Thinking about which transport to use while traveling across Eastern Europe?

If you have ever been to Eastern Europe, you unquestionably are aware of 1 thing – in those countries it might take a bit more time to get from one city to another. When in the Western Europe train connections are very well developed (a useful example may be TGV in France), in plenty of Eastern European countries that might still be more difficult. A good example, to explain it further, is Poland. This is the largest country in the region, which is greatly attractive for tourists, because:

– Poland can “offer” sea, mountains ama dablam expedition and beautiful lakes;- Poland is bordered with a few other smaller countries, that are a perfect destination for 1-2 days trip, (for example, Lithuania).

Wroclaw

Autor: Maciek Lulko
Źródło: http://www.flickr.com

Nonetheless, many tourists may be still disappointed. What is the reason? The rason is rather obvious. Tons of of them have heard that in Poland it is easy to experience everything you want – sea, lakes, rivers and mountains . However, it is not repeatedly mentioned, that connection between these places is not so good. Even though new train connections have been introduced not long ago , most of them are still pretty slow. E.g., it may take up to dozen hours to travel from the sea to the mountains. Even though there are several express train, there are far more expensive than the standard one. Bus firms do their best, to offer better solutions. They offer fast and highly well organized bus connections, not only connecting particular Polish cities, but neighboring countries. It is worth to mention that bus companies perfectly fit into this market niche. Passengers, tired with slow and eternally delayed trains, began to travel much more often by buses. Nonetheless, it is still worth to be aware, that there are not many highways yet. This means that even though bus firms try their best to make travel as fast as possible, the travel time still largely depends on existing roads. Thus, travel from one site of the country to the other one, may still take a long time.

Wroclaw

Autor: HRS Poland
Źródło: http://www.flickr.com

Luckily, the problem has been seen by plenty of airlines. A while ago, domestic flights were not that famous. Even though there were, for example, flights to Wroclaw, there were quite expensive compared to trains and buses connections. In consequence, they were not very famous. It was qite similar case with flights to neighbouring countries, for instance, flights from warsaw to Vilnius. Not that long ago, men and women were travelling mostly by coaches (click there). Luckily, this has changed already. Airlines began to see the huge potential in the needs of customers travelling on short distances. They not only introduced new connections between different Polish cities and neighbouring countries, but also started to have more competitive prices.

So, if you want to travel around Eastern Europe, the main advice would be as following – remember to check plane connection first. It is not an advice you can find in travel guides or hear from local. However, trust me. It can save a lot of your precious time.