Eastern Europe

Best ways to improve this book:

I really love the self-guided walks or tours (like through the Julian Alps)- I would include more of these.

Tracy in Austin, Te USA 09/15/2008

The book as it stands is OK, but it would be very helpful if you had expanded chapters on additional locations available online that could be purchased. For example, see my comments on the Tatras above. In addition, not having accomodation on Bratislava makes no sense. While I agree that you only need a day to see Bratislava, the best part of the experience is dinner/evening strolling through the old town. You would likely miss much of that in a day trip from Vienna.

David Murray in Avon, IN USA 08/23/2008

Your latest "Eastern Europe" and "Prague" books don't have the year on the cover, the way your "Germany and Austria" book does. I had to hunt around for the copyright page in the bookstore to make sure I was buying the most updated version. Please put the year on the book covers, so we know we're not using an outdated book!

George Mole' in Bronx, NY USA 07/26/2008

In your Split section you could suggest avoiding Trogir, which locals promoted. It's a tourist trap, a NATO World Heritage site that is nothing but cafes, T-shirt shops and bad art. Time would be better spent elsewhere on this gorgeous coast.

You could specifically suggest taking the #12 or 12A bus from the north end of the Riva in Split to the end of the line at the tip of the Marjan Peninsula for a shady, family-friendly beach. It is an easy-to-get-to, free, comfortable, totally untouristy park. Very relaxing after the noise of the Riva.

Jim Martin in Ashland, OR USA 07/26/2008

I was very disappointed with your coverage of Slovakia. If you say you are writing a book about Eastern Europe, you should cover each country by at least publishing accommodations!!! It is almost as if you have never bothered to visit Slovakia….

Jessica in New York, NY USA 05/15/2008

I spend a lot of time trying to find back your hand-drawn maps in each chapter. Could you create a map section for each city rather than scattering the maps throughout the chapter?

Gail in Albany, OR USA 01/27/2008

Headers by City, Attraction, etc. and ability to sort by those headings. This would make the research considerably faster and more enjoyable.

Allan Hermansen in Delano, MN USA 12/13/2007

Hotels are expensive in these cities and so we opted to rent apartments in Budapest and Prague. We were delighted with the apartments as well as the services the renting companies provided including picking us up and taking us to the train station, storing our luggage when necessary, and providing us valuable information about their cities and the local area we were in. The locations were excellent, the apartments adequately stocked and included washing machines and we had a nice place to relax after long days of sightseeing. The cost was half of what a hotel would be and we had the feeling of actually living in the city for a few days. Check out www.budapestlets.com and www.apartments-in-prague.org. Highly recommended

Sondra in Portland, OR USA 11/06/2007

My wife and I just got back from 2 weeks in France: Paris, Languedoc and Provence. We lugged around your Paris and France gudebooks and used them for the walking tours and hotel recommendations. Our next trip will be to Croatia, Budapest and Prague.

I just bought a new Palm Tungsten, and I've discovered the ability to load eBooks on it. It would be VERY handy if you would make your guidebooks available as eBooks. I could load several onto my Palm, delete the pages I don't need, and have the infomation handy in a small package. Plus, the Palm comes with international adapters for the wall charger.

Thanks for your time.

Joe Gaffney in Rohnert Park, CA USA 10/10/2007

Would be helpful to include Berlin in your Eastern Europe book since those visiting Prague, etc. should logically include Berlin in their tour of Eastern Europe.

Rod Young in Bowie, MD USA 09/28/2007

Next stop is Romania. I hate to go solo without Rick's input. I am going to Brasov, Sighisoara, Sibui and the painted monasteries in Bucovina, and Bucarest. Before the masses from Prague arrive!

Jorge Lallemand in Miami Beach, FL USA 07/18/2007

We are veteran travelers and used three Rick Steve's Book this vacation. Eastern Europe, Germany and Amsterdam and Bruge. We had much trouble in Prague. The money exchange at the train stations tack on an unadvertised 10% transaction fee. The thugs at the taxi stands, are indeed thugs. They wouldn't take us to the city for less than 800 Kc--so. We took the metro. Unfortunately, it was still raining hard and we tried a cab from the metro for six blocks. Cabby wanted 300 Kc. I made him turn on the meter and he drove until the fare hit 278 Kc. Waiters would add 15% to the bill for their tip if we used a credit card. Rather than hassle, we started paying cash. And, the lodging in the inner city was $30 a night more expensive than any other inner city lodging--we also went to Berlin, Dresden, Bruges, Amsterdam, Nurenburg and Vienna. Prague reminded me alot of Mexico in their attitude toward tourists.

Linda Bailey in Santa Rosa, CA USA 07/08/2007

Add Hotel Victoria in Budapest: right on the Danube, great views, tram stop, subway stop 10 minutes away, great staff, www.victoria.hu.

Need more restaurant suggestions for Budapest. We found a great Italian place on Andrassy Blvd in and a wonderful bistro in the Castle section. Unfortunately I can't remember the names.

Mary Ann Rose in Westminster, CO USA 06/28/2007

Improve the selection of accommodation. Most of the places you recommend were over-priced.

Peter Marshall in London, UK 06/22/2007

Be sure to mention that your passport must not expire within 90 days of entering the country in the Central European countries. I hadn't read this requirement in any information but happened to spot it on your website written by another traveler. My local passport office (Eugene, Or.) didn't know about this requirement so I phoned the Czech Consulate in Los Angeles and they confirmed that the passport must not expire within 90 days of departure.

[Editor's Note: We now recommend that your passport not expire for at least six months after you arrive back home. This goes for any international trip.]

Sandra Larsen in Eugene, Or USA 06/17/2007

Color code the edges of the pages for the different countries covered for easier info finding.

Rick Manolio in Virginia Beach, VA USA 06/16/2007

Call it "Best of Central Europe" and include as much of eastern Austria and Vienna as space allows; this was an easy directional and cultural progression for me from Rome, Florence, Venice and Vienna before getting to Prague.

Chris Kerstetter in Renton, WA USA 04/20/2007

Put detailed color maps (like the one's in the front of the book), at the start of the chapter for each major city. A good map at the front of the chapter really helps me get a grip on the city.

Jared in Tacoma, WA USA 03/22/2007

Please, please include more "places to stay" listings that have quadruple rooms. Or at least mention which places with only doubles and triples can accomodate larger families (with extra beds or connecting rooms, etc.) We love your books, but we have spent hours looking for places that can accomodate a family of four in some of the areas you recommend.

Melinda Kirkland in Berlin, Germany 02/18/2007

I loved this book! My sister and I used the 2006 edition for Budapest, Vienna, and Prague. While we were in Prague, we came across a 2005 version which also included Berlin, our next stop. In future I think Berlin should be returned to the EAstern Europe guide book; it's not technically Eastern Europe anymore but it once was, and it is along the route of Eastern Europe going North-South, so I think it would be prudent to inlcude it.

Elizabeth Fulham in Alexandria, VA USA 02/01/2007

I read as much as I could about the Eastern Europe Guidebook, but strangely enough there was no mention of Romania. I think Rick should add it. While I would not presume to teach the master his craft, I think that if Rick stays out of Bucharest, he will find plenty of things to like both cultural and geographic. I should know a little, I was born there :). In the meantime, "numai bine"!

Andrei Dacu in Bethesda, MD USA 01/26/2007

Wondering if Rick is ever going to update the "Russia & The Baltics" edition last printed in '98? I used this edition when visiting the Baltics in '03 with general success. Would love to get an updated version, maybe just of the Baltics and Ukraine as I hope to visit again in the future.

S.P. Crumpler in Bryson City, NC USA 01/11/2007

Add more words and phrases for each destination. The pronunciation guide is very helpful, and I would love to see this section expanded.

Scott B. in St. Petersburg, FL USA 11/17/2006

None I can think of at the moment - it was great! Liked having the historical background info too - Eastern Europe can be a confusing place.

Carolyn S. in Seattle, WA USA 11/10/2006

Add the three-letter international airport code after the name of airports in each city.

Clifford Curtis in Duluth, GA USA 11/07/2006

Add more choices for places to stay in Croatia. We suggest that you recommend apartments more than sobes, as we didn't find it comfortable to be crowded into one little sobe room and not have any space to bring home breakfast food since there is no food included in sobes.

Pat Christie in Calgary, AB Canada 10/15/2006

A suggestion for Rick's regional guide books (i.e. Best of E.Europe)which are quite large in size and cumbersome to carry when travelling light and taking day trips is to make the pages easily detachable and to equipment 1 cover sleeve with a pocket.

We found ourselves ripping out pages daily specific to the sites we had planned for the day because the book was just too heavy to carry everywhere.

Since our pile of loose pages grew in our pockets, lots of them ended up in the garbage. Having a pocket sleeve would have helped us save the pages we detached and kept together for future use.

Elaine Canada 10/12/2006

Rick: Kudos to you. Because we brought you along in Italy, London, and Paris, we tried "Eastern" Europe. Bravo. It was easy and very different! And affordable. In three weeks, the two of us spent a total of $6,000, transportation included (one plane fare was miles cashed in). We could have spent even less. Push it more for the dollar value and unique experiences. We went Sept. 12 - Oct. 3; few crowds except the square in Prague. We're both "senior citizens."

Colleen Naughton in Minneapolis, MN USA 10/08/2006

We cycled from Prague to Budapest and used this book and cycling-specific guides for our primary information. We found the book to be very informative and accurate and since we did not have the time to visit any location intensively, it helped us make the best use of our limited time. I have no suggestions for improvements - good job.

Gary Schiavi in Chestertown, NY USA 10/07/2006

Might add some info on Karlstejn castle

jerry bergstein in Indianapolis, IN USA 10/03/2006

Add the town of Krynica outside of Krakow - home of Nikifors, the artist remembered in the Polish film My Nikifors. Also, the town is an nteresting source of therapeutic waters and several Communist era, stark utilitarian buildings. best part - very few, if any, American tourists! Happened into a small, boutique spa hotel owned and operated by a woman from Utah disillusioned with the world of American buisness. Hotel Malopolanka ul. Bulwary Dietla 13 33-380 Krynica-Zdroj, Poland te. (018) 471 58 96 www.malopolanka.com.pl

Mary Thomson in Chocowinity, NC USA 09/22/2006

more maps, add more places out of the way to visit in countries like Slovakia, Hungary and Poland

Cathy Stone in Albany, NY USA 09/10/2006

Maybe note that if you take the public bus to the airport in Budapest, there are two stops ... Ferihegy 1 (the smaller terminal) and Ferihegy 2 (the bigger terminal) ... we had a few minutes of panic on the road near Ferihegy 1

Lauren in New York, NY USA 09/06/2006

This book is surprisingly comprehensive covering so many countries and cities. It does a good job of providing details. Sometimes the maps could be a little confusing but overall I was very impressed.

Gary Newton in Newport Beach, CA USA 08/23/2006

This book was great. I used it in Poland, Austria, Czech Republic and Hungary.

Valerie in Rocklin, CA USA 08/17/2006

More info on Bratislava would be nice. We did spend a day and a half there, as a stopover point and found it to be quaint, and relaxing in a way. Easier to navigate than a large city, yet the people we met were very cosmopolitan. Thanks for including Vienna in the book, as we were going to meet family there, and appreciated having the detailed info .

Lori Guderyon in Madison, WI USA 08/14/2006

I haven't even gone on the trip yet, I am just reading the book in preparation. However, once again, Rick Steves' literature has left me with that slight anti-Catholic taste in my mouth. May I quote from page 117, a description from St. Vitus Cathedral's carved wood relief: " . . . captures the 'barbaric' Protestant nobles destroying the Catholic icons in the cathedral after the Prague defeat.'" Now maybe you're trying to be pro-Prague, pro-nationalism, and anti-Hapsburg, but as a Catholic, I don't particulary like what amounts to a defense of the destruction of respectful art that pays homage to good Christian men and women. Is destruction not barbaric, no matter whose culture you're trashing? Anyway, just my feelings on how the description came across to me. Otherwise, keep up the good work.

Janice Elbert in Newberg, OR USA 08/06/2006

You need info on Ukraine...

Lloyd Hanebury in Kiev, Ukraine 07/25/2006

We found that the night train from Strasbourg to Vienna stops in Linz.. . and that Pension Lobo has a shuttle service from Linz to Cesky Krumlov. This could have given us another day in Cesky Krumlov and would love to pass this on to others.

Also Hostel Tyn in Prague only holds rooms until 2:00 - we had to search for a room later that day!

Caroline Rausch in Tucson, AZ USA 07/23/2006

Rick seemed to be rather down on Hungarian museums. Compared to the Louvre or the Tate, they are not very impressive however. We found them very interesting when looking for specifically Hungarian art. Don't blow them off so easily.

Greg Lapp in Sanger, CA USA 07/14/2006

The only thing I can think of to improve your very informative and helpful book is to make it smaller. It gets quite heavy to carry in the suitcase, but we could not have had such a great trip without it. Thank you!

Marlene Ruff in El Dorado Hills, CA USA 07/12/2006

We came into Prague June 14th and heard we had just missed Rick updating the guide book. Keep up the good work. We've traveled several countries using Rick Steves and he hasn't let us down yet. will he be doing anything in Romania in the future?

Terri Eggeman in valrico, FL USA 06/20/2006

To more accurately describe the book's geographic coverage, change title to: "Rick Steves' Best of Central Europe"

Gordon in Bellevue, WA USA 06/01/2006

On the "Prague(appropriate city) at a Glance' page list the page numbers for the sites listed there so we can jump quickly to the more detailed listing.

Jane Stump in Orlando, fl USA 05/30/2006

Please mention that Terminal 1 and Terminal 2 at Budapest Ferihegy Airport are 5 kilometers apart. We had flown into one terminal on Delta, but flew out of the other terminal on Sky Europe. We took the metro, then bus to the airport, and a friendly native told us not to get off until the end of the bus ride. Going into the terminal, we found out that we were supposed to be at the other terminal, and needed to pay for a shuttle bus to get back to it. Luckily, we had allowed plenty of time, and were OK.

Marlene Eaton in Greenhills, OH USA 04/23/2006

I have used Rick Steves books for all my other trips to (Western) Europe. This book is not nearly as cohesive -- I can tell that it was written by 2 authors. The proposed agendas were on the vague side and the needed information on the sites was all there, but a bit scattered. It really could use a good proofing and firming up for usability. I thought perhaps I was being a bit harsh, but when we got to our final city, which was Vienna, the quality substantially improved. I assume that is because Vienna was taken from a guidebook written by one person (and probably revised many more times than the E European one has been.

Becky USA 04/10/2006

Add Romania!! It is a wonderful country to visit!!! The Beautiful mountain city of Brasov near the real Dracula's castle, Constanta by the Black Sea. Romania is rougher than sandpaper in many places, but there is so much beauty too!!

Alan in Mount Olive, NC USA 04/01/2006

More comprehensive index. For instance, "Owl's Castle" isn't there, but there's no way in hell I would remember that it were called Bagolyvar. More maps, and more descriptions of where to get minibuses - we had lots of trouble finding the one that was supposed to take us to Statue Park.

Zoe Trieff in Austin, TX USA 03/16/2006

When we went to Cesky Krumlov in July 2005, none of your accommodation suggestions were available so I had to look elesewhere. I found a youth hostel that was wonderful and thought that you ought to check it out. Hostel Postel was close, the ownders were friendly and very helpful, the room was large and clean, kitchen facilities were great. It was a wonderful experience. www.hostelpostel.cz; email: info@hostelpostel.cz; address: Rybarska 35, CZ 381 01 Cesky Krumlov, Czech Republic

Jill Van Langeveld in Salt Lake City, UT USA 02/13/2006

Rick doesn't do justice to this wonderful little country. There was so much to do in Hungary that we are returning again this summer. In our opinion it really deserves a book all by itself!

Hungary is a country rich in culture and heritage. This year, particularly in October, the country will be celebrating the anniversary of the '56 Revolution. Many sites will be commemorating the survivors and the rebirth after the communist withdrawl in the 90s. Be sure to include these events as well! I know there will be an art show at Fisherman's Bastion displaying artwork of '56 survivors including some from America.

Lisa Matthews in Pomona, Ca USA 01/30/2006

No recommendations other than expanding the stops along the Croatian coast and islands. Also, adding the "real" Eastern European countries.

Daryl Hartnett in Colorado Springs, CO USA 01/26/2006