Easter europe itinerary
Hi All,Im currently in the very early stages of planning my round the world adventure with my partner.
We would love to start with eastern Europe. We've traveled a fair bit around Europe but never further east than Prague. I feel this might be a nice start to our year, easing us in a bit!
What I'd like to know is if the following itinerary looks at all reasonable?
Its generally built upon places we've heard of that we'd love to see but of course it would be great to have a bit of flexibility to explore the regions...
So over the course of 4-6 weeks.....
Slovenia - Ljubljana, Lake Bled
Croatia - Coast in general
B+H - Mostar
Montenegro - Kotor
Serbia - Belgrade
Romania - Suceava, Bran Castle
Ukraine - Kiev
Russia - Moscow
Fly to India
I have a feeling it looks a bit unrealistic and the last thing I want to do is try to cram too much in!!!
Is an Interrail card likely to be the cheapest way to get around. They're a bit more expensive that I expected (I'll be over 26) and I wonder would it work our cheaper just to buy tickets as we need them?
Also, we're using £1000/month as a general rule of thumb for the year (excluding large expenses such as flights/long train journeys etc). Does this seem reasonable?
Thanks!!!
1
Interrail makes little sense in this part of the world. Point to point is relatively cheap and there is very limited service in Croatia and Montenegro.Personally I think you are trying to accomplish too much in too short a period of time. Six to eight weeks might be more reasonable.
The Russian visa is VERY expensive for UK and US passport holders. Plus accommodations and travel in Russia aren't cheap so you might want to reconsider this and instead fly in to Moscow from Kyiv to catch your flight to Asia.
Slovenia - 5-7 nights
Croatia - 10-14 nights assuming that you want to see an island or two
Mostar one night between Split and Dubrovnik assuming that you don't travel via islands. If you do, then skip it.
Montenegro - 3-4 nights
Train Bar to Belgrade
Belgrade - 3-4 nights
Romania 7 days
Ukraine - Chernivitsy, Lviv, Kyiv 7-10 days
Ruth
2
Thanks Ruth, that was a really informative reply.The Russain visa is surprisingly expensive! Russia might be better left to another time.
3
About the Romania part... Not sure why you pick these two things, but for your itinerary: for Suceava is half a day enough, and for Bran castle 1,5 hour (except in summer when it is packed with tourists and you need some more). So if these are the 2 things you like to see, you only have to spend 2 days in Romania which leaves you enough time for the rest probably :) I would suggest you read some more about Romania, and then i am sure you come up with some other places to visit :)Oh, just my experience in other cities that you mention: Belgrade 2-3 full days, Kotor one afternoon and Moscow and Kiev both at least 5 days.
Have a good trip,
Matthijs
4
I'm guessing that from Suceava they would like to visit the painted monasteries. As an organized tour you can probably visit "the big four" in a day. I don't think you could see more than one or two in a single day if you're using public transportation.In 2010 I spent five weeks backpacking in Romania and did not consider Bran Castle to be a highlight of the trip in any way, shape or form. Things that were much more memorable included Sighet and the Merry Cemetery, as well as the logging train in Viseu de Sus.
