Archived:Balkans: Difference between revisions

(7 intermediate revisions by 4 users not shown)

Line 1:

__NOTOC__

== Plan Theta ==

=== Phil's Original Template ===

http://tinyurl.com/plantheta

# Vienna!

# Vienna -> ~Zakobane (5:00) through some rather excellent scenery

# Spend some time in the Tatras

# Zakobane -> Kosice (2:55)

# Kosice -> Mukachevo (or somewhere similar) (2:30)

# A trip into Romania. Perhaps to Arad or something

# Mukachevo -> Budapest (3:54)

# Budapest -> Vukovar (4:17)

# Vukovar -> Zagreb (3:00)

# Zagreb -> Split (3:58)

# Trip to Sarajevo

# Back to Split, via Mostar (awesome bridge)

# Split to Trieste (5:16)

# To Vienna, via Ljubljana and Graz (plenty of time to see both, as they are only a couple of hours apart)

=== Amendment, Theta prime ===

* 1. Sat. Arrive Vienna. Stay in hotel and watch The Third Man instead of going out.

* 2. Sun. Take ages getting up, because we suck. This eats into our Bratislava time, and we eventually get there for lunch. Immediately leave for Zakopane. This takes the rest of the day (5:00+) because I am uncommonly travel-sick. The night-life in Zakopane is low-key.

* 3. Mon. Drive into the mountains for a picnic (1:00). The refuelling-the-car team argue with the picnic-buying team for forgetting the scotch eggs. It rains. Just before the sun sets, we remember to drive to Presov. (2:30)

* 4. Tue. Morning in Presov. It is Norwich. We quickly leave to see the glorious primordial beech forest of Stužica in the Poloniny National Park. (3:00) We all find it very amusing to run around the Poland/Ukraine/Slovakia triple point until a park ranger comes along and shouts at us. It takes us three hours (3:00) to get to Mukachevo but it's ok because finding accommodation takes epsilon time, and we packed food.

* 5. Wed. We celebrate arriving in the Ukraine by taking a quick tour of Mukachevo and then drive straight back into the EU. We get to Miskolc/Eger in the early afternoon (3:00). Mickey goes to the cave bath. I try to climb another mountain.

* 6. Thur. We spend the morning round Eger? There is a minaret which tastes almost like the Aya Sofia. Then we drive to Budapest, or Szekesfehervar, seat of kings (2:00 or 2:30). If in Budapest, I stay in the hotel and watch the third episode of [[Archived:MacGyver|MacGyver]].

* 7. Fri. We vote on whether to drive slowly down to Zagreb, sampling the delights of the Hungarian riviera, or drive quickly down and sample the delights of an east european capital city. Everybody loses the vote. (4:00)

* 8. Sat. To Split (4:00). The Adriatic shimmers on our right hand side, and everyone soon covers their eyes to avoid the glare. We hurry into town to investigate public transport options for...

* 9. Sun. We attempt to get into Bosnia without dying of frustration.

* 10. Mon. We attempt to get out of Bosnia without dying of anything. We play Scrabble on the way. Someone is annoyed that Sprska is not in sowpods.

Option 1:

* 11. Tue. Split to Trieste. (5-6:00) The Adriatic shimmers on our left hand side, and this time the driver soon covers his eyes...

* 12. Wed. Morning in Trieste, afternoon in Ljubljana (1:30). We go to ze castle, to check on the building progress. We go to the education history video, and learn about the Ljubljana tobacco factory.

Option 2:

* 11. Tue. *Early* start for Plitvice Lakes (3:30). Aim to arrive mid-morning for a days walking.

* 12. Wed. Buzz to Ljubljana in time for the afternoon showing of the tobacco factory video. (3:30)

Then

* 13. Thu. Day in Bled/Bohinj (1:00). We hire a canoe or two, and japes ensue. Back to Ljubljana or stay in Bled and...

* 14. Fri. Lazily round the Alps to Vienna, potentially via the Worthersee, Graz, Kindberg, etc. Stopping locations welcome. (4-5:00)

* 15. Sat. Gaze wistfully east'ards, as we board the Bucket Air flight home.

Other possible amendment: Lose the Bled or Plitvice day and spend it somewhere East, so as to push the Bosnia trek off the Sunday.

== To Travel By Car: A Plan ==

Line 30:

Line 79:

* days of size >5 hrs drive in trip proper: only day 4, trieste to split and day 10, sofia to belgrade

* a proposed alternate also: add a third long day's drive, doing kraljevo to sofia in one run without stopping [7 hrs, direct], and adding an extra day to rest and see the sights in budapest

* alternatively instead of split -> sarajevo -> kraljevo -> belogradchik -> sofia, i understand that split -> pogdorica -> skopje -> sofia

* alternatively instead of split -> sarajevo -> kraljevo -> belogradchik -> sofia, i understand that split -> pogdorica -> skopje -> sofia is also pretty awesome

* note please that i have allowed time in all cases for diversion, meandering, getting lost, seeing additional sights and so forth; if you believe the times in "a plan" below then one can reduce by 20% to 30% all the times which i have given

* total distance: a bit short of 3,700 miles

Line 108:

Line 157:

# Drive to Istanbul and Asia! (3:48)

# Spend day in Istanbul and fly home

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
 __NOTOC__
+== Plan Theta ==
+=== Phil's Original Template ===
+http://tinyurl.com/plantheta
+# Vienna!
+# Vienna -> ~Zakobane (5:00) through some rather excellent scenery
+# Spend some time in the Tatras
+# Zakobane -> Kosice (2:55)
+# Kosice -> Mukachevo (or somewhere similar) (2:30)
+# A trip into Romania.  Perhaps to Arad or something
+# Mukachevo -> Budapest (3:54)
+# Budapest -> Vukovar (4:17)
+# Vukovar -> Zagreb (3:00)
+# Zagreb -> Split (3:58)
+# Trip to Sarajevo
+# Back to Split, via Mostar (awesome bridge)
+# Split to Trieste (5:16)
+# To Vienna, via Ljubljana and Graz (plenty of time to see both, as they are only a couple of hours apart)
+=== Amendment, Theta prime ===
+* 1. Sat. Arrive Vienna. Stay in hotel and watch The Third Man instead of going out.
+* 2. Sun. Take ages getting up, because we suck. This eats into our Bratislava time, and we eventually get there for lunch. Immediately leave for Zakopane. This takes the rest of the day (5:00+) because I am uncommonly travel-sick. The night-life in Zakopane is low-key.
+* 3. Mon. Drive into the mountains for a picnic (1:00). The refuelling-the-car team argue with the picnic-buying team for forgetting the scotch eggs. It rains. Just before the sun sets, we remember to drive to Presov. (2:30)
+* 4. Tue. Morning in Presov. It is Norwich. We quickly leave to see the glorious primordial beech forest of Stužica in the Poloniny National Park. (3:00) We all find it very amusing to run around the Poland/Ukraine/Slovakia triple point until a park ranger comes along and shouts at us. It takes us three hours (3:00) to get to Mukachevo but it's ok because finding accommodation takes epsilon time, and we packed food.
+* 5. Wed. We celebrate arriving in the Ukraine by taking a quick tour of Mukachevo and then drive straight back into the EU. We get to Miskolc/Eger in the early afternoon (3:00). Mickey goes to the cave bath. I try to climb another mountain.
+* 6. Thur. We spend the morning round Eger? There is a minaret which tastes almost like the Aya Sofia. Then we drive to Budapest, or Szekesfehervar, seat of kings (2:00 or 2:30). If in Budapest, I stay in the hotel and watch the third episode of [[Archived:MacGyver|MacGyver]].
+* 7. Fri. We vote on whether to drive slowly down to Zagreb, sampling the delights of the Hungarian riviera, or drive quickly down and sample the delights of an east european capital city. Everybody loses the vote. (4:00)
+* 8. Sat. To Split (4:00). The Adriatic shimmers on our right hand side, and everyone soon covers their eyes to avoid the glare. We hurry into town to investigate public transport options for...
+* 9. Sun. We attempt to get into Bosnia without dying of frustration.
+* 10. Mon. We attempt to get out of Bosnia without dying of anything. We play Scrabble on the way. Someone is annoyed that Sprska is not in sowpods.
+Option 1:
+* 11. Tue. Split to Trieste. (5-6:00) The Adriatic shimmers on our left hand side, and this time the driver soon covers his eyes...
+* 12. Wed. Morning in Trieste, afternoon in Ljubljana (1:30). We go to ze castle, to check on the building progress. We go to the education history video, and learn about the Ljubljana tobacco factory.
+Option 2:
+* 11. Tue. *Early* start for Plitvice Lakes (3:30). Aim to arrive mid-morning for a days walking.
+* 12. Wed. Buzz to Ljubljana in time for the afternoon showing of the tobacco factory video. (3:30)
+Then
+* 13. Thu. Day in Bled/Bohinj (1:00). We hire a canoe or two, and japes ensue. Back to Ljubljana or stay in Bled and...
+* 14. Fri. Lazily round the Alps to Vienna, potentially via the Worthersee, Graz, Kindberg, etc. Stopping locations welcome. (4-5:00)
+* 15. Sat. Gaze wistfully east'ards, as we board the Bucket Air flight home.
+Other possible amendment: Lose the Bled or Plitvice day and spend it somewhere East, so as to push the Bosnia trek off the Sunday.
 == To Travel By Car: A Plan ==
@@ Line 30: / Line 79: @@
 * days of size >5 hrs drive in trip proper: only day 4, trieste to split and day 10, sofia to belgrade
 * a proposed alternate also: add a third long day's drive, doing kraljevo to sofia in one run without stopping [7 hrs, direct], and adding an extra day to rest and see the sights in budapest
-* alternatively instead of split -> sarajevo -> kraljevo -> belogradchik -> sofia, i understand that split -> pogdorica -> skopje -> sofia
+* alternatively instead of split -> sarajevo -> kraljevo -> belogradchik -> sofia, i understand that split -> pogdorica -> skopje -> sofia is also pretty awesome
 * note please that i have allowed time in all cases for diversion, meandering, getting lost, seeing additional sights and so forth; if you believe the times in "a plan" below then one can reduce by 20% to 30% all the times which i have given
 * total distance: a bit short of 3,700 miles
@@ Line 108: / Line 157: @@
 # Drive to Istanbul and Asia! (3:48)
 # Spend day in Istanbul and fly home