[Idyllchat] Belgrade, Serbia?

[Leigh Hursh]

Re: [Idyllchat] traveling by carDear All,

It looks like I have never started a message so I am an interloper on someone else's.
Anyway, there is a conference in Belgrade, Serbia in July that looks attractive to me to attend and perhaps to make a paper submission.  However, what about the city? Have any of you been there post-war? The hotels are Hotel Majestic (4-star) and Kasina (3-star).  I love the nature of the conference but in my local wine shop, the Bulgarian clerk wrinkled her nose!  And actually, I know no one who travels to central Europe.

Thank you for your help. Leigh South Carolina
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Bob Bestor 
  To: idyllchat at lists.untours.com 
  Sent: Monday, January 15, 2007 2:24 PM
  Subject: Re: [Idyllchat] traveling by car


  You can buy a 1st-class, 5-day, 3-country (Switz, Italy, Germany) Eurail Select Saver Pass for $688 for two persons. It provides 5 days travel in a 2-month period. If 5 days isn't enough you can go to a 6-day pass for $758. The 8-day pass is $902 and the 10-day version is $1038. (This assumes that your Italy-Munich route will be via Switzerland. If, on the return trip to Munich, you want to go through Austria, which may be more direct, it will mean adding another country to your pass for a few more dollars.)


  I don't think roads and the drivers should concern you...in Germany and Switzerland both are better than in the U.S. Italy's road are fine, the drivers though are a bit less predictable than in Germany-Switzerland. Currently, you can rent an air-conditioned, 4-door compact car (VW Golf, Opel Astra) in Munich for $598, including the 19% VAT (figure about two-thirds of that if you rent the car for 14 days). That vehicle gets 30-32 miles per gallon, so if you travel 1200 miles (Munich-Zürich, for example is about 200 miles) at $6 per gallon you'll spend another $250 on fuel. You'll also have to pay to park sometimes and there will be a few tolls in Italy.


  The Eurail Select pass limits the days you can travel to 5, 6, 8 or 10. However, there are other passes such as the 21-consecutive-days Eurail Global pass, but it costs $701 per person. The rental car offers ultimate flexibility. It is at your disposal 24/7 for the entire term of the rental and moves on your schedule. The car also provides easier access to small, country villages where accommodations are less expensive-and parking is much cheaper or free.


  The train is relaxing, comfortable and stress-free; no traffic jams, no getting lost...it takes you directly to the city center. And you enjoy the scenery more than in a car. But, unless you're taking day trips from a central location, you will carry all your luggage and gear...including everything you purchase while in Europe...on and off every train. And you will likely spend a few euros/francs on taxis. If it were just the actual travel-riding in a rail car vs driving-rail wins hands down. But cost and flexibility seem to tilt this toward the rental car. After all, the per day, per person cost of the 5-day Eurail Select Pass is $69, the 3-week car rental, including fuel, is about $20 per person (assuming, of course, you drive the car every day). And with trains the scope of your travel is pretty much tied to where the rails go; and they don't go everywhere...especially in Italy.


  The best, but most expensive, solution involves both; train for the longer trips and a car for a few days at principal destinations. Be aware, however, that you'll pay almost twice as much on a per day basis for a rental car in Italy than in Germany, and about 10-15% more in Switzerland.


  Bob


    My husband and I are planning a trip to South Tuscany (Montalcino) in September.  We are also planning to visit an exchange student in Munich and my husband's relatives in Switzerland.  We are trying to decide the best way to travel between these three points.  We will probably be flying into and out of Munich, so will need to go from Munich to Schwanden (Switzerland) and from Schwanden to Florence.  After our two weeks in Tuscany we will go back  to Munich to fly home.  We have narrowed it down to: train, part train/part car, or all car.  We would really prefer doing it all by car, but are concerned re: the difficulty of managing an unfamiliar road system and all the parking (or lack thereof!) problems.  Cost is an issue with us, so we want to do this as economically as possible.  Any thoughts on how we should proceed?  Thanks so much.  Marie Maines

    Ray and Marie Maines
    7909 Woodland Drive
    North Richland Hills, TX 76180
    ph  817-503-8371
    cell 817-422-4183
    fax 801-203-5799
    rm_maines at hotmail.com







-- 
Gemütlichkeit, The Travel Letter for Germany, Austria & Switzerland
  288 Ridge Road, Ashland OR 97520
  Tel. 800-521-6722, 541-488-8462, Fax 541-488-8468
  Email: travel at gemut.com, Web: http://www.gemut.com


------------------------------------------------------------------------------


  _______________________________________________
  This message was sent by IdyllChat.
  To reply or send a new message, email to:
  IdyllChat at lists.untours.com

  Visit the IdyllChat archives:
  http://mailman.dca.net/pipermail/idyllchat/

  Search Idyllchat Archives for any subject at: http://search.dca.net/sites/untours/main.html
  >
  Read real Untourists' candid accounts of their Untours: 
  > http://www.untours.com/triplogs.html To unsubscribe, change to digest delivery, or 
  temporarily pause delivery, visit:
  http://mailman.dca.net/mailman/listinfo/idyllchat
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://mailman.dca.net/pipermail/idyllchat/attachments/20070115/432f04f9/attachment.htm