Where is the best place to travel in Eastern Europe?

In 2008, with the accession of some Eastern European countries, the Schengen visa was extended to the Russian border, making it possible to cross the European continent by land. In the summer of 2009, I only had two visas, Russia and Schengen. It took me three and a half months to travel west from the heart of Russia, including Russia, Northern Europe, Eastern Europe, Central Europe and Switzerland, which joined Schengen in the same year. On the way back, I took advantage of the visa-free opportunity to travel around South Korea, covering 19 countries. In addition to the Balkans, Iberia, Ukraine and Belarus, my three trips to Europe have covered the whole European continent, achieving a seamless connection from the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic Ocean. As Eastern Europe is a newly opened country, this paper focuses on the strategies of five Eastern European countries.

Eastern Europe is rich in historical and cultural heritage.

Historically, the concept of Eastern Europe has changed due to the "cold war" in the 20th century. People are used to replacing geographical concepts with political maps, thus forming Eastern European countries and Warsaw Pact countries on the one hand, and Western European countries and NATO on the other. After the end of the cold war, the original concept began to return. The five countries in Eastern Europe referred to in this paper are Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Czech Republic and Slovenia, which extend from the Baltic Sea to the Carpathian Mountains and from the Great Plains of Eastern Europe to the Adriatic Sea.

There are rich historical and cultural heritage, beautiful natural scenery, relatively low prices and simple folk customs, quiet towns, no bustling tourists like Western Europe, and high cost performance. Take my lines as an example to introduce them, which has covered all its essence. The follow is my route from Sweden to Gdansk, Poland by boat across that Baltic sea:

Poland: Gdansk, Marburg, Torun, Warsaw, Auschwitz, zakopane.

Slovakia: Kabbah Qian Shan Tourist Area, World Heritage Banska Javny, Fairy Tale Castle Pochenis Castle, World Heritage Town Baldyov, World Heritage Castle Spicci.

Hungary: eger, the ancient oriental city, Budapest, a world heritage site, and Lake Balaton, a tourist attraction, is known as the most beautiful town in Hungary, Jopland.

Czech Republic: Prague, the capital, Brno, the second largest city, and the following seven World Heritage Sites: KrLuo Mai Rish, tomis Castle, Ledenesse and walser, Terz, Coutela-Hora, Hora Shawika and Krumlov.

Slovenia: the ancient city of Malibor, the ancient town of PTUJ, the capital Ljubljana, Lake Bled under the Alps.

Although there are some beautiful towns and castles that I have been to but are not listed in the World Heritage List, we can see that Eastern Europe is a rich tourism feast just by looking at this list. Who says it's not the place one wants to go all one's life?

Visas and air tickets for Eastern Europe

The above five countries are all newly opened countries. The so-called new opening means that before March 2008, you must apply for a visa and provide an invitation letter before you can enter these countries with a China passport. Now you can travel around with a Schengen visa. At present, countries in Eastern Europe, except Slovenia, the former Yugoslavia, Romania, Bulgaria and other countries still need invitations and separate applications. In addition, the newly opened Baltic countries Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia belong to the category of the former Soviet Union according to the original concept, which will be introduced later.

In addition to the consulate of Poland in Guangzhou, the above countries need to apply for visas in Beijing, and Poland is a new Schengen country, so visa control is strict. The alternative is to apply for a visa at the consulates of Germany, France and Italy in Guangzhou, or to travel to these eastern European countries.

At present, the flight destinations from Guangzhou to Eastern Europe can be Warsaw, Prague, Hungary, Budapest and Vienna, Austria. It only takes more than an hour from Vienna to Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia, by bus. However, in the past, the above four destinations were basically turning around. One is to transfer in Munich or Frankfurt, Germany, and the other is to transfer in Beijing.

Local sightseeing traffic in eastern Europe

Five countries in eastern Europe are interconnected. If you only want to enter by land with a Schengen visa, you can enter from Germany, Austria and Italy, the former Schengen countries in the west. There are many trains and coach lines crossing the border, and there is no customs inspection. This is the front line of confrontation between the two camps of East and West during the Cold War. Known as the Iron Curtain Border, even the traces of the border are not easy to find now.

Entry from non-Schengen countries is not so smooth. Land ports from Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Croatia, Serbia and Romania have entered the Schengen countries in Eastern Europe. Border inspection is stricter. Not only do you check your visa, but you also ask some questions, because once you cross this border, there will be no border inspection from the west to the Atlantic coast.

In addition, it can also be accessed by water. There are ships sailing in the Baltic Sea from Sweden, Denmark and Germany to Gdynia and Gdansk in Poland, and there are Danube cruise ships from Vienna to Prague in Slovakia.

The main transportation forces of the above-mentioned eastern European countries are not the same. Poland, Hungary and Slovenia are dominated by trains, and long-distance buses are slow and have relatively few flights; Slovakia and the Czech Republic, on the other hand, mainly use long-distance buses, which not only have wide coverage and many trains, but also have small coverage and few trains. Because the borders between Schengen countries can be crossed at will, there is no limit to the number of times, so you don't need to swim through one country before going to another, but choose the most reasonable route with the least transportation cost.

Price, service quality, language and currency issues

The newly opened eastern European countries are not lower in historical and cultural richness and tourism value than those in western Europe, but their prices are lower than those in western Europe. No matter in accommodation, transportation, catering, tickets, etc., it is obviously lower than that of western European countries. Depending on the country, it is 20%-40% or more lower, and Slovakia is the cheapest one. With the opening of the border, the price level of East and West Europe will gradually approach, so it is better to travel to Eastern Europe sooner rather than later.

Relatively low prices are accompanied by low service quality. It is a common phenomenon that trains are delayed in eastern European countries, and the comfort of long-distance buses is far less than that in western Europe. Although the western-style economic reform has been carried out for nearly 20 years, the institutional ills and bureaucratic traces of lack of enthusiasm for customers in Eastern Europe can still be seen everywhere, which is reflected in the obvious gap between the efficiency and professionalism of the service industry and Western Europe. However, if you ask passers-by for help, you will certainly get enthusiastic help, which can be compared with western Europe.

Due to historical reasons, Eastern European countries have not promoted English teaching for a long time. So most people over middle age don't know English, and quite a few young people don't even know basic English. If they want to communicate, they need to find people who look literate, and there are not many English billboards in public places. Every country in Eastern Europe has its own language, belonging to the Latin family. That is to say, as long as you spell the place names in English, they can understand them, and with body language, such as asking for directions, taking transportation and looking for hotels and restaurants, they can communicate.

At present, the public security situation in these countries is good, even better than that in western Europe, and there are no serious theft incidents, let alone fear of robbery.

Slovakia and Slovenia have already used the euro, while Poland, the Czech Republic and Hungary still use their own currencies, so the exchange is relatively convenient. The voltage is 220V, and the electric socket adopts the double round socket of Western European countries.

■ Author file: Zhang Fenquan

Full-time self-help tourists aim at traveling around the world. After nearly 10 years of long-distance travel (excluding China), most of them have achieved the goal of traveling around the world independently without any assistance. It covers five continents, 55 countries, nearly 500 cities and scenic spots, including more than 250 museums, and has published more than a dozen travel guides and travel notes. Because the goal has not been fully realized, the wandering continues.

The numbers on the map represent the following locations:

1 Slovak Kabachan Gaotala Mountain Tourist Area

2 Slovak Fairy Tale Castle Pochenis Castle

3 Slovak World Heritage Banska-Sjavnica

4 Slovak World Heritage Spisch Castle

5 Slovak World Heritage Town Baldyov

6 eger, an ancient city in eastern Hungary

7 Hungarian World Heritage Website

8 Hungarian tourist resort Balaton Lake

9 Jopland, known as the most beautiful town in Hungary.

10 Czech World Heritage Ledenece and Valjice

1 1 Brno, the second largest city in Czech Republic

12 Czech World Heritage Kromeirish

13 Czech World Heritage tomis Castle

14 Czech World Heritage Telecommunication Center

15 Czech World Heritage Coutela-Hora

16 Czech World Heritage Krumlov

17 Czech World Heritage Horatiovice

18 Graz, Austria World Heritage Site

19 ancient Slovenian city of Malibor

20 ancient town of PTUJ, Slovenia

No.21Lake Bled, Slovenia

Austria's highest mountain, the Grand Keglo and glaciers.

Lake Zell in the Austrian Alps

Innsbruck, Austria

Zurich Switzerland

26 French lakeside town Annecy

Mont Blanc and glaciers, the highest peaks in the French Alps.

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