Where would you go? 2 weeks in Europe this April, into history & great food

As long as the trip begins after Easter... I noticed you haven't listed anywhere in Italy. How about the Italian Trinity: Venice, Florence, and Rome?

You have been to great places. We went to Budapest and Lisbon for February, 2025 and enjoyed both cities. We had just taken a cruise out of Athens thru the Greek islands and over to Istanbul in October.

But if you have not been to Italy, you are a little late getting there. I suggest Rome, Florence and Venice to start. Because you will be back.

Puglia and Basilicata.

Italy.

Italy.

ITALY OMG ITALY! [world’s biggest heart emoji goes here]

Basically you can stick a pin in the map to choose where to visit… Italy is THAT AMAZING… but the suggestion of “the trinity” is a good one, I think. April is also early enough that they will not be UTTERLY mobbed. :-)

Since you liked Budapest, and since you liked it a little more than Vienna,

• Paris, because it has some of the same vibe as Budapest and Vienna depending on what part of town you go to.
• Lviv, very much Budapest "like" and beautiful. A little tougher to get to right now, but very possible and gettings some good reviews from recent tourists despite the situation.
• Romania. Bucharest has some of Budapest in it, but not in the same quantity so while you could be in Budapest for a month, Bucharest is good for maybe 4 days, but then you have the rest of Romania which is fabilous. Some of the RS folks are doing a Romania video chat with a Romanian guide on the 8th. Sit in and watch and listen
• April, late April, would be good for Sofia and the coast line. I love it. Tried to get back this year, thought Croatia would be easier, was wrong. Should have gone to Bulgaria.
• Not "Budapest Like" but since I love Budapest and also love the Balkans maybe you will to. April is good. Start with Dubrovnik and go south into Montenegro and north into Bosnia & Herzegovina. You get everything from Ottoman to Habsburg. Facinating and the nature is to die for.
• Istanbul is always tops on my list of great trips, and repeat trips.
  

I am sorry, that was no help. Just me running on ...........

Italy! I agree, throw a dart, but with public transport only and April, how about Emilia-Romagna?
If you go with one of the "big three," I'd pair it with a smaller city.

It does seem like Italy (or Germany) is a logical choice. I'll throw in my usual suggestion, which is to find the transatlantic flight that works best for you (whether that's low cost, high comfort, paid for with points, etc), and build your trip around that. E.g., last year's trip to Ireland started with a lie-flat business class seat (paid for with miles) to Frankfurt and a couple nights in the Mosel Valley. Flights and train rides within Europe are inexpensive. Cast the net wide and see what you catch. Have fun!

I'm going with the majority here. If you have not yet been to Italy...choose Italy. It has everything you are looking for on your list. I'd say for the first visit definitely include Rome and Florence (personally I'm not a Venice fan) but I'd also include a stay for at least a few days in the countryside as that will give you a more relaxed, tranquil pace.

I see that most people are recommending Italy, which is a place we've talked about visiting before. However, our trip would fall around the Easter holiday — probably the week before and the week after. Would that be a bad time to go?

Check and see about Easter festivals the week prior to Easter. I dont know about Italy, but in some places, like where I live, the festival is like the Christmas market season. It can be a plus.

Easter is a great time to visit Italy- just be aware many restaurants will be closed on Easter Sunday. Other than that you should be fine.

I received your PM, I hope you don’t mind that I answer here.

After 15 years of touring Western Europe, the usuals that are the bulk of the interest on this forum, I wandered into Eastern Europe. While I will still return to the West from time to time for something special, my fascination remains in the East.

The pleasure and the trouble with Eastern Europe is that there aren’t as many tourists and so there isn’t as significant a tourist infrastructure. That, in part, means you get to see the real place not the tourist props. Also means getting a little help makes a world of difference. The nice thing is Eastern Europe is significantly less expensive than most of the West so the total cost of the trip with guides and transfers can be about the same as a self-guided trip on trains and busses in the West. I like to think you get more for the money.

So first I will give you some people to assist. Another advantage, when you find good help you also find friends for life. Each of these have stayed in touch for many, many years and each I have used more than one time. Some, much more than one time.

In Romania TexasTravelMom, Mardee and CW traveled to Romania together a few weeks past so there are three great travel reports on Romania. They even have an upcoming video presentation with the guide they used. That and all the trip report links are here: https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/travel-meetings/travel-talk-our-visit-to-romania-with-special-guest-guide-teo-ivanciuc you probably can not beat the individual that Mardee, CW and TexasTravelMom used. So read their posts or contact them for information.

In Bulgaria on two occasions I have used Pavlina Docheva, Easy Bulgaria Travel, +359 87 895 6414, www.easybulgariatravel.com, [email protected]. She is good, very good. Her efforts substantially added to the trip.

In the Balkans (Bosnia & Herzegovina, Montenegro, Albania and Croatia) a place I try and return to once or twice a year. Yes, I love it that much. Despite all the “experience” the Balkans like most of Eastern Europe still have so many fascinating places little known in on the internet and the guidebooks that I continue to call the same person to help plan my trips. Worth every penny too. Dijana Krkotic, Doclea Travel, +382 68 456 630 [email protected] www.docleatravel.com If you search her name on the Forum you can find some references (other than mine).

In Dubrovnik I have had the absolute pleasure of using Nera Pavlovic, [email protected], https://www.linkedin.com/in/nera-pavlovic-b2186873/ , +385 98 183 4365 If you search her name on the Forum you can find some references (other than mine).

Finally in Kyiv and Lviv the most wonderful guide imaginable. Ekateryna Prokhochuk, Your Kiev Guide, +38 067 710 55 89, [email protected] , https://yourkievguide.com/ While her focus is Kyiv, she does the occasional Lviv tour and has associates in Lviv for her clients. And before you think it’s a nutty suggestion right now, while it does require a lot of thought, please put in that thought that we have had a few RS types visiting Egypt this year and the State Department puts Egypt at Level 3, the same as Lviv. If you want to go between now and the end of the year, you can come with me. January trip report: https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports/kyiv

Okay, so the contacts. Now my personal thoughts and opinions (which are far from universal on this forum … but then what fun is it if everyone agrees?).

Croatia: In recent years it has become expensive and the tourists are getting a bit thick. There are still off the beaten path places to go, but they seem to be a compromise compared to going to countries not yet hot on the tourist map. My exception is Dubrovnik. Yes, tourist heII but this history moves me and I just plain enjoy the city enough to make several returns. The rest of Croatia, well I keep getting dragged back with friends and family but its …………. for me at least. I will let others chime in about the wonders of Croatia. They will do better than me.

Bosnia & Herzegovina (BiH for short): Not in the EU and not on the Euro so you know you are off the path. This is really where the Ottomans meets the Habsburgs. Mosques, Orthodox Churches and Synagogues in one neighborhood. In Sarajevo western tourists in too short shorts and other tourists in burkas. The tea house is next to the bar. Few places have so many overlapping cultures, local and visiting. Food is pretty darn good, coffee amazing, beer pretty darn good. Wine? Well, ehhhhhh but some was okay. I have seen a lot of BiH so now I mostly go for fishing. Here is a trip report: https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/general-europe/fly-fishing-bosnia-herzegovina-5e8436c2-de0b-4e3f-b422-ce3a3037c63f I love videos to help decide where to go, in this thread you will find some good ones on BiH: https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/croatia/the-best-of-croatia-and-slovenia-in-12-14-days

Montenegro: Now we are talking! Coast to mountains. A spectacular country. Habsburg at the upper coast and Ottoman at the southern coast. View across canyons that cant be replicated. Rafting, fishing, zip lines across the deepest canyon in Europe. Walled cities on the coast, ancient olive trees, a 16th century ghost town. Wine …. Good wine. Wineries, olive plantations (ever done an olive oil tasting?), oysters …. It just doesn’t end. Videos: https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/montenegro/podgorica-to-dubrovnik-by-car

EDIT: I forgot Albania: Stunning but two weeks on its own. TexasTravelMom went recently and I think did a trip report. My contact thate went from guiding to running a tourist hotel, but I can ask he for a reference if you want.

So, if I were taking my daughter or a close friend on a two-week tour I would do something like this. Note that I only list the end points, there are stops all along the way with a guide and a car.
Day 0 Saturday, Depart
Day 1 Arrive Dubrovnik (Croatia)
Day 2 Dubrovnik (tour with a guide)
Day 3 Dubrovnik
Day 4 Head north with a driver/guide to the Kravica Waterfall (Bosnia & Herzegovina) - bring a swimsuit and join the locals, then the Blagaj Tejika Sufi monastery and then Mostar for the night.
Day 5 Mostar tour in the morning and then on to Sarajevo
Day 7 Sarajevo
Day 8 Sarajevo to Đurđevića Tara Bridge (Montenegro)
Day 9 Explore the River Canyon, stay or at least eat and drink at the Tara Motel MB (best view in the Balkans)
Day 10 Drive to the Ostrog Monastery and lunch from the Sokoline hotel (second best view in the Balkans). Then down to Kotor or Perast (my choice) for the night
Day 11 Do the tours of the islands and the caves or maybe one of the towns along the bay.
Day 12/13/14 These day gets inserted along the way, probably Montenegro, after doing a lot more thinking. I am thinking of a winery tour or two, in an abandoned 12th century village built into the side of a mountain maybe a boat trip.
Day 15, Sunday, Fly out of Podgorica back home.

A bit fast for my taste, but as a first trip I think it works for me. Sort of close to my first trip to the region and as a result I have returned 7 times.