6 cities in 10 days - Doable?
Discussion
Planning my summer holiday with my other half, we first looked at interrailing; but I soon realized you pay £300 for a ticket that allows you to pay £20 to get between cities, whats the point when intercity trains in central europe cost about 15 euros?
So plan is now to :
Fly to Bratislava early on the Sunday or Monday, stay there one night and then:
Get the train to Vienna and spend two nights there
Then get the train to Budapest and spend 3 nights there
The bus to Zagreb and spend 1 night there before
Getting the bus to Ljubljana and spending two/three nights
Then Bus down to Pula and spending one night before flying back home from Pula airport on the Wednesday night.
We enjoy walking, looking at architecture and modern history, and local food, lots of it. Don't care for most guided tours or art/ancient history/plays/orchestra etc.
Just wondering if anyone has done similar, what they would recommend and also if any of those cities are worth an extra day or maybe one day less.
So plan is now to :
Fly to Bratislava early on the Sunday or Monday, stay there one night and then:
Get the train to Vienna and spend two nights there
Then get the train to Budapest and spend 3 nights there
The bus to Zagreb and spend 1 night there before
Getting the bus to Ljubljana and spending two/three nights
Then Bus down to Pula and spending one night before flying back home from Pula airport on the Wednesday night.
We enjoy walking, looking at architecture and modern history, and local food, lots of it. Don't care for most guided tours or art/ancient history/plays/orchestra etc.
Just wondering if anyone has done similar, what they would recommend and also if any of those cities are worth an extra day or maybe one day less.
I've done the first half of that itinerary, but not the second part to Zagreb & beyond, but from the cities I visited the timescales seem sensible.
I've been to Bratislava twice, and whilst it's pleasant enough, I wouldn't recommend staying any longer than a day & night. It's pretty small and you'll cover the old town sights in one day easy, and there are better places to spend time.
It's a tad harsh, but there's an old joke: What do Bratislava locals recommend visitors see first? “Vienna”.
Vienna is pretty big, and in hindsight we didn't allocate enough time. You could spend an entire day at the superb Schönbrunn Palace / Gloriette / Tiergarten area - a UNESCO World Heritage Site & former summer home for the Habsburg monarchs. The French Garden has mazes etc, the Gloriette is a very impressive structure on a 60m hill. The star is the world's oldest zoo, Tiergarten Schönbrunn, with pandas & Siberian tigers. Get there on a sunny day and it's excellent. Then spend another day tramping around the beautiful city centre, taking in the architecture, coffee, schnitzel & cake.
For something different, you could do a river cruise down the Danube to Budapest. We took a boozy hydrofoil, but it did break down halfway in the middle of nowhere, not so good.
I love Budapest. Three days would be well spent there, not so much on the cultural stuff, but just on good living. Across three summer days last year, I don't think I ate or drank indoors once, it's gloriously sunny & beer is very cheap. There's plenty of sights to see on the fortified Castle Hill 'Buda' side of the river, that would pass a day. The 'Pest' side on the opposite bank us where the nightlife is, including 'Simpla Kert' and other less well-known ruin bars. The baths are a must - the Gellert Baths are architecturally smarter, but I preferred the Szechenyi open air complex, more touristy & fun. They do night time pool parties too, as do other places.
After that, can't help you. Ljubljana has only ever received good reviews from those I know who've been though. If I go back to Slovenia, I'd be making sure to try and go there as well as Lake Bled, which looks gorgeous.
I haven't experience of northern Croatia, but a little south of Pula & Zagreb is the little gem that is Zadar (which has an Airport used by all the usual suspects) and several areas of outstanding scenic beauty. South of that, the Adriatic coast drive is stunning (but takes eight hours), and opens up Dubrovnik, Montenegro & Bosnia, all of which are beautiful & interesting.
Sounds like a great trip, good luck.
I've been to Bratislava twice, and whilst it's pleasant enough, I wouldn't recommend staying any longer than a day & night. It's pretty small and you'll cover the old town sights in one day easy, and there are better places to spend time.
It's a tad harsh, but there's an old joke: What do Bratislava locals recommend visitors see first? “Vienna”.
Vienna is pretty big, and in hindsight we didn't allocate enough time. You could spend an entire day at the superb Schönbrunn Palace / Gloriette / Tiergarten area - a UNESCO World Heritage Site & former summer home for the Habsburg monarchs. The French Garden has mazes etc, the Gloriette is a very impressive structure on a 60m hill. The star is the world's oldest zoo, Tiergarten Schönbrunn, with pandas & Siberian tigers. Get there on a sunny day and it's excellent. Then spend another day tramping around the beautiful city centre, taking in the architecture, coffee, schnitzel & cake.
For something different, you could do a river cruise down the Danube to Budapest. We took a boozy hydrofoil, but it did break down halfway in the middle of nowhere, not so good.
I love Budapest. Three days would be well spent there, not so much on the cultural stuff, but just on good living. Across three summer days last year, I don't think I ate or drank indoors once, it's gloriously sunny & beer is very cheap. There's plenty of sights to see on the fortified Castle Hill 'Buda' side of the river, that would pass a day. The 'Pest' side on the opposite bank us where the nightlife is, including 'Simpla Kert' and other less well-known ruin bars. The baths are a must - the Gellert Baths are architecturally smarter, but I preferred the Szechenyi open air complex, more touristy & fun. They do night time pool parties too, as do other places.
After that, can't help you. Ljubljana has only ever received good reviews from those I know who've been though. If I go back to Slovenia, I'd be making sure to try and go there as well as Lake Bled, which looks gorgeous.
I haven't experience of northern Croatia, but a little south of Pula & Zagreb is the little gem that is Zadar (which has an Airport used by all the usual suspects) and several areas of outstanding scenic beauty. South of that, the Adriatic coast drive is stunning (but takes eight hours), and opens up Dubrovnik, Montenegro & Bosnia, all of which are beautiful & interesting.
Sounds like a great trip, good luck.
UnclePat said:
Good stuff
Thankyou for this, very useful. Just been reading about lake bled so I think we will camp at lake bled for a night or two fly out of Ljubljana instead of going down to Pula.We actually visited Zadar last year! Flew into Zadar and spent two nights (including a kayaking trip in the paklencia national park - amazing), got the bus down to Split, spent a night and then got a ferry to Hvar and stayed for 4 more nights there. Then flew back from Split airport (which is a terrible airport).
Been to Dubrovnik and Montenegro before too, the Adriatic coast is my favourite place on earth.
Bratislava doesn't need a night, fly there on an early flight, see the sights then take a mid-afternoon train to Vienna - I did the reverse of this last year and in 6hrs I'd easily seen everything Bratislava had to offer (and more besides)
If you want to eat traditional lunch whilst you're there I can heartily recommend Pivnica U Kozla - it's right in the centre and does the best traditional dumplings!
Vienna is a different matter, I could (and have) spent over a week there and still not seen all it has to offer so with only a couple of days you'll have to pick your highlights
If you want to eat traditional lunch whilst you're there I can heartily recommend Pivnica U Kozla - it's right in the centre and does the best traditional dumplings!
Vienna is a different matter, I could (and have) spent over a week there and still not seen all it has to offer so with only a couple of days you'll have to pick your highlights
I'd say it was doable - train travel is really quite a pleasant way of spending time, plus with an interrail ticket if you want to stay and extra night then you can.
This summer me my wife and youngest did few over night trains allowing us to spend a nice day in a city then sleep on the train.
I really recommend it.
This summer me my wife and youngest did few over night trains allowing us to spend a nice day in a city then sleep on the train.
I really recommend it.
Thanks guys, plan has changed again!
- Flying into Budapest on the Tuesday,
- Train to Bratislava on Friday (just a stop over really)
- Train to Vienna Saturday
- heres the new exciting part! Train from Vienna to Zagreb Monday, on the Semmering Pass:
- Train from Zagreb to Ljubjlana Tuesday
- hire a car and drive to bled for Wednesday night and then the airport Thursday
- or use buses instead...
l354uge said:
Anyone have any experience with the buses around Ljubljana and Bled?
I took a coach from Ljubljana to Zagreb and it was great. Air conditioned, fully brand new airline style thing that had come from Munich.Ljubljana is great by the way. The stretch along the river has to be one of the most beautiful part of a city I have ever been to. Cafes and restaurants all along it, but without any of the gaudiness or tackiness you'd expect in Paris or anywhere like that. Can literally spend hours just sitting there and watching the (very beautiful) people walk by!
edit: What might be a fun option is blablacar (google it).
I took a journey from Salzburg to Ljubljana and it was great. Some Croatian architect in a brand new BMW 4x4 of sorts driving back home from Germany for a mini-break. Its a nice way to still travel in relative comfort, but also get an opportunity to talk to a local and get some insight on places to go, and even just a chance to maybe make a new friend/contact in an interesting part of the world!
edit2: If you just want to get from Ljubljana to Bled, rent a car. Its not worth the hassle of waiting for/missing buses/having to keep a timetable etc. Car rental should be really cheap there too!
Edited by Shay HTFC on Thursday 11th January 15:01
I forgot to update this after the holiday!
So, it was a brilliant time, cant think of many things I would've done differently...
Flying in to budapest...transfer bus is bit of a pain as you have to change halfway through, but its included in the travel pass so not bad.
Budapest - Loved it, glad we had the 3 days there. Can't really think of any faults.
Train to Bratislava - Quite dull scenery wise, but nice train.
Bratislava - finished it, and the nearby castle in a day. Very pretty and cheap but I wouldn't stay more than a night.
Train to Vienna - Meh again, quite busy at this point
Vienna - Very clean and lots of pretty buildings, but didnt blow me away. guess I'm not really into what its best at. Mum loved it when she went which confirms that!
Train to Zagreb - Utterly gorgeous scenery, lovely train. Had a meal on the train whilst it cruised along side the Sava in rural Slovenia, something i will never forget.
Zagreb - Compact and a bit tatty, and I really liked it, very chilled out place with plenty of bars and restaurants. I'd say its a 2 night city.
Train to Ljubljana - Very pretty, train less impressive
Ljubljana - Surprise of the trip, amazing place with so much to do, I'd recommend a long weekend here.
Lake Bohinj - Maybe the most beautiful place I've been? So quiet and peaceful considering the scenery, which was a good contrast to:
Lake Bled - Idyllic yes, but very touristy and busy.
TLDR: Visit Ljubljana, Lake Bohinj and Budapest Immediately. Using the train to get around lot of different european cities works really well.
So, it was a brilliant time, cant think of many things I would've done differently...
Flying in to budapest...transfer bus is bit of a pain as you have to change halfway through, but its included in the travel pass so not bad.
Budapest - Loved it, glad we had the 3 days there. Can't really think of any faults.
Train to Bratislava - Quite dull scenery wise, but nice train.
Bratislava - finished it, and the nearby castle in a day. Very pretty and cheap but I wouldn't stay more than a night.
Train to Vienna - Meh again, quite busy at this point
Vienna - Very clean and lots of pretty buildings, but didnt blow me away. guess I'm not really into what its best at. Mum loved it when she went which confirms that!
Train to Zagreb - Utterly gorgeous scenery, lovely train. Had a meal on the train whilst it cruised along side the Sava in rural Slovenia, something i will never forget.
Zagreb - Compact and a bit tatty, and I really liked it, very chilled out place with plenty of bars and restaurants. I'd say its a 2 night city.
Train to Ljubljana - Very pretty, train less impressive
Ljubljana - Surprise of the trip, amazing place with so much to do, I'd recommend a long weekend here.
Lake Bohinj - Maybe the most beautiful place I've been? So quiet and peaceful considering the scenery, which was a good contrast to:
Lake Bled - Idyllic yes, but very touristy and busy.
TLDR: Visit Ljubljana, Lake Bohinj and Budapest Immediately. Using the train to get around lot of different european cities works really well.
l354uge said:
Vienna - Very clean and lots of pretty buildings, but didnt blow me away. guess I'm not really into what its best at.
Really surprised by this, I've been a couple of times and it's probably my favourite European city.Glad you enjoyed your trip though, I'm quite envious!
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