EASTERN EUROPEAN TRAVEL IDEAS:
These sites have helpful maps:
http://www.trafalgartours.com/USA/DisplayTour?TourID=3317
http://www.grid.unep.ch/product/publication/freshwater_europe/danube.php
http://www.grid.unep.ch/product/map/images/danubeb.gif
Germany: Passau ("Bavaria's Venice") (Munchen, Germany) - PICTURES
Along the Danube south of Passau:
Wesenuger - flowered balconies
Struden and Sarmingstein - crag-top ruins
http://www.ushistoricalarchive.com/photochroms/3345.html
Nibelungengau valley
Wachau valley - orchards and steeply terraced vineyards
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1 Czech Republic: Prague & Cesky Krumlov
2 Side trip to Poland (Krakow)
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(On the Slovakia-Poland border: Karkonoski National Park)
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3 Slovakia: Bratislava (on the Danube)- art
nouveau buildings
4 Austria: Vienna
South of Vienna and Bratislava: Szigetkoz marsh (along the Danube) - PICTURES
5 Hungary:
6 Bulgaria: Sofiya
7 Romania: Bucharest
Marmara (northwest)
Transylvania: NagyBanya
- art colony
http://www.leafpile.com/ - (expats who live there)
Transylvania Sibiu - Google Search
http://www.therealtransylvania.com/
http://romania.8k.com/sibiu/ - Sibiu, Medieval City in Transylvania
http://www.aboutromania.com/
Magazin - http://www.gkrte.hu/public/magazin4.php?id=202 (pictures)
EasyJet flies from Stansted to Ljubljana.
8 Slovenia: Ljubljana
9 Croatia: Plitvice
Sfeti Stefan, Montenegro - wow! PICTURES
Central Slovenia: Belgrade
+ Slovenia: Sarajevo
Croatia: Dubrovnik
(on the Adriatic coast)
Serbia: Belgrade - where is this?
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Danube River
Germany: Donaueschingen, Ulm, Regensburg, Passau
Austria: Linz, Melk, Durnstein, Vienna
Slovakia: Bratislava
Hungary: Esztergom, Budapest
Croatia
Serbia: Belgrade
Romania: Turnu Severin (bus to Bucharest), Braila
& Bulgaria (on the other bank)
1775 miles long
Starts at the meeting of the Brigach and Breg rivers in the Black Forest region
of Germany.
Ends where it debouches into the Black Sea.
May to October - can be very hot + if no air-conditioning, windows may not have
screens, so mosquitos.
1991 - water level as low as it had been in 30 years
Many delays
Wachau Valley
spring: water highest
autumn color
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Plus -up- the Dnieper River
Odessa (on Black Sea)
Kherson
Zaporozhye
Kiev
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Danube River cruises and area maps:
River Danube Cruises visiting Germany, Vienna, Budapest, Bratislava - http://www.cruisingholidays.co.uk/river/danube/
http://www.world-ventures.com/LC_River_Cruise_Christmas_on_the_Danube.htm
Danube River Basin - UNEP-DEWA~Europe > Publication > Freshwater in Europe
-
http://www.grid.unep.ch/product/publication/freshwater_europe/danube.php
http://www.grid.unep.ch/product/map/images/danubeb.gif
GOOGLE image search - Danube River map
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DISEASE INFORMATION: http://www.oie.int/eng/info/hebdo/AIS_49.HTM
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GEORGIA
http://www.rzuser.uni-heidelberg.de/~ci4/georgien/
http://www.escapeartist.com/efam26/georgia.html
Tedsnet - http://www.rzuser.uni-heidelberg.de/~ci4/georgien/tedsnet-index.htm
Tbilisi - http://www.rzuser.uni-heidelberg.de/~ci4/georgien/suratebi/imereti.htm
Most Beautiful:
http://www.deepdownproductions.com/world/georgia%20travels.shtml
http://www.georgica.caucasus.net/culturetoursgeorgia.htm
Google Search- Ushguli (images)
GEORGIE récit de voyage et visite des lieux touristiques, pays de l'est
- Tourisme, photos - http://www.bourlingueurs.com/georgie/index.htm
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ESTONIA
Town Hall Square - http://www.cis.nctu.edu.tw/~whtsai/World%20Highlights/New%20Side%20Show%20Webpages/imagepages/image29.html
http://www.seewald.com/order_form_part_II.htm
http://images.google.com/images?q=Saaremaa&hl=en&btnG=Search+Images
MAPS - http://www.estonica.org/eng/maps/euroopahaldus-eng.html
Estonia pictures
http://www.visitestonia.com/ - Visit Estonia site - excellent!Very nice site
about Estonia!
http://www.estonica.org/
and great map - http://www.estonica.org/eng/maps/index-eng.html
Another great map - http://www.europarl.eu.int/presentation/maps/applicants/estonia.htm
Estonia's tourism site - http://www.turismiweb.ee/en/
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www.scantours.com/GLIMPSE_OF_ESTONIA.htm
http://www.worldheritagesite.org/countries/estonia.html
http://www.seewald.com/estonia_photographs.htm
http://www.cis.nctu.edu.tw/~whtsai/World%20Highlights/New%20Side%20Show%20Webpages/imagepages/image25.html
http://www.cis.nctu.edu.tw/~whtsai/World%20Highlights/New%20Side%20Show%20Webpages/imagepages/image29.html
Lots of pictures of Talinn
http://images.google.com/images?q=Talinn&hl=en&btnG=Search+Images
Lots of pictures of Haapsalu, on the west coast
http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&lr=&q=Haapsalu&btnG=Search
Lots of pictures of Pärnu, on the west coat
http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&lr=&q=P%C3%A4rnu&btnG=Search
Lots of pictures of the island of Saaremaa
http://images.google.com/images?q=Saaremaa&hl=en&btnG=Search+Images
Lots of pictures of the island of Hiiumaa
http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&lr=&q=Hiiumaa&btnG=Search
This place looks nice! Maybe I'll visit . . .
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Homes Overseas - June 2005
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(BALTICS) ESTONIA, LATVIA, LITHUANIA
Low-cost airlines fly London to Tallinn and Riga.
Estonia: fairytale capital, Tallinn, is a medieval gem, home to over 1/3 of
1.5 million.
Unspoilt beaches ten minute drive on Gulf of Finland. Helsinki is boat trip
away. St. Petersburg a few hours by car.
Latvia: Riga - many Russians. Cheaper.
Lithuania: Vilnius - cobbled Old Town. Best architecture in Baltics. Lagging
behind on property boom, except some in last couple years. Cheapest.
Very pleasant second city, Kaunas.
Someplace Else - www.someplaceelse.co.uk
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RUSSIA
Waterways (Looks Good $$$) - http://www.eastwest-tours.com/russianwaterways.htm
River Cruises - http://www.expresstorussia.com/russian_river_cruises.html
Semipalatinsk - http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/world/russia/semipalatinsk-16_nuc.htm
Most Beautiful: Moldova-Prutul de Jos - http://www.iatp.md/arii/text/eng/prut.htm
Cruise through Ukraine (Sunset June 1990)
Vienna to Kiev 13-14 days
Akademik Viktor Gluschkov - 300 passenger Soviet
Mozart - 212 passenger Austrian
Ukranian only is 10-11 days including 2 days in Moscow & 1 day in Sofia,
Bulgaria.
Midway point is Ruse, Bulgaria - change to other ship.
$3,315 for Dnieper-Danube / Ukraine $2,565.
Stops at Kiev, Zaporozhye, Kherson, Odessa.
Exuberent beauty of Kiev - largely rebuilt since WW2, hilltop. St. Sophia, 11th
century Byzantine church with lavish mosaics.
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GENERAL EASTERN EUROPE:
http://www.trafalgartours.com/USA/DisplayTour?TourID=3317
http://www.folkdanceonthewater.org/
http://www.craftworldtours.com/
http://www.gumbopages.com/festivaltours/europe2006.html
Scottish Country Dancing in Central Europe - 1999. - http://www3.sympatico.ca/nlink.household/prague/prague99.htm
Top Bicycle Greenways Vienna - Prague Map - http://www.topbicycle.com/BTW-PMapProfile.htm
Bicycle Tours in Slovakia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Germany, Austria
-
http://www.topbicycle.com/BicycleToursSlovakia.htm
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Rick Steves:
http://www.ricksteves.com/graffiti/graffiti_menu.htm
http://www.ricksteves.com/graffiti/graffiti81.html - ATMs
http://tours.ricksteves.com/tours05/eeu05/itin.cfm
RICK STEVES ITINERARY
Day 1-3: Prague — Wonderfully preserved Old Town, Jewish Quarter. Prague
Castle area and St. Vitus Cathedral.
Day 4: Rural Czech Republic — Drive into Moravia (the eastern part of the
country), explore a typical hill town, and set up in the village of Trojanovice
under the Beskydy Mountains (1 night). Bus: 6 hours.
Day 5: To Krakow — Poland: Auschwitz. Kraków, historic melting pot.
Sleep in Kraków (3 nights). Bus: 4 hours.
Day 6 & 7: Krakow — Walking tour, Jewish district, tour the Wieliczka
Salt Mine. Castle, the Czartoryski Museum, St. Mary’s Church, one of Europe’s
most colorful market squares.
Day 8: To Slovakia — Beautiful Tatra Mountains as our backdrop. Town of
Levoca (1 night). Bus: 4 hours.
Day 9: To Hungary — Drive to Eger, home to Hungary’s most beloved
castle, set in the hills of the country's best-known wine-growing region. Sleep
in Eger (2 nights). Bus: 4 hours.
Day 10: In and around Eger — Baroque beauty and bustling produce market,
then explore the surrounding countryside: wine caves, rural villages, a Stalin-era
gulag (work camp)…and a minaret. Bus: 3 hours.
Days 11 & 12: Budapest — Guided walk through the historic castle district
of Buda (on the west bank) and through bustling Pest (on the east). Sleep in
Buda (2 nights).
Day 13: To Croatia — South to Plitvice Lakes National Park, where a system
of boardwalk trails lead to magical waterfalls. Sleep at Plitvice (1 night).
Bus: 7 hours.
Day 14: To the Adriatic — Morning hike through the park. Drive across mountains
to the Adriatic Sea. Boat for island of Rab, where we'll sleep (2 nights). Bus:
3 hours.
Day 15: Free day on the island
Days 16 & 17: Slovenia — Lake Bled, set in the midst of Slovenia's
Julian Alps and ringed by fine hiking paths. Ljubljana, Slovenia's small and
charming capital. Sleep in Bled (2 nights). Bus: 5 hours on day 16, no bus on
day 17.
Day 18: Slovenia's international airport is a half-hour away.
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