1

It would be a pity to misss Serbia...Belgrade and Novi Sad are amazing places...One place to avoid in Belgrade though is ..The Hotel Bristol...never ever again..:)...The rest of your trip is an excellent itinerary...have a great time..:)

2

#1

This isn`t much help for OP I`m afraid!

Yes, Serbia is a great place indeed, but than I could recommend him Albania, someone else could recommend Ukraine and before we realise we send OP to Vladivostok on a 6 month long trip. :)

It seems to me he already answered the most diffucult qestion: Where to go? And his choices are not bad at all.

1. The coastal cities and Hvar is good for nightlife and food. Dugi Otok and Vis is good choice for off the beaten track. I enjoyed Korcula better than Hvar.

2. Hungary fits most logical on your route I`ll tell you later about Tokaj.

3. I`d try to sqeeze in Montenegro even if you spend less time elswhere.

How do you plan to travel by train/bus or by car? I strongly recommend to use a car at certain places!

Let`s see where could you spend less time in order to include Montenegro and possibly Poland!

1 day at most is enough for Plitvice, beleive me! What is really worth to see are the waterfalls and they cover a relatively small area. I`ve seen them all in 5-6 hours. The rest of the national park is forest and nothing special.

2 days are enough for Dubrovnik. It`s beautiful, it`s not to be missed, but it`s not that big.

1 day for Mostar, 2 days for Sarajevo, 1-2 days for Bled.

You could also save 1-2 days in Prague, Vienna, Salzburg.

3

About Tokaj

First of all let`s make the definition clear: Tokaj is a small town in the wine region known as Tokaj-Hegyalja, but most of the time the whole wine region is simply referred to as Tokaj.

Tokaj town itself is nothing special, just a really small town, with some mildly interesting sights that might keep you busy for 2 hours.

Most of the really interesting stuff and the best cellars and winemakers are out of the town spread over a relatively large area. The only practical way to reach these is by car and that is the problem. If you drink you can`t drive! 2 days is a good idea, because in this case you can share the driving with your girlfriend. On the 1st day you drive she drinks, on the 2nd day you change! :)

Of course you can just do as the professionals and spit out the wine after tasting, but personally I`d hate to do that.

I can recommend a good place to stay, not in the town of Tokaj, but in the wine region:

http://www.oroszlanos.hu/index.php/en.html

I didn`t stay there, but it looks very nice for only 25 EUR/person. I had a very good dinner there 3 years ago. Unfortunately they changed the menu and reading it again it`s not nearly as good as it was, but I hope the chef is still the same!

Another good restaurant that you have to try: http://www.oskajan.hu/

That`s the only 2 restaurants worth to mention in the whole region.

And it`s not about wine only!

I recommend you to check out these castle ruins nearby: Boldogkőváralja and Füzér

And the castle and the Rákóczi cellar in Sárospatak!

4

Looks like a good itinerary...just remember that Sarajevo to Slovenia can take some time as buses have to wind through some mountainous areas (trains are really slow in the region, buses are a better option IME). Also you can see all of Mostar in one day and just about all of Dubrovnik in one day, but many like to linger longer. Sarajevo is IMO easily worth a full 3-4 days but I'm a big fan of the city so maybe I'm biased haha

As for Krakow or Budapest, it's hard to compare the two. Overall, Krakow is the smaller medieval city while Budapest is the bigger and busier 19th-Century capital. Budapest has easier connections with Vienna but I took a sleeper train from Vienna to Krakow and it worked fine. If you want to go somewhere to relax, then the baths of Budapest (I went to Szechenyi) make for a very restful half-day, especially in summer. So yeah, in the end the choice is up to you.

5

Thanks for the help so far.

#3

I had allotted 4 days to Dubrovnik as a base for day trips to Mljet and other beaches, just to get in a bit more beaching with out moving around to much.

I had allotted to days to Plitvice because Slunj looks very pretty... is it worth it to spend a day just seeing the area? swimming in the river at Korana?

as for Tokaj, what sold me was reading somewhere that it is similar to sonoma in its rural backraods feel. By tokaj I just meant the entire wine region. is it possible to do a bike tour? are the police in that area known to pull people over frequently? I have a high tolerance and we would not be drinking a significant amount going to 3 wineries or so a day.

#4

what are the differences in the number and richness of cultural sights between the 2 cities? ability to walk around interesting neighborhoods? general vibe? both cities sound amazing.

6

Slunj is indeed very pretty. We stopped for 30 minutes on the way to Plitvice, if you want to swim, say another 1-2 hours, but it didn`t look like a place where it`s worth to spend a whole day.

By the way if you`re driving from Zagreb to Plitvice there is small open-air military museum somewhere between Karlovac and Slunj, right next to the road, so it`s impossible to miss it. It is also worth a short(15 minutes stop). All the stuff is from the Independence War and their improvised armoured vehicles are really interesting(steel plates welded to tractors for example), there is also the tail of a shot down aircraft.

Tokaj

Rural backroads, that`s right, but I have no idea about Sonoma. By the way, do you know about the Hungarian connection to Sonoma?

The father of Californian viticulture was a Hungarian: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agoston_Haraszthy

A bike tour would be possible, because the distances are not too great and it`s relatively flat, but I`m not sure if you can rent a bicycle there. Unfortunately the tourism in Tokaj is very underdeveloped. Make sure you find out in advance about bike rental! In worst case you can rent bikes in Budapest and put them on the train to Tokaj.

are the police in that area known to pull people over frequently? I have a high tolerance

You might have a high tolerance , but Hungarian law has zero tolerance!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drunk_driving_law_by_country#European_Union

I know this sounds very silly in country where wine is such an integral part of the culture, but Hungarian law is not made to make Hungarians happy.

The police is known to pull drivers over frequently in the whole country. Basically that is all the policeman in Hungary do, because it`s to dangerous to catch criminals, so they rather sit by the roadside the whole day with their speed radar and collect fines. In Hungary the police is not meant to protect people from criminals, but to collect fines for the government(and often for themselves). The few honest policemen who take their job seriously are often dismissed.

7

9 days Prague, including a couple of the day trips.

This is far too long, I'd say, and you could use some of these days for an exploration of some of the rest of the Czech Republic...assuming you're coming up from Austria, I'd suggest you spend a max of 5 days in Prague and try and get out of the city for 2 of those on day-trips, maybe to Kutna Hora and Karlovy Vary...

On your way from Salzburg direction, you could stop off for 2 days in lovely Cesky Krumlov and then make a trip to historic Olomouc in Moravia for another 2 days to experience a different side of Czechia...

8

#7,

we are definitely going to Kutna Hora, Karlovy Vary, and Cesky Krumlov. Do we need to spend 2 days in karlovy or Cesky? The reason we are spending so much time in prague is because we like to spend the end of our trips without much movement and really get to know a place... explore all the hidden bars, restaurants, clubs, neighborhoods... go to all the museums, etc. am i wrong that all the sights are within day trip distance? we would be coming from budapest.

9

we are definitely going to Kutna Hora, Karlovy Vary, and Cesky Krumlov. Do we need to spend 2 days in karlovy or Cesky?...am i wrong that all the sights are within day trip distance?

Kutna Hora is a comfortable day-trip (just over an hour from Prague) and although most visitors confine their tour to the Bone Church which is in a suburb adjacent to the train station, the town itself (3/4 kms away) is nice and deserves more time if you can spare it...

Karlovy and Krumlov look close on paper but are actually approx 3 hours one-way by bus or train from Prague so that's why I suggested 2 nights in CK as it's one of the highlights of central Europe...

Coming from Budapest, I would spend an overnight in Bratislava and then 2 days in Olomouc and finish in Prague but I understand your travelling rationale as you've explained it in #8...just giving you another perspective...good luck...

10

Thanks a lot for the help so far everyone!

I still find myself drawn to Krakow and Poland, although I had definitely decided to go to Hungary for a week for Budapest and Tokaj. What are the opinions on dropping Austra and adding some of Slovakia and Poland?

My reasoning is that my GF and I are 29 and 30, and want to pretend we are young a while longer... im thinking Krakow might be better to go to now, while Vienna will remain relatively unchanged until a trip in a few years. I am also thinking it would be good to get more nature.

Opinions on Zakopane and Krakow and day trips for a week? Is Zakopane and the Tatra's beautiful?

I dont want to miss the natural wonders the countries I visit and overload on too many beautiful but similar towns and cities... is Ceske Raj a "must see" a la Plitvice, or the Julian Alps? How do the Tatra's of Slovakia / Poland compare?

Thanks!

11

im thinking Krakow might be better to go to now, while Vienna will remain relatively unchanged until a trip in a few years. I am also thinking it would be good to get more nature.

Good rationale if you think you'll be able to make it back...

Opinions on Zakopane and Krakow and day trips for a week? Is Zakopane and the Tatra's beautiful?

Zakopane isn't everyone's 'cup of tea' as it's a typical mountain resort which tends to get a bit overrun with tourists at times but the Tatra National Park is an area of outstanding beauty and should definitely be on your list if you have time in the area...also, the Slovak side is impressive in wilder, more natural way...

I dont want to miss the natural wonders the countries I visit and overload on too many beautiful but similar towns and cities... is Ceske Raj a "must see" a la Plitvice, or the Julian Alps? How do the Tatra's of Slovakia / Poland compare?

Although the Cesky Raj is a very attractive area, I wouldn't personally put it in the same league as the others you mentioned there...not an absolute 'must-see', in my opinion...

12

Thanks Waterhazard,

to followup on this theme, what in your opinion are the natural "must see's" of the area we are travelling in?

Plitvice, Triglav, Slovenia Caves...

are we making a mistake not spending time in Sutjeska / Durmitor? Is the Soca River from Bovec in Slovenia where we want to do our rafting?

Thanks again