Central - Eastern Europe itinerary

Lots of possibilities. I'm assuming you're taking the train? You could take a look at Lake Balaton and/or Zagreb on the way from Budapest to Ljubljana. You could add a day trip to Sopron to Vienna. You could add a day to Budapest. You could stop off in Graz on the way back to Vienna. You could hire a car or investigate buses to see more of the Istrian peninsula. I took a quick look at Venice one June to see whether I should go back, and fell in love. But I went back in November, June was already ridiculously crowded and that was 2004. If you pick Venice, and there are good reasons to do so, START in Venice. In fact, I'd be inclined to start in the south and work north in any case, because of the weather.

the places you mentioned are all good but very similar architecture and history mostly austrain-hungarian empire influenced, so after a while they look all the same baroque stuff. i'd suggest you think about venice, or maybe piran or koper on the slovenia coast for a change of venitian style it'll be a good mix. i think 1 day in ljubjana is good enough and 7 days in vienna is a little too much.

Seven days in Vienna? That's fine if you were born there but I'm not sure what I'd do for that long unless I was attending specif concerts over that time period. That is of course only my opinion but I'm wondering what you're doing. Budapest, which is a beautiful city, is also in my questioning of what you're going to do over 4 days. Immersion is one thing and I understand that. If you are truly planning a tourist style trip, I'd question more that 2 or 3 nights in any one location.

I found enough to do in Vienna and Budapest I've been back to both (11 full days total in Vienna and 9 in Budapest), and will return to Budapest again on my next trip. Besides plenty to do in town, there are day trips possible from both. Everyone travels differently.

I'm completely with Kathy on this - everyone travels differently and has different passions and interests. I can't get enough of Vienna -this will be my third visit in three years. There is so much I still want to do, or do again. LIke, I can spend a day just going thru the china and pocelain exhibit at the Hofberg. And I see a lot of potential in Budapest. I have a strong attraction to this part of Europe and I expect I will love Slovenia too. I think I might have lived in Vienna in a past life. My step-father was Viennese so maybe I acquired this attraction by osmosis. Whatever...it's there. I guess it's more common to feel this way about Paris or Italy, but I guess I hear a different drummer. These destinations are in my future, but not in the present. @Kathy - it appears the ferry from Piran to Venice no longer operates. SIGH!!

@Elaine: Take a look at http://www.directferries.co.uk There are still ferries from Pula and Rovinj in Croatia, which are not much further. Have you read Jan Morris' book on Trieste? I haven't been, but after reading the book it's on my list.

That's a thought - I hadn't considered Croatia, but why not?
Thanks.

Venice! Venice! Venice! You will not regret it. It is so different and romantic. No cars, something different around every corner, you work or take the waterbus (vaporetto) to wherever you want to go, and the PIZZA! The worst pizza I had in Venice was better than the best pizza I have ever had in North America! My wife and I have been to Venice at least eight times during our travels (sometimes for as long as a week at a time), and we are going again in September. There's always something different to see. From Rick Steves guidebooks he indicates that Bratislava is not worth your time compared to the wonderful things you will see in Vienna, Budapest and Venice. He has also indicated that one day in Ljubljana is probably sufficient. I will throw one more beautiful place out for your consideration: Prague. A lovely city. You will enjoy your trip for sure!

OK David, you're pushing me more towards Venice. Prague is high on my next time list. I'm thinking that Prague would mesh better on a trip that included Poland, Berlin and Northern Germany. When Rick dissed Heidelburg, I knew he was not All-Knowing after all. The opera in Bratislava is an experience I want. And Ljubljana has the Austro-Hungarian history and the architecture that just grabs me. I'll plan on two days - if it's not what I expected, I'll take a daytrip or leave day earlier for Venice. Because I think I'm going to Venice, especially if can get the experience of a ferry across the Adraiatic to get there. Do they have limoncello there?

I'm another non-fan of Bratislava. I am fan of Ljubljana, although two days is probably enough. Loved, loved Venice, but only in the off season. Again, go there first! Definitely limoncello, but also you have to try a spritz. It will work out - spritz before dinner, limoncello after dinner. I like my spritz's made with bitters, but then I don't have a sweet tooth, you may prefer aperol. (See http://tmagazine.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/09/09/case-study-toasting-the-venetian-spritz/ )

You may want to give Rovinj a shot. It's a picturesque sleepy little fishing village on Croatia's Istrian coast. It's very quaint and charming. You can easily reach Rovinj from Ljubljana via bus (about 5hrs). Istria provides a nice Mediterranean-influenced counter balance to the Austro-Hungarian cities on your itinerary. Slovenia's natural beauty is best explored via rental car. It's very easy to rent a car in Slovenia. 5 days in Slovenia will give you ample to explore the natural wonders of this beautiful country. For a country of its size, Slovenia offers a stunning array of amazing sites, from Lakes Bled and Bohinj in the West, to Skocjan cave in the South and Logarska Dolina in the North Central part. Did I mention Ljubljana's appealing easy-going ambience? Let me know if you'd like more information on visiting either Slovenia or Croatia. Your draft itinerary looks good. Nothing wrong with spending time at places you enjoy. Happy Travels! Chad

I would agree that we all like different styles of travel. In Spring 2010, we spent 3 days in Ljubljana and loved every minute of it - lots of great building, museums, bridges, markets, people watching to keep one busy. We are going to Budapest in Spring 2012 and staying for 5 days before taking a river cruise to Amsterdam. But back to your trip - I would strongly recommend spending time on the Istra Peninsula. The wee towns along the west coast are very Venetian in look and feel. We stayed in Rovinj for 7 days and explored a different Istra Peninsula seaside or hill town each day. But, I think one needs a car to do this. We did not see a lot of local buses on the roads (but they may have good service and we just didn't notice the buses). Driving in this area is easy. If you want to catch a ferry to (or from) Venice, there are regular scheduled ones from Pula (a great town with a large Roman amphitheater) on the southern tip of Istra, Rovinj or Novigard. All are lovely seaside towns with beautiful views, building, historical sights, etc - so, much to see and so little time. For car rental, we used Sixt and had a number of very positive experiences while dealing with them. Happy travels,
Bev

I agree that Venice would be a great addition to your trip, giving you a totally new experience. I also agree that it might be best to start in Venice in May, and work your way toward Vienna, rather than the opposite. I would recommend that you wait to find your transportation between Ljubljana and Venice until you arrive in Europe. You may be able to find a direct bus or a good bus-train combination. Be assured that you'll be able to do it, and don't worry about the details too much now (as schedules are always subject to change anyway). Sounds like a great trip!

Thanks to everyone for all the suggestions.....you've given me some destinations to consider that I really wouldn't have thought of on my own.

We just did exactly or almost exactly this trip. Vienna - 4 days Budapest - 5 Plitvice Lakes - 1 Split - 2 Ljubljana - 1
Austrian countryside S of Salzburg - 2 days Comments 1) DO NOT MISS Plitvice Lakes - the best of our trip - super beautiful, but NOT on 6/24 (Croatian national holiday). It was very crowded, but amazing. 2) 5 nights in Budapest was too long - 3 would have been better 3) If you have a car, you have more flexibility 4) Do not miss Mauthaussen Concentration Camp near Vienna, the House of Terror in Budapest or the Memorial sculture garden near Budapest. 5) One funny place to eat in Budapest is the Marxim Pizza shop in Pest N of Castle Hill - mocks out communism with funny pizza names. 6) Ljubljana is a great place - I could easily have stayed another day - 1 day is not enough

Elaine, I also think you would love Venice. I just got back from a trip to Belgium, Italy and Croatia. We went from Venice to Porec, Croatia via the ferry which was very easy to do. It is a 2 1/2 trip across the sea to Porec which is a cute little seaside town with good restaurants. We used Venezia Lines and it cost about 120 euro per person (round trip as we were flying home from Venice). We LOVED Croatia and our only regret was that we only had 5 days there.