Euro trip itinerary advice - first trip in 5 years !

[Dannyism]

Partner and I are flying into London and out of Paris on August 12th - 29th.

Neither of us have been to Portugal or Spain. She is interested in Budapest. I'm interested in Croatia, specifically an old coastal town like Dubrovnik.

Other possible stops for me are Warsaw, Prague, Vienna and Interlaken. But she has been to all of those.

Flights ideally would be oneworld, but cheapest most practical option would suit. Budget is mid-range.

This is what we have so far, would love some input.

 

[pyffii]

Have just returned from Lisbon and its a fabulous city that needs at least 3 full days to do it justice....The food is great and not expensive and a days visit to Sintra and Cascais is highly recommended.... landing into Lisbon in the summer can take over 3 hours to get through immigration so that can eat into your time in Lisbon so my suggestion would be to leave Madrid for another time and concentrate on Lisbon and Barcelona.

 

[RooFlyer]

Do you really need to be in London for the night? Entering then leaving the UK is very expensive (departure type taxes). If you get one of the middle East carriers out of the Middle East, or even ex Australia (eg Qatar airways - a oneWorld carrier), you should be able to go to Lisbon direct, without entering the UK; saving $$ and having more time on the Continent. ME carriers tend to be cheaper, too.

I'd agree that both Lisbon and Madrid will be a bit tight. Lisbon over Madrid.

In Lisbon I can highly recommend the Hotel Britania - a wonderful Art Deco hotel, with decanters of port in every room, including at breakfast

Dubrovnik if you can time it when there isn't a cruise ship there (or 2 or 3), that would be a bonus.

Budapest - check out K+K Hotel Opera. Its a while since I was there but I recall it as classy but not expensive. Klassz is a fabulous wine restaurant close by.

If you can possibly squeeze in a day's drive west of Budapest, you won't be disappointed. Amongst many highlights, the inside of Pannonhalma Abbey is exquisite (and there is a wine centre in the cave underneath )

 

[Dannyism]

Have just returned from Lisbon and its a fabulous city that needs at least 3 full days to do it justice....The food is great and not expensive and a days visit to Sintra and Cascais is highly recommended.... landing into Lisbon in the summer can take over 3 hours to get through immigration so that can eat into your time in Lisbon so my suggestion would be to leave Madrid for another time and concentrate on Lisbon and Barcelona.

Thanks, OK. Will look at extending Lisbon out to three full days.

 

[Dannyism]

Do you really need to be in London for the night?

I'd agree that both Lisbon and Madrid will be a bit tight. Lisbon over Madrid.

In Lisbon I can highly recommend the Hotel Britania - a wonderful Art Deco hotel, with decanters of port in every room, including at breakfast

Dubrovnik if you can time it when there isn't a cruise ship there (or 2 or 3), that would be a bonus.

Budapest - check out K+K Hotel Opera. Its a while since I was there but I recall it as classy but not expensive. Klassz is a fabulous wine restaurant close by.

If you can possibly squeeze in a day's drive west of Budapest, you won't be disappointed. Amongst many highlights, the inside of Pannonhalma Abbey is exquisite (and there is a wine centre in the cave underneath )

Thanks for the reply. We are flying into LHR and out of CDG as these are the SQ F rewards that we could find availability for.

We will look at possibly flying straight out of LHR that evening to save a day, possibly one less day in Croatia. This should give us a few extra days.

 

[Dannyism]

Wondering if anyone has any tips advice on where and how long to spend in Croatia and how to get around ?

Thinking about Dubrovnik and Split. or. Split, Plitvice and Zagreb

 

[Pushka]

Partner and I are flying into London and out of Paris on August 12th - 29th.

Neither of us have been to Portugal or Spain. She is interested in Budapest. I'm interested in Croatia, specifically an old coastal town like Dubrovnik.

Other possible stops for me are Warsaw, Prague, Vienna and Interlaken. But she has been to all of those.

Flights ideally would be oneworld, but cheapest most practical option would suit. Budget is mid-range.

This is what we have so far, would love some input.

View attachment 110651

I’m going to Paris, Croatia (all those places) and Budapest in May - June next year. Plus Venice and Lake Como. I hope to do a live trip report.

Croatia is simply stunning. But then. So is all of Europe.


This time we are doing a 7 day cruise on a 30 person boat that touches all the main areas.
Something like this:

We selected a more expensive one as these are most likely chosen by oldies but there are others for party lovers that are more cost effective.

 

[RB]

Wondering if anyone has any tips advice on where and how long to spend in Croatia and how to get around ?

Thinking about Dubrovnik and Split. or. Split, Plitvice and Zagreb

We were able to get around Croatia on public transport with no worries. Plitvice would be a must see in my opinion. Also if you have time you could tack on Mostar. It is a few years since we were there but I would be spending time at the islands rather than Zagreb & Split.
Island hopping in Croatia on the big ferries should be pretty easy to plan

 

[TheRealTMA]

I absolutely appreciate your desire to visit all these places, kind of bucket list?, but IMHO it’s far better to limit the number of whistle stops since you never actually experience anything in a 1 day somewhere. My preference would be for three days in fewer towns. Lisbon on its own, for example, is definitely worth three days. Madrid with all the museums, at least two full days, preferably three. Paris? Well how long do you have? At least three days. Plus all of these places have fabulous side trips available, such as Sintra from Lisbon, Monet’s garden or Chartres from Paris, ...

Dump Barcelona and expand the other stops.

But YMMV.

 

[RooFlyer]

Wondering if anyone has any tips advice on where and how long to spend in Croatia and how to get around ?

FWIW about 5 years ago I hired a car in Zagreb and drove down to Dubrovnik, also stopping at Zadar and Split. Easy driving until the E65 runs out then its a winding, single lane highway with local traffic, but that's a small minority of the distance. BTW, you go through a little neck of Bosnia Herzegovina at Nuem, so if you "collect countries" you'll get a bonus one if you stop for a break there . I went via Lake Bled in Slovenia on my way back to Zagreb.

The Hotel Aristos near Zagreb airport was astonishingly good for an 'airport cheapie' but of course it may have changed a lot since then.

 

[JMEL]

Budapest is absolutely worth a stop. So much to do and top value for money. Depending on your interests, you could easily fill a full week there, so 2.5-3 days might be a bit of a rush.

For a mid-range hotel, if you like contemporary art, the Bohem Art Hotel is great. The included breakfast is outstanding.

For a meal at a one-Michelin-starred restaurant which costs about the same as a mid-range meal in Australia, try Borkonyha WineKitchen. (Best to reserve at least several weeks in advance for dinner; slightly easier for lunch). As the name suggests...it has a big wine selection

Make sure to tour the beautiful Parliament building.

Everyone goes to the Szechenyi baths, but I actually like the Rudas baths better. It has a 16th century Turkish section, but also a new section with a stunning rooftop spa which overlooks the Danube. Saturday + Sunday are the co-ed days for the whole complex, all other days single gender in the old section.

 

[Dannyism]

Thank you all for the input.

Certainly sounds like we should be looking at 3 days in Lisbon, 3 days in Madrid or Barcelona (interesting the differing opinions), 3 days in Budapest, and 2.5 days in Paris.
That will leave about 5 or 6 days days to distribute throughout Croatia.

Thanks for the suggestions on hotels and restaurants, will check them all out when putting together our plans.

Second draft of itinerary.

 

[Dannyism]

FWIW about 5 years ago I hired a car in Zagreb and drove down to Dubrovnik,

What is the parking like in Split, Dubrovnik, Zagreb etc ?

 

[CMak]

Just come back from Croatia and loved Rovinj and enjoyed seeing the amphitheatre at Pula. Pletvice Lakes are a 'must do'. If you choose to stay within the walls of Dubrovnik you will need to find parking outside.

 

[Dannyism]

Thanks again for everyone's input. I think we nearly have a concrete itinerary to start booking some flights and accom.

Having researched a little bit further. I suspect flying to Dubrovnik for 2 nights, then catamaran to Split and explore the town, then day trip on catamaran to island(s), then tour bus for day trip to Plitvice, fly out of Split to be the option we are leaning towards.

Seems to be a bit cheaper than driving without the hassle of parking. However, without the freedom of a car.

 

[ellen10]

We spent 2.5 weeks in Croatia in June. Lots to see. I am glad you are not doing the drive from Dubrovnik to Split as mentioned before it is a long winding road and if you get caught at the Bosnian border behind a couple of tourist buses it can take you hours.
For me, you are maybe trying to cram too many places into your trip. You will spend a lot of time checking out of hotels and getting to and from airports and August will be teaming with people and very hot. We caught the fast cat from Split to Dubrovnik it takes just over 4 hours. We visited Plitvice Lakes staying 2 nights, an amazing place. We also spent a week island hopping, so many beautiful islands and the water is an amazing blue.
You will barely have 1 day in Paris and no time to really see the sights if you go to Disneyland which is very crowded and huge queues. Paris deserves much more time.

 

[offshore171]

However, without the freedom of a car.

In high season in Europe, having a car can be more of burden than freedom. Sometimes it seems like a whole continent looking for a parking space.

In terms of your itinerary, I'd be inclined to go for a little more "place time" and a little less movement. Even 1-2 hour flights eat up the best part of the day when you factor in travel to and from town centre, airport check-in, security etc - especially in August.

Possibly extend Lisbon, and drop Madrid.

 

[Dannyism]

We spent 2.5 weeks in Croatia in June. Lots to see. I am glad you are not doing the drive from Dubrovnik to Split as mentioned before it is a long winding road and if you get caught at the Bosnian border behind a couple of tourist buses it can take you hours.
For me, you are maybe trying to cram too many places into your trip. You will spend a lot of time checking out of hotels and getting to and from airports and August will be teaming with people and very hot. We caught the fast cat from Split to Dubrovnik it takes just over 4 hours. We visited Plitvice Lakes staying 2 nights, an amazing place. We also spent a week island hopping, so many beautiful islands and the water is an amazing blue.
You will barely have 1 day in Paris and no time to really see the sights if you go to Disneyland which is very crowded and huge queues. Paris deserves much more time.

Thanks for your reply.

We are zeroing in on our final itinerary, we have planned three full days in Lisbon, Barcelona and Budapest. I should note that we have both done Paris before, whilst a day or two there together would be nice, it's not essential.

We are trying to finalise our Croatia itinerary though. So far we have four days. It feels a bit rushed, we might put an extra day in Dubrovnik and/or drop Korcula.

Day 0 - Arrive DBV 1900, stay in Dubrovnik
Day 1 - Take fast cat at 1600 to Korcula, stay in korcula
Day 2 - Take fast cat at 1800 to Split, stay split
Day 3 - Sightsee split, stay split
Day 4 - Day trip to plitvice, stay Zagreb.
Day X - Morning departure to Budapest.

Finally, has anyone taken the train from Split/Zagreb - Budapest? Seems fairly straight forward.

 

[ellen10]

I agree it would be worth dropping Korcula, although a nice island you would be spending too much time getting from airports, to ferry ports.
You would need to catch a taxi to the ferry port in Dubrovnik, bus transport is very unreliable. Spend the 2 nights in Dubrovnik. Then catch the fast cat to Split ( 4 hours).
How are you getting to Plitvice and then on to Zagreb? As far as I know there is no direct train from Split to Plitvice, only buses. The buses can get very full in summer so you would have to book ahead.

 

[Dannyism]

How are you getting to Plitvice and then on to Zagreb? As far as I know there is no direct train from Split to Plitvice, only buses. The buses can get very full in summer so you would have to book ahead.

Thanks again for the feedback.

I found a tour for like 215AUD PP that picks you up in split, heads to Plitvice, then can take you to Zagreb. Other option would be a car. Final option would be bus Split-Plitvice-Split then take the train from Split to Budapest but that seems inefficient.

Car is tempting as the tour bus seems expensive.