WPB wrote:
Thank you so much for such a thorough and informative reply! Your
recommendations are great in that some of them (like Szentendre and
Melk) definitely sound like they're off the beaten path. I like
travels like that. Spare me the Starbucks and McDonalds.

Vienna I'll probably cut short because I've been there before and have
seen most of the highlights. I'm only starting my trip there because
of a big Van Gogh drawings exhibition at the Albertina that I want to
see. Don't get me wrong--I love Vienna. But it's all of these other
places and countries I've never set foot in that get the travel
butterflies going in my stomach.

Thanks again so much to you and everyone in this newsgroup kind enough
to take time out of their valuable day and give me this much
appreciated advice!

David
__________________________________________________ ____

"tile" wrote in
:

WPB wrote:
Hello, all: I've put up a couple of postings and everyone's been
very generous with their valuable advice for my upcoming trip.
Next month I leave for Vienna and then three weeks later return
home from Sofia. No plans at all yet for the points in between.

A number of people in this newsgroup gave me very good suggested
itineraries. They tended to go from Vienna to Sofia via an eastern
route (Hungary: Budapest and Eger) and Serbia.

But I got some guide books from the library on Slovenia, Croatia and
Bosnia--the western route. So many beautiful places to see.
Dubrovnik and Sarajevo look wonderful. I could focus on these
countries, then travel quickly through Serbia to end up in Bulgaria
(for five or six days there)

So my question is: would people recommend one route over the other?
Western vs. eastern? Of course, that depends on my tastes which
leans toward old city centers, markets, Roman ruins and beautiful
scenery (as opposed to shopping, nightlife and beaches).

Also, would the train and bus transportation be more reliable on
either the western route or the eastern route? I'm assuming the
hotel and restaurant prices would be pretty much the same all over
the region.

So once again many thanks in advance for any advice. Whichever
route would almost certainly be wonderful, but it's my first
vacation in years and I'd like to have as much information as
possible so I can make the best choices.

Thanks again!

David in Toronto

of all the towns that you want to see.. I would say Sarajevo is the
one you should not miss
It was the town of the 4 religions living together.. with the biggest
mosque in Europe ( of Course. the Blue mosque in Istanbul is bigger..
) then I would say :
Budapest is the second best for monuments.
Beograd and Subotica boast something noteworthy ( Beograd has a
Turkish part and Subotica has an old castle )
Eger is a small town famous for its wine. a castle and a minaret..
Mostar boasts its famous bridge
Dubrovnik is the old venetian town of Ragusa.. so its historical
centre recalls to yr memory venetian palaces. this part of Croatia
has been Italy till the end of the second world war.
Of course I did not mention Vienna. I have been there for the 20th
time a few months ago. and three days were not enough. Again. I
recommen Hotel Prinz Eugen and the Vienna Card. that enables you to
travel on all public services free of charge for three days. (Plus
rebates to Museums, Airport shuttle.. and so on )
you will need at least 2 days in Budapest.
maybe half a day in Szentendre.. a few kms from Budapest.
I recommend the old Abbey of Melk about 60 kms from Vienna.
You can take the train from Vienna and then a boat from Melk to
Vienna on the Danube. Mayerling might be another curiosity.
Again. you can take a boat from Vienna to Bratislava Budapest.
wherever you might sleep. it cannot cost more than 100 eur per night
for a double room.. Vienna Budapest and Beograd being the most
expensive. Food will be the cheap part of the trip.. You cannot spend
more than 15 eur for a good meal in Vienna Budapest and so on..
unless they cheat you if you want my opinion. Start from Vienna.
There are the usual London buses that will take you almost
everywhere for half day trips. In the night you might go to Prater
or take a shuttle train to Bratislava.. where you can enjoy Slovak
kitchen and a good bier. To tell you the truth I do not like
Budapest too much. but it is worth a couple of days.
One day in Eger
One day in Subotica
One day in Beograd
One day or two in Sarajevo including Mostar
I have been to Sofia only in transit to Thessaloniki or Istanbul.. so
I cannot say anything

If you like ancient monuments.. the other way through Slovenia
Croatia and Bosnia cannot be that interesting.
but you might well study guide books and Internet

and do not forget Burek sandwich.. in all countries were Turkey was ruling

sooo. Sarajevo.. then of course.. Beograd.. and of course Mostar

I remember from Sarajevo to Beograd the train stopped for I do not know for
what reason. a couple of hours..
and people were offering these BUREK.. they were wonderful.

Melk is an old Abbey ( the most important Abbey in Austria actually ) and
you can easily reach it in about 90 minutes from Vienna by train

a famous film about a treasure trove was partially filmed in this Abbey.. is
the library.. maybe you have watched this movie.

In Beograd there is also a Turkish part of the town. and the town is built
on the intersection of two rivers. Danube is one of them

Szentendre is about 15 minutes from Budapest. there is an important orthodox
church with annexed museum..
It was an old roman town. called Ulcisa Castra
another roman town near Vienna is Petronell Carnuntum. with a few ruins

Sarajevo is the town of the tolerance with four religions
The legend say that a jewish rabbi. escaping from the persecution fo the
Inquisition in Spain. had to choose between leaving behing his wife or
Thorah. so he left his wife behind and brought Thorah to sarajevo
another legend says two brothers were priests of two different religion..
one was muslim and one was catholic.
In the old part of Sarajevo you will see a lot of people drinking turkish
coffee and eating Kospice ( sunflowers seed.. ) or pumpkin seeds.
People normally are very nice. chances are that you will be offered a drink
of rakia if you are in a local restaurant
The name Sarajevo comes from Saraj.. the place caravans were stopping
Normally these sarajs were placed at about 29 kms from each other.. that was
the distance a caravan would cover in one day.
Sarajs normally have the same structure.. a closed building with a big
garden. Rooms would be on the second floors. in the garden space would be
reserved for animals and merchandise.
all over the silk road you will find these sarays..some have them have been
restored . and some of them are hotels now.
Thanks God. the new part of Sarajevo suffered a lot during the war.. but the
old part was left untouched.
while the Mostar bridge was destroyed by Croatians.. and was recently buing
rebuilt.