Suggestions on Countries to Visit

Do you have a time frame?

If it's middle of summer, I think a Baltic cruise would be a great idea. IMO it's the only time to visit the Baltic, at a time when everywhere else is overrun with tourists and often miserably hot. Scandinavia is safe for a woman traveling alone.

You could fly roundtrip into Copenhagen or Stockholm, catch the cruise from there, see all the major cities in the area safely and conveniently with zero worry. The only place in the Baltic that I think is at all worrisome is Russia; I'd book a small group tour with Alla tours (they'll put a group together from your ship) which is a good value and saves having to worry about getting a Russian visa. The bad thing about being alone on a cruise is most cabins (like American pricing) are based on double-occupancy - so you pay up to twice the price to travel solo. Norwegian now has studio cabins (for solo travelers), but so far only has them on a couple of ships and none in the Baltic, that I know of, yet.

Croatia and Slovenia would be great, but I'd want to do that in September - still plenty warm but the crowds (and prices) should be better.

Of course, you can go anywhere you want. But if you're thinking of the former "Eastern Europe," I found Prague, Budapest, and Krakow to be very rewarding and very easy to visit. As a single gay man it's hard to comment on how a single woman would feel, but I didn't encounter anything "scary." If you haven't been to Berlin, that's also a great place, and has the bonus of being both "east" and "west".

I always say that while Prague, Vienna, and Budapest are spoken of as triplets, and have both geographic proximity and shared history, they are as different as apples, oranges, and bananas. So you could see two or all three on one trip for contrast. Or, you can go to one of the cities and do side trips. For example, on one trip I went to Budapest and from there saw Eger, Vac, Pecs, and Szentendre. On another I saw Prague, Olomouc, and Cesky Krumlov. Or, you can combine further-flung places by plane (I saw Berlin and Vienna on the same trip, using an Air Berlin flight to connect them quickly and avoid a 10 hour train ride).

If you are thinking of Croatia, Slovenia and Italy in one trip, investigate the logistics CAREFULLY before booking. They may be "next to each other" on a map, but the transit links between them are not great, and require some careful planning to work. I haven't been to Slovenia or Croatia so I have no more specific recommendations.

I also agree that summer in Scandinavia is great. I saw it on my own rather than on a cruise. At the time, SAS had a deal with inexpensive flights within Scandinavia if you booked your trans-Atlantic ticket with them.

Incidentally, I found more English in all of these places than in Italy or France, if that increases your comfort level. In the former Eastern Europe, the mandatory second language used to be Russian, but it's been English since the fall of the Wall. It's tougher in small towns (I remember Olomouc had notably less English than Prague, for example), but still sufficient for my needs.

I have traveled alone in every place mentioned so far and would certainly encourage you to do the same. Rick's TV shows online can give you some more ideas. We are still traveling in Turkey; political protests are pretty localized in the main squares of the main cities. If you only have two weeks for Slovenia and Croatia, then you don't have time to add Italy (and transportation is not very convenient to Italy). A bit further from the beaten path, Bulgaria is rich with painted Byzantine churches, Thracian and Roman archeology, and Turkish influence.

Croatia is certainly worth to consider, really lovely historical harbour places along the Dalmatian coast. You can easily do island hopping as most are linked with ferries. In 2001 I travelled from Dubrovnic to Korçula and Stari Grad on Hvar island this way, alas had not the time to visit Split. Btw ferries are also good for dealing with hot weather during travelling.

About the Thracian culture and other Ancient History there are two interesting museums in Sofia and Varna in Bulgaria. Didn’t do it, but maybe there are archeological sites to visit. From Bulgaria are bus connections to visit Istanbul, I know anyway from Sofia as there is a big busstation near the railwaystation. And also closer a bus connection I guess from Plovdiv. As Istanbul is a very big city and the political protests are more concentrated to a few places in town as far as I know now, I think it’s worth to look if it really effects the touristic spots. Get thoroughly informed about this as I think Istanbul is certainly worth a visit.

To my opinion the Dalmatian coast of Croatia is the most attractive, especially in combination with the sun. The many ferries and busconnections makes it easy enough to travel. Bulgaria has nice places, but you need to do more effort to see and appreciate them I think. I visited this country in 2007 but was more curious about life behind the former Iron Curtain and I liked Bulgaria. But in comparison Croatia has much more stunning places, a more attractive travel destination according me.

Or really think outside of the box and see Romania, Slovakia or Bulgaria. We are currently on the final leg of 18 days in Bulgaria (second visit), Istanbul, Budapest (29th visit ... sort of guessing) trip. In 10 years these countries may not resemble at all what they are today so go while you can still see a segment of society drkving hay filled horse drawn wagons past ancient castles.