Eastern Europe: Best Three - Week Trip by Train - Have you done it?

"It seems like a lot for 22 days."

In general: A number of travelers, including some who post here, find Rick's itineraries too fast to suite their own personal preferences in travel.

His itineraries are, technically, do-able by the independent traveler--but are easier if you have his kind of experience and resources, or you're on one of his tours, where professionals have booked hotels, are transporting you from place to place, etc.

Having said this, I'll bet any any of his itineraries are technically do-able, he works them out carefully so none are in the "not feasible" category--but some or many travelers choose to go slower.

So watch out for Rick's itineraries! They're not required.

Hi Claudia:

We too are planning a trip to Eastern Europe in the near future, and I am on this site to glean logistical tips.

I have to respectfully disagree with some of the other posters. We don't get to go to Europe every year, so we like to see lots of stuff. If you don't waste time, that itinerary looks totally doable--in 3 or 4 days less, we are throwing in Romania! But there's the rub: for folks like us who are used to renting a car, it seems as though we will have to take Rick's advice and not get a car for the whole trip, due to drop-off charges and, for example, extra insurance charges in Poland. We plan to wing that part, and if it seems to be too tricky we'll do something else.

You might want, for example, to spend less time in one or two of the cities and that would free up the schedule considerably. Krakow sounds like it's got a great square and Auschwitz, but my God did you see the hotel and pension prices? That's got to be a bad sign.

To us, the idea of ending up in Dubrovnik sounds delightful. The map seems to show a train route to Zagreb, no? Maybe he wants you to drive there. Cynthia

"I have to respectfully disagree with some of the other posters..."

Actually, there's only one other poster (so far), and you're not disagreeing with him. I said the itinerary is do-able; but that some find Rick's itineraries too fast. It's a matter of personal preference--no right or wrong answer here, thus no disagreement.

Sorry, Kent. I didn't mean to make you a multiple personality with that 's'. By "disagree" I meant to say that my preferences are on the faster side. Of course it depends on what their preferences are too.

I noticed, on her other question, that Rob posted on the Car Rental from Venice answers that he and his wife took the train from Ljubljana to Zagreb. That's probably where Rick expects folks to drop off the car after seeing the Julian Alps.

"Ljubljana ( catch early, direct 7.75 hr train) 12.Lijubljana 13. Bled 14.Rent car for Julian Alps 15.To Zagreb ( he doesn't say how to get there) early evening bus to Plitvice Lakes 16.Plitvice hike / afternoon bus to Split 17 Split 18. Boat to Korcula 19 Korula 20. Boat or bus to Dubrovnik 22. Dubronik fly home"

*We did part of this trip--here's how we arranged it: we took the train from Budapest to Ljubljana and used it as a base to explore the area. We rented a car in Ljubljana for the day to tour Bled and the Julian Alps. We liked Lujbljana a lot and spent 4 nights there.

*From Ljubljana and took the train to Zagreb.

*From the train station in Zagreb we took a bus to the airport and few Croatia Air to Dubrovnik. It was fairly inexpensive and much quicker than the alternatives--I'm not sure if there is a train between Dubrovnik and Zagreb.

*From Dubrovink we took the ferry to Kortula--you must check the ferry schedules carefully as the ferry doesn't run to and from Kortula every day.

*From Kortula we took a ferry to Split, and then flew home (check flights to Oslo) from there.

To answer your question I think that the trip is mostly do-able by train with the exception of traveling to southern Croatia. I'd look for ways to delete a destination or two (Prague or Plitvice Lakes region or maybe Kortula if the ferry schedule doesn't work out.)

Trains in Croatia only go as far south as Split. From there, you'll either go by bus directly to Dubrovnik or by ferry or hydrofoil to Hvar or Korcula and then on to Dubrovnik. Note that you'll need to take the bus between Zagreb and Split if you want to stop at Plitvice, as the train doesn't stop there. Also, train is your best bet from Ljubljana to Zagreb.

We did this itenary in July; Arrive in Prague, 3 nights; took night train to Krakow, arrive early morn; 2 nights in Krakow, depart Krakow 9pm for Budapest; arrive 8:30 am in Budapest, spent 3 nights; took early train to Bratislava for cheap flight to Split, took catamaran to Korcula, spent 2 nights; took catamaran to Dubrovnik for 4 nights with day trip to Mostar; This was about 2 weeks and felt busy but not rushed; Our group left Dubrovnik airport for Amsterdam or Switzerland for other activities. It was great not to have to deal with driving, rental cars, parking, etc. I think the 22 day trip is doable but you have to know how slowly or quickly you like to cover places. I've found that I'd always like to stay longer in a place but know that at some point you must move on, no matter how long you stay in one place.

I have just finished travelling through Eastern Europe and the Balkans, and with a week excursion to Paris I was gone 10 weeks. I find Rick Steves' travel itineraries far too rushed. What takes him 22 days I will do in more than 44. I don't want to come home from my vacation exhausted and in need of another vacation.

There is no more night train from Krakow to Eger. You have to take the night train to Budapest and then transfer to Eger from there. I ended up taking a day trip and that was fine.

This trip would be too rushed for me and I am even known to rush things!

I spent 4 nights in Prague, 3 nights in Krakow, 4 nights Budapest, 5 nights in the Transylvania region in Romania, 4 nights in Vienna, 9 nights between Munich and Nuremberg and thought I went at the perfect pace balancing a few day trips to smaller towns in the mix. I also took full advantage of night trains to maximize my time (I love night trains and am lucky to sleep on them!).

We like to travel at a slower pace but for you this might work well. Since we had been to Dubrovnik previously we decided to leave the rest of Croatia for another trip. Our trip included:

fly to Prague, 4 nights

bus to Cesky Krumlov, 4 nights

train to Vienna, 5 nights

train to Salzburg, 4 nights

train to Hallstatt, 3 nights

train to Krakow, 3 nights

train to Budapest, 4 nights

train to Ljublijana, 4 nights

bus to Bled, 3 nights,

bus to Piran, 3 nights

ferry to Italy

My husband thought we were in Cesky Krumlov for one day too long; I didn't. We probably spent 1 day too long in Piran but the rest of the trip fit us perfectly.
One night train we planned on was full so book those as soon as you can.