Opinions on Eastern Europe.

[meegannie]

My husband and I are trying to decide where to go on holiday next year, and would like to go somewhere in Eastern Europe -- somewhere that's not Prague, and that's relatively easy to find affordable flights to from England. We don't want to rent a car or spend hours getting from one place to another, so we'd prefer to spend a week or so in just one city rather than travel to several.

If we can't find anything we'll just go to Paris or to Belgium and the Netherlands, but I'd really rather save those trips for later.

 

[anitram]

Croatia.

Yes, I'm biased, but it's gorgeous and Lonely Planet rated it the #1 destination for 2006 so I'm not crazy talking. And you can get there cheaply from England. Go to Dubrovnik, it's wonderful and you can grab a charter flight there. There are also lots of islands you can get to from Dubrovnik rather easily, including Korcula (the actual birthplace of Marco Polo) and Hvar (whose surface from the air is purple thanks to the lavender fields).

 

[UberBeaver]

You have considered Kazakhstan? Women there are very skilled with plow, so I am told. Ehh? Sexy time, yeah? HIGH FIVE!

 

[PookaMacP]

Went to 6 countries in Eastern Europe in September so my recommendation, if you are looking for a city is undoubtedly Budapest. There'd be plenty to do for a whole week even if you didn't leave the city itself. (If you do think about it check out a hotel called Hotel Normafa in the Buda hills - a great not too expensive spot). Croatia is nice (Split, Dubrovnik and the coast rather than the slightly dreary Zagreb), but we actually preferred Slovenia. Went to Ljubljana which is nice - small but worth a look around for a day - and then to Bled, which is where Tito used to have a villa. It's a lake near the Julian Alps, not too far by train from Ljubljana. There's a beautiful castle overlooking the lake, a monastery on an island in its centre, and a national park nearby with a fantastic walk along a gorge. It might be a bit too late in the year for all this depending on the temperatures though, but it'd be worth checking out. Bratislava would probably be cheap enough to get to too - we got Ryanair there from Dublin for very little - but it tends to be full of drinking groups at night. Could be that we hit it on a weekend but it ruined the beauty a small bit. Sarajevo too has plenty to do but it'd be a bit further afield I think if you're only going for a short time without wanting to travel too much.

If you're willing to think a bit about central Europe (which is how I'd define Prague, and I'm sure the people themselves would too!) then Austria is one of the best places I've ever been. Vienna is a fantastic city, if more expensive than Budapest, and Salzburg is also beautiful.

In any case, do make the journey further east, it's worth it (though so is Paris!)

Edit: I just noticed that you said for next year so I'd highly recommend Bled then in that case!

 

[meegannie]

Thanks for the advice. We're looking to go late March/early April (I can take loads of time off because of Easter ). We've narrowed it down (I think) to Dubrovnik or Budapest. Now to look at flights and the costs of renting a flat for a week.

 

[Laura M]

I'd always pick Paris

Antwerp is nice.

As is clog country but I have to say that.

 

[anitram]

I'd always pick Paris

Really?

I've been almost everywhere in Europe and Paris, while really nice, isn't right at the top of the list. Rome, Florence and Venice are all far above, if you ask me.