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This information was accurate when we moved through this area bewteen July and September 2006.
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For this portion of our trip we found it essential to book ahead in order to secure rooms.
Resources used were www.hostelworld.com and www.hostelz.com latter provides uncensored reviews of places.
Dubrovnik
Beautiful old city awash with flash packers, expensive.
Eating - countless options, most are tablecloth restaurants, very hard to find more "local" kinds of places.
Accommodation
Book in advance. We used Dubrovnik Youth service double room outside
bathroom 40 euros. Aim to be as close to the old city as possible.
Korcula Island
Spectacular island lots of accommodation, restaurants and live. Plenty of rocks to lie out on and enjoy the sunshine.
Nice secluded beaches on Lanbarda - other side of island.
Eating - lots of restaurants.
Transport-
Local buses run between town and ferry port and else where on island.
If travelling on to Split take the express boat it's cheaper and faster than than the slow boat. 63 HRK.
Accommodation
Touts meet buses daily. If you walk up hill behind town you'll find
lots of "sobre" signs. Discounts are offered for staying 3 nights or
more.
Double room with bathroom 230 HRK
Split
Merits a day of sightseeing. Excellent hub for connecting on to lots of
destinations via train and bus - islands, Sarajevo, Lithuania etc.
Bus to Ljubljana 300 HRK
Accommodation -
Lots of touts hanging out around ferry and bus station.
Double room apt 130 HRK
Ljubljana
Charming city, cobblestone streets, restaurants. All shops close on Saturdays and Sundays.
Transport- train and bus station are right beside each other. Train to Budapest 30 EUR
Accommodation - lots of hostels book in advance.
Funky former prison hostel that looked interesting Hostel Celica http://www.hostelcelica.com/en/accomodation/index.html
Trabor Hostel double room 9,000 SIT (now obsolete) - 38 EUR
Bled
Small resort up in the mountains, good base for trekking and outdoor activities.
Transport - bus station in town connects Bled to Ljubljana 6 EUR
Accommodation-
Youth hostels tend to fill up very fast. Cheap double private rooms (40
EUR) are available through the tourist information office in the centre
of town. Worth checking out this option.
George Best Hostel dorm beds 17 EUR each. Hostel is located past the IYH and down the bottom of the hill in the George Best bar.
Budapest
Magnificent buildings and streets, lots of walking. Check out the baths. Get your hands on a map - it's easy to get lost.
Transport - lots of local buses and trams run around city.
Train - many big train stations with trains departing internationally.
It's possible to book trains departing from a different station, double
check departure station.
Train Budapest -> Bratislava 6500 HUF
Accommodation-
Lots of hostels scattered throughout the city. Best location is
probably in Pest near the Octagon. Also may be luck and be met by tout
with apt.
Double room shared bathroom in apt in Buda 35 EUR/ 8750 HUF.
Bratislava
Old town has lovely restored buildings and enticing restaurants and
bars - new part of town is under renovation and a bit dusty. Bratislava
is located an hour's train ride away from Vienna, ideal base to explore
a Western European city cheaply. Please note a lot of museums in Vienna
are closed on Mondays.
Transport-
Train - trains depart regularly for Vienna (Wien). There are two
stations in Bratislava Bratislava Main Station and Bratislava Petrzalka
- make sure you catch the return train from Vienna to the correct
station. Ask in the station for the "Vienna Ticket" this is a new
return ticket that offers discounts on Vienna's public transport
system. Vienna Ticket (return) costs 7.70 EUR
Train Bratislava-> Krakow 31 EUR
Eating and drinking - 1.Slovak, located in newer part of town, good slovak food and own brewed slovak beer.
Accommodation-
On researching hostels in Bratislava Aug 2006 the standards appeared to
be extremely low due to the fact that there aren't enough beds in
hostel beds in the city. It's worth reading some reviews from
independent sites - they are scary. One place that did rate highly was
Juraj's Hostel, it's by no means your average hostel but it's very
clean and Juraj puts a lot of effort into running it. Contact details
and directions can be found at http://www.hostelz.com/ "Juraj's Hostel"
Krakow
Krakow Square - great place to sit and people watch.
Castle and Cathedral - worth wandering up the hill to the castle for
the view over Krakow. Entrance to castle grounds and the main part of
the cathedral is free.
In high season entrance tickets for the castle are sold in the morning
for time slots in the afternoon so get up there early and get your
ticket if you don't want to miss out.
Auschwitz and Birkenau Museum - buses depart from the main bus
terminal. They have signs up advertising a return ticket price but it's
actually cheaper to pay for the outward and inward journey separately.
Eating and drinking - Check out the Jewish Quarter for some good happy hours and snack food :pierogi, zapiekankas and kebabs
Accommodation- lots of hostels but the most popular fill up so best to book in advance.
Hostel Atlantis - 8 bed dorm very clean and modern inside, good
communal bathrooms. Much more expensive to book online (55 PLN per bed)
than in person (40 PLN per bed)
We suggest booking online for first night or 2 then extending your stay to get a cheaper walk-in rate.
Warsaw
The ticketing office in the main bus station for evening buses to Vilinus closes around 2pm.
Vilnius
Go see the Uzupis Republic on the other side of the river.
There is a big well stocked supermarket located around the corner from the bus station.
Accommodation:
Vilnius backpackers - good hostel, very social, nice kitchen good atmosphere.
dorm bed 45 litas. big double room 107 litas.
Riga
Take a train trip out to the beach Jurmala and 32 km of white sand,
visit the markets, go to the occupation museum in the centre of town.
Eating and Drinking- Lido has great local food, lots of happy hours scattered around town.
A big new supermarket has been built across the main road between the old town and the market.
Transport -
Train and bus station lies beside the market within walking distance of tow.
Bus to Tallinn 8 lats.
Accommodation-
Frank's Hostel - good location in the centre of town. Very clean, good beds. Dorm beds start at 4 EUR.
Tallinn
Old town, small can see it in a day. Climb to the top of the hill to see the views can also visit the market.
Eating - lots of restaurants and bars. Some have special early bird menus.
Move away from old town to find cheaper internet.
Transport - bus station is far from old town, not many food options around there.
Bus to St. Petersburg 350 EEK
Accommodation -
Tallinn Backpackers is located in the centre of town. Dorm beds 220 EEK. |
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