Where would you go?!

Hi Carrie!

This thread https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/hungary/budapest-must-dos
may answer your questions. James is a poster who loves Budapest.

Colette, thanks.

Carrie; are you suggesting an overland route from Budapest to Rome?

Hi! I'm having a hard time deciding where to go and what to see. Mainly because I do not know a lot about Hungry and Croatia. I was thinking of this route
Budapest
Zagreb
Plitvice
Split
Dubrovnik
Sorrento
Rome

I just want to make sure I wasn't missing something awesome. I love to hike. I prefer smaller towns too. Should I add Pula? skip Split, Dubrovnik and go over to Venice then down to Rome? I like to move around. I try to do 2 or 3 nights in each place.

Thanks for any suggestions!

And Thanks for the link! I will need to start researching Budapest. I'm staying at the Maverick City Lodge. Looks like a good area.

Carrie, so how do you intend to connect that list? You are staying in a hostel so I am guessing you are on a lower end budget. Dubrovnik to Sorrento? I'm being honest here. My knowledge sort of ended with Zagreb. But I bet you have a trip with something in the neighborhood of 40 hours of travel time. If I wanted to connect Budapest and Rome on a trip I wouldn't head south, I would go through Slovenia and then see Venice, Milan, Florence and on to Rome. But I am getting and even that is too much road time for me.

There is an overnight ferry from Dubrovnik Croatia to Bari Italy. But that's why I'm here. Asking questions. I would not mind going through Italy either.

Then you have to get from Bari to Sorrento. Sounds like a lot of travel and the coast around Bari isn't much to look at. But like I said, outside my expertise. There is some beautiful country between the Hungarian border and Venice. I think it would be an enjoyable but long trip. Something totally unrelated would be to travel from Budapest through Bulgaria and on to Istanbul and then fly to Rome on a discount carrier or Turkish air. I am guessing about $275 for a ticket. Bulgaria would cost you $200 to $300 a day for hotels and private transport and food; and its a remarkable country. We've made that trip recently and it was amazing.

Hi,

Based on my experience in Munich (once) and Vienna (often) staying at Wombats hostels, traveling solo, I would recommend likewise in Budapest, where the Wombats hostel is one of their newest, centrally located, etc.

Between Bari and Sorrento is Matera, a unique place with several thousand years of history. It would make a good stop if you take the ferry to Bari (I would go directly from the Bari port to the train station to Matera, the ferry is an overnight trip and trains leave Bari for Matera every hour or so).

Thanks Zoe! Matera does look beautiful. I will definitely look at stopping there. Do you happen to know if the ferries still run everyday in Sept?

Fred, thanks for the suggestion on Wombats hostels. I’m new to hosteling so any suggestions are welcome. I'm not totally a budget traveler, I just like meeting new people when traveling solo. I booked a convent in Rome at Casa II Rosario.

Thanks for all your input James. I think I’ll stay with Croatia and Italy. I just need to find the right route.