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So this summer I visited the Czech Republic (which admittedly is not "eastern" Europe technically) and heard a lot of cool stories from backpackers who visited Eastern Europe. Also, it was a lot cheaper than western Europe. I was wondering if anyone has any favorite places to go? I was thinking of hitting either starting in Austria (lots of flights there), then taking the train to Bratislava and Budapest. Alternatively, I was thinking of starting in Helsinki, taking the ferry to Helsinki and working my way south to Estonia, Lithuania, etc. Basically, if you had 2 weeks to blow and had the vague idea you wanted to go to Eastern Europe, where would you go? I'm focusing on a route that avoids needing Visas (so no Russia for example)
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Sep 7, 2014 20:32
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| # ? Apr 19, 2024 20:13 |
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Are you a white male? Will you be alone? Do you speak any Russian? It can be a dangerous place man, not even in the го́пник sense just in general. Example, you're in a small town and you miss the last metro that goes back to the city. What do you do? It's cold out. There is no "Wal-Mart" or "EuroSpar" around and everything is closed. 24 hour gas stations? Yeah, no. It's not that bad but my advice (I lived in russia for short period, few months) is follow simple rules like having written phone numbers on you at all times, avoid walking and speaking english at night, travel on main routes and stay in popular cities. One thing I always had trouble with was using a non-contract phone that you fill with credits. They'd always have different bullshit like charging more minutes when you're in a new region and not filling instantly at the vendor because the bank in Moscow was closed. Many times did I find myself thinking I had minutes on my burner phone only to be wrong when I needed it. The small things like this are what you gotta think about. Eastern Europe fuckin' owns if you can play the part. I don't know about "backpacking" though. You know in between all the major cities usually lies extreme poverty, nothing, and alcoholism. Definitely go do it and you'll be fine if you're smart I just don't see the benefit in doing it "organically" like staying in hostels and poo poo like that. Yeah it's cheaper but don't be afraid to do it the Western way and take advantage of cabs, hotels, and bullet trains. Good luck! I'm mad jealous but my buddy from Russia is coming in the winter so I gotta stay here instead of going back. Oh yeah and this won't come in handy but it's a fun fact. If some girls say "hello" to you and you wonder "How did she know I speak english? Does she know I'm foreign?" and your near a hotel or airport it's because shes soliciting you for sex and no she's not into you and you will end up with money from your wallet gone lest you get a beating. Slavs do it big.
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Sep 9, 2014 02:32
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Wow, I wonder what parts of Eastern Europe you're talking about? I'm from the Netherlands and have made several trips to the more eastern parts of Europe. Five years ago, a buddy of mine and I bought a car and drove through Poland, Ukraine, Moldova, Romania, Hungary and Slovakia without any troubles. Granted, the border-crossing from Poland to Ukraine was a bit intimidating, but that's mostly because it was the first border-crossing on our trip, because there's soldiers with big guns and because no-one speaks a single word of English or German at the border. On the other hand, the Ukraine-Moldova border-crossing was extremely relaxed. "Do you have anything in your car?" - "No, just some clothes and food." "Foot?!" On this road-trip we mostly visited the larger cities, but since having our own car meant we were very mobile, we were definitely sure to also stop over at some smaller towns for lunch and stuff. There was not a single moment where we did not feel safe. Since then I have returned to the central/eastern Europe area for shorter trips to Gdansk in Poland, to the Czech Republic (a week in Prague and surroundings), three times to Budapest and to Serbia for a two-week combination of a festival and a road trip around the country. Language has never been a problem and I have never had any troubles with English, maybe a little bit of German and of course your hand and feet. If you want to spend two weeks in central/eastern Europe and want to just use public transit (I believe you can get around quite easily by train and bus), I would suggest spending one week in Poland and one week in Hungary and Slovakia. You could start out in Austria, since Bratislava is only like 50km away from Vienna. Bratislava is a small city and you won't need much time to explore it. You could consider going deeper into the country as its nature is supposedly quite nice. In Hungary, be sure to visit Budapest. It's one of my favourite cities in Europe: a lot of stuff to do and see, a very relaxed atmosphere and not extremely touristic the way e.g. Prague is. In Poland, definitely visit Krakow. It's a beautiful city, it has a lively backpacker scene, an enormous amount of fun bars and it is very close to Auschwitz, which serves for a very impressive daytrip. Next to Krakow, I truly enjoyed Gdansk. It's much smaller and a bit out of the way, but I found it to be a beautiful harbour city. Closeby Sopot (sea-side town) and the Malbork castle provide great daytrips. The eastern Europe country I enjoyed most was Ukraine, but I don't suppose it's the best place to visit now. Romania was also really nice, but I think I prefered Poland and Hungary more. Don't try to do too much in two weeks, especially since, in a way, many of the cities in central/eastern Europe are somewhat similar to a certain degree. Funny Bunny fucked around with this message at 14:31 on Sep 9, 2014 |
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Sep 9, 2014 14:28
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I've never been to the "real" eastern Europe I guess (Ukraine, Moldova, Belarus) but have been around Czech/Slovakia/Hungary/FYRs and I'm wondering if Rap Music and Dope's description of Eastern Europe comes entirely from having watched the film Hostel and some anecdotes found online.
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Sep 10, 2014 15:54
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I hopped trains in southeastern Europe for a while after college, just a few weeks. Budapest is pretty, but I took pictures of the plentiful fascist rallies more than I did of the city. Sofia, Bulgaria is boring; my best photos were of a car fire. The most lively cities I visited were Belgrade and Istanbul. Both were fantastic and I'd highly recommend going as east as you can just for prices and avoiding other tourists. Romania was really great, and my dollar went the furthest there out in the sticks. Good wilderness. I've heard good things about Moldova, but they're kind of on edge with Russia right now.
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Sep 10, 2014 16:33
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Saladman posted:I've never been to the "real" eastern Europe I guess (Ukraine, Moldova, Belarus) but have been around Czech/Slovakia/Hungary/FYRs and I'm wondering if Rap Music and Dope's description of Eastern Europe comes entirely from having watched the film Hostel and some anecdotes found online. Are you serious? I would have said the same thing about any country all over the world. The danger is being lost without money, not kidnapped and killed. Go visit Grozny though tough guy Edit: Also, if the OP isn't white or is female then yeah actually it can be a little dangerous outside major cities. Sorry. Rap Music and Dope fucked around with this message at 01:18 on Sep 11, 2014 |
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Sep 11, 2014 01:16
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Rap Music and Dope posted:Are you serious? I would have said the same thing about any country all over the world. The danger is being lost without money, not kidnapped and killed. The OP is talking about going through the Baltic States or Hungary/Czech/Slovakia/other now-EU states, he's not talking about going to Chechnya to join the Jihad, jesus christ. Estonia is safer than San Francisco. E: Sorry back on topic for OP: If you're a EU passport holder, you can also go to Kaliningrad Oblast for up to 3 days without a pre-approved Russian visa ( http://kaliningrad.mid.ru/en_GB/web/kaliningrad_en ). Note this doesn't work if you're American. Saladman fucked around with this message at 09:28 on Sep 11, 2014 |
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Sep 11, 2014 09:05
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Rap Music and Dope posted:Are you a white male? Will you be alone? Do you speak any Russian? It can be a dangerous place man, not even in the го́пник sense just in general. Example, you're in a small town and you miss the last metro that goes back to the city. What do you do? It's cold out. There is no "Wal-Mart" or "EuroSpar" around and everything is closed. 24 hour gas stations? Yeah, no. Most other places you can make do with English just fine (at least with the younger generation). It's hardly any more dangerous than in Western Europe, which is the richer hunting ground most of the criminals from Eastern Europe have moved to; thanks EU. If you need to get back to the city center from suburbs then you'd just call any of the many 24 hour cab services. Around here bigger convenience stores are open 9-23, and there are hardly any gas stations that aren't 24/7.
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Sep 13, 2014 21:08
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Rap Music and Dope posted:Are you a white male? Will you be alone? Do you speak any Russian? I'm a big scary white guy but I don't speak any Russian. I was thinking of starting in Istanbul for a few days, taking a Ryanair to Budapest, taking the train to Bratislava and spending a night in Bratislava, then a couple nights in Vienna.
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Sep 18, 2014 14:28
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In which countries should you speak or not speak Russian, in general? twoday fucked around with this message at 16:53 on Nov 19, 2014 |
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Nov 19, 2014 16:46
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twoday posted:In which countries should you speak or not speak Russian, in general? It's useful for Belarus and eastwards, but elsewhere you'd likely be better off with English.
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Nov 19, 2014 20:37
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SERBIA! Go visit Serbia. It's a beautiful country, most of the younger people speak english there. I went there for school and it's probably one of the best places to visit. But if you have an opinion about the Yugoslav wars, Kosovo independence, or their ethnic tensions in general stay home. A lot of the older people still hate NATO, but they are still pretty favorable towards most westerners. Stay out of Belgrade, it's not dangerous but there isn't much to do unless you really like lovely techno and clubbing. *Edit: Do not get involved in local politics. Also, if someone invites you into their home in a rural area, DO NOT compliment anything in their home. If you do, they will insist on giving it to you as a gift. Alex433999 fucked around with this message at 16:55 on Nov 20, 2014 |
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Nov 20, 2014 16:51
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twoday posted:In which countries should you speak or not speak Russian, in general? Where to speak it: Belarus, Latvia (Kind of, some of the older people might remember it), Estonia (Anywhere east of Tallin usually), Some parts of Bulgaria, Ukraine(Don't visit here), a little bit of northeast Albania Where NOT to speak it: Bosnia, Kosovo, Romania(DEFINITELY NOT HERE, Romanians hate Russians, but they are some of the most pro-Americans in the world), Croatia, Hungary
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Nov 20, 2014 16:59
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I'd try to avoid speaking Russian in most of Eastern Europe except in areas where people speak it natively (like eastern Latvia or Estonia), or Belarus. Those older people who remember it were forced to learn it, and often hate it, and people who don't speak it also dislike the language for the attempted Russification of their country (i.e. Estonians, Latvians). Best to try English and German first.
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Nov 22, 2014 17:07
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| # ? Apr 19, 2024 20:13 |
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Do not skip Budapest. It's a beautiful city, very affordable, and from there you can either go West to Austria/Slovakia, North to Poland/Baltic States, West to Romania/Bulgaria, or South to Serbia/Croatia/Macedonia/Montenegro. There only a handful of trains going to Poland from Budapest (if any) due to the Tatra mountains in between, so consider using Wizz Air (or another budget airline). As many other have said: staying in the major cities and using public transportation, it's not particularly less safe than Western Europe. Scams and pickpockets are still everywhere, so watch out. On the other hand, speeding tickets and other fines are dirt cheap, and most police officers can be bribed if you get into some minor trouble with the law. But being the drunken loud-mouth American in the shadier neighborhoods well past midnight, indeed is asking for trouble. Also reinforcing again: German is probably spoken the most as second language, but the vast majority of the younger generation (born in ~1980 and later) all speak enough English to make a conversation about just about anything. Try and learn the basics of the history of each country. The locals are very proud of their heritage, but often bitter about their misfortunes in the last 100 years (I'm particularly looking at you here, Hungarians). It makes for a great way to start talking.
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Nov 23, 2014 15:05
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