Eastern Europe Travelling Suggestions

[deckhead]

i went to prague. was some weekend. brilliant place! ive never been there now but another place in estonia called tallinn is suppose to be another good place to go.

[dunno what to put here]

Tallinn looks stunning.. I'd love to go there.

[jtur88]

Originally Posted by RMELIFER

I'd recommend Spanish east coast for April. Beaches start filling up again in March/April time. I've driven along the coast of Spain and French Riviera during long 4-day holidays with lots of stops for photos and beachtime along the way.

Try Crimean Black Sea area in Ukraine also if you ever have the chance. Yalta and Odessa are pretty decent areas and Simferopol has several great markets. I've driven between Savastopol through Sudak resort areas before (with help from Russian speakers)

Ukraine does not require a visa in advance of arrival any more (as of September 2011), so you can just arrive at the Ukraine border and get stamped in, the same as any other country in eastern Europe..

But Russia DOES require a visa prior to arrival, which takes a long time to obtain, because you need to have either a formal invitation from an organization in Russia, or pre-paid reservations at the hotels you plan to stay at. Normally, it is nearly impossible to get Russian visas anywhere except in your home country. Which would mean a flight back to New York to apply for a Russian visas. It was, literally, easier to enter Russia through the Iron Curtain in the 1960s, than it is now.

[GoHokiesGo]

I spent a lot of time traveling in Europe over this past year, and we spent the xmas/new years holiday in Budapest, Vienna and Prague. My wife is currently living in Budapest for work, so I spent most of my time there.

Prague was my favorite of those 3 cities - I loved the fairytale architecture, it reminded me of scenes from Shrek or medieval movies. I found it to be extremely clean as well.

I've never had any issues with theft in any of these cities - my wallet does stay tucked away in a close fitting pocket or a pocket beneath my zipped coat, but I carry around my very expensive camera and lenses in my backpack without any troubles.

Don't bother driving and do plan to use public transportation. Trains go all over Europe and are extremely convenient. Consider overnight trains as well - you fall asleep in one city and wake up in another, it's a little noisy and tough to sleep well, but it's a great way to knock out transportation and hotel in one. The metro and tram systems are also great in each of these cities.