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On a long weekend in May 2004, Nicky Gardner set out on a trip with no destination. Her focus instead was on the journey– one that took her back and forth over international borders. “I covered the outer edge of the EU, crossing the heavily guarded German borders of Poland and the Czech Republic,” she says. “In total, I crossed the border 33 times.” Her trip was less a compulsion to flash her passport yet more a desire to see first-hand a historic moment. “Ten new countries
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were added to the EU that weekend, and so I criss-crossed the borders just as they were disappearing”. The crumbling of once-sprawling countries has created an intriguing patchwork of evolving states and by exploring, you happen upon places you’d have previously disregarded. The cluster of countries is such that, in just over a week, you can easily take in eight cities. Poland’s the place to embark on your journey, but forego Warsaw for the cultural capital of Cracow. Break yourself in gently by taking a sleeper train from Cracow
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Sarah Cooper
to Prague. The Czech capital may be relatively small, but it encompasses the baroque charm and café culture characteristic of the region. It can take from between four to seven hours from Prague to Vienna. A mere 40 miles separate Vienna and Bratislava and Slovakia’s capital is an 80-minute bus ride away. Today’s Bratislava has a population of less than 500,000, but it was once an important cog in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Situated at the foot of the Carpathian mountain
How to get around: Train from Cracow to Prague (www.pkp.pl). Train from Prague to Vienna (www.idos.cz). Either boat or bus from Vienna to Bratislava (www.lod.sk; www. eurolines. blaguss.at/). Either boat or taxi from Bratislava to Budapest (www. lod.sk; www.bratislava.info/taxi). Train from Budapest to Belgrade (www.elvira.hu). Train or car from Belgrade to Zagreb (www.serbianrailways.com ; www.alamo.co.uk). Train to Ljubljana (www.hznet.hr/ eng/).
How to get there: British Airways (0870 850 98 50, www.britishairways.com) flies from Edinburgh and Glasgow to Cracow (via London) from £80 single (including taxes; book online as ‘Krakow’). Easy Jet (www. easyjet.com) flies from Ljubljana to London from £20 single and from London to Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen from £7 single (excluding taxes).
Itinerary: Monday Cracow, sleeper train to Prague (eight hours) Tuesday Prague – Vienna (four hours) Wednesday Vienna – Bratislava (80 minutes) Thursday Bratislava – Budapest (up to two and a half hours) Friday Budapest, sleeper train to Belgrade Saturday Drive from Belgrade to Zagreb Sunday Zagreb – Ljubljana (two and a half hours) Monday Ljubljana - home
range, its cosmopolitan feel and gothic architecture is captured in the Old Town. Then it’s off to Hungary; Budapest may have a little more graffiti than Vienna but its location sets it apart from its Austrian equivalent. From Budapest, you can take an eight-hour sleeper train to the Serbian capital of Belgrade. A direct highway connects Belgrade to Croatia’s Zagreb, and for around 160 euros for two days you can hire a car in Serbia before dropping it off in Croatia. Christian says, “Driving lets you see everyday life and gives you
a feel for the countryside and culture. It’s scary at times, but it’s an adventure, and adults don’t have enough adventures.” From Zagreb, you can head over to the coast, or across the border into Bosnia, Serbia, Hungary or Slovenia. Visiting nearly 10 countries in a little over a week might sound overwhelming on any other continent, but the close proximity of destinations in Central Europe allows you to travel easily. There are still areas that are dusting themselves off from the turbulence of modern history,
but this in itself gives you an appreciation of what the region has endured and achieved.
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