A nice medium-size city. Feels small and walkable yet also big enough to have everything, and also several areas for you to explore.
description paragraph… highlights
Central East Europe
Cluj-Napoca – quick travel guide
Probably my favorite Romanian city. Beautiful, good mid-size.
Cluj is a beautiful city, and I definitely prefer it over Bucharest (which is also cool and vibey). Cluj just seems more convenient and properly sized. Maybe Bucharest offers more nightlife options.
Timisoara – quick travel guide
A cute, colorful, small Romanian city…that’s beautiful and not too small. (But it is small).
Enjoy the nice vibes, eating and drinking outside. Walking around the beautiful old town. 2 days would be the right amount to enjoy it.
Bran Castle (aka Dracula Castle) – quick travel guide
Tips and recommendations for going to Bran Castle and general info about it.
Bran Castle, along with Transylvania region, is a massive tourist attraction in Romania. Just about anybody going to Bucharest or Romania will probably think of stopping by Brasov (cute town) in the Transylvania region and along with it Bran Castle (aka “Dracula Castle”) and Peles Castle.
Personally…unless you have A LOT of time to spend in Romania, I would absolutely skip this castle. It’s small, lame, not as pretty as Peles Castle…and not worth the time lost that you could have spent in a prettier and more eventful Brasov. I did a day trip to Brasov in late November and would have much rather spent the precious daylight hours walking around Brasov than wasting it getting to and back from Bran Castle. If you got only 3-4 days in Bucharest, and dedicating 1 day for Brasov (and half that day for Bran Castle)…I definitely wouldn’t do it. Spend that day in Brasov instead, or a mountain town somewhere, or go to Peles Castle if you definitely want to see any castle.
But if you insist…here’s how you get to Bran Castle!
Romania – quick travel guide
Central eastern Europe’s most “Latin” country. Warm friendly attitudes, diverse terrain, meat-heavy foods.
I think visitors are drawn to Romania for different reasons. For some because they’re already hovering near the east, like in Hungary Poland Slovakia or Croatia…and they figure why not? Others because they want a cheap country. Some are curious about Transylvania and Dracula pop culture things. Others still because of other reasons.
I think you can travel through the main parts in 2 weeks. But to see actual Romanian things (like actual landscapes and not just touristy stuff), you need more like 3-4 weeks.
Bucharest – quick travel guide
Chill gritty city in Central Eastern Europe. Something like Belgrade but with more Latin vibes.
The capital city of Romania…chill, mysterious, surrounded by Slavic countries but they are more Latin. Life here seems good, chill, happy, low-cost. It reminds me a lot of Belgrade. Similar dark-polluted buildings and warm people, cozy food. If you like Belgrade, Bucharest feels quite similar.
3 days is enough to see the highlights, add 1 or 2 more to visit other towns and mountain stuff.
Warsaw – quick travel guide
Poland’s #2 city, less charmy and more of a big city than Krakow.
Warsaw will forever exist as Krakow’s counterpart. Krakow feels like a giant charmy old town whereas Warsaw feels more like a big city (with an old town part). Krakow feels big yet cozy and fun to walk everywhere. Warsaw feels like a really long walkable street (scooter recommended).
Perhaps Krakow would have more unique touristy things but both have value and are enjoyable to stay. Warsaw can be a 2-day stay, more if you like to relax in this calm (but lively) city vibe.
Dubrovnik – quick travel guide
Beautiful waterside Croatian city with medieval castle walls, looking up to mountains or looking down to the water. (Made even more popular by Game of Thrones series.)
Dubrovnik is somewhat of a mix of Paris, Porto, Amalfi coast. You’ve got a cute old town area within the castle walls, many small streets and corridors from of bars, restaurants, shops. Plenty of steps and hills to climb for better views of the city and looking out across the water. It’s posh and touristy, but also feels like a new destination at the same time. While Dubrovnik is massively becoming more popular, going here doesn’t feel like you’ve been where everybody else has been already. (NOTE: restaurant prices in Dubrovnik are generally expensive 25-30eur per plate.)
You could see enough of it in 2 days (enough to kill your camera space). But I’d recommend 3 or more so you can try more restaurants, do some boat trips, and see more of the castle walls and museums.
Serbia – quick travel guide
War-torn country with great vibes, low cost of living, and nice people.
Come see the charm of this cheap fun Slavic country. Really underrated and not a shock to see why many people chose to relocate here. Don’t worry, it seems English is spoken in enough places.
Belgrade – quick travel guide
Eastern European hub with war-torn buildings, and many hidden Slavic cultural charms.
Belgrade (and probably Serbia in general) is a totally underrated city. At first glance, it seems to be a small ugly-ish city without much going on. Not only are the buildings destroyed by war, they’re also covered in a layer of dark dirt from the coal pollution (burned during winter months). Sure, Belgrade is really cheap compared the rest of Western Europe. But it also isn’t as picturesque or grand as other European cities. None of the colorful charms.
Many people say Belgrade’s true beauty lies underneath its ugly surface aesthetic. That a subtle and hidden charm exists and when found, becomes a favorite charmy little city.
So did I find Belgrade’s hidden beauty?
At first, no. I saw only its surface aesthetic of being ugly and small. Buncha flat land spreading across a plain waterfront with boringish unfinished castle wall structures. Belgrade was only intended as a stopping point to Turkey and onwards I continued to Turkey with no desire to linger in Belgrade for any longer.
However when I came by the second time. I stayed in a different neighborhood and met locals who showed me around. Then I LOVED it. Super nice vibe, unpretentious, friendly personable people (especially if you know locals). Super clean nice Saint Sava church. Weird disco light building that shines every night. Nice food and bar scene. The city is super chill but also lots of party and nightlife for whatever mood you’re in. Now that I found its beauty, I’ll do my best to convince you that it DOES exist.
Main highlights can be done in 2 days, but you could also fall in love and live here without getting bored.
Prague – quick travel guide
The #1 most epic eastern European city, and popular expat location.
Prague’s status has gone up so much higher than I expected since I’ve first visited here in 2009. If you haven’t stayed updated on Prague lately, I think you’re missing out. It is absolutely the scene right now. I think it’s one of the best places to live for many reasons. But also because it’s very centrally located to many other awesome towns. Great for a dynamic social lifestyle.
I consider Prague to be something like a perfect combination of Paris, Rome, Berlin, London, Budapest. It’s beautiful, posh, cultured, but also chill, hipster, small, cozy, walkable. It’s the absolute best of both worlds of big city and small city. There’s lots to do but yet cozy enough to walk and relax instead of feeling like you have to jump all over town to get anywhere. Green space, buildings, bridges, parks, cafes, clubs, bars, arts…there’s something for everyone. Many cool people I know have already lived here and/or been traveling here for events and things.
You can see the highlights in 3 days, but you seriously might want an extra one to really enjoy its beauty.
Budapest – quick travel guide
Big yet still walkable Central Eastern European city full of authentic local life.
Budapest is unique in its culture, located towards eastern Europe but is not a Slavic country. They have their own culture, their own vibes, and unique architecture that feels eastern European yet doesn’t look like the typical eastern European stuff. Rich history and many things to do.
If you enjoyed Prague, Budapest is considered a grittier but still beautiful and very fun authentic travel destination. The city is divided into 2 parts “Buda” and “Pest” (pronounced like “pesht”) separated by the Danube river in the middle.
Poland – quick travel guide
Well-established Slavic country with colorful Eastern block charms, and without the tourists.
As an American in Europe, I’d say Poland is probably the first truly Slavic eastern-European country you’ll reach. It’s close enough to easily arrive from western Europe (neighbors Germany/Czech), yet far enough to maintain its own vibe and doesn’t have hordes of western tourists and foreigners like those 2.
Poland is truly a gem for me. Kind people, great food, cheaper than the rest of western Europe (but not cheap). And I love that it has a different set of tourists, mostly all European and many from further east and south of Europe…it’s kind of the international hub for them. What you get here is IMO a much more authentic eastern European vibe than Czech Republic (because of its Disneyland tourist presence with bigger old town and charmier bridges/water-points).
5-10 days would easily cover 2 to 3 cities. And give you a full range of Poland’s charms.
Krakow – quick travel guide
Colorful charmy Eastern European charm.
Krakow is a definite European highlight in Poland. Cheap-er, colorful, cozy, picturesquely beautiful and fun. Easy to explore within a couple days and plenty to do (mostly all within walking distance). Still close enough to Western Europe but should get you curious to see more of Central Eastern Europe.