Itinerary for Eastern Europe

If I don't count days you arrive and depart you got 15 days. And you want to see 5 places plus Prague and Ljubljana, that's seven and because in Auschwitz you are so close to Krakow that it would be sin not to visit it you got 8 destinations to visit and for 15 days that's more than enough. If you don't want to hurry that much I would eliminate Auschwitz and Krakow this time because they are out of your way.

Hi Mike, Something to keep in mind is that on the Auschwitz-Birkenau website they discourage bringing children under the age of 14. Now, obviously your son isn't old enough to even begin to understand what Auschwitz is, but it is a solemn site and having a child that young can be very distracting to other visitors on the tour (which lasts 3 hours, unless you visit on your own before 10:00 am and after 3:00 pm, at which point you can enter Auschwitz I without a guide). I speak from recent personal experience and hate to be presumptuous here, but thought I'd mention it. Anyhow, for the flow of the trip and to minimize transit time, I would look at going roughly in a straight-ish line between Prague and Ljublana. Because you love natural beauty I would focus in on the Lake Bled/Lake Bohinj area, and I'm sure Austria has a lot to offer (Melk/Wachau Valley area? Heard it's beautiful) but I've only been to Vienna and Klagenfurt. Klagenfurt, by the way was a cool town and there is a big lake nearby. Plitvice is nice, plenty of natural beauty there, too, but you may want to consider renting a car in Slovenia to drive down there, as transportation might otherwise be arduous. Options are endless, toughest part is narrowing them down!

Auschwitz, "natural beauty". Actually very little of what you listed will entail much "natural beauty" until you get to Slovenia or unless you get into the Czech countryside which is lovely. The plight of the Jews in the Holocaust is too horrific for me to ever want to go see Auschwitz. BUT, fortunately just about 150 km from Krakow are the best of the Slovakia High Tatra Mountains. Talk about natural wonders. This place is stunning. From there reaching Budapest isnt too difficult. From Budapest you can catch a train to Zagreb and on to Luby. You mentioned a eurorail pass? Before you do that you might want to price the individual legs. If you want to see the natural beauty and experience these places in any depth then I it might be a good idea to eliminate a stop. Just the long haul from Budapest to luby is going to take you a day and a half with changes and probably an overnight in Zagreb. Maybe 12 july arrive Prague 13 Prague 14 Prague (maybe a day trip to Cesky Krumlov or karstejn Castle) 15 Prague to Krakow by bus 16 Krakow 17 Krakow 18 Krakow to the Kempinski in Štrbské Pleso, Slovakia by hotel driver 19 Štrbské Pleso 20 Štrbské Pleso to Banska towns and on to Budapest by tour guide 21 Budapest 22 Budapest 23 Budapest 24 Budapest to Zagreb by train 25 Zagreb to Bled by bus I think 26 Bled 27 Bled to Ljub
28 Ljub home

To be honest if I had a one year old (and I have raised three) I wouldn't try this. Its difficult at best but with an infant? Tough on you and all too often not fair to those around you. Pick a pretty city that interest you and get a really nice accommodation and base from that and do short day trips. Bled, Budapest, Prague even in the High Tatras of Slovakia all work and each has some great cityscapes and great nature a short distance away. Or at most campout in Prague for half the trip and in Ljub for the other half of the trip.

Instead of Auschwitz, go to Terezin as a day trip from Prague. For natural beauty, forget Europe - get in your car and drive anywhere. You are in and near some of the most beautiful scenery in the world. Even without nature, you are spreading yourselves rather thin, especially since you will be going at a slower pace with your little one. I'd recommend fewer hotel changes. There are a couple of nice day trips from Budapest to little towns.

Check out RS Eastern Europe tour daily itinerary to see where he prioritizes his places. I took that tour and enjoyed the area. I returned from Croatia 2 days ago after 23 days in Europe and saw some families with very small children (don't think any of them as young as 1 y/o tho)and they all did not seem very happy with their crying kids. Hope you have a better experience.

We went to Mauthausen (near Linz, 1/2 between Salzburg and Vienna) 2 summers ago. 1) If you have never gone to a camp, go. Yes, depressing. Yes, sobering. But this is history, and this is why Europe is interesting. Every part of Europe has had a layer of pretty terrible stuff. You want REAL horror? Try the 100 years war, or the religious wars in France. Makes the treatment of the Jews look pretty tame. We are talking about packing churches full of women and children and burning the whole thing. 2) I went to Auschwitz when I was 8. I was not paralyzed with horror. I was quite amazed, and became quite interested in history, not with a morbid interest, but with the interest of trying to understand. Children of elementary age can be shown quite terrible things in an age-appropriate way. We also went to ossieries (bone houses) with WW1 remains. I am a normal person (YMMV on normal). When you go to Europe, you go for many reasons. But generally one reason is history. For many of us, our families are rooted in Europe, and that historical root becomes more interesting as we get older. WW1 is going to be the subject of our next trip. My grandfather was in Sarajevo on June 28, 1914, according to my mother. I am trying to find out if stuff will be going on to commemmorate this signal event and the WW1 cataclysm.

James, interesting, your reaction at the Pinkas Synagogue. I also found it to be a gut-wrenching experience. Given the nature of Terezin, I think a one-year old child would not be likely to cause the kind of disturbance that Angela brought up. In the meantime, Mike's probably flying tomorrow, so he's surely got his itinerary nailed down.

@ Paul...good historical analogy on the French religious wars, etc. I've seen these "bone houses" too stemming from WW I but only in France. In northern France near Vimy and the big military WW I cemetery (very poignant as you walk through the place and read the language) in Neuville St. Vlaast is located the hugh French WW I military cemetery at Notre Dame de Lorette with its seven ossuaries. There is also one at Chateau Thierry at the Anglo-French WW I cemtery. Seeing these really brings home the slaughter of a generation. In 2009 the 90th anniversary of the Paris Peace Conference ending WW I, I saw in London, Berlin, Vienna, Paris extensive special exhibits on the WW I, eg., Imperial war Museum in London, in Vienna the Heeresgeschichtlichesmuseum (Military History Museum), etc. You can bet that 2014 will have "specials" in these big history museums.

My husband and I just traveled from Plitvice Lakes to Ljubljana - by bus to Zagreb and then on to Ljubljana by train. It is easy by bus from Ljubljana to Bled - about 1 1/2 hrs. Ljubljana is a great city and Lake Bled is quite beautiful.