The Big Cities: Bucharest, Belgrade, Sarajevo

Bucharest is fantastic for maybe two nights. Then what is even more fantastic is Transylvania. You cant possibly go all the way to Bucharest and not see Transylvania! That would be criminal. To begin to do Transylvania justice you will need 3 nights and 5 nights wouldnt be too long. http://budapestflat.shutterfly.com/easterneurope and http://budapestflat.shutterfly.com/rom2 I am sure there are a lot of good guides that can show you the area. One that I know does a good job is Daniel Gheorghita http://covinnus.com/ . I have never been to Belgrade because the information I have just hasn't made it a top tier kinda place to visit. I haven't been to Sarajevo yet either. What I have heard is interesting but right now I see it as a side trip and not a major destination. I could be wrong about both and won't know for sure until I get there. My goal is to head that way in 2014. Another option is Sophia, Bulgaria and then into the countryside of Bulgaria. I have been here and it was totally enjoyable. Bulgaria is pretty underrated and there are not many tourists. From Sofia to the Black Sea the sights are absolutely stunning and it's a very inexpensive trip. Again, two nights in Sofia and 3 to 5 nights on the road through the country to the Black Sea. From the Black Sea resorts you can get some pretty good flights elsewhere in Europe. http://budapestflat.shutterfly.com/bulgaria and http://budapestflat.shutterfly.com/bul2 and http://budapestflat.shutterfly.com/bu3 I can dig up the name of the guide if you are interested.

Thanks for your insight. Flying into Bucharest, and out of Zadar, Croatia 13 days later, so not so much thinking of these cities as major destinations but because I will likely be transiting through them via train and want to know which ones merit a night or two. We are definitely doing Transylvania after Bucharest, then probably on to Serbia and/or Bosnia before finishing in Croatia. Would love to check out Bulgaria but it's not in the right direction for this trip - next time!

There is a lot of info about Bucharest on inyourpocket.com I would spend 2 nights/ Belgrade has good nightlife if you are into that. You were wanting to go to Montenegro? I would probably skip Belgrade on this trip and concentrate on Montenegro and Croatia. Do you only have 2 weeks? You could easily spend a week in just Sarajevo and Bosnia.

Sarah,
I forgot to ask did you work out a route are you driving?

We are leaning towards not driving. I have read mixed things about driving and we're nervous car renters anyway. The itinerary i'm starting to put together is roughly
Bucharest to Sighi?oara for 2 nights, then to Belgrade via overnight train from Bucharest (aware the last leg is a bus). Overnight Belgrade, then another long train/bus to Sarajevo for two nights. Train or bus to Mostar for one night, then train or bus to Dalmatian coast, find some little villiage or island to chill out on before busing to Zadar to catch our flight out. We only have 13 days. The alternative would be to keep the first part of the trip the same, but from Belgrade take the long scenic train to Bar in Montenegro, then spend a couple nights in Kotor before heading to Croatia. Serbia's really just in the middle, there's no way to skip it to get from Romania to Croatia (unless I fly which is something I'm looking into as an alternative) I don't love the fact that we'll be spending so much time on buses and trains but it seems unavoidable. We could try to see less but the more I research the more I really want to do Sarajevo.

I dont know what your budget is but you might be surprised how reasonable a guide can be in Romania. Daniel, who i have known for a number of years now will problaby be able to drop you off in Belgrade after seeing Transylvania. Several years back when the trains went on strike he drove us to Budapest at a remarkably low rate. It was was perfect road trip with all the little villages along the way.

I landed in Bucharest and rented a car there, drove around a bit, had lunch and then left for the countryside. I am sure if I were with a local it would have been more intriguing, but I am more a village person. Driving there was the easiest place I have driven in Europe. You just have to share the road with the horses and carts in the villages. The drive was relaxing and stunning and we could stop in any village. If you don't want to drive I would definitely look into James advice for a driver. There are so many little places to stop along side the road and I feel a bus would be terribly boring and not give you the same experience. Transylvania is so beautiful and I found the people to be very friendly and the food was wonderful. I love Romania and would go back in a minute. (At one point the road just ended and we had to load the car onto a barge that took us across the river... no bridge... If you PM me I can give you my website and you can look at a slideshow of my photos from that trip.

Thanks for the advice. I think we're going to train from Bucharest to Brasov as it's supposed to be a very scenic train ride, but then we might rent a car for a few days in Transyvania, and then drive to a good train station with service to Belgrade. I've got a decent rough itinerary worked out, the main thing is choosing between going from Belgrade to Sarajevo, then Mostar, then Croatia, or going on the famous Belgrade-Bar railway to Montenegro, then to Kotor, then Croatia. I want to do both, but due to timing we'll have to choose one or the other. Sigh.