hawki1989
Traveller
39 comments
Posted 10 years ago
Hey guys, just coming on to check my route: see if I've missed anything or you have any advice. Only have a smaller amount of time this time round so it's more of a holiday then a full blown travelling trip:
Fly to Istanbul in the evening on Monday (3 nights)
Fly to Sarajevo in the morning on Thursday (1 night)
Morning train to Mostar (few hours) then bus to Dubrovnik (1 night)
[b]I'll probably get a point-to-point ticket here and get the cheaper pass for later on in the week[/b]
Spend all day in Dubrovnik and take a late bus to Split (2 nights)
[b]Stay the night and spent the following day and night there in order to have a full day at the Lakes the day after[/b]
Morning bus to Plitivic Lakes and spend a good portion of the day their before carrying on to Zagreb
Overnight train from Zagreb to Munich, then onto neuschwanstein castle
[b]At this point, the idea is to go to Venice so I'm wondering if it's a good idea to carry on to and do half of the 'scenic view' on one day and half on the other?[/b]
Carry on to Venice (1 night)
Overnight train to Vienna
Can you think of any things that I'm missing or haven't considered? Or any alternative routes?
Also, is there a reliable source for buses in Croatia - I understand they are better but I have seen a few different sites with different times and it worries me slightly.
Flo
Traveller
10724 comments
Hi!
What pass do you intend to buy for this trip? You should be better off using regular tickets...
Zagreb - Munich: Travel during the day using a cheap Europa Spezial offer booked on [ux]https://rail.shop/bahn[/ux] (unfortunately the night train is not bookable online...); this trip is overall the most scenic, especially between Villach and Salzburg in Austria, but also some stretches in Slovenia from Zidani Most to Ljubljana and in Germany from Salzburg to Rosenheim are quite nice.
Munich - Venice: Overnight train or day train, book at [ux]https://rail.shop/bahn[/ux] or at [u]https://rail.shop/oebb[/ux] - the route itself is scenic from Innsbruck to Verona where you are crossing the alps but not as spectacular as other alpine routes.
Venice - Vienna: Book online at ÖBB or Trenitalia website or [ux]https://rail.shop/omio[/ux]
What would work out cheaper probably is to go Zagreb - Venice - Munich - Vienna.
Zagreb - Venice can be bought locally (buy from Zagreb to Nova Gorica, cross border on foot/by bus, buy ticket from Gorizia to Venice).
For buses the autobusni-kolodvor site seams to be quite reliable.
Flo 8)
hawki1989
Traveller
39 comments
Afternoon, Flo.
I was planning to get the 5 in 10 pass and carry on till that runs out.
Thanks for the advice: so - Dubrovnik, Split, Plitvice Lakes, Zagreb, Venice, Munich, Vienna... then wherever?
Have you been to Croatia, B&H or recommend anywhere in that region (Slovakia, Slovenia etc). I have only been as far east as Budapest.
hawki1989
Traveller
39 comments
Do you think they'll be any trouble getting the bus tickets on the day?
Which is the best alpine route, in your opinion?
Flo
Traveller
10724 comments
Sorry for being slow to answer... ;)
Umm..shouldnt be a problem to get the bus tickets on the day but you can never be 100% sure.
My experiences from last summer: Zabljak - Kotor: The (small) bus was full with several standees but this was not a problem at all; we were there about half an hour before departure and got tickets and seats without a problem
Kotor - Dubrovnik: To be sure we'd get tickets we bought them two days in advance, the (standard coach) bus was then quite full but there were still free seats available.
Best alpine route has to be the Bernina line. ;)
Villach - Salzburg is probably my favourite line in Austria; followed by Innsbruck - Feldkirch and Innsbruck - Verona
Havent been to BiH yet; in Slovakia the High Tatra area around Poprad would be good for walking, cities to visit would be Bratislava and Kosice which are nice but can be done within one day; still, the train travel is really nice, especially if you take a seat in one of the restaurant cars. :)
In Slovenia, Ljubljana and Lake Bled would be obvious choices, other cities are pretty small, such as Maribor or Koper, the latter being mostly important as a base for train travellers to get to the small resorts on the Adriatic such as Izola, Portoroz, Piran and also to get to Trieste in Italy.