Lonely Planet Eastern Europe , livre ebook

Eastern Europe

Plan Your Trip

Welcome to Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe’s Top Experiences
Need to Know
Month by Month
Itineraries

On The Road

ALBANIA
Tirana
Central Albania
Berat
Gjirokastra
The Albanian Riviera & the East
Saranda
Ksamil
Himara
Shkodra
The Accursed Mountains & the North
Valbona
Theth
BELARUS
Minsk
Around Minsk
Nyasvizh
Mir
Brest
Around Brest
Belavezhskaya Pushcha National Park
Hrodna
BOSNIA & HERCEGOVINA
Sarajevo
Hercegovina
Mostar
Blagaj
Trebinje
Western Bosnia
Una River Valley
BULGARIA
Sofia
Southern Bulgaria
Rila Monastery
Melnik
Plovdiv
Central Bulgaria
Koprivshtitsa
Veliko Târnovo
Black Sea Coast
Varna
Nesebâr
Burgas
Sozopol
CROATIA
Zagreb
Istria
Rovinj
Plitvice Lakes National Park
Dalmatia
Zadar
Trogir
Split
Hvar Island
Dubrovnik
CZECH REPUBLIC
Prague
Around Prague
Karlštejn
Kutná Hora
Bohemia
Plzeň
Český Krumlov
Karlovy Vary
Moravia
Brno
Olomouc
ESTONIA
Tallinn
Northern Estonia
Lahemaa National Park
Southern Estonia
Otepää
Tartu
Western Estonia & the Islands
Pärnu
Muhu
Saaremaa
HUNGARY
Budapest
Danube Bend & Western Transdanubia
Szentendre
Visegrád
Esztergom
Sopron
Lake Balaton & Southern Transdanubia
Balatonfüred
Keszthely
Pécs
Great Plain
Szeged
Northern Hungary
Eger
KOSOVO
Pristina
Western Kosovo
Peja (Peć)
Southern Kosovo
Prizren
LATVIA
Rīga
Western Latvia
Jūrmala
Kuldīga
Ventspils
Northern Latvia
Sigulda
Cēsis
LITHUANIA
Vilnius
Eastern & Southern Lithuania
Paneriai
Trakai
Central Lithuania
Kaunas
Western Lithuania
Klaipėda
Curonian Spit
MOLDOVA
Chişinău
Around Chişinău
Orheiul Vechi
Soroca
Gagauzia
Transdniestr
Tiraspol
MONTENEGRO
Coastal Montenegro
Perast
Kotor
Ulcinj
Inland Montenegro
Lovćen National Park
Cetinje
Durmitor National Park
NORTH MACEDONIA
Skopje
Around Skopje
Canyon Matka
Western North Macedonia
Mavrovo National Park
Lake Ohrid
Ohrid
Central North Macedonia
Pelister National Park
Bitola
POLAND
Warsaw
Kraków
Małopolska
Lublin
Carpathian Mountains
Zakopane
Silesia
Wrocław
Wielkopolska
Poznań
Pomerania
Gdańsk
Toruń
ROMANIA
Bucharest
Transylvania
Braşov
Sighişoara
Sibiu
Cluj-Napoca
Banat
Timişoara
RUSSIA
Moscow
Golden Ring
Vladimir
Suzdal
Sergiev Posad
St Petersburg
SERBIA
Belgrade
Vojvodina
Novi Sad
South Serbia
Niš
SLOVAKIA
Bratislava
Around Bratislava
Tatra Mountains
Poprad
High Tatras
Eastern Slovakia
Levoča
Spišské Podhradie
Slovenský Raj & Around
Košice
SLOVENIA
Ljubljana
The Julian Alps
Lake Bled
Lake Bohinj
Soča Valley
Bovec
Slovenian Karst & Coast
Postojna
Škocjan Caves
Piran
UKRAINE
Kyiv
Lviv
Odesa

SURVIVAL GUIDE

Directory A–Z
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Getting There & Away
Entering Eastern Europe
Air
Land
Sea
Getting Around
Air
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Boat
Bus
Car & Motorcycle
Hitching
Local Transport
Train
Language
Behind the Scenes
Our Writers

COVID-19
We have re-checked every business in this book before publication to ensure that it is still open after the COVID-19 outbreak. However, the economic and social impacts of COVID-19 will continue to be felt long after the outbreak has been contained, and many businesses, services and events referenced in this guide may experience ongoing restrictions. Some businesses may be temporarily closed, have changed their opening hours and services, or require bookings; some unfortunately could have closed permanently. We suggest you check with venues before visiting for the latest information.
Welcome to Eastern Europe

In the decades following the collapse of communism in 1989, intrepid travellers have discovered that real adventure in Europe lies not to the West, but rather the East. Western-leaning cities like Budapest, Kraków and my adopted hometown of Prague allow visitors to dip a toe in the old Eastern Bloc, while places further east, like Moldova, Belarus and Russia, offer up heaps of unvarnished modern history. But banish forever those dated black-and-white, Cold War images from your mind: today’s Eastern Europe brims with colour, culture and natural beauty. These days, this ‘other’ Europe might just be the continent’s better half.

Budapest | ZOLTANGABOR/GETTY IMAGES ©

By Mark Baker, Writer

For more about Our Writers
Eastern Europe’s Top Experiences

1 MUNICIPAL MEDIEVAL MAZES
One of the joys of exploring many places in Eastern Europe is to delve into the old towns – narrow cobbled streets and squares graced with thousand-year-old churches. With the odd exception, the communists never quite had the guts to send in the bulldozers to rid their socialist utopias of these glorious reminders of the past.

Wawel Royal Castle , Kraków | NAHLIK/SHUTTERSTOCK ©

Prague’s Old Town
Top billing in Eastern Europe as far as old towns are concerned must go to the Czech capital. Centred around the glorious Old Town Square, the streets of the Staré město radiate out in a web of incredibly well-conserved medievalness that Kafka would instantly recognise as home.

Charles Bridge | SONGQUAN DENG/SHUTTERSTOCK ©

Walled Dubrovnik
No visit to Croatia would be complete without completing a circuit of Dubrovnik’s perfectly preserved town walls that ring the old medieval centre. The old town is a warren of limestone lanes and alleyways that is a joy to explore.

Dubrovnik’s city walls | ALEXEY FEDORENKO/SHUTTERSTOCK ©

Kraków
At the heart of Poland’s most atmospheric city is an old town, second to none in the country. Most Polish cities lost their old cores in the latter months of WWII, but somehow Kraków’s remained intact and has gone on, despite the best efforts of the communists, to become Poland’s top tourist attraction.

Cloth Hall | ELENA KIREY/SHUTTERSTOCK ©

Top Experiences
2 KINGS OF THE CASTLES
In some parts of Eastern Europe there seems to be a castle on every hilltop, guarding every river valley and keeping a watchful eye on every cobbled square. From crumbling medieval piles lost in the mountains to Renaissance residences gracing arcaded squares and Austro-Hungarian fortresses, the variety is astounding. You could spend a lifetime touring just the major castles of the East and still not see them all.

Prague Castle
Officially the world’s biggest castle complex, Prague Castle (pictured left) rises high above the Vltava River. Though you can only see a small fraction of the buildings, what you do see is a millennium of Bohemia’s past.

TRAVEL FAERY/SHUTTERSTOCK ©

Bran Castle
To the north of the Romanian town of Brašov rises Bran (pictured top left), the Gothic stronghold made famous by Bram Stoker as the setting for his Dracula story. The structure dates back to the late 14th century.

EMI CRISTEA/SHUTTERSTOCK ©

Bojnice
Fairy tale castles abound in the mountains, but Bojnice (pictured top right) is really something special. With its cream walls, turrets and hillside location, Slovakia’s most visited castle is straight out of a Disney movie.

ZEDSPIDER/SHUTTERSTOCK ©

Top Experiences
3 SLAVIC SANDS
Few would immediately associate Eastern Europe with lazing around on golden sands, but the Continent’s other half has some strands to rival anything in the west and chances are, it’ll be less crowded when you get there, too. Baltic or Black, Adriatic or Azov – these are just some of the seas by which you can unfurl your beach towel. And in the region’s south, beach weather is guaranteed throughout the summer.

Hvar
Few would argue with Hvar’s claim to be Croatia’s dreamiest beach destination. Countless, tight rocky bays conceal fantasy beaches of sea-smoothed pebbles and golden sand and it’s never as crowded as you might expect.

Hvar Town | DREAMER4787/SHUTTERSTOCK ©

Black Sea Coast
The golden sands of Bulgaria were once a reward destination for particularly industrious workers during communism. Burgas and Varna compete for the top resort spot, but there are plenty of other places along the coast to explore such as Nesebâr and Sozopol.

Varna beach | ALEKSANDAR TODOROVIC/SHUTTERSTOCK ©

Albanian Riviera
The word is out about Albania’s beaches, the best of which hem the so-called Albanian Riviera in the country’s south. Extending for around 150km from Vlora to the Greek border, this stretch of coastline has everything from resorts to wild beaches that can only be reached by 4X4.

Ksamil coast | LANDSCAPE NATURE PHOTO/SHUTTERSTOCK ©

Top Experiences
4 TAKE A HIKE
Wherever you go in the region, Eastern Europeans love to hike, most gaining a love for all things outdoor on summer school trips and at camps. From the low, forested mountains of the Czech Republic to the Ukrainian Carpathians, from the Julian Alps of Slovenia to high-altitude climbs in the Slovak High Tatras, hiking trails crisscross Eastern Europe’s bumpy bits and beyond.

Tatra Mountains
Some of the most dramatic and accessible hikes are provided by Slovakia’s Tatra Mountains, as good as anything the Alps can produce, just a lot smaller in area. Countless well-marked trails take hikers high above the tree line, passing alpine lakes and magical vistas along the way.

High Tatras | BORIEVKY/SHUTTERSTOCK ©

Accursed Mountains
Don’t be put off by the name of this mountain range in northern Albania – the scenery is simply jaw-dropping. Also known as the Albanian Alps, the main jumping off point is Th