Wondering which transport to use while traveling in Eastern Europe?

If you have ever visited Eastern Europe, you absolutely already know 1 thing – in those countries it might take a bit longer to get from one place to another. While in the Western Europe train connections are greatly well developed (a great example may be TGV in France), in tons of Eastern European countries that might still be an issue. A useful example, to explain it more, is Poland. This is the largest country in this region, which is extremely attractive for tourists, as:

– Poland can “offer” sea, mountains as well as plenty of lakes;- Poland is bordered with a few other smaller countries, that are a perfect destination for one or two days trip, (for example, Lithuania).

Wroclaw

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

Nevertheless, many tourists may be still disappointed. What is the reason? The rason is rather simple. Tons of of them have read that in Poland it is possible to experience everything you need – sea, lakes, rivers and mountains . However, it is not regularly mentioned, that connection between those spots is rather bad. Despite the fact that new train connections have been introduced a short time ago , most of them are still rather slow. E.g., it might take up to dozen hours to travel from the sea to the mountains. Even though there are some express train, there are much more expensive than the standard one. Bus firms do their best, to offer an alternative connections. They offer fast and extremely well organized bus connections, not just between big Polish cities, but neighboring countries. It is worth to mention that bus companies perfectly fit into this market niche. Customers, tired with slow and eternally delayed trains, began to travel mostly by buses. Nevertheless, it is still worth to be aware, that there are not many highways yet. It means that even though bus firms do their best to make travel as fast as possible, the travel time still largely depends on existing roads. So, travel from one site of Poland to the other one, might still take a long time.

Wroclaw

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

Happily, the problem has been noted by lots of airlines. A while ago, domestic flights were not that famous. Even though there were, for example, flights to Wroclaw, there were pretty expensive compared to trains or buses connections. Consequently, they were not very attractive. It was qite similar case when it comes to flights to neighbouring countries, e.g., flights from warsaw to Vilnius. A while ago, people were travelling mostly by coaches Luckily, this has changed a while ago. Airlines began to see the huge potential in the needs of passengers travelling on short distances. They not just introduced new connections between various 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 flight 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 valuable time.