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Slovak Republic

My wife and I are seriously considering a Eastern European trip (by train) to include Slovakia and, possibly, Poland. Seems that I have an ancestral connection to a suburb (?) of Kosice, a place known as Kavecany. We have never been any further east then Bratislava (a day trip from Vienna), and was wondering what to expect as far as ease of train travel and potential language barriers. Any and all input will be appreciated

Posted by
4637 posts

There are few direct trains Prague - Kosice. They take about 8 hours. From Bratislava to Kosice 5 to 6 hours. English is now mandatory language at school. Young people should be able to speak at least some English. Kavecany is indeed a suburb of Kosice and also a resort. The most attractive destination on the way to Kosice is High Tatras (Vysoke Tatry). Beautiful jagged peaks. It's like condensed Alps. You would get off the train at Poprad.

Posted by
1547 posts

We were in Kosice for a day and a night on our way from Budapest and Eger in Hungary to Lviv in Ukraine (about 3 years ago). It is a nice little town and we did not have any language issues. But then again, we did not travel into the country side. I was well prepared with routing etc. so was able to communicate with the lady at the bus station since we we taking a double bus connection to Uzhgorod in Ukraine. Train travel - depends on where you are coming from and where you are traveling to. We took the train from Eger with a change in Fuzesabony on the way to Kosice. Train wasn't an option (or at least a viable one for where we wanted to go in Ukraine so we used a bus to Uzhgorod and a train from there to Lviv. One observation - we were in Kosice on a Sunday and the town was very quiet with not much going on it seemed. This was in early August.