Hello. I'm looking for advice about traveling in and through Slovakia in mid-late October with my husband and our two adults kids for two weeks to get a feel for the region where our grandparents grew up. Husband and I were in Austria (Vienna, Graz, Salzburg) in the 1980s but at that time, the Iron Curtain kept us from crossing the Danube into Bratislava and beyond.
This is our chance to get back to that region and explore a bit. I'm thinking that we should start in Krakow so that we could visit Auschwitz (husband's grandparents died there) and then move southward either through Slovakia toward Bratislava (is there a route to drive through the Tatras?), or around to Vienna for a few days, then Bratislava and some of the sites within reach of that city. We could end up in Budapest for a couple of days and fly home from there.
Here are my questions for this forum:
1. Has anyone done that particular route? Is Krakow a good place to fly into, or should we go first to Vienna, for instance?
2. Should we travel primarily by Train between city centers, or is it reasonable to have a car to drive on our own?
3. During that shoulder season, are the castles, opal mine, other worthwhile sightseeing spots open and good to visit?
4. Will there be a high likelihood of encountering rough weather? For instance, should we avoid going to or near the Tatras? [No snow for me, please!]
5. As we look for lodging along the way , I would appreciate any recommendations from this group. We don't need luxury or fancy, but must be clean and comfortably accommodate 4 adults. We would most appreciate staying where we may meet some locals, get their advice about local things to do/eat, et al.
6 Also, we tend to be fairly independent in new places, but we are interested in using local tour guides or services to enrich our visits during this trip, so please include recommendations for that, if you can. For instance, Is there a tour or travel guide you would recommend for the day trip to Auschwitz?
Looking forward to your thoughts and suggestions!