Need help in choosing a destination(s)... Please Help!
Feb 21, 2015, 12:59 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Feb 2015
Posts: 4
Need help in choosing a destination(s)... Please Help!
Good Day All,
We are trying to plan a one month trip for next summer (July/August) and can't decide between a number of destinations/options.
The options are (trying to choose one):
1. The Baltic region: visiting three capitals starting from either Tallinn or Vilnius. The issue here is that there are no direct flights from Dubai to either cities, and so, we must take Finnair to Helsinki and go to Tallinn from there.
2. Poland: Spend the whole vacation between Warsaw - Olsztyn - Gdansk - Wroclaw - Krakow - Zakopane. The issue in this option if traveling between the cities which, due to the large number of cities, seems to be impractical.
3. Slovenia: Again, spend the whole vacation there between Ljubljana - Bled and the Julian Alps. No direct flights from Dubai, and so, will have to take a flight to the nearest point which in this case is Venice (and take a bus from Marco Polo Airport to Ljubljana).
4. Czech and Hungary (been to both before): revisit both countries and divide the time between Prague-Karlovy Vary - Budapest. I always prefer to discover new destinations yet I find the beauty of these three cities worth considering this trip as a valid option.
Our main concerns are weather (not too much heat), beauty of the cities, ease of traveling between cities and safety.
Would someone help me figure out which of the above options to choose and why. I don't have any preference, yet it is important to note that I have been to the cities in option no.4 and loved Prague, Karlovy Vary and Budapest. Also, we would very much like to stick to the above options only as we are solely interested in Central and Eastern Europe.
Truly appreciate your help
Kay
We are trying to plan a one month trip for next summer (July/August) and can't decide between a number of destinations/options.
The options are (trying to choose one):
1. The Baltic region: visiting three capitals starting from either Tallinn or Vilnius. The issue here is that there are no direct flights from Dubai to either cities, and so, we must take Finnair to Helsinki and go to Tallinn from there.
2. Poland: Spend the whole vacation between Warsaw - Olsztyn - Gdansk - Wroclaw - Krakow - Zakopane. The issue in this option if traveling between the cities which, due to the large number of cities, seems to be impractical.
3. Slovenia: Again, spend the whole vacation there between Ljubljana - Bled and the Julian Alps. No direct flights from Dubai, and so, will have to take a flight to the nearest point which in this case is Venice (and take a bus from Marco Polo Airport to Ljubljana).
4. Czech and Hungary (been to both before): revisit both countries and divide the time between Prague-Karlovy Vary - Budapest. I always prefer to discover new destinations yet I find the beauty of these three cities worth considering this trip as a valid option.
Our main concerns are weather (not too much heat), beauty of the cities, ease of traveling between cities and safety.
Would someone help me figure out which of the above options to choose and why. I don't have any preference, yet it is important to note that I have been to the cities in option no.4 and loved Prague, Karlovy Vary and Budapest. Also, we would very much like to stick to the above options only as we are solely interested in Central and Eastern Europe.
Truly appreciate your help
Kay
Feb 21, 2015, 5:00 am
#2
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: Poland
Posts: 87
Poland is nice!
Olsztyn is not a very touristic city, compared to Warsaw, Gdansk, Wroclaw, Krakow, Zakopane. You may also want to consider Poznan and nearby Olsztyn/Gdansk is the Malbork castle, one of most interesting medieval castles in the world, a UNESCO site.
Are you going to rent a car? Travel by trains? Buses? Very cheap bus option in Poland is www.polskibus.com, you can buy bus tickets between large cities for 5-10-20zl (which is 1.20-5.00€).
Olsztyn is not a very touristic city, compared to Warsaw, Gdansk, Wroclaw, Krakow, Zakopane. You may also want to consider Poznan and nearby Olsztyn/Gdansk is the Malbork castle, one of most interesting medieval castles in the world, a UNESCO site.
Are you going to rent a car? Travel by trains? Buses? Very cheap bus option in Poland is www.polskibus.com, you can buy bus tickets between large cities for 5-10-20zl (which is 1.20-5.00€).
Feb 21, 2015, 11:01 am
#3
Join Date: Oct 2013
Location: Copenhagen, Denmark
Programs: Mainly Hilton Hhonors, SAS Eurobonus
Posts: 1,981
Czech Republic and Hungary would be my first choice ( you could include Vienna (Central Europe) and Slovakia in this itinery if you wish to see new places ).
Train from Vienna to Bratislava 1 hour, train from Vienna to Budapest about 3 hours if I remember right.
But as you have already been there, my next choice would be the Baltic countries.
Flying into Helsinki could be seen as a point in favour - why not spend a few days there ( it's not Eastern Europe but if you look at the architecture you'll see that it has a very Russian look ).
There are fast ferries ( about 2 hours ) from Helsinki to Tallinn.
Train from Vienna to Bratislava 1 hour, train from Vienna to Budapest about 3 hours if I remember right.
But as you have already been there, my next choice would be the Baltic countries.
Flying into Helsinki could be seen as a point in favour - why not spend a few days there ( it's not Eastern Europe but if you look at the architecture you'll see that it has a very Russian look ).
There are fast ferries ( about 2 hours ) from Helsinki to Tallinn.