Hi All, Pretty experienced European traveler here. Planned a number of European trips for my friends and family. Just decided to head back to Europe for spring break with a group of friends. Right now the rough itinerary is looking like 2.5 days in Budapest + 1 day side trip to Eger but still based in Budapest, 2 days Vienna, 1 day Melk and driving to Slovania + 2 days roaming around the Vrsic pass, Julian Alps, Lake Bled. Here is what I'm struggling with right now. Is Eger really worth a day trip from Budapest? Rick Steves books seem semi-neutral about the day-trips from Budapest. Any personal experiences/recommendations. The cave wine-tasting in the Siren's Valley seems like that could be fun/relaxing, but is it in a pretty location? I don't want to make a day trip just for wine tasting. The next question is on resources for the Julian Alps. Anybody have specific books they used? Rick Steves Eastern Europe seems a bit to scarce. Also, Rick says that the Vrsic pass is closed in April. I've read that it's weather permitting elsewhere. Anyone have any information/personal experience with the Vrsic pass. And as always any recommendations for improvement to my rough itinerary would be much appreciated!
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Chicago/Rural WI
811 posts
We did the Budapest-to-Eger day trip, and while we found Eger to be an interesting change of pace I'm not sure if it was worth the 2-ish hours each way from Budapest. I think if we did it again I would find towns to visit that are a little closer by literally pulling up a map of Hungary and plugging town names into Google to see if anything interesting turns up. The Vrsic Pass was closed in March when we were in Slovenia a couple years ago, so we took a drive up to Klagenfurt, Austria, instead. It was a gorgeous drive and a great town, so if the Pass is still closed you may want to consider that as an alternative. Speaking of which, I am pretty sure the Pass is only loosely closed in April and that its opening is weather-dependent. You may get lucky... Lastly, I wish I could help with book resources for the Julian Alps area, but we mostly used the internet and then did some planning on the fly. One thing I'd researched but we ran out of time for was to visit Lake Bohinj, which is near Lake Bled. Apparently it gets a lot less tourist traffic but is equally stunning. Have fun!