Budapest, Bucharest, Sofia or Warsaw????

I was in Sofia about 3 years ago and very much enjoyed it. It has gotten some bad press on safety as of late and I hope it isnt true. Lovely place and I will return some day. Actually Bulgaria in general is pretty spectacular and well with the time. If you want to get out of Budapest research Eger and Gyor, both lovel and easy to reach by train. If you are traveling in the warm months think about the Black Sea resort towns.

I love Romania but Bucharest isnt a great destination in and of itself and there aren't a lot of great half day daytrips out of Bucharest. There are some very interesting towns within a few hours of Bucharest; Brasov and Sigisoara and Sibu for example. Translvania is a great 3 or 4 day road trip. Haven't been to Warsaw so can't comment there other than to say that my research hasn't put it at the top of my radar. Budapest is my favorite place in Central Europe and its an amazing place to unwind for a few days at the end of a trip. You can do it touristy or you can have a more interesting time and rarely see a tourist. Depends on your style. What time of year?

Erich of the places you've mentioned, I'd also suggest Budapest, but given your criteria of less touristy and being able to get into the countryside easily (as well as connections from where you'll be), I suggest you take a look at Ljubljana, Slovenia. There might be direct, or at least easy, flights from Podgorica, and access to the countryside is SO easy (and the countryside is exquisite). Just an idea.

I'll comment on the two I have visited, Sofie and Warsaw. but I should note, none of the choices you listed are particularly convenient to Montenegro, particularly Warsaw. I very much impressed by Sofia, but I visited the city relatively early in my traveling days, and it probably wouldn't hold up as well today if I revisited. The food, particularly the native red pepper-based cuisine, was particularly good. I was young and unmarried when I visited, so I also enjoyed the nightlife. I expected very little of Warsaw, and I used it only as a stopover between Vilnius and Krakow... and I wished I had stayed longer than two nights. I expected a gloomy, grey post-communist collection of concrete blocks. I was surprised... its a vibrant city with a beautiful old town. Some people complain that the old town "isn't authentic" (it was completely rebuilt), but this didn't matter at all to me. I didn't see any of the countryside outside of Warsaw. There's some interesting mountain regions around Sofia, but otherwise the Bulgarian countryside isn't very attractive (unless things have changed significantly since I visited). Lots of poorly maintained communist-era public housing and crumbling factories.

I've only been to two of your picks: Warsaw and Budapest. Like Tom, I was very pleasantly surprised by Warsaw. But it really seems to be a love it or hate it kind of place. Or at least pleasantly surprised or "meh" kind of place. :) The Old Town and Royal Way are lovely (and very inspiring considering they had to be rebuilt after the war), but I also enjoyed seeing some of the Soviet era buildings and structures. Yes, the apartment blocks are dreary, but there are some things that were definitely meant to be imposing and impressive...though not necessarily pretty. Though I really liked Warsaw and think it's well worth seeing if you're in Poland, I'm not sure if I'd make it one of my main destinations. Budapest is beautiful and the people are great. It's a bit gritty in places, but I didn't mind the grittiness because it made the city feel more lived in than, say, Prague which almost seems to exist solely for tourists. Budapest is quite touristy, but it doesn't feel like it. Part of it is that "lived in" feeling, part of it is that it's fairly spread out so you don't feel like you're packed cheek to jowl with other tourists. And though spread out, it's easy to get from place to place. (just throwing this out there) Krakow, though pretty touristy, is charming, gorgeous, and easy to get around in. It's in a beautiful area of Poland where the plains start to give way to rolling hills, then the foothills of the Tatra Mountains, then the mountains themselves. Zakopane, a little resort town a couple hours south of Krakow, is a tourist town, but most are from other parts of Poland and Slovakia who are there for the great hiking and skiing. Whatever you decide, have a wonderful trip!:)

By the way, you say you will be driving - I always took public transportation, but I've read here that taking a rented car from country to country in Central/Eastern Europe can be tricky. I think it has to do with credit card companies not insuring the rentals. Poland seems to be especially tricky for some reason. You might post a question in the transportation section to get particulars on that issue.

A car will not do you a lot of good in Budapest and most places of interest outside of Budapest are well served by public transport for about the same cost of parking a car for a day. On the otherhand if you go to Krakow and you are coming from the west through Budapest or Vienna the car or a bus is probably the best way to get there. Stop in the Slovakian High Tatra mountains and the Banska towns along the way. Beautiful.

You want to drive from Montenegro to these places? I hope you know that Warsaw for instance is a 24h- drive on roads that aren't always in perfect condition? Budapest and Bucharest are also at least 12h away, Sofia 10h. You said you will only have a few days, why waste them on the road? If you don't have enough time I would recommend to visit the Croatian coast instead and see some of the beautiful towns there, like Dubrovnik, Korcula, Split, Trogir, or the Plitvice Lakes.

Thanks for the info everyone! It looks like Budapest might be the best for me from what you've said. I'm hoping to catch a flight there and then rent a car. But it sounds like i should research the flights a little bit and then consider public transport, once i'm there.