[mohammedismail]

After visiting UK few times earlier in the year now it was time to visit Central Europe..This was a Business trip and we got know that we will be travelling to Central Europe for about 3 weeks starting from 19th September . All excited proceeded with Visa formalities to realize the Visa appointment is available only after 2 weeks time, DAMN. We were told it would take about 10-12 working days for us to receive the Visa hence decided to travel on 21st of September and three Weeks from then. Waiting..Waiting and Waiting we did not receive the Visa by 21st, it got delayed by another week and received it on 28th Sep which meant that our 3 weeks of stay reduced to 2 weeks!

Got the tickets booked for next day in Lufthansa which flies to Frankfurt,Germany straight from Bengaluru International Airport and from Frankfurt to Krakow,Poland which is our final destination !

Here is a picture from Krakow,Poland of the famous Wawel Castle ! The Weather was brilliant you could just not ask for anything more when in Europe !



Stayed in Poland for about 6 days and then headed to Budapest,Hungary..At first considered taking flight from Krakow to Budapest, due to direct flight not available and travel time was more than 5 hrs we decided to go by road. Hired a Mercedes Viano to Budapest..The Distance is about 400kms from Krakow to Budapest and we are off to Budapest!

Below is the Picture from Budapest..You know you are in Hungary when you see this building, which is the Hungarian Parliament !



Our Itenary was to stay for a day in Hungary then Head to Bratislava in Slovakia for a day for some meetings and then back to Hungary. Budapest to Bratislava is about 200KMS, we hired a Mercedes Viano again and we reached Bratislava in just 1:45 mins thanks to the Motor way. Since we did not have enough time to roam around in the city..Till we settled down after check-in in the hotel and finished our dinner it was late night and we decided to just walk around and have a look at the city..

Below is the picture of the Danube River in Bratislava,Slovakia !



And After 5 Days we returned to Poland to witness the extreme change in the weather...Everyone were surprised to see heavy snow fall in the mid of October which is very early. Good for us because we had never seen this heavy snowfall before!

[mohammedismail]

Day 1 to Day 5: Landed at Frankfurt took a couple of pictures at the Airport.



Automatic/Driver less trains in Frankfurt airport to travel within the Airport.


And we Landed in Poland..Took a taxi straight to the Hotel!

This is the Hotel where we stayed..Hotel Radisson Blu.. A very nice Hotel wish this had a pool though!



This hotel is very much in the city centre and Main square was just 5 mins walk. We decided to walk to the Main Square. I will let the pictures do the talking now.



Could not carry Tripod and hence :(




Bronze statue of Eros Bendato on the main square of Krakow!








































Trials..This is something which looks amazing to see..

[mohammedismail]

Below pictures are all taken in and around the Main Square !

[mohammedismail]

Talking about cars..There are not many Supercars in Krakow. During my stay I saw a California,Rolls Wraith,Carrera and likes.

While I was walking on one of the street near kazimierz I saw this Chrysler Limo on my right..



Moment after the above car passed by.. I saw the below car coming from my left hand side..Really cool





The below two pictures are of the Galleria,which is the biggest Mall in Krakow !







It's called Alko"Hole" in Polish

[ampere]

Thread moved out from the Assembly Line. Thanks for sharing!

A perfect read for a lazy Sunday afternoon after a heavy lunch. Beautiful snaps!

[SPIKE ARRESTOR]

Hi, I'm planing for a roadtrip going till the Balkans. How safe is it to drive through Poland, Hungary and Slovakia in a car?

I'm located in Stuttgart.

Spike

[sinharishi]

Wonderful pics! Thanks for sharing . I have stayed in Poland for 3.5 years, it is a country with rich heritage

Did you visit Auschwitz?

Originally Posted by SPIKE ARRESTOR

How safe is it to drive through Poland, Hungary and Slovakia in a car?

I'm located in Stuttgart

No problems at all in Poland, it is safe and has a beautiful country side. Roads are good across the country, however you cannot compare the motorways of Poland to the autobahns of Germany.

[mohammedismail]

Originally Posted by SPIKE ARRESTOR

Hi, I'm planing for a roadtrip going till the Balkans. How safe is it to drive through Poland, Hungary and Slovakia in a car?

I'm located in Stuttgart.

Spike

It was pretty safe for us to drive down from Poland to Hungary via Slovakia. I'm not aware nor I was told of any safety issues during the travel. Everything was pretty smooth and I wish the same to you as well

[SPIKE ARRESTOR]

Originally Posted by sinharishi

No problems at all in Poland, it is safe and has a beautiful country side. Roads are good across the country, however you cannot compare the motorways of Poland to the autobahns of Germany.

How is it driving in winter >> Poland ?

Originally Posted by mohammedismail

It was pretty safe for us to drive down from Poland to Hungary via Slovakia. I'm not aware nor I was told of any safety issues during the travel. Everything was pretty smooth and I wish the same to you as well

Thanks, I plan to go till Estonia. There are some problems, however I cannot point out exactly where it is. In Germany, when you book a rental car, it is often written in the conditions, some cars cannot be taken to eastern european countries (mostly German makes), the "less expensive" ones are allowed, reason being car thefts.

My colleague is a Hungarian, and he has affirmed that car thefts are common in that region.

Spike

[sinharishi]

Originally Posted by SPIKE ARRESTOR

How is it driving in winter >> Poland ?

Poland does get a good amount of snowfall during winters. All major roads are cleared with the help of snow plow. You still find frozen ice on the roads when temperatures go below the freezing point. Make sure your drive has winter tyres and it is not a rear wheel drive.

If you are planning a winter trip to Poland, do visit Zakopane.

[mohammedismail]

Originally Posted by sinharishi

Wonderful pics! Thanks for sharing . I have stayed in Poland for 3.5 years, it is a country with rich heritage

Did you visit Auschwitz?

Thanks..Unfortunately I could not go to Auschwitz :(

Originally Posted by SPIKE ARRESTOR

My colleague is a Hungarian, and he has affirmed that car thefts are common in that region.

Spike

This is quite Scary

[mr.sinha]

Lovely photographs. East European countries, especially the erstwhile Soviet -bloc ones or the ones affected by long civil wars, have got a different charm and beauty, and the people there are much more friendly and down-to-earth (in my opinion) than their western counterparts :-)

[mohammedismail]

And it was time for us to head to Budapest, Hungary after 6 days of stay in Poland ! We booked a Mercedes Viano for 4 of us to travel. Its about 400 kms from Krakow to Budapest and it takes about 7 hours to drive through the beautiful scenic roads of Europe and we were all excited.

Decided to start off right after the Breakfast and we started off at 8:30AM. We had to pass TATRA mountains which are very beautiful but destiny had something else in mind..It was too foggy and we could not see anything !

Here is an Interior picture of our Ride !



Clicked this picture righ after 20 mins we started off our journey frrom Krakow..The weather was just perfect there..But here we started to see some Fog on the mountains.









We started to do some decent speeds!



The view from here to next couple of kms was just Beautiful..You can see that in next couple of pics too how the Sun rays are playing their role and making it Beautiful !













And there was more and more Fog now !











This was some where in Slovakia, we saw these beautiful houses..apparently their value is in Millions ! Don't know how true is that.







Castle built on Rocks..How cool is that !





When travelling by road in Europe you will see lot of places where the road in under construction and they complete this work really Fast !



Nice and Beautiful Church on the way !



And Beautiful roads begin again !







Top on the Right hand side is the Skiing point !





We saw someone enjoying his ride in the ATV.

[FORTified]

Superb pics.
But, it stopped abruptly [like Baahubali movie]
Is there some more to come?
Waiting for more...

[asingh1977]

Wonderful pictures of Europe. Lovely to see the patination on the building domes. It seems like some areas are encapsulated in time, retaining the pristine beauty and historical significance.