history junkie.
Prague is an obvious possibility. Everyone talks about the crowds, and they are certainly beyond annoying in some areas. However, the city has a lot of attractions that were not overwhelmed even in August. Over the course of a 2-week visit you'd spend a lot more time in the less touristy areas than in Tourist Central unless you chose to keep revisiting the Old Town.
It would be a different type of experience, but I found Nice a very nice 16-day stop in May 2017. (I was taking 3 hours of French lessons each weekday.) If you enjoy art, the city itself could keep you occupied for at least 5 days. The rest of your time could easily be filled with side-trips even if you are limited to public transportation. Nice is relatively inexpensive outside of high season, and both the local trains and buses along the coast are pretty cheap.
I wonder whether Seville would work? Or Rome?
Following up on acraven's thoughts, Barcelona would be an obvious choice for food, wine, museums and more. However it isn't in Central Europe.
How about Moscow-Kazan-St.Petersburg? No cruises there in November, I'm afraid, but lots of people watching, that's for sure.
Berlin might be bitter in November but for me with Vienna it would be tied for first choice. For chatting with strangers (I'm a so so German speaker) the Viennese and Berliners are at the top of the heap and most of them also do very well in English.
Thank you James!!! You helped me last year in Budapest! I’m looking
forward to pushing my comfort zone a bit further!!!
Thanks glad to help. To push your comfort zone a bit and still try and stay pretty much in one city I would choose Kyiv, but i would stop in Lviv either on the way in or the way out. Great winter destinations as they have long cold winters and have adapted well to them. In other words, they dont hunker down and wait for warmth like places with shorter winters do, they know they are in for the long haul so they remain more active.
Right now Kyiv is my second favorite city among the old Russian occupied part of Europe and third overall after Budapest and Paris. My least favorite was Moscow.
I would go with Berlin.
Very chatty people, massive historical importance, incredible sights.
Two weeks would be a long time for Berlin, but you could easily take some lovely trips to Hamburg and Dresden.
I will say that a lot of Berlin's enjoyment comes from its museums. I mean, there's an entire island named after museums, so it may not be your thing.
But it's one heck of a city.
I love all of these responses! Russia intrigued me!!! I’m saving that for a further push.
Kiev Ukraine
Sofia and Plovdiv Bulgaria
Transylvania Romania
Are very interesting.
Berlin also top of my list, but if I go I want to go to one of the above for a week also.
Prague- I do not know why I am so stubborn about Prague, everyone who knows me says I’ll love it- I guess it sounds so touristy, but like Paris, a place is rather visit with my husband.
I have college friends who will be meeting me somewhere during visit- they live in DubAi and I have not seen them in 30 years! Once I know where I meet them foe a few days, I’ll schedule my remaining 2 weeks!
Thank you!
So- Romania not so much???
Dubai to Kiev round trip is slightly less than $400 non-stop.
If you intend to focus on Central Europe, then I would suggest one of two options. Option 1 ..divide your time between Vienna and Berlin. Connect one with the other by a discount carrier or the night train. Option 2...spend the entire two weeks in Berlin. I did exactly that last summer, booking 14 nights at the Pension in Berlin. There are several river cruises available in the Berlin and Potsdam area...in Potsdam on the Havel. The Tourist Office at Potsdam Hbf has loads of information on not only the town but also these cruises.
There is a lot more options in Northern and eastern Germany if you're interested in the river cruises, harbor cruises, being in a part of Germany, depending if you want to get away from it all, etc. (yes, it will be cold in November) where you could just be the only tourist or foreigner given the time of the year and the geographic location.
I would not mind being the only tourist! 🤗
Travel through Austria, Slovakia, Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic. These cities have some great things to do or offer beautiful sightseeing. A solo traveler can spend their half to full month there.
I liked all of these places in Romania better than Bucharest just from the aesthetic point of view (Ceausescu entertained himself by pulling down a lot of the capital's historic buildings): Timisoara, Sibiu, Brasov, Sighisoara, Cluj-Napoca. Then there are the lovely rural areas of Maramures and Bucovina. The problem is that it doesn't have a single spot to use as a base and travel around. Ground transportation is quite slow; figure on about 30 mph. I highly recommend the country in better weather and when you can travel around more.
Great info!
I just looked up air quality and unfortunately I need to watch out for that. Bucharest is our due to air quality.
I had no breathing trouble in Budapest and Prague is clean.
Sofia and Kiev are pretty good, but I likely would not stay long due to Ir quality- of course, it’s probably better in November but I’m looking at Budapest now and it’s super clean air.
Not Central Europe but goodish for air quality I’d imagine - how about Copenhagen? Beautifully relaxed city and everyone speaks English.
Otherwise Vienna all the way.
Vienna. Plenty to see and do no matter how long you have. If you liked Budapest, you will probably love Vienna. So much to see, so much history and so overlooked by many.
Over the various trips in North and eastern Germany, there have been numerous, numerous times I was the not only the only visitor/outsider but also the only foreigner....traveling solo totally plain to see by the locals... in the various areas of the towns I was visiting, riding the regional train, the bus, in the stations, or walking block after block. If you have a good level of German, even better.
I second the suggestion for Vienna and Budapest. Weather-wise, chances are that BP will be less cold than Berlin in Nov.
JetteTheRealtor; not really sure what that site you posted is supposed to show. Right now, Kyiv is cleaner than Budapest and the worst place on the planet is the middle of the Sarah Desert? I've been to Kyiv and Budapest and Bucharest and Sofia and Vienna and Belgrade and .... and haven't noticed much difference between any of them. I do remember the stink of car exhaust in Moscow, but it was probably just a bad few days. I suspect all of this is somewhat transient.
Fred and James - thank you. Jane also Thanh’s- I prefer non English speaking countries and found many in Budapest who did not speak English- I prefer that!
James- I have asthma so I cannot live in Fresno Californua due to smog. When I lived in north ridge and Pasadena-same - always sick until I moved near ocean- so I’m a bit more sensitive than many. Although the Middle East fascinated me- I won’t be going due to air quality- or China.
Sofia and Kiev are not to bad, but Bucharest I ruled out- unless this source is not valid?
I suspect with rain the air will be cleaner in November.
Hi,
You're welcome. Keep in mind that this notion that everyone will speak English to you is a myth. I don't find that to be case. There are those who can speak at various levels but there are who don't. This applies also in Budapest.
You will increase your chances greatly of not meeting anyone speaking English to you in eastern Germany, where at a cafe or small restaurant, the only patrons to be seen are German, ie, you'll get only a German menu with no English in it.....just as in yesteryear.
How about a river cruise in eastern Germany, such as the cruises on the Oder River? That sort of cruise is on my bucket list.
As pointed out above, in regards to the weather in Nov and its coldness, Berlin is colder because it lies on the North German Plain (Norddeutsche Ebene), whereas Budapest is protected by the Carpathians, which should make the cold in BP less acute. But, one never knows, the temp could be the same in both places in Nov.
I totally empathize with you...living in Northridge esp and Pasadena was pollution city. In March/April one could see the San Gabriel Mountains, by June...forget it, totally invisible. No wonder it affected you.
Its that map that makes me wonder. It looks like it is a present condition map as opposed to average. You can never count on how things will be on any given day. If you want clean air, maybe its time to get away from the cities and look at places like the coast or high country of Montenegro or the high country of Slovakia. Both beautiful and can keep me entertained for extended periods of time (but i always take a fly rod).
I'm not sure a cruise and non-English speaking are compatible. If you take a cruise, even if the majority of people on the cruise aren't primarily English speakers, you will hear a lot of English. The cruise will have guided tours. Those tours will either be in English or will visit sights where most people speak English.
I did an exchange with the German Air Force (was there on 9/11). I judged my language success on people replying in German when I spoke to them in German. I was up north in Schleswig for most of my exchange and many Luftwaffe then were former East Germans, so it wasn't hard to avoid English.
It all depends on where you are if you intend to pursue the cruise option.
Two cruises I would suggest where the guests are exclusively German...you can bet on not hearing any other language but German...are the river cruises through the Kiel Canal, ie, what they call, the Nord-Ost-Kanal and the Oder River cruises. The last two trips I tried getting on the Nord-Ost-Kanal cruise on the the days I was spending in Kiel, no luck, each time something was amiss. On this past trip in May, my scheduling and theirs didn't match, ie more detailed planning.
There is also the Kiel harbor cruise (Hafenrundfahrt), I did that twice...language -wise no English spoken aboard at all, not even greetings of welcome by the ferry captain who directs this guided tour.
You want an non-English activity, this is it...100% German narration. Both times I was the only foreigner. Basically, it's a peaceful, tranquil cruise through the Kieler Förde going all the way to Laboe, then the return trip.
Fred Brad James thank you!
Fred interesting cruise option. I’m Budapest I found many who did not speak English and loved it.i do not speak German now but Germany is a place we good end up as my husband will become a history teacher and likely teach with DOD schools! I’m thinking Berlin and kyiv are both clolder than Budapest but I was fine three weeks in Budapest last year. I’ll likely need boots that are waterproof instead of loafers but I did fine with one pair of shoes last year.
@ Jette....Fantastic...If you are aiming to get into a DOD school, those are in Germany. Likewise with schools offering the IB Program and international schools. There is one such school offering the IB Program (if he is in secondary ed) near Berlin, actually it's closer to Potsdam in the town of Kleinmachnow.
