Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
38 Male, traveling Solo for about 10ish days, (not counting travel to/from US). Not looking to see every tourist site.. I really like roaming cities, seeing what I find.
Flying Business Class from ONT California, to Budapest (sweet Miles deal!) in the middle of May.
Arriving at 6:30 pm on a Thursday.
Initial thoughts were 3-4 days in Budapest and to move on to at least one other place, preferably for 2-3 days max. Open to staying longer or fitting a second stop in.
Looking to fly into Amsterdam from there to stay the remainder of the trip and return from there or Brussels (as soon as I find the right flight back)
I will be looking to stay in AirBnb's at both place.
Pretty much every city/country is on the table (well, except for Croatia,Turkey, And Greece).
By this time, in Central/Eastern Europe.. will have already been to Berlin, Krakow, and Prague.
Cities that I have thrown out to visit:
Tallinn (with a quick day trip to Helsinki)
Sofia
Gdansk (haven't been to Poland yet but am going in January)
Warsaw (see above)
Any other suggestions? Of the above, any preference?
I did a 2 and a half week trip to Southeastern Europe, end of April, beginning of May 2015. I started in Budapest as well, and worked my way south to Belgrade, then Sarajevo, Kotor and Dubrovnik and flew back to the states from there. I thought it was a great trip, the former Yugoslavian countries were amazing, I wanted to try and do places that were not crazy touristy, relatively speaking, as compared to other places in Eastern Europe.
Can be done by night bus east to Cluj, then on to Sibu/Brasov. Beautiful town squares, neat castles, lovely countryside. Then keep going east by train and fly out of Bucharest.
Poland in January is cold and nasty, perhaps except Zakopane area (if you like mountains and snow, but snow isn't guaranteed even at that time).
If you want to see Gdansk (Tricity) - end of May will be fine, although to chilly to be on the beach, but there is lots to see anyway. Can keep you busy for 2-3 days, and if you want you could go to Hel (lol), or Malbork. https://www.inyourpocket.com/poland <<< I like this website. Lots of good info... https://www.inyourpocket.com/
Pretty much every city/country is on the table (well, except for Croatia,Turkey, And Greece).
By this time, in Central/Eastern Europe.. will have already been to Berlin, Krakow, and Prague.
Cities that I have thrown out to visit:
Tallinn (with a quick day trip to Helsinki)
Sofia
Gdansk (haven't been to Poland yet but am going in January)
Warsaw (see above)
Any other suggestions? Of the above, any preference?
Have you been to Vienna? What are your interests (other than just strolling around)? You want just cities or you're open to seeing the countryside too?
I don't really understand your Poland comment -- are you going to Krakow in January (but not Gdansk and Warsaw)? Otherwise if you're already going there in January, I guess there's no point going back in May..
Is there a particular reason why Croatia is not on the table? Zagreb + Ljubljana (Slovenia) would be a good combo from Budapest..
As for your 4 suggestions, Sofia would definitely be the biggest cultural contrast, although I would pick Lviv or Kiev first.. I liked Tallinn and Helsinki but I liked Riga and Vilnius more...
Have you been to Vienna? What are your interests (other than just strolling around)? You want just cities or you're open to seeing the countryside too?
I don't really understand your Poland comment -- are you going to Krakow in January (but not Gdansk and Warsaw)? Otherwise if you're already going there in January, I guess there's no point going back in May..
Is there a particular reason why Croatia is not on the table? Zagreb + Ljubljana (Slovenia) would be a good combo from Budapest..
As for your 4 suggestions, Sofia would definitely be the biggest cultural contrast, although I would pick Lviv or Kiev first.. I liked Tallinn and Helsinki but I liked Riga and Vilnius more...
Thanks for the input.
I prefer the cities just for ease of transport... I did end up taking the train to Kutna Hora when in Prague, that was a great time. I like seeing some Historical sites, the occasional tourist trap, but, my favorite part of traveling is staying in local neighborhoods and seeing how they live, enjoying the local food and drink.
To the Poland comment.. we are going to Krakow in January as part of a Copenhagen-Berlin-Krakow itinerary we are doing over Christmas and New Years.
Croatia.. my wife will shoot me if I go there as she wants to go!
Sofia would be a nice contrast from Budapest, they have some Ottoman/Byzantine influences that makes for some really cool religious structures right in town. There are free walking tours, including a food tour that you sometimes need to reserve in advance since it gets full. It's also much cheaper than Budapest.
The city parks in Sofia are wonderful, they fill up in the late afternoon with people hanging out sipping beers and enjoying the weather. Best one for people watching is in front of the Ministry of Culture with the fountains, as a bonus it's at the end of the long pedestrian street with the bars/restaurants.
Croatia.. my wife will shoot me if I go there as she wants to go!
What made Kiev or Lviv better in your mind?
re: Croatia -- I understand, we spent 3 weeks there this summer (mostly Dalmatia but also Zagreb) and will definitely go back.
I have not been to Sofia or anywhere in Ukraine but based on extensive armchair reading (guidebooks, web pics, travel blogs), Lviv and Kiev ended up higher on the list than Sofia, which I would still like to see -- well, that + Plovdiv. Kiev in particular seems to have a lot more in terms of points of interest (tourist stuff -- churches, monuments, monasteries etc). How that translates into neighborhood life, I don't know.
We loved Croatia. But if you are ruling that out, I would suggest one of my favorite cities, "Salzburg" perhaps combined with Vienna and Munich.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
