Travel to Eastern Europe

The new frontier in travel is fast becoming Eastern Europe! What with instability around the world and the "old Europe" which is really the new Europe getting to be old hat; the eastern countries are really looking good! We are all over these new destinations and we are adding as many as we can for 2005! We did already add Romania in 2004 and customers who went had absolutely fabulous trips! Coming in 2005 is Croatia, Czech Republic, Poland for sure and a little bit further out will be Macedonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, and Slovakia.

Many of the countries are joining or have joined the European Union and are on track to join the monetary union, but for the most part Euros are the currency of choice. This makes things even easier for us, as well as for travelers. Upstart tour companies are really starting to proliferate in these places as they look west. Though most of the services are still basic there can be had some deluxe lodging. But, hey, if you are going to Eastern Europe for a posh trip - don't; stay in France! Our new adventures in hiking and cycling are really exciting. I plan to visit the east a lot over the next six months and so will have a lot more input to add. So far, I can tell you that the lack of air competition is an obstacle for intraEurope travel. Some cool little airline startups though look good from the big western cities. Examples include: Air Polonia and German Wings. Ryan Air has also added flights to Riga Latvia. However, once in the east it isn't so easy to get around if time is limited. Trains take days. Just going from Riga to Gdansk is more than 24 hours by train! Time will fix all that; so don't be in a hurry!

If you want to see some really great links to Croatia, check out these websites below:

Croatia factbook

all about Hvar Island

Brac photos

Split info

all about Korcula

all about Dubrovnik

photos of Croatia

Enjoy!

LT