So I just got back from an amazing trip around Eastern Europe with Busabout ... 12 days, 5 countries and some amazing people! It was a jam packed trip with everything from pub crawls in Prague to visiting Auschwitz to tobogganing in the Alps and pretty much everything you can imagine in between. Eastern Europe is grossly underrated and I try to go at least once each year (so far been to Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania, Croatia, Slovenia, Poland and Slovakia and can't wait to explore more).
So here's some things from my trip that probably should have been on my Bucket List but I didn't know how amazing they would be til I actually did them!
#1 - Go on a bus tour!
I've always been against cruises, despite their popularity, because you never seem to spend long enough in each port to really experience the place. Bus tours on the other hand mean you stay overnight in the place so can experience the nightlife and atmosphere and get up early and see the sights the next day. The Busabout Classic Rhapsody Trek itinerary was great - we had culture, history, nature, partying, food, adventure all in the 10 day trip (we added a few days either side and made it a longer holiday). On top of it you get to make lasting friendships with over thirty like-minded people from across the globe who I can't wait to see again soon! Already looking into other tours such as the Ottoman or Baltic tours they run or even ones in Scotland. Def need to repeat that experience as with all my travelling it ranks in my top 3 holidays ever. Busabout are a great company too! Our guide Stu was awesome and he's helping us to arrange our next Busabout trip to Munich in September for Oktoberfest (that's #78 on the list soon to be completed!) which some of our other Eastern European trekkers will be joining us on ... Cannot wait :D
#2 - Ride a tank
I've never actually thought about this long enough to put it on a bucket list but when I saw it as an optional extra on the trip itinerary I jumped at the chance. A bargain at €15 and worth every penny. TANKS ARE AWESOME! I got a bit carried away and as we pitstopped in a service station in Slovakia, I ran into a charity shop and got a camouflage print t-shirt for a bargain price of €2,50 which I tore into a makeshift commando costume much to the amusement of the locals and my trip buddies. We then pulled up on the side of the road in the Slovakian countryside to be met by a crazy ex-army Slovakian guy who had bought a tank and kept it in a field to drive the occasional group of tourists around it. The guy was certifiably mental and drove us through mountains, trees and rivers at full speed whilst we held on for dear life (no harnesses, safety equipments, straps etc ... Eastern European health & safety laws are obviously more lax than the rest of the EU and the UK where I'm sure no insurance policy would cover such craziness). I had no voice at this point of the trip from too many pub crawls but still managed to scream my lungs out, which only made him go faster and amusingly turn around to smile at the passengers - which meant he was driving a tank without looking where he was going. One of the funnest things I did this trip and I recommend you do it if you ever have the chance!
#3 - Visit Plitvice National Park
As with most people (including myself before last year) you may not have heard of Plitvice, but these national parks are a UNESCO site and consists of acres of amazing lakes and forest. What is really astounding is that each lake is a different colour from vibrant teal to bright aqua to a calming brown to a striking emerald green. Complete with waterfalls, wooden footpaths, a lake you can hire a boat and row across and generally jawdroppingly beautiful scenery its one of the most gorgeous places I've ever had the chance to visit and a must-see for anyone visiting Croatia. We spent the night before at a campsite a couple of kilometres away in small bungalows and spent a good 5 hours at the lakes but would have easily spent days there wondering through the park's natural beauty.
- Difficulty: 1/10 (just get yourself to Croatia)
So here's some things from my trip that probably should have been on my Bucket List but I didn't know how amazing they would be til I actually did them!
#1 - Go on a bus tour!
I've always been against cruises, despite their popularity, because you never seem to spend long enough in each port to really experience the place. Bus tours on the other hand mean you stay overnight in the place so can experience the nightlife and atmosphere and get up early and see the sights the next day. The Busabout Classic Rhapsody Trek itinerary was great - we had culture, history, nature, partying, food, adventure all in the 10 day trip (we added a few days either side and made it a longer holiday). On top of it you get to make lasting friendships with over thirty like-minded people from across the globe who I can't wait to see again soon! Already looking into other tours such as the Ottoman or Baltic tours they run or even ones in Scotland. Def need to repeat that experience as with all my travelling it ranks in my top 3 holidays ever. Busabout are a great company too! Our guide Stu was awesome and he's helping us to arrange our next Busabout trip to Munich in September for Oktoberfest (that's #78 on the list soon to be completed!) which some of our other Eastern European trekkers will be joining us on ... Cannot wait :D
- Difficulty: 1/10 (Tour companies such as Busabout make it hassle free)
- Thrill factor: 7/10 (Was so excited throughout as the trip was amazing)
- Sense of acheivement/fulfilment: 7/10 (saw so much of Eastern Europe)
- Recommend to a friend: 10/10 (one of my best holidays ever)
#2 - Ride a tank
I've never actually thought about this long enough to put it on a bucket list but when I saw it as an optional extra on the trip itinerary I jumped at the chance. A bargain at €15 and worth every penny. TANKS ARE AWESOME! I got a bit carried away and as we pitstopped in a service station in Slovakia, I ran into a charity shop and got a camouflage print t-shirt for a bargain price of €2,50 which I tore into a makeshift commando costume much to the amusement of the locals and my trip buddies. We then pulled up on the side of the road in the Slovakian countryside to be met by a crazy ex-army Slovakian guy who had bought a tank and kept it in a field to drive the occasional group of tourists around it. The guy was certifiably mental and drove us through mountains, trees and rivers at full speed whilst we held on for dear life (no harnesses, safety equipments, straps etc ... Eastern European health & safety laws are obviously more lax than the rest of the EU and the UK where I'm sure no insurance policy would cover such craziness). I had no voice at this point of the trip from too many pub crawls but still managed to scream my lungs out, which only made him go faster and amusingly turn around to smile at the passengers - which meant he was driving a tank without looking where he was going. One of the funnest things I did this trip and I recommend you do it if you ever have the chance!
- Difficulty: 6/10 (its probably quite hard to find a place with a tank you can ride, and be prepared to hold on for dear life)
- Thrill factor: 9/10 (absolute craziness but exhilirating)
- Sense of acheivement/fulfilment: 3/10 (not lifechanging but awesome nonetheless)
- Recommend to a friend: 8/10 (random but so much fun!)
#3 - Visit Plitvice National Park
As with most people (including myself before last year) you may not have heard of Plitvice, but these national parks are a UNESCO site and consists of acres of amazing lakes and forest. What is really astounding is that each lake is a different colour from vibrant teal to bright aqua to a calming brown to a striking emerald green. Complete with waterfalls, wooden footpaths, a lake you can hire a boat and row across and generally jawdroppingly beautiful scenery its one of the most gorgeous places I've ever had the chance to visit and a must-see for anyone visiting Croatia. We spent the night before at a campsite a couple of kilometres away in small bungalows and spent a good 5 hours at the lakes but would have easily spent days there wondering through the park's natural beauty.
- Difficulty: 1/10 (just get yourself to Croatia)
- Thrill factor: 3/10 (not so thrilling but get ready to say 'Oh Wow' alot)
- Sense of acheivement/fulfilment: 3/10 (worth it for the natural beauty)
- Recommend to a friend: 9/10 (one of the most beautiful places I've ever visited)
#4 - Polish vodka tasting
Did you know Vodka is actually Polish and not Russian? The word was first recorded in Poland in 1405 and historians have found that even though it was widely consumed and brewed in Russia in the 9th century, it happened even earlier in Poland in the 8th century (random alcohol history lesson for you there). Polish vodka isn't for the faint hearted at over 40% proof in most cases but they have a wide variety of flavours. In Krakow we tried original vodka as well as bison grass flavour, citrus, cranberry, hazelnut and others. We did vodka tasting before dinner (which preceeded a pub crawl) so not sure how we made it to the end of the night and still felt fine at 8am the next morning for our walking tour. Our theory was that the vodka was purer and better quality resulting in hangover free mornings. My favourite was definitely the hazelnut vodka which, in a shot with a dash of milk, tastes almost exactly like Nutella. Definitely something to try if you're ever in Poland! Incidentally a night out in Krakow is one of the best nights out you'll have in Europe (possibly due to the quality of the vodka haha).
- Difficulty: 6/10 (if you can hold your drink you'll be fine)
- Thrill factor: 6/10 (our prequel to Krakow nightlife which is immense)
- Sense of acheivement/fulfilment: 1/10 (basically just drinking)
- Recommend to a friend: 7/10 (vodka actually tastes nice in Poland!)
#5 - Visit a church decorated with human bones
Ok this sounds creepy, eerie, disgusting ... you name it. But ever since my friend Kate went travelling before university and mentioned it to me I've always wanted to go to the bone church in Kutna Hora. Kutna Hora is a few hours from Prague so you can day trip or just do it en route to some of the awesome Moravian cities in the area like we did. The church looks like a standard church from the outside. There are a lot of these in Europe (Eastern Europe especially) so they all start to look the same. Once you're inside however its a totally different story! The Sedlec Ossuary (commonly known as the Bone Church) is estimated to contain the skeletons of between 40,000 and 70,000 people, whose bones havebeen artistically arranged to form decorations and furnishings for the
chapel including a stunning chandelier. Basically a half-blind monk in the 16th century was tasked with exhuming and stacking the bones after a massive war and in the 19th century a woodcarver was tasked with arranging them and he got a bit carried away (another history lesson for you). The outcome is a rather morbid collection of skull alters and coats of arms and chandeliers. Creepy but has to be seen. As one of my fellow travellers put it "you wouldn't wanna get married there, but its cool".
- Difficulty: 1/10 (worth a day trip if you're ever in Prague)
- Thrill factor: 5/10 (it takes balls to hang around inside such a creepy place)
- Sense of acheivement/fulfilment: 1/10 (more eerie than fulfilling)
- Recommend to a friend: 7/10 (so creepy its hard to describe unless you visit yourself)
So there you have it ... five of the top things I recommend you do from my latest Eastern Europe trip, although I'd happily recommend everything we did!
Happy travelling!
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