I had originally planned a 3 week trip starting in Prague, including Kutna Hora, Konopiste, Cesky Krumlov, then to Bratislava and on to Budapest. Then I had planned to go to Eger, then head up to Poland. But once I started reading about some of the places in Slovakia, now I'm wondering if we should skip Poland this trip and include places in Slovakia such as Kosice, Spis Castle, The Tatras, Presov, Levoca, Banska Bystrica, Banska Stiavnica, Bojnicky...even Trencin Castle and Cicmany. They all sound so interesting! I'm wondering why Rick didn't include more of Slovakia in his book.
If any of you have traveled that area in Slovakia, please give me your opinion on places we shouldn't miss. And if we were to visit a lot of those places, how much time do you think we need for Slovakia? We have 3 weeks total. I have the first 9 or 10 days taken up with Czechia and Budapest. Would you move on to Poland after Budapest and Eger, or stay for a while in Slovakia, even if that means leaving off Poland this trip? Or, can we see that area of Slovakia and still make it to Poland? We are not big museum people, and we actually like smaller places rather than large cities, although we want to see the important ones. I know going in May means we won't be hiking in the mtns., so we would just want to drive through that area and see what we can.
Thank you so much for any suggestions you can give me!