Berlin-Dresden-Munich-Vienna-Slovenia-Budapest-Istanbul

SiDUDe
Traveller
752 comments

Ok, you have to check out Ljubljana and Bled/Bohinj in Slovenia, after that id head down the croatian coast (not easy by train, better by bus), through Bosnia via Mostar and Sarajevo (both have absolutley amazing scenery, history, people and food!) Then, depending on time (and you preference to coast/cities) you could head for Skopje in Macedonia or somewhere like Kotor in Montenegro before heading to Sofia. Again if you have time, go to Veliko Tarnovo for a couple of nights before returning to Sofia to head to Istanbul.

If youre not a massive clubber you can safely miss out Belgrade, but if you are going in the summer and want to catch a festival youd be hard pressed to beat exit in Novi Sad. There are lots of small festivals (mainly electronic music) thoughout the summer just north of Zadar on the Croatian coast.

Most importantly be flexible, have a lot of fun and expect to be delayed by several hours!

Katie_emie_carpenter
Traveller
4 comments

Sounds like a good route - thanks. We were also looking at trying to be clever with our interrailing pass and go for the flexible 10 days of travelling within a 22 day period. Do you have any experience of this pass and would it be worth doing it if we are to travel by bus in croatia? Just cos it is so much cheaper.

Thanks x

SiDUDe
Traveller
752 comments

Yeah, it would require i little more thought but you should be able to manage it. Think about something like this:

Dresden - Munich - Vienna - Budapest - Ljulbljana (Bled by bus) - Zagreb (Coast by bus down to Ploče) - Mostar - Sarajevo - (Bus) Sofia - Veliko Tarnovo - Sofia - Istanbul

is exactly 10 days I think, using the 1900 rule on the night train from Sofia to Istanbul and going to Bled and back from Ljubljana by bus and from Sarajevo to Sofia by bus too. This is the most difficult part of the trip, you will probably have to change bus in Nis in Serbia.

Katie_emie_carpenter
Traveller
4 comments

Thanks.

We were just wondering if our inter rail pass did not last till we got to Istanbul, would we still be saving money just having to purchase a seperate ticket say from Sofia to Istanbul for the sleeper train? Also does our IR pass cover the bus?

Ta x

SiDUDe
Traveller
752 comments

It would probably be around €50 , see: [u]https://rail.cc/en/belgrade-sofia-istanbul-train/f3054[/u]

there are no discounts for the bus

Katie_emie_carpenter
Traveller
4 comments

Hey,
It has just occurred to me that it will be Ramadan in August when I was thinking of heading to Istanbul.... is this a very good idea? Obviously I do not want to go anywhere that would be like a ghost town, especially as I want to see the beauty of the place! I could however, start my trip there, and do my planned trip backwards , if that makes any sense?

Would love to know your thoughts.

Thanks Katie

Peter
Traveller
9333 comments

Hi Katie ...
Istanbul is definitely not a typical town concerning Ramadan. It is very open, people are very Western-Europe style. So it won't be a ghost town!! :)
Peter

Katie_emie_carpenter
Traveller
4 comments

Hey,

Just need some help ideas really, my friends are hopefully coming to meet me and my friend in croatia, they have two weeks off work to spend time in Croatia and making way to Sofia and Istanbul... Is this going to be achievable in the 2 weeks? Also as you said earlier the best form of transport is via bus in Croatia. My friends were not planning on getting a interrail ticket, because again you mentioned to get a bus to get from croatia to Sofia and an interrail doesnt include busses. Is there an easier ( cheap) option to get to these places? Do you know how much busses would cost going through Mostar and Sarajevro -. just need some advice really, slightly blank!

Also do you think there is a possible better route to get to Istanbul , from Croatia?

Thanks in advance

Katie xx