Mitteleuropa: Where Should I Go Besides Prague And Budapest?

In My Humble Opinion
1

So I’m planning a trip to Central Europe for sometime between late May and mid-September, as I’ve long wanted to see Prague and Budapest. I’m thinking I’ll go for just under two weeks, and I’d like to know what people think I should do other than those two marvelous cities. A few irrational preconceptions, limitations, peculiarities, etc.:

  1. I’m not that interested in going to Austria or Germany. To me, they’re a separate, later trip, lower on my list of priorities.

  2. My candidates are really: other places in the Czech Republic and Hungary, or moving on to Slovakia, Poland, Slovenia, or maybe Croatia.

  3. Once I’ve landed, I’ll be travelling by train.

  4. I’m an urban critter. I like cities with art and restaurants and views and people. Smaller towns are fine, too, provided I can get to them by train, there’s good food to be had and a comfortable room for the night. I’m especially interested in glass and pottery, so I’d love to hear about centers for those crafts.

  5. The only backpacking I plan on undertaking will involve hot Czech and Hungarian men, preferably current military or the recently discharged. (I think it’s incumbent upon me to welcome our newest NATO members in a most thorough fashion.) Mountains, valleys, rivers, etc. are, I think, most productively seen from a distance, where you can frame them properly in your camera.

  6. Excepting 5) above, I’m not that interested in going to particuarly “gay” places. I live in New York, what more could I want?

  7. I do not plan on visiting any concentration camps. I’ve had enough evil visited upon my city, thank you very much, that I feel no need to seek out its remains in other places. And I’m mainly of German descent; the thought that my flesh and blood might have committed such atrocities is more than I care to experience in person.

Thoughts? Anyone?

2

I’ve only really been the the two cities you already have named in Czech-Slovak areas and Hungary, but I have heard that Slovenia is swell (and Dalmatia, Split, etc.) and the people I knew from Ljubiana were really cool. I have been to Belgrade as well, and it was pretty pleasant-- really strong coffee and nice cafes-- cram a bit on your cyrilic so you can find the BANK or POLIZIA and things like that. While you are so close, Vienna and that area–Graz and such–wouldn’t be bad-- it’s right next door, closer than to most of Germany (culturally as well, in some ways-- do the full Austro-Hungarian Hapsburg empire tour!)
I’ve also heard that Poland is neat, but a bit far out.

3

First of all: when in town, let me know, I’ll buy you a beer (I live in Prague). If you need help on a good cheap place to stay, there is a friendly Pension near my office that goes for about $30 a night.

Secondly, you can spend a week in each place and be happy. There are TONS of things to do here. Two of my friends came last summer and spent 3 weeks in Prague without even seeing the castle! :eek:

If you really want to travel around, then Brno, Bratislava, Karlovy Vary and Ceske Krumlov (#1 on the UN’s World Heritage Site list- Beautiful!) are neat places to visit as well.

There are a few queer hang-outs, and as soon as you find one, you’ll be able to find the others easily. I’m sure you could find more info on the net than I’d be able to provide.

Take care-
-Tomcat

4

I saw this on the web, and I’ve always wanted to visit.

http://www.ludd.luth.se/~silver_p/kutna.html

I’ll let the webpage speak for itself, but I imagine it would defintely make your trip to that area of the world a memorable one!

5

Tomcat, be careful what you offer since I might take you up on it! Thanks for the recommendations, too - Ceske Krumlov looks insanely beautiful. I’m sure it’s at least somewhat touristy, but can you avoid the tackiest parts without too much trouble? I found that to be the case with Toledo. A fair amount of schlock, but it was easy to keep my eye elsewhere.

And of course I had no idea Karlsbad was now Karlovy Vary. (I wonder how the caverns are? :wink: )

Cybersnark, I’d heard of that ossuary and had been considering it. I’m not sure it’s something I really need to see in person, though :); its impact in pixels seems quite enough.

6

Bratislava is very interesting. Wierd, but interesting. Especially if you enjoy bizarre-looking bridges. When I was there the main part of town was undergoing extensive renovations. All the Stalinblok* housing is hiding on the other side of the river, which is refreshing. They have an english language bookstore with good prices. I got there via hyrdofoil from Budapest which was a fun change o’ pace from trains.

Upriver from Budapest there are a series of small picturesque towns, Szentendre, Visgrad and Estergom (sp?). Szentendre has lots of little shops and there is a Museum of Marzipan that is good for very kitschy fun and delicious cakes in the lobby. You can get there from Budapest by light rail which costs a buck or two and there are several nice “panzios” – families with rooms to let, plus they give you breakfast. Then you can take the ferry up the danube to Visgrad where there is a famous castle and not much else. Estergom has a famous basilica housing a collection of papal vestments, not to mention the Thighbone of St. Istvan – the largest relic I have ever seen.

Krakow is a pretty cool city – big indoor market, castle complex, and the Salt Mines are pretty neat. There is a very famous poster shop there where you can buy very very cool communist-era theater posters.

*refers to horrible pre-fab crumbling cement apartment buildings found all over eastern Europe

7

Slovenia is a must - it is a lot like Switzerland, only cheaper and (if possible) evn more beautiful. The Postojna (sp?) caves are definitely worth a visit.
In Poland, I would go with Krakow, which is full of nice medieval buildings ( a lot unlike Budapest, which is more XIX. century). I have to second the salt mines, they are a beauty - although I heard they got flooded a few years ago, so it may not be as nice as it used to be.
Slovakia has lots of nice Saxon cities - gothic churches galore and some nice castles. Be sure to try “Sofola” (pronounced Kofola), which is a lot like coke, but with cinnamon and other spices - very strange and very tasty.
In Hungary, I recommend Esztergom/Szentendre (see reasons above, plus there is a Margit Kovács Pottery Museum in Szentendre) and Pécs - it is a bit mediterranian, with a very nice atmosphere, cheap restaurants (it is an university town - some 20.000 students, including yours truly, and, therefore, lots of restaurants), good museums (Vasarelly and Csontváry are a must, there is an Amerigo Tot collection and of course, there is the Zsolnay Museum which focuses on glazed pottery from the Zsolnay factory). Also, lots of NATO around (SFOR troops on vacation, although there are more in the summer). :wink: The city is 3 hours from Budapest (assuming you travel with Intercity).
Hope it helps.

8

Hey, I live in Budapest, so feel free to drop me a line if you swing by this way.

What to recommend? If you want a wee bit of adventure then get out east and head off to Romania/Transylvania. I would strongly recommend Sighisoara, Sibiu and Brasov. Romania is quite different than the countries you’ve listed so far. The people are quite friendly, but you really do feel like you’re stepping back 50 or 100 years when you cross the Hungarian-Romanian border. For me, Romania is where the fun countries begin. I like Prague, but I find it a bit sanitized for my tastes. Budapest is a little rougher around the edges, but comfortably Western, by all accounts. Also, if you’re traveling on a budget, you feel the power of American currency in Romania. A group of four of us had a dinner with soup, main course and beer for about $5. This was a year or so ago.

Speaking of “sanitized” cities, Vienna’s only two hours or so by train from Budapest. It’s worth a visit for all its stately grandeur and street-side wurst stands, but, if I may editorialize (not that haven’t been all along), I find it quite boring once you get past the beautiful museums and concert halls. (Oh, just noticed you’ve crossed that one off the list.)

Despite allegations from some to the contrary, I found Bratislava to be worth only a day trip, at most.

Croatia is quite beautiful, but a bit of a journey from Budapest for most of the interesting bits. Zagreb’s not too far away (about 6-7 hours by train, much quicker by car.) and I find it interesting. The Adriatic seaside, though, is really where it’s quite lovely. Dubrovnik is one of the most beautiful towns I’ve seen, but it’s close to a 24-hour jaunt by train and bus from here. (It’s only an hour or two by plane.) If you have the chance, I would highly recommend it. (And you’ll find plenty of military types vacationing there from the region. :slight_smile: )

Art/pottery in the region? It’s been mentioned a couple of times- Szentendre. It’s a 45-minute suburban train commute from Budapest. It’s basically an artist colony. I can’t think of any towns specifically known for their pottery, but as far as porcelein goes, some world-famous porcelein is produced in Herrend, Hungary (just north of Veszprem) and Zsolnay in Pecs.

I’ll also second Cesky Krumlov. That sounds completely up your alley from your conditions.

If you like medieval cities, like Prague, then check out Krakow. I love Krakow, but I’m also biased (my mother is from that area.)

9

Gracious me, Dopers poppin’ up everywhere, like groundhogs!

Thanks, pulykamell, and also to Melan for registering just to answer my question - great advice all around.

10

Oxymoron: sooner or later, I would have had to post - sitting on an account with 0 posts may get me deleted. :slight_smile:
If you take pulykamell’s advice and take a tour of Transylvania, I would visit Korond (sorry, don’t have an idea how it is called in Romanian), which is also renowned for its pottery. Most of it is pretty cheap, too. There is also Castle Vajdahunyad (?Hunedoara?), which is IMHO the most beautiful of all European castles - gothic architecture at its best.

11

Korond is Corund in Romanian.

That is all.