SUNDAY, JULY 18, 2010 GOING OUR WAY If it’s Tuesday, this must be Slovenia by K.C. Summers
Poor Josh Shakin. His wife, Ni- na Schichor, has three weeks of vacation, while he gets precisely one-third that amount. So the District couple will spend seven days vacationing in Eastern Eu- rope this summer, and then it’s back to work for him, leaving Ni- na to continue on with a friend who’ll join her for the next two weeks. This is tough, because we
don’t want to leave Josh short- changed during his week abroad, but we also don’t want to violate Going Our Way’s main tenet of travel: Don’t over-schedule. This itinerary is a compromise, pack- ing a lot into the first week (ide- ally, I’d add a couple of days in each major city), then building in some downtime as the days progress. It incorporates the cou- ple’s wish list of cities and coun- tries, plus one or two more places that weren’t on their ra- dar but that I think they’ll love. Or at least Nina will. Josh will just have to come back. A note about getting around:
Josh and Nina want to travel be- tween cities by train. You can purchase tickets in advance in the United States through Rail Europe (
www.raileurope.com), but in most cases, it’s much cheaper to buy them right in the train station. Days 1-2: Berlin. Power through your jet lag and hit a few high spots — the Brandenburg Gate, the Reichstag, the Kurfuer- stendamm, the museums — but save time for one of the city’s faux beaches, with deck chairs, sand, music, bars and other fun stuff (good list at
www.visit
berlin.de), or take a Nazi Germany/Third Reich bike tour (
www.berlincitytours.com; about $25 per person). For club and cabaret info in this hippest of hip cities, check Time Out’s guide at
www.timeout.com/ berlin. Lodging option: Hotel- Pension Bregenz, just off the Ku’damm (www.hotelbregenz-
berlin.de; from $114 per night double with bath). Days 3-4: Take the train to Prague (about 41⁄2
hours, $75 per
person one way) and start wan- dering through Old Town
BY E. KASE/LJUBLJANA TOURIST BOARD Josh will be back in the office by the time our tour gets to lovely Ljubljana. Nina, take lots of pictures.
-hour guided tour that in- cludes bike, helmet and insur- ance. If you can build in more time here, consider taking a day trip to the UNESCO town of Ces- ky Krumlov. Lodging option: Ar- cadia Residence, near Old Town Square (
www.arcadiaresidence. com; from $127 per night dou- ble). Days 5-6: Take the train to Vi-
Square, Wenceslas Square, Charles Bridge and the Jewish Quarter. Consider seeing it all by bike: Prague Experience, for example (011-44-1689-898-500,
www.pragueexperience.com), charges $24 per person for a 21
⁄2
hours, $43 per person), ensconce yourself in a cafe and practice saying “mit schlag” (“with whipped cream”). Then visit as many highlights as you can fit in: the Hofburg palace, the State Opera, St. Stephen’s Ca- thedral. Frommer’s has good self-guided walking tours at
www.frommers.com/ destinations/vienna/
0068010008.html. Lodging option: Hotel Goldener Baer, near a subway stop (www.gold
enna (41⁄2
Who: Nina Schichor, 29, and Joshua Shakin, 30, of Washington Where: Eastern Europe Why: Urban adventure When: One week for Josh, three weeks for Nina, in late summer/early fall Budget: $8,000-$10,000
FAMILY PHOTO
bearhotel.com; $122 per night double). Days 7-8: I’m getting exhaus- ted just typing this, but if you want to notch one more city into your travel belt, take the train to Budapest (about three hours, $50). Lots to see and do in this fun, lively town, from Castle Hill to cruising the Danube to the or- nate tombs of Kerepesi Cem- etery. Try a thermal bath; the tourism office has a good list at
www.budapestinfo.hu/en. Lodging option: B&B Bellevue, with a view of the Danube (www.
bellevuebudapest.com; about
“We like walking or biking tours, local cuisine, cooking classes, farmers markets, museums and history.”
$76 per night double). Days 9-13: See ya, Josh. We’re
off to Croatia. Nina, you and your new travel buddy should take the train to Zagreb (six hours, about $70), one of Europe’s underrated capitals. Short-term apartments run about $50 per person per night (www.only-apartments. com). Spend a day visiting Plitvice Lakes National Park, a UNESCO site known for its cas- cading waterfalls (a 21
⁄2 -hour bus
ride from Zagreb, $13). Then fly from Zagreb to Dubrovnik (about $330 round trip per per- son) and take a couple of days to
explore the gorgeous walled city. Splurgey lodging option in Du- brovnik, but so worth it: Stari Grad, right within the walled city (
www.hotelstarigrad.com; $184 per night double for stays of less than three days). Consider ferry- ing over to one of the Dalmatian Coast islands for a day or two of R&R (
www.jadrolinija.hr for a schedule and prices). Then fly back to Zagreb. Days 14-17: Take the train from Zagreb to Ljubljana, Slo- venia (two hours, about $25). You’re going to love this place. Slovenia’s elegant, inviting cap- ital is a great base for excursions to famous Lake Bled and the UNESCO-designated Skocjan Caves. It’s also got a ton of public markets, most notably the lovely Central Market, which follows the sweep of the Ljubljanica Riv- er. After stocking up on such Slo- venian delicacies as Karst pro- sciutto and horse pâté (!), move on to the antiques and flea mar- kets. Lodging option: Antiq Ho- tel, in Old Town (www.
antiqhotel.si; from $97 per night double). Days 17-20: Fly to Krakow (about $325) for a peek at Po- land. With its medieval architec- ture and lively air, the city is much more appealing than War- saw as a base, and the surround- ing countryside has lots of hik- ing and biking trails. Day trips: Wieliczka Salt Mine (about 30 minutes from the center city; transportation and tour about $50) and the Auschwitz/Birke- nau concentration camp memo- rials (one hour; transportation and tours about $30). Lodging option: the Ester Hotel, near the Old Synagogue (www.hotel-es-
ter.krakow.pl/en; $105 per night double on
Expedia.com). Day 21: Return home. Cost: International airfare will run about $2,400 for two (as al- ways, sign up for sale alerts from such sites as
SmarterTravel.com and
Yapta.com, but don’t hold your breath). Intercity transpor- tation: about $1,500. Lodging: about $2,100. Total: about $6,000, leaving plenty for food, admissions and incidentals.
Interested in having us help plan your trip? Go to www.washingtonpost. com/goingourway.
KLMNO Washington
F3 COMING & GOING
The GAO recommends across-the-board disclosure
takes on airline fees It’s time passengers were made fully aware of all those ex- tra fees airlines have started charging: That’s the bottom line of a General Accountability Office report issued last Wednesday. Faced with declining rev- enues, airlines now charge for such services as checking lug- gage, early boarding, seat selec- tion and meals. Information on some of these fees is available only through airline Web sites and is not uniformly disclosed through the various channels travelers use to buy tickets, in- cluding aggregators such as Ex- pedia and Travelocity and travel agencies, the GAO said. But all ticket purveyors should be re- quired to disclose the fees in a clear and uniform manner, the of- fice recommended. In the first quarter of calendar
year 2010, airlines reported col- lecting $1.3 billion in baggage fees and reservation change and cancellation fees — a 13 percent increase from the same quarter last year. David A. Castelveter, a spokes- man for the Air Transport Associ- ation of America, which repre- sents the industry, said that air- lines already disclose their fees and that the aggregators and travel agents also have access to them. As for the fees themselves, he said the airlines need them to return to profitability and to avoid having to raise fares. “Nobody tells Giant how much
to charge for ketchup. Nobody tells movie theaters how much to charge for popcorn, soda and Ju- jubes, and they’re telling the air- lines how much to charge for their services?” he said. “The in- dustry was deregulated for a rea- son.”
Travel ticker Starting July 20, Amtrak is ex- panding service between Wash- ington and Richmond, offering five morning departures from Richmond and six afternoon and evening departures from Wash- ington. The new schedule is avail- able at
www.amtrakvirginia. com.
Reporting: Nancy Trejos. Help feed CoGo. Send travel news to: cogo@
washpost.com. By mail: CoGo, Washington Post Travel Section, 1150 15th St. NW, Washington, D.C. 20071
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