Dubrovnik, Croatia to Bucharest, Romania - TravelPUNK Backpacker College Student Budget Travel Message Boards!

**marc873** · 01-05-2007, 10:37 AM

So I am trying to piece together a leg of an upcoming trip through Eastern Europe. It is all coming together except for the leg from Dubronik to Romania. We are starting in Prague, through Austria and then down the coast of Croatia stopping is Zadar and Split on the way to Dubrovnik. I am trying to find a way to get to Romania without having to go all the way back to Zagreb. From the searching I have done, even the train routes don't look that easy. I thought about jumbing a ferrie down the coast to Albania and maybe a train from there, or maybe a bus to Belgrade and train to Bucharest from there. Any advice or past experiences would be sweet.

**The Sasquatch** · 01-06-2007, 01:38 AM

one thing for sure, there is no train station in dubrovnik. gotta take the bus. i came down from split and then went up through mostar, sarajevo, and belgrade. never made it to bucharest though, so i'm not much help. those coastal roads are killer though, frickin twisting and turning for hours. i was laying in the back alone trying not to get sick, but maybe i'm a baby. or i could have been hung over. but probly i'm just a baby. oh, also you gotta go through bosnia and herzigovina to get to dubrovnik. they own a little chunk of the coast. still.......not really helping. sorry, wally

**mbo108** · 01-06-2007, 09:56 AM

I'm trying to do the same thing and I know I found some cheap flights between Dubrovnik and Bucharest. I forget which airline specifically, but it was one of the low cost European carriers. If i found out which, I'll post the info

**Esterina** · 01-06-2007, 12:31 PM

It's still so complicated to travel from the Adriatic Sea to the inner continent. The two options you mentionned (going way South or via Belgrade) are the only possible, except by Zagreb or airlines.

No visa is needed for both countries, so no problems on that side. Reading from ajb3000's experience and Chelseafc05's, both countries were also very interesting. I remember ajb said how much he loved Albania (read here), and Chealsea gave excellent comments on Belgrade (here), he even rated the Serbians as the friendliest people on his trip -among the 15 countries he visited in central Europe. You going to Romania could turn out one of the highlights on your trip!

I so love Eastern Europe !

**marc873** · 01-06-2007, 01:44 PM

Thanks so much for the info so far. Romania is definately the draw to eastern europe for me. All I hear about lately is Croatia and the coastal cities, so I am itching to go there as well, but of course I am trying to work the challenge of getting from Croatia to Romania. Belgrade and all in between is interesting to me, but so is Austria, Hungary and Czech Rep. I guess its nice thats its hard to get around, maybe it will keep the mass tourists out of the area and keep it unique. Keep the info coming, especially lowcost euro airlines with routes out of Croatia.

**The Sasquatch** · 01-06-2007, 01:50 PM

hahaha, yah, i was warned in bosnia about the serbians. how they're mean and don't trust em and don't talk to any on the street. well, arrived in belgrade kinda late. and just expected to be able to find the internet to get directions to the hostel i had scoped out. no can do. i thought i remembered how to get there so i started walking. half hour later, find a different hostel i was looking at, but whatever, just need a bed. well, super dodgy entrance and everything, and then nobody answered the door. so i finally get a cab and ask him if he knows where monster hostel is. of course not. well, how bout the internet. nope. so he takes me to this hotel. and i'm pissed off at him. but he's like, no, come with me. he tells me to leave my bags in his car. I'm sorta weirded out now, but we go inside together. he talks to the concierge and the guy agrees to let me use the computer for hotel guests. get the address and we're on our way. the hostel was alright too. it was like a super nice penthouse apartment turned into a hostel by two guys. only problem was it was sorta like visiting two college buddies or something. it was rarely cleaned. but i didn't mind much. the one was a serbian history buff and talked to us alot. belgrade is def. worth a stop if you have time.

**The Sasquatch** · 01-06-2007, 01:58 PM

i just found that skyeurope flies to both cities, but there are no direct flights.

**Esterina** · 01-06-2007, 09:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Sasquatch

hahaha, yah, i was warned in bosnia about the serbians. how they're mean and don't trust em and don't talk to any on the street. well, arrived in belgrade kinda late. and just expected to be able to find the internet to get directions to the hostel i had scoped out. no can do. i thought i remembered how to get there so i started walking. half hour later, find a different hostel i was looking at, but whatever, just need a bed. well, super dodgy entrance and everything, and then nobody answered the door. so i finally get a cab and ask him if he knows where monster hostel is. of course not. well, how bout the internet. nope. so he takes me to this hotel. and i'm pissed off at him. but he's like, no, come with me. he tells me to leave my bags in his car. I'm sorta weirded out now, but we go inside together. he talks to the concierge and the guy agrees to let me use the computer for hotel guests. get the address and we're on our way. the hostel was alright too. it was like a super nice penthouse apartment turned into a hostel by two guys. only problem was it was sorta like visiting two college buddies or something. it was rarely cleaned. but i didn't mind much. the one was a serbian history buff and talked to us alot. belgrade is def. worth a stop if you have time.

Nice story, perfectly eastern europe like ! I had the same kind of experience in Poland, Slovakia, Hungary and Romania. That's why I love that region so much. They have kept that sense of community we don't see much around in the "Western World".