Our family of three is just starting to plan a three-week trip in September to Eastern/Central Europe . We would like to visit Hungary ( Budapest – Eger ), Slovenia ( Ljubljana – Lake Bled – Julian Alps ), Croatia ( Plitvice - Split), and Czech Republic (Prague ). These are not definites just ideas for now still researching. We will be using our fly miles if possible from USA and would like recommendations on a trip itinerary and transportation hubs to arrive and depart from, such as which city would be a good location to fly into? Here is our situation ...the first 2 weeks we will have our daughter accompanying us (three adults) so will need to be at end of 2 weeks at an convenient location to get her back on a flight to USA, then my husband and I will continue on for the one last week to eventually end up in at another convenient location for a return flight to USA. Somewhere in that senario we feel arriving in Budapest or leaving from Budapest would be good. We realize the first thing is to decide on a open jaw flight arrangement, then we will move forward to plan our European travel between stays using public transportation (trains, buses,low cost planes, or possibly car rentals ...we are not used to mountain driving so we are not to sure about car rentals.) We like to spend about 3 days at each location, we don"t want to be just traveling all the time. Any ideas would be very helpful.
Thank you!
Posted by
US Pacific Northwest
10344 posts
Beverly: You seem to be organized and have done some research already, this makes itinerary planning much easier. If you look on the map, you can see that the Czech republic is northwest of Budapest; and Austria, which is not on your itinerary, is between the Czech Republic and Slovenia. So one possibility, and just one, is to fly into Prague and, after you've seen the Czech Republic, go south to Slovenia and then southeast to Croatia and then north/northeast to Budapest, departing from Budapest. Or you could do it in reverse. Itinerary planning takes more than one reply, so why don't you get back to us with what you think so far.
Posted by
WPB, FL & Firenze
3112 posts
If you follow Kent's route suggestion, then Zagreb would be a good choice for your daughter's return. There should be daily flights to cities like Frankfurt and Paris that have good connections back to the USA. If doing the trip in reverse, then Ljubljana would be a good choice for her return.
Posted by
Powell River, Canada
359 posts
Beverly; excellent choices from the other posts. For me, other stops on suggested itineraries would include Vienna and Bratislava (beautiful old town). If you start in Prague, you go right by enroute to Budapest and they'd be a shame to miss. Sleep in Vienna (not a bad/reasonable $ hotel right at the airport), do Vienna/Brat on day trips by bus (1 hour+/-)and on from there. I've travelled the areas mentioned by plane, train and automobile and would do train to the extent possible. If you don't like mountain driving, there are some spots that might 'put you off'; that said, I'm not big on it either and a lot of the roads, for example from Ljubljana to the Croatian border, are 4 lanes with toll booths -just like in Florida albeit across some viaduct type bridges a bit high in the sky. Having been on many 2 lane mountain roads through the former Yugoslavia and region by car while working for the UN, there are roads you won't like. If new to East Europe though, you will have a blast.
Posted by
WPB, FL & Firenze
3112 posts
Beverly, a few more thoughts. I've found public transportation within Croatia to be less convenient than in many other european countries. Bus will be your only public transportation option for Plitvice, while train, bus and plane are possible between Split and Zagreb. Consider renting a car in Zagreb for your visit to Plitvice and Split, or at least for the drive from Zagreb to Plitvice and on to Split. From Zagreb, there are easy train connections to/from Ljubljana and Budapest. You might also consider a stop in Zagreb. I enjoyed it, and they serve some of the best pizza I've eaten anywhere. As for Plitvice, 3 nights would probably be too much. I'd suggest either 2 nights with a full day to enjoy the park or arrive in time for dinner, tour park and leave for Split mid-afternoon.