Originally Posted by
niehaubs
I toured the Transylvania and the more north eastern Suceava/Bucuvina areas. I highly recommend the painted churches up there along with the hilly, countryside views, it was great. I also focused my tour on the Vlad Tepes/Dracula legends so kind of nerdy. I went to see his birth house in Sighisoara, his castle at Bran (not really but a basis for Bram Stoker), the burial place of his headless body in Snagov, just north of Bucharest, etc. If you are not a dork, I still recommend Sighisoara, Sibiu, Brasov right in the center of Transylvania. It might be better to have a couple of days if you go north to Suceava. I had a private driver as part of a personalized tour since I was not comfortable driving in a foreign country and trying to see the sights. It worked well for me but isn't super cheap. I've ridden 1 train from the east part of Romania (Bacau) to Brasov and the busses are much better and nicer. Since you are going north, you might want to hit Cluj or the wooden churches in Maramures (neither of which I have visited yet).
+1. Brașov, Bran Castle, Sighișoara, Sibiu and Cluj are worth visiting. I would also add Peleș Castle in Sinaia (which is enroute between Bucharest and Brasov).
If you visit Bran Castle, make sure you try some freshly baked kürtőskalács (there's a store on the main road outside the castle which is very popular with visitors). As there are many ethnic Hungarians in Transylvania, you can find shops selling kürtőskalács in much of the region.
In terms of public transport, the main towns (Sinaia, Brașov, Bran Castle, Sighișoara, Sibiu and Cluj) are well connected by train. Bran Castle is easily accessible by frequent bus from Brașov. However, because rail infrastructure has not really been updated, the trains can be very slow and it is faster to travel by car.
Maramureș is a region with a lot of rural charm. I highly recommend visiting traditional wooden Orthodox churches and monasteries and the colourful wooden crosses in the 'Merry Cemetery' in Săpânţa. Public transport is quite limited in this region - mainly minibuses on an irregular schedule running between villagers, and it may be challenging if you don't speak Romanian, so renting a car is much more convenient if you want to explore Maramureș. Just bear in mind that there are a lot of potholes in the roads in the region. There aren't any luxury 5-star hotels here - instead I would recommend staying in a rural homestay.
Originally Posted by
shady
If you plan to visit small villages I would advise you to rent a car for couple of days to visit them and then travel by train.
You can rent a car in Kosice from major car rental companies. Watch out most of the cars have MT.
Kosice is a nice base for the day trips. There is a Doubletree as the only hotel from major chains,located directly in historical center.
If you prefer wine tasting, east of Kosice is wine region where you can taste local wines and part of this area is a famous Tokai wines.
As you plan to visit Krakow I would recommend you not to miss Spissky castle, one of the largest castels in the middle Europe. Also visit High Tatras, beautiful mountains. From there in the city of Poprad you can board bus to Zakopane, which is loacted on the northern side of the mountains. From there you can take the train to Krakow.
The best starting point would be official website
http://slovakia.travel/en
If you have any questions send me PM I will gladly answer all your questions and recommend accomodations.
+1. Unless you are travelling between the main towns in Slovakia (such as between Košice, Prešov, Bradejov and Poprad), it is a much better idea to rent a car, especially if you plan to visit villages where public transport is much more limited. The condition of roads in Slovakia (even in rural parts of eastern Slovakia) are generally good.
After Košice, I would recommend visiting Prešov, Bardejov (+ traditional wooden churches (see
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wooden...ak_Carpathians) and Greek Catholic churches), Červený Kláštor (where you can go on a fun wooden raft ride on the Dunajec river marking the border between Poland and Slovakia), Kežmarok and Levoča (+ Spiš Castle).
May is a great time to visit the High Tatras, with perfect weather and not too many visitors. There are two main places to visit in the High Tatras: Tatranská Lomnica (where you can take the cable car up to the lake of Skalnaté pleso (where there are amazing panoramic views of the surrounding countryside, including neighbouring Poland), followed by another cable car up to the second highest peak in the High Tatras, Lomnický štít) and Štrbské Pleso (a charming lake). (One tip: if you do decide to take the cable car, get a ticket online in advance as they are capacity-limited and sell out very quickly on the day.) The only 5-star 'luxury' hotel in the High Tatras is the Kempinski hotel in Štrbské Pleso (PM me if you are interested in staying there as I can send you details of a Slovak travel agent who can book a room there at a discounted rate). The Grandhotel Praha in Tatranská Lomnica and the Grandhotel Starý Smokovec are well known historic hotels with decent accommodation and facilities. Hotel Kukučka in Tatranská Lomnica is a fairly new hotel designed with a traditional exterior and interior wood and stone furnishings, giving a very homely feel to the place.
I would also recommend a stay in Aquacity (a geothermal spa and wellness resort) in Poprad which is reasonably priced and a great place to unwind during your trip.
Regarding electrical sockets, Poland, Slovakia and Romania also use the standard Continental European electrical sockets.