Eastern Europe – Two Weeks Backpacking Solo
Detailed Itinerary/Sights
DAY 1: TRAIN ZURICH, SWITZERLAND TO VIENNA, AUSTRIA
It was a long journey to get from Zurich to Vienna, approximately 7.5 hours. I left on a 6:40 AM train that went through Liechtenstein and Germany before arriving at Vienna’s Westbahnhof train station. From there I walked about 20-30 minutes to my hostel, which was a mile from the city center. After checking in, I headed out to explore Vienna. I walked around for about 3 hours passing by some of the Vienna’s main sites, including St. Stephen’s Cathedral, the State Opera House, the Hofburg Palace and Rathausplatz. I headed back to the hostel around 7:30/8 for some much needed sleep.
DAY 2: EXPLORING VIENNA
Walking Tour of Vienna
Around 9:30/10 I headed to the other Wombat’s in Vienna (The Nasch) to join their free daily walking tour of Vienna. The tour lasted around 2.5 hours, however, I only stayed for the first hour and a half. We walked by Naschmarkt, a large market that has been around for centuries, before heading to the center, seeing many of the sites I saw on my own yesterday.
Schloss Schönbrunn
Following the tour, I walked to Schloss Schönbrunn, the old summer palace of the Habsburg's. There were several ticket options, which provided access to different areas of the palace and grounds. I opted for the basic Imperial Tour ticket, which was for 22 of the palace’s rooms. It was an interesting tour that showcased the decadence of the royal life.
Schloss Schönbrunn
After wandering around the palace, I headed back to my hostel for a few hours of rest. I then grabbed some Austrian food at a local pub while watching part of the World Cup game that was on that night.
Note: It was about a 3 mile walk from the center of Vienna to the palace, but it could also be reached by public transportation.
DAY 3: EXPLORING VIENNA
Prater Amusement Park
After some much needed sleep, I left the hostel around 10 and headed back to Naschmarkt. From there, I took the U2 metro line to Prater, an amusement park in Vienna with a famous ferris wheel. You had to pay for each ride separately, so I ended up just walking around the park.
I then took public transportation back to the center of Vienna, where I walked around for a few hours before it started to rain. I relaxed at the hostel in the afternoon and then took the U3 metro line back to the center.
I had dinner at Bitzinger Würstelstand Albertina, a hot dog stand right in the heart of Vienna. I enjoyed a glass of wine and wurstel there while people watching. I then walked back to the hostel and called it a night.
DAY 4: TRAIN TO BRATISLAVA, SLOVAKIA
Exploring Bratislava
I had pre-booked the 11:21 AM train from Vienna’s Hauptbahnhof train station to Bratislava in Slovakia. It was a quick hour and a half ride there. Once I arrived at the Bratislava train station I walked 20 minutes to my hostel. I dropped my stuff off and then spent the afternoon wandering around Bratislava.
The city had a cute Old Town, where it was fun to walk down random streets. On my walk there I stopped by the Blue Church. Once in Old Town I stopped by the Old Town Hall and St. Michael’s Gate. I then headed to the Bratislava Castle, a 20 minute walk from Old Town. The castle grounds had nice views overlooking Old Town. On the way I passed by St. Martin’s Cathedral.
Blue Church
I ate dinner in Old Town to try some traditional Slovakian dishes before I headed back to the hostel for the night.
DAY 5: BUS TO BUDAPEST, HUNGARY
Highlights of Budapest
I walked 15-20 minutes from the hostel to the bus station for my 11:15 AM, 3-hour bus ride to Budapest, Hungary. Once I arrived in Budapest, I took the metro to my hostel. After checking in, I set out to explore the city.
I spent 3-4 hours wandering around, hitting up many of Budapest’s popular sites, including St. Stephen’s Cathedral, Parliament and the Opera Building.
I then walked across the Chain Bridge to the Buda side of the city. It was 15 minutes to Fisherman’s Bastion, which had nice views of the Pest side of the city. After admiring the views, I headed back to St. Stephen’s and ate dinner at a restaurant nearby.
DAY 6: EXPLORING BUDAPEST
Grand Synagogue
In the morning I first headed to the Grand Synagogue, which was beautiful. I walked around outside the gate and saw the weeping tree. From there I walked 15 minutes to the Central Market Hall, a closed market with many food and souvenir shops.
Szechenyi Baths
For lunch I headed back to the hostel to eat (peanut butter sandwiches were a great way to save money on food). I then walked 30 minutes to the Szechenyi Baths, which are famous thermal baths in Budapest. I spent an hour wandering around the complex and moving between the main pool and some of the saunas and other baths.
Szechenyi Baths
On the way back from the baths, I saw the Budapest Pride Parade before meeting up with people from the hostel for dinner.
DAY 7: TRAIN/BUS TO SARAJEVO, BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA
Today was a very long day of travel. I decided to include Bosnia and Herzegovina in my trip after a friend, who spent a month backpacking in the Balkans, spoke highly of his experience there. However, it was a trek to arrive.
I woke up around 3/3:15 AM to walk to an open metro station to then take the metro to the train station, where I had a 6:05 AM train to Zagreb, Croatia. The train ride took 7 hours, including stops leaving Hungary and entering Croatia (since Croatia is not part of the EU, they checked and stamped our passports when leaving Hungary and when entering Croatia). I then had 8 hours in Zagreb before my bus to Sarajevo in Bosnia and Herzegovina departed.
Since I had my heavy backpack, I hung out in a park there for a few hours reading, instead of checking out the city. It was an 8-hour overnight bus from there to Sarajevo. Once again we had to stop for passport control since we were going back into a country that’s part of the EU.
DAY 8: EXPLORING SARAJEVO
Highlights of Sarajevo
I arrived in Sarajevo very early in the morning. Since it was so early I walked 25 minutes from the station to my hostel. Luckily the hostel owner was really nice and let me check in early. He mentioned that he knew a tour guide who offered tours of the city.
I hung out until around 10 when I met up with the tour guide and a few other people from the hostel who were also going on the tour. Our guide was a local resident who drove us around in his car. While he drove us around the city, he told us a little bit about the Bosnian War and the siege on Sarajevo. The tour included some sites, which would have been hard to get to otherwise.
We first stopped at the Kovači Cemetery, where many people who died in the war are buried. He also pointed out several buildings that still have bullet holes from the war and were partially destroyed by grenades. We then headed to the Tunnel Museum. It used to be the site of the tunnel that was used to bring food and goods in and out of the city during the siege. Today it is a museum.
Abandoned 1984 Bobsled Track
From there we headed to the old bobsled track from the 1984 olympics that were held in Bosnia, stopping at a nice overlook on the way. Today the bobsled track is abandoned and covered in graffiti. After the bobsled track, we headed back into town for some burek, a local specialty of meat and cheese covered in a pastry dough, coiled up and cooked.
1984 Sarajevo Olympics Bobsled Track
We then headed back to the hostel. I hung out for a little bit and then checked out Sarajevo at night with some people from the hostel. However, I turned in early since I had to head to Split the next morning.
DAY 9: SARAJEVO TO MOSTAR TO SPLIT, CROATIA
Visiting Stari Most in Mostar
I had originally pre-booked a bus directly from Sarajevo to Split, Croatia. However, I had a few people mention that Mostar is worth going to, so I skipped my original travel plans and instead bought a train ticket from Sarajevo to Mostar. The train left at 6:50 AM and arrived in Mostar a little under 3 hours later.
Once I arrived, I bought a bus ticket from there to Split for a few hours later. I walked 20 minutes to the center of Mostar to check out Stari Most, a famous bridge there. It was beautiful, as was the town. However, it was definitely very touristy and full of souvenir stands.
Stari Most
Marjan Forest Park in Split
At 11:10 AM I had the 5 hour bus to Split, Croatia. When I arrived, I walked 20 minutes from the bus station to my hostel. I checked in and then walked to Marjan Forest Park, which had nice views of the city and the sea. I ate dinner at a seafood restaurant and then passed out after a few long days.
DAY 10: EXPLORING SPLIT
Exploring the Heart of Split
Today I had to change hostels since I wasn’t able to find one for the entire 3 nights I was in Split. I checked out of my first hostel and then dropped my stuff at my second one, which was right in the heart of Split.
I walked around the center of Split for about 2 hours while I waited for my room to be ready. The old part of Split is like a maze, the streets don’t make a lot of sense. However, that made it fun to explore and get lost. I went to the Bell Tower, which had beautiful views of the port and sea.
Bell Tower
Boat Trip to Supetar
After walking around, I ate lunch at the hostel and then headed to catch to the 12:45 PM boat to Supetar on the island of Brac. There’s a well known beach town, Bol, on the other side of the island. However, it was going to take another hour to get there, so I decided to hang out and swim in Supetar. I walked around the town for a little bit and then went swimming in the sea. The water was very clear and blue and there was no sand.
Supetar
After swimming for a few hours I took the boat back to Split. At the hostel, I met a few other people staying there. After hanging out for a little bit we headed into town and watched the World Cup game on a giant, inflatable screen near the water.
DAY 11: EXPLORING SPLIT
Diocletian Palace Underground
Following a late start to the morning, I headed to the Diocletian Palace Underground with a few people from the hostel. We spent an hour exploring the palace’s underground before heading to a beach within walking distance of Old Town.
Group Dinner at the Hostel
After relaxing in the afternoon, we decided to make crepes and pasta for dinner at the hostel. At some point everyone who was staying at the hostel that night was there. Following dinner, we attempted to go to a discoteca. However, there was a high cover charge due to a festival happening at the time. Instead we called it a night.
DAY 12: TRIP BACK
