A trip to Eastern Europe
By Porcospino
@Porcospino (31365)
Denmark
September 24, 2012 1:41pm CST
I plan on visiting some of the countries in Eastern Europe in the future, and I have thought about the best way to do it. I want to buy an interrail pass again, but some of the countries that I want to visit like Moldova and Ukraine aren't included. It would be a waste of money to pay for an interrail pass for one month and spend quite a lot of time outside the interrail zone, so I have decided to use the interrail pass first and one month later when the interrail pass expires I will go to Moldova and Ukraine.
I will start by visiting Vienna and then I will visit Slovenia, Croatia, Macedonia, Albania (bus from Macedonia) Bulgaria and Turkey. After Turkey I will travel through Bulgaria and Romania and leave the interrail zone and move on to Moldova and Ukraine. The fastest train route from Kiev to Denmark passes through Belarus, but because of the visa requirements I don't want to travel through Belarus, and I have found an alternative route through Lviv and Warsaw.
Have you been to any of the countries that I want to visit? Do you have any advice about Moldova? Which places in Ukraine would you visit in addition to Kiev? Have any of you been to Lviv? I am not sure if I will spend a day or two there or continue to Warsaw straight away. Would you choose to pay for a visa for Belarus in order to travel that way?
2 responses
@Porcospino (31365)
• Denmark
26 Sep 12
Thank you 
Yes, it will be a long trip probably around 6 or 7 weeks, and I know that it will take me a long time to save up the money. I will have to take an extra job, but I think it is worth it, because I really love travelling. I will have to make a budget for the trip and find out how much money I will need.
Yes, it will be a long trip probably around 6 or 7 weeks, and I know that it will take me a long time to save up the money. I will have to take an extra job, but I think it is worth it, because I really love travelling. I will have to make a budget for the trip and find out how much money I will need.
@maximax8 (31042)
• United Kingdom
24 Sep 12
I am British so I don't need a visa to visit Ukraine and Moldova. It is very expensive to get a visa for Belarus so I don't think I could afford to go there. I have to pay times 3 because I travel with my 2 children. If I traveled London to Moscow by train I would avoid going through Belarus due to the visa cost. Instead I would take that advantage to go via Kiev in Ukraine. I have seen amazingly beautiful photos of Lviv and would like to spend 3 days there. I could get a 10 days in 22 days inter rail pass perhaps.
I have a friend that comes from Ukraine and her husband is from Portugal. They live in England. I have the book Lonely Planet Ukraine. From it I have ideas of lovely places to visit Lviv, Kamyanets-Polilsky, Odessa, Crimea and Kiev. Yalta can be reached by the worlds second longest trolly bus from Simferopol in Crimea. I also have the book Europe by Rail from Thomas Cook. I like its routes for pros and its side track suggestions. It mentions Chernivtsi having a morning train with 4 classes to Moldova. It says the the town of Ocnija is lovely and Chisinau the capital is worth a visit. It stresses that Moldova is the poorest country in Europe.
I would take the train from Krakow, Poland to Lviv, Ukraine. Next I would fit in a side trip to Kamyanets-Polilsky. Leaving Lviv I would catch a train to Chisinau with one change. Then I would catch a train to Odessa. From there I would take a train to Simferopol and then a trolley bus to Yalta. Lastly I would take a train to Kiev. From Kiev I could get a train to Budapest or Warsaw.
1 person likes this
@Porcospino (31365)
• Denmark
24 Sep 12
I don't need a visit to visit Ukraine or Moldova either and that makes it much easier to visit those countries. Unfortunately Belarus is not one of the countries that I can visit without a visa so I would prefer to travel directly from Ukraine to Poland, and that would be possible if I travel via Lviv.
I am happy to hear that you have seen some beautiful pictures of Lviv, it sounds like it would be a good option to spend some days in Lviv. I don't know much about that place, but I will try to find some information about the place. I have heard about Odessa and it also sounds like an interesting places, but I think that I will have to stick to a few places in Ukraine, because I want to visit many other countries on the same trip. I think that my local library has the book Europe by rail. As far as I remember I have seen it there, it would be a great book to read before my trip.
