Budapest & Croatia Heritage Roadtrip help!

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robinsnest
robinsnest

My family of 5 and I are hoping to do a "heritage roadtrip" the end of August (2013), including Budapest and Croatia. The kids grandparents are all up in age and they would love nothing more than for us to be able to visit their homelands and come back to share our journey with them. None of the dates for tours I have found online work out for us (my daughter will be out of the country until August 19) and all 3 kids need to be back for college by September 4th or so. The tours also include super expensive hotels and seem to give us NOTHING for our money (which seems to run about $3000pp without even including international airfare from the US!).

My only desire is to spend a few days visiting Budapest and then to visit some highlights of Croatia. We were considering doing a roadtrip and finding our own apartments or rooms to rent (it's difficult because there are five of us) and I have found some really inexpensive places to stay on TripAdvisor. I just wonder how reliable they are. I am also afraid of how difficult it will be to do a roadtrip on our own being that NONE of us speak Croation OR Hungarian! Does anyone have any experience with this? Will it be difficult to get by? I am thinking we wouldn't need a car in Budapest, but would just fly there, stay in the city and explore from there, then either fly or bus/train to Croatia where we would rent a car. We are used to road trips, but across the US, and have done a road trip throughout the English countryside, but of course the language spoken there was English!

So we will have about 2 weeks total to spend visiting these places, BUT we also need to include the tiny island of Olib for a day trip. My husband's family originated there (both his mom and his dad's side) and ancestors are buried there. I know there are no accommodations there (I don't even think there are roads there!), so I am thinking we would need to stay both the night before and the night after this day trip in Zadar?

I would GREATLY appreciate ANY help in planning this out or any tips/advice. We LOVE to hike and see natural wonders, so we would like to include one of the beautiful National Parks in the area.

Please HELP!!!!

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everbrite
everbrite

Several thoughts.

  1. You definitely don't need a tour but you might be helped by using an agency that specializes in travel to this area. Seems to me that there was an article in either the NY Times or the Washington Post travel section about how agencies that specialize often cost less for flights than Expedia and other websites.

  2. Renting a car in Croatia makes the most sense to get the most value from your time there. I would probably take the train to Zagreb and drive down to Dubrovnik.

  3. Not speaking the language is NOT a problem. Most travelers to Hungary don't speak Hungarian but many Hungarians speak or understand English plus body language is universal. If you are really concerned, consider a series available through Amazon called language maps - plastic coated, small, light and covers the basics for travelers.

  4. Zadara is a lovely place to visit and base yourself for several days. It is part way between Zagreb (the capitol) and Pltivice National Park which is worth visiting. The other national park worth visiting is Krka which is between Zadar and Sibenik.

  5. I wouldn't worry so much about hotels. Lots of homes and people rent rooms and while 5 is a relatively large party, you should be able to find apartments and other accommodations which would suit your needs or your kids are old enough to stay in one place while you stay someplace else nearby.

  6. Try not to make your departure from Budapest so that you don't need to retrace your steps. Consider flying to Vienna and then taking a budget flight or train to Budapest and then flying from Dubrovnik to Vienna and home again. Look at budget flights using whichbudget.com as many budget airlines aren't covered on expedia.com etc. Also try sites like skyscanner and kayak which may have some low cost airlines.

Ruth

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dlmtn
dlmtn

Second Ruth, there is no need for the organized tours. Both countries have a well developed tourist infrastructure and you should do just fine on your own.

Olib is a very specific island and usually not on the tourist radar (which may be considered a plus). However limited, there are accommodation options in private homes i.e. apts or rooms (there are no hotels on the island of 120 year around inhabitants), and it would be wise to make reservations in advance.
http://www.olib-croatia.com/ or search for more options on the net....don't be put off by the fact that the info is in croatian, there are pics and contact phone, email info.

Given all the above, Olib may be a highlight of your trip, a relaxed couple of days in a friendly atmosphere in the middle of the hussle of international travels.

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everbrite
everbrite

Zadara is a lovely place to visit and base yourself for several days. It is part way between Zagreb (the capitol) and Pltivice National Park which is worth visiting. The other national park worth visiting is Krka which is between Zadar and Sibenik.

Correction Pltivice Lakes is on the way between Zagreb and Zadar. Zadar is between Zagreb and Split.

Ruth

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