BootsnAll Travel Community

have any of you guys traveled to the eastern european counties? just wondering because they seem like mysterious places... and i havent heard of too many people going ther.thanks!

I've travelled in Poland, Slovakia, Czech Rep., Hungary, Serbia, Slovenia and Russia. What exactly do you want to know?

I've been to Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia and slovenia. It's one of my favourite parts of the world. You should travel there. It is still relatively inexpensive by Western standards, and most of it isn't too tourist orientated yet.

My advice is, if you're thinking about it - go.

what i want to know is this... i have the idea in my head, that they are broke down, poor places... i know thats not right.. but i dont know any better yet... i just want to know what it is like there... do they mind tourists? what is there to do, and to see

It is very hard to describe what half a continent (even a small one like Europe) "is like". Some eastern European countries are poor, others aren't. Some are touristy, others aren't. I suggest you go to the library and get some guidebooks to find out what there is to do and see. Or check out www.inyourpocket.com for city guides on most important cities in the region. Or read some of the travel guides and stories or blogs here on bootsnall.

seraphim, thanks for that advice.. i will do.

I had the same thoughts that you have before I headed to Eastern Europe about the countries being poor and broken down places. If you go to the major cities (population of 100,000 or greater), it will look just the same as any major city in Western Europe. There will be some poor and rundown areas, but then what major city does not have these?

Going more into the country side, I did see some more areas that were probably not the most desirable place for tourists to go (this was mostly in Poland), but nothing that looks like it has just been in a war. Some of these places might not offer much for a tourist, but then not every city has to be a tourist attraction.

If you cross borders by train, for example from Germany to Poland, you will see the difference as not only are the trains you take into Poland a lot slower, but the train stations are quite old and basic in Poland(some not even having clear signs). I also tended to see a lot more what looked like vacant industrial areas in the East (maybe leftover from the Communism era?)

The only real stereotype that did come up was the poor public bathrooms in some areas (including holes in the ground). If you do go to some of the developing countries, you do need to be prepared for some nasty toilets (and bringing your own toilet paper is a must).

Last summer I went to Slovenia and Croatia for about three weeks. The Soca Valley in Slovenia is one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever seen (been to Alaska, Morocco, Italy, France, Spain, Mexico). I hiked in the Alps, walked though a gorge, picnicked in a field, visited museums, some of the most unusual old churches imaginable, got a crash course on history, architectural and otherwise, from Iztok Osojnik in Ljubljana. The people, while a bit more reserved than folks in some places I’ve been, were incredibly warm and very interesting.

Though I spent less time in Croatia, and was basically in thesmall, old, quaint “resort” town of Porec, the country had an incredible “sense of place.” It was gorgeous and quirky. Sunned myself and dipped my toes in the Adriatic, spent a very late, very tipsy evening out alone, and felt perfectly safe. Also went to Pula, which is much larger, saw ruins, walked the edge of the port, and ate in a really nifty café.

Though the prices are going up, especially for Slovenia since they joined the EU, it’s still a pretty good bargain. In regard to Big E’s post about bathrooms, it didn’t seem to apply to either of these countries, though like I said, I didn’t see as much of Croatia as I did Slovenia.

I recommend you go. If you’re a bit unsure, it’ll be an even greater adventure!

Slovenia is THE place to go right now! Been twice this year and hopefully back a third time for New Year. Don't miss it!

Quite a few of us have travelled around Eastern Europe. My own love of the area (and it's very hard to say where Eastern Europe begins) is partly tied up with the fact that I spent some of my childhood and teens there - in Romania and Poland, to be exact. Romania in those days was under the iron grip of mighty Vlad-Impaler Nicolae Ceaucescu, and it was a poor country; it still is poor, but its cities are looking more and more prosperous every day. As for Poland, I always come back here after being somewhere else for a year or so to teach, and it's where I am living and teaching at the moment, and I can assure you any city you go to (with the exception of the extreme Eastern ones) could be anywhere in the West; it's hardly surprising that Poland has joined the EU. Some of the cities are both beautiful and prosperous: Gdansk, Krakow, Torun and Wroclaw spring to mind. The Czech Republic and Hungary (and Poland), also stuffed full of beautiful, relatively prosperous cities, now call themselves Central Europe, so unlike the old Eastern Bloc they have become - though, of course, every city has its rough areas, as has been mentioned. So, no, if you want authentic run-down peeling-plaster places, you need to go further East, to places like Belorussia and the Ukraine - Lwow (Lviv), though lovely, is very run down still, and has a large, visible rat population - but that's half the point of going to a place like that; Odessa likewise.
If I get round to putting on stuff about Poland and or Czech Republic in the articles or Blogs, I'll inform you. But I think "Eastern Europe" no longer begins at East Germany and the old Czechoslovakia; it begins and ends with Russia, Belorussia, Ukraine, Bulgaria and Romania, and some of that could be changing.

This summer I did Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania, Serbia, Croatia and Slovenia. They're all amazing places. Croatia and Slovenia where nice, but, a little too westernized for my liking. Romania and Bulgaria are both fantastic. Turkey's amazing too, you should go if you're in the region; although, it's usually not thought of as "Eastern Europe", you'd miss out if you didn't go there.

Watch out for loenly planets "Eastern Europe" book. It can be very, very wrong. This was most evident in Bulgaria (almost all prices were wrong).

Have fun!

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Watch out for loenly planets "Eastern Europe" book. It can be very, very wrong.

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Agreed. When we were in Serbia 3 years ago, that became a running joke. "Guess what, the guidebook was wrong again!"

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Originally posted by seraphim:

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Watch out for loenly planets "Eastern Europe" book. It can be very, very wrong.

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Agreed. When we were in Serbia 3 years ago, that became a running joke. "Guess what, the guidebook was wrong again!"

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Haha, we had exactly the same! The best moment was when we read about the Ro Ro ferry from Ruse to Giurgiu, we walked for ages to get to it and it was shut down. Aparently, it had been shut for a long time and we were there, stuck at a deserted border crossing. We were able to hitch back to the friendship bridge OK, but, it was a little annoying to say the least. This is, only one of a seemingly infinate amount of times that big red book screwed us.

Now that i've done it once, I'd like to go back and try it all again without the big LP. It can't be too hard...

That's funny you comment on LP guiding you to a non-existant ferry.

I was in Rabat with LP Europe on a Shoestring - the latest copy. It wasn't very old. It described getting to a campground, and told us to take the 'Foot Ferry'. We got near the river, and there were big signs for the ferry, but when we got there, it was just some kid in a tiny rowboat. We had to wade out into the river and throw our packs on. I thought it was funny, but my girlfriend was horrified.

The same thing happened throughout much of the trip. Prices, addresses and such were wrong. Maps grossly out of shape, misleading us. It makes you wonder if someone even went there, or if they just spend a half day there, or even researched the whole thing on the internet.

I only use guidebooks to get a feel for the place now. I find their recommended hotel area and then purposely go a few blocks away.

I've only been in Serbia, Montenegro and Croatia. Belgrade is quite a cool city, IMHO. Worked there for a while and had a great time. Only advice I have is to try to go in th summer. The winter can get bitter cold and make things extremely hard. If you - or anyone for that matter - want more info about Belgrade, feel free to ask.

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Originally posted by MScan:
Maps grossly out of shape, misleading us.

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I had a big problem with this. We got lost so many times that people would think I was backward or something. I had to give them the map and let them get us lost before they would believe that fault lay in the LP and not me.

Still, that's part of what makes it fun :-)

Sorry to divert from the Eastern European theme for a moment, but never trust LP/Rough Guide Maps for any town or city. For example, the Sicily RG a) mentioned a street that didn't exist in Palermo in its directions to a place and b) included the street in its map of Palermo. I think they may have corrected the mistake since then. By far the best thing to do is to get a local map (not a 'tourist' map) when you get there, or get one of the Baedecker or other types of comprehensive maps from a good bookstore, and you've got a better chance of accuracy. I know, reading a map in Ukranian is hardly easy with all the Cyrillics, but maybe you could have some fun teaching yourself the Cyrillic alphabet, as all the street signs are in Cyrillics anyway.
Even poor, beautiful Romania and Bulgaria have decent maps of Bucharest, Cluj, Timisoara, Oradea, Sofia etc. It may be more difficult to find them, but they do exist.

Hey, I am amazed at how many people haere have visited Slovenia. Feels great, since most people I have met on my travels had no idea where it is (a friend even got arrested for being a citizen of a non existing country ). Id be glad to meet up for a beer if anyone is wandering around.

Don't get discouraged jusha... I'm from Greece, one of the _most_ visited countries in the world, yet, almost wherever I go, hardly anyone knows where the damn place is.

Very often I have come across people, especially in the third world, asking me if it's a country at all, seemeingly never having heard the name to begin with. As for the first world, well I've heard questions like "is it near Mykonos?" quite a few times.

Of course that was all before we won the European Football championship. Now, last summer, we were somewhere in a godforsaken village in the Amazon, yet when we said we're from Greece, they all rejoiced "Campeones de Europa!" So, my recommendation to our slovenian neighbours is to kick some ball and practice their football as a matter of foreign policy

As for pointing at Slovenia in the map... don't be too worried about that. I hardly know a handful of people who can confidently associate all country names with map regions in the Balkans. And besides, the Balkan map has been hanging every 50 years or so.

*bump*

In case folks have new things to say about Slovenia.