I could post this in "to the east" I suppose, but since it's about trains, I'll start here. I'm still playing around with ideas for my "see Europe thru a train window" trip this April. I'd like thoughts from anyone with recent experiencegood or badon trains between the cities listed above. Either day or overnight trains. And on the cities themselves. On a trip where my main goal is to move from point to point by train, rather than spend DAYS in any one spot, are these cities compelling stopovers in themselves? I realize this question sort of asks others what do they think I'D like, but I do like to hear others' inputs. I've read the man in seat 61. I've got Europe by Rail and the Cook Timetable. I've read Rick Steves and Lonely Planet's books on the area. All of those are good helpful references. But nothing beats hearing from someone who can say "been there done that".
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Denver, CO, USA
1601 posts
I can only comment on the Zagreb to Ljubljana sector. Ride was almost 8-10 years ago. I still remember it since it was a scenic ride and a fairly short one (about 2 hrs). The ride along the Sava river was enjoyable. This was in summer on a sunny afternoon. Sofia - can't comment since I used buses to get here from Macedonia and onward travel was also by bus. Belgrade - same, took a bus from Bosnia to get here and then took the train N but that is in a different direction from where you are headed. You should also check out the thorntree forum on the Lonely Planet website for more info. As to the cities: I enjoyed all the cities. Zagreb and Ljubljana are more toursity. Sofia does not get enough credit but I really liked it and wished I had an extra day for it. Belgrade is not as toursity as the other cities listed.