Romania and Bulgaria or Turkey

This is a hard question - you haven't mentioned how you intend to travel and what you intend to see. Two years ago we traveled through the Balkans - in Bulgaria we visited Sofia, Plovdiv and Veliko Tarnovo before crossing into Romania - where we visited Bucharest, Brasov and Bran Castle.

This was at the tail end of a 3.5 week trip so we did not have more time to explore Romania further. Last year we visited Istanbul before heading into Syria, Lebanon and Jordan. All the places are worth visiting and quite different - Istanbul is exciting based on where it sits at the junction of Asia and Europe.

The ultimate answer is 'it depends' - on how much time you want to spend traveling, how much money, and the mode of transportation you intend to use. I generally like to visit a lot of places that are close together - this reduces travel costs and more importantly time spent in traveling.

Other things to consider - you could do a loop from Bulgaria through Serbia, Bosnia and/or Croatia before heading back to Budapest.

We have always rented a car and travel more or less independently when we tour. Although money is an issue, it is not an overiding concern.

I did consider taking the loop you mentioned, but I have been unable to locate an agency that will allow us to pick up a car in Bulgaria and return it in Budapest without an unacceptable drop off charge. I will continue to search. We know that trains are an option, but it is not our way of traveling.

We can rent a car Rousse, take three or four days touring Bulgaria and return the car in Rousse. We can then cross the Danube to Romania: rent a car there: tour Romania and return near the border in Hungary where we rent a car in Hungary and return it to Budapest. This way we can tour Bulgaria, Romania and Northern Hungary. Or we can decide to visit Turkey. Our decision will be based primarily on the differences in culture and landscaping between Eastern Europe and Turkey.

Our research continues. Any comments will be apprciated.

Dean

I looked at the map to find out where Rousse is located. Your proposed plan will work but will only give you about 3-4 days in each country and you will need to cover a fair distance driving through Romania and Hungary in order to get back to BUD.

An alternative maybe to drive and see Bulgaria. Cross into Turkey and rent a car there and drive to Istanbul. Then try and grab a flight to BUD. If you book well in advance I'm guessing you should be able to get a decent airfare.

Hi!

We will be traveling the same time you are to Bulgaria, Turkey and Greece, so I can't give you past personal experience info.

We do have a personal travel website, I put up
videos on Bulgaria and Turkey..for friends who ask us....now, why are you going THERE! :)

Anyway, if you would like to view the Sofia, Plovdiv, Veliko Turnovo videos and of course IST, ephesus and Capadoccia.

and I included the list of websites we have used in our research too, and those might be of assistance to you!

Here's our website.

ourpassportstamps.com

Have a wonderful journey!

K.

I've been to Bulgaria many times and I am not a big fan of it, except for the Southern part close to Greece and maybe the seaside.
Over the past years there've been some problems in Bulgaria on the roads. Thieves wearing Police uniform stop cars and rob them.
Many parts of Romania are cool. Transylvania, Bucharest or Northern areas, for a rural touch of the country and painted monesteries.
I personally loved Turkey.

I am close to our decision and really do appreciate the comments of others. OK I need a vote. Which country do we go, Romania or Turkey?

We are leaning toward Turkey as assume it is different than most Eastern European countries. Are we right?

If you have traveled through the Middle Eastern countries before, then Romania. If not, the answer is easy - Turkey.

Curious - Are you planning on flying back to BUD from IST or driving?

Turkey is definitely not like Eastern European countries. It's our favorite destination in Europe.

Okay, maybe tied with Italy. And France. Okay, so it's certainly one of our favorite European destinations.

Turkey it is!

We have open jaw tickets from American Airlines thanks to our frequent flyer miles with them. This will allow us to change our Budapest departure that we have now to a Istanbul departure flying directly to London via British Airways. From London, we fly home to Los Angeles. It will only cost us $150.00 each - a good deal!

Thank you to everyone who has helped us make this decision.