Slovenia was my overall favorite — closely followed by Croatia, Slovakia, Czech Rep. and major portions of Ukraine (especially Kiev and Crimea) and Romania. I also loved Turkey. I did not care for Bucharest, but other parts of Romania are gorgeous. Ukraine still requires a Visa for US citizens. Others can be visited with just your passport — or, in case of Turkey, a visa that you can get on arrival.

Well Budapest and Prague certainly aren’t countries and you can find a lot more to do in Hungary and the Czech Republic if you wish.

All countries in the region are great. Best bet is to read up on a selection of them and see what interests you from there. I’ve been to many of the countries in the region but my favourites are Slovakia, Serbia and Montenegro, Bosnia and Romania.

Croatia is beautiful, but I wouldn’t touch a place like Dubrovnik or much of the Adriatic with a 10 foot pole in August.

Of those I’ve been to, Slovakia is my overall favourite. The scenery’s amazing, it’s wonderful for hiking, there’s loads of picturesque small towns and ruined medeaval castles, the beer and vodka are great, the people are very friendly, and it’s dirt cheap for westerners.

I really liked Serbia as well, it’s a bit more challenging but well worth it. The people are the nicest I’ve met in Europe, and it’s not touristy at all so they’ll make you feel very welcome.

Poland is nice too, it’s a very large country so it’s got a bit of everything, my favourite places are Warsaw, the High Tatras and Lower Silesia.

I’ve only ever been to Slovenia for a day (Lake Bled/Julian Alps), but what I saw was all really beautiful.

So, instead of narrowing down my list, it’s just gotten bigger…

Yeah, that’s what always happens to me when I start planning, too. What could help is to make a list of places that you absolutely have to see (not too many), and then see what places that you maybe want to see are on the way or near those places. Or make lists of pros and cons for each country (consider cost, visa, cultural interest, touristiness, beer, hiking opportunities, and whatever else is important to you), then see which ones come out on top.

Try all of Bulgaria if you plan on spending an economical budget. Recently, transportation systems have been improved lots to get there and back.

So is there a train that connects you from Bratislava to Krakow? Just on option.

I think there is, at least there was a couple of years ago. Check out http://reiseauskunft… or http://www.vlak-bus…. to be sure. Though if you have time, the best way to get from Bratislava to Krakow is though the High Tatras mountains. They’re an absolute must if you’re into hiking, but even if you’re not, you could see some of the most spectacular scenery in Europe by just taking the cable car up from Tatranska Lomnica, and from there on to the top of Lomnica (the second highest mountain in the range), or the chair lift to slightly smaller mountain next to it (which is cheaper and you won’t have to queue for hours to get tickets) on the Slovak side, or from (near) Zakopane to Kasprowy Wierch on the Polish side. There are trains from Bratislava to Poprad every 2 hours I think, from ther you can take a train to Stary Smokovec or another resort, and then onwards by bus to the border, Zakopane and Krakow.

Okay Slovakia is on my list now. I want to do some awesome hiking after Poland…what other places are good for hiking? I saw that there is a train that goes to Bratislava from Krakow. I looked in my guide book and there isnt that much to do in Bratislava…would anyone agree with me on this one? How many days should I give Bratislava? Krakow? These cities arnen’t set in stone, but more like top of the list. Working in the transporation is the hardest thing….

A few for Bratislava should be fine, but of course my normal recomendation for Bratislava is a minimum of two weeks…

seraph and I seem to know a lot about Bratislava, we’ve even had a few beers there and would be happy to answer any further Qs!

What about 2 days in Bratislava? I don’t drink, so the bars and beer thing will be out of the intinerary. Is it easy to get to the hiking places from Bratislava? Has anyone been to slovensky raj national park?

I would say 1 or 2 days in Bratislava are enough if you don’t drink, Krakow 2-3. That’s without daytrips.

I have been to the Slovensky Raj, it’s fun, quite different from the High Tatras so it’s nice to go to both.

The Tatras are very easy to reach. There’s trains from B’lava to Poprad every 2 hours I believe, from Poprad take a train to Stary Smokovec or another resort town. To get to Poland, take a bus to Lysa Polana, walk across the border, then another bus to Zakopane, from where there are trains and busses to Krakow. There are busses that go straight from Poprad to Zakopane as well, but only a couple a day. To get to the Slovensky Raj, take the train to Spisska Nova Ves, and a local bus or train from there. I did it once as a daytrip from Kosice, another time from Poprad.

There has been an awful storm in Slovakia last year blowing over half the trees in the Tatras, I don’t know what affect that has on hiking possibilities next summer.

Another good hiking area in central Europe is the Karkonosze mountains on the Polish/Czech border. It’s not very challenging, especially not compared to the Tatras, but there’s a lot of nice views and natural sights (waterfalls etc.) there nontheless.

I’ve written a[url=‘http://www.bootsnall.com/articles/02-06/a-guide-to-hiking-the-high-tatra-mountains-poland-and-slovakia.html’]Guide to hiking the High Tatra mountains[/url], you can read a report from my last trip there on my [url=‘http://blogs.bootsnall.com/karlien/archives/003178.shtml’]blog[/url], and I’ve also got plenty of photos of Slovakia and Poland on my [url=‘http://uk.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/seraphimkarlien/my_photos’]Yahoo photo page[/url].

I really liked Cesky Krumlov in the Czech Republic. Ive never been to any other eastern european countries, so i cant really tell all that much.

hi there, nice to see that foreign people want to come and see our region, especially Slovakia. I live in Slovakia in Bratislava, if you need some advice (do not ask me for accomondation, i do not live on my own) i am here for you. just ask me…u can post it to my email address jurosvec(at)post(dot)sk. see ya, take care and come to spent your money here. )

Actually funny enough I’ve been to all the places that the OP was asking about (Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovenia).

I’d rank them:

Lithuania
Slovenia
Estonia
Latvia

I LOVED Vilnius, great city, thought it reminded me of Prague in the early days, before I was there prob

Slovenia has a special place in my heart as I worked and lived there, but it’s a really charming small city.

Latvia, wasn’t a fan. But I could have had a bad impression based on the fact that I witnessed a drunk man beating a woman on the street and robbing her, and then a person getting hit by a car. Yeah, that will do it for you….

I really like the Balkan region, Sarajevo, Montenegro, and the small time I spent in Belgrade made me think I want to see more.

-A