Poland to Istanbul help?

Budapest is definitly a fantastic Idea. Its a great city to visit.

Bukarest was also interesting.

​@jesseinasia Are you planning on taking night trains?

Thanks. Yes, I’m happy to take a night train or two. 

Prag is also a fantastic city to visit but it is not necessary on your way. (I have visited Prag atleast 3 times)

Regarding smaller cities in Hungary and Romania i tips myself as

I personally can only give tips until Bukarest( That is as far as i have travelled towards Istanbul).

Taking one of the night train from Budapest to Bukarest might be a good idea unless you plan more stops in between those.

Some Tips for Budapest:

• Visiting the caves under Budapest
• Zoo

Bukarest:

• Therme
• Day trip to the salt mine( not much time spent there but the hugem mined caves are impressive

Arround where do you plan to start in Poland?

Marvin,

Much appreciated. 

Allow me to give you a bigger picture of my thoughts. Poland is my No. 1 destination goal for this trip, along with Istanbul where I will meet up with my wife.

Krakow is where I’d go if I only went to one place in Poland, and it’s my current thought for first stop because of my southward journey. But if I devoted more time in Poland, I’d want to see Gdansk, so I supposed I’d fly into Warsaw and do the train up and back before heading to Krakow.

After that … 

I’ve been to Prague, so it’s not a necessity, and as you point out, it’s out of the way. I don’t know where I’d go between Krakow and Budapest, but looking at the map I love your suggestion of the overnight train from Budapest to Bucharest -- because Bulgaria is also on my maybe list.

Looking at the map, it seems I’d probably make a choice between your route or a route through, say, other maybes Slovenia, bosnia-herzogovenia and Albania. 

But at this moment, I’m WIDE OPEN.

Thanks.

Jesse

There is not much to travel by rail bosnia-herzogwina and albania thats why i would recommend the router via romania. (But Slovenia is nice and has decent trains, just not really on your route)

I did not realise you are from the US. ( I falsly assumed you were from poland)

If you are in Danzig i highly recommend you visit the maritime Museums.

I also plan to go to Bulgaria at some point.

Ostrava or Bratislava might be an idea between Krakau and Budapest. I was not in Ostrava yet but i have heard positive things.

The most straight forward route with a Eurail pass would be Poland-Slovakia-Hungary-Romania-Bulgaria-Turkey. Everything is possible by rail but you need to get the reservations from the ticket office for everything beyond Hungary when using your pass (= requires to be flexible). Or you can get cheap tickets for everything east of Budapest online and safe your pass days elsewhere.

On your way, Bratislava is a nice place for a stopover before going towards Budapest.

Romania has some beautiful towns (Brasov, Timisoara, Sighisoara, Cluj,...). Haven’t been to these places yet but I plan to visit Romania next Winter.

On the route through the Balkans (Bosnia, Albania) you need to rely almost entirely on buses beyond Slovenia. A Eurail pass is therefore a waste of money. There are some nice places along the route though.

​@eurocity101 The reservation for Budapest-Bukarest can be booked online. ( For example from the hungarian railway Mav, even sleepers can be booked for the correct price)

Marvin and Eurocity101,

You have been more than generous with your suggestions, and I want to thank you both. 

Cheers!

Jesse