First time doing a Rick Steve's tour. Any suggestions on side trips in Krakow or Hungary? It is our 25th anniversary then, and we backpacked Europe (western) in 2000 on our honeymoon. Do most people add days before or after the tour typically, or both? I think I'd like to see more Slovenia .
Posted by
235 posts
Yes most people come in 1 or 2days before to get over jet lag and lots add days to the end of trip.
Posted by
Seattle suburbs
71 posts
Steven
I would suggest at least two days before. Also consider your route to the first day meeting. Our goal is to get to Europe as fast as possible. London, Paris, Rome, Amsterdam, etc. those are places you can enjoy for free while in route and adjusting to time. Paris is our favorite, so much to experience. London is easy to get around on the Tube and lots of plays to see. We did a RS 7 day tour before our RS Spain tour back to back. Low key and one hotel.
What ever you decide, pack light, enjoy new friends and the best guides.
Don & Cyndi
Posted by
Pennsylvania
267 posts
We did this tour last summer in 2023. It was great!
This is what we did in our free time in the cities you asked about:
Krakow - Schindler Factory (it’s a good idea to book your tickets in advance). We chose the English guided tour and felt it was worthwhile. Others in our group went to the Wieliczka Salt Mines. That seemed interesting as well, but we had to make a choice because of limited time. Check with the RS Tour office (a couple months before your tour) about the timing of the Auschwitz visit before you book tickets to anything else-they were very helpful about it.
Budapest - We did the House of Terror Museum. Heavy subject matter but we enjoy history museums. I recommend getting the audio guide for an extra couple bucks. We also visited the Shoes on the Danube exhibit/installation and St Stephens Basilica. Others in the group toured the Opera House and had good things to say about it.
Post-tour we flew home immediately and didn’t spend extra days because we spent about a week before the tour in London and Vienna. Vienna was only 4 hours by train to Prague, the start of the tour, so that worked well for us. It’s definitely a good idea to at least get to Europe, if not the starting city, a day or two ahead of the tour, to cushion any possible flight delays and adjust to the time change. Check about flights home from Ljubljana. In our case, it was difficult and had many connections. We needed up flying home from Venice to get reasonable flights (itinerary not price). That may factor in your post-tour plans.
Posted by
Southport, NC
376 posts
Hi there!
We did this tour last summer and loved it!
Pre-tour, we arrived 3 nights before the tour began. The first day, we took the local train to Cesky Krumlov, about 2.5 hours from Prague. Some consider it the fair-tale town of Europe. It was a long day, but just what we needed to rest up from the long flight. The next day we walked to Vysehrad, a huge fortress on the river, and viewed Dancing House on the way there. We did a very touristy thing and went to the Ice Bar and had drinks along the river. That night we took in a concert at the Klementinum Libray (bought tickets the morning of). The morning before the tour started, we went to the Jewish Quarter and walked around a bit.
Post-tour we left the luggage at the hotel and took a taxi to Vintgar Gorge, then walked back. It's so beautiful and the walk was super picturesque. The local bus from Lake Bled to Ljubljana takes roughly and hour, where we did an additional night. This town is so beautiful it rivals Salzburg!! Because we were so close to Italy, we added on the RS Heart of Italy tour and stopped in Venice on the way, which was an easy 3 hour van ride.
Free-time on-tour:
After the Prague Castle tour, we walked over to the monk's brewery (can't remember the name) then Petrin Tower. In Budapest we went to the thermal bathhouse. In Krakow, we went to Schindler's Factory. We had tickets for a vodka tasting in Krakow, but our times for Auschwitz/Birkenau were moved a bit so we had to cancel. In Rovinj, we walked around the town.
Because our trip was so long this time (over 5 weeks), we didn't want to cram a bunch of stuff in, and decided to meander more. I will say there is a lot of bus time on this tour because the distances were so great. I wish we would have rented a car in Lake Bled and spent more time in Slovenia, which is so beautiful. It's one of the few places on my re-visit list!! If your plan is to stay in Slovenia, you will love it!