October 2026
OVERVIEW
October 2026
This trip started out as a river cruise Budapest to Bucharest with Scenic Cruises Oct 18 - 25.
So we booked our own flights and chose to fly Air France through Paris and on to Vienna for a few days, then train to Budapest a couple of days before the river cruise began. Since it was ending in Bucharest we decided to stay on for a few days and fly home from Warsaw through Paris and home on Air France.
Towards the end of September we began hearing many social media messages regarding the low water depths on the Danube. We saw cruises that were more like bus tours as the companies attempted to keep "afloat". We were not happy with that idea, but were willing to do it as they were offering decent rebates.
On October 1 we received this email offering a full refund.
We are writing regarding your upcoming Eastern European & Balkans River Cruise departing Budapest on October 18, 2026.
Unfortunately, European river levels continue to decline due to ongoing warm temperatures and very little precipitation. In addition to these challenging river conditions, the Hungarian authorities have announced a complete shipping closure at Paks, located between Budapest and Mohacs. The closure is required to support water management works associated with the operational safety of the Paks Nuclear Power Plant.
After carefully considering the current conditions and the options available to us, we have made the difficult decision to cancel your Eastern European & Balkans River Cruise departing October 18, 2026.
Great! We decided to make our own plans working around our already booked flights. We would visit the same countries by train but go to to a main city in each. We worked and worked on that plan and found that the train service was broken in many places. So we stuck to the plan to train to Budapest and then train to Zagreb and fly elsewhere saving over 30 hours of travel.
Then we decided to drop Croatia (Sophia) off the plan. It didn't make sense for one day.
Plans made.
Then the night before we were supposed to leave Air France kept delaying our departure. By Monday morning our flights with Air France (Paris - Vienna) were cancelled and we are now booked on an earlier flight to Copenhagen then Vienna!!!!!!!!
Cool, we rolled with that.
Come Oct 17 and we were in Budapest with a train ride to Zagreb Oct 18 arriving 11 PM (7 hours) and Oct 19 in Zagreb and flying to to Belgrade Oct 20, didn't seem like such a good idea. So we cancelled that and styed an additional two nights in Budapest.
Oct 25 we had planned on going to Brasov overnight, returning on the 26th. On the morning of the 25th we couldn't get palace tickets (sold out) and couldn't get first class tickets outbound, inbound was fine. We decided not to bother and stay in Bucharest.
Later, at dinner, we both said, why not go on Monday to Sinaia, the palace is closed, but did it matter? So off we went on the Monday.
Surprised, we did do Air France for the flights home and lesson learned, never connect through CDG Paris!!
EUROPE ITINERARY
October 12 – October 31, 2026
OUR THOUGHTS
We planned this on our own although it started out as part of a river cruise. It was fabulous to move at our own speed, no tour schedules, getting up at 7AM and dragging suitcases onto another bus. Okay we did do a few flights but.
No annoying fellow passengers, being late, getting lost. No group bathroom stops or check in delays. We only have each other to bicker with.
No dreaded group lunches that drag on and on.
No sneaking out so nobody joins us for an evening meal. Or worse group dinners at ridiculously early times.
No dreaded "home" visits.
Being able to pivot as we wander despite having a schedule (prepared by me) with no time constraints. In fact, I had prepared daily, detailed agendas that we didn't bother with and yet we saw most of what we wanted. I wouldn't do that again, I would prepare a list of "must sees" for a city mainly as a checklist.
None of those "Factory" Illusion visits where the tour stops at a building labeled as a "Cultural Heritage Site," "Government-Sanctioned Institute," or "Local Cooperative." or the "Educational" intro. A guide gives a brief 5-minute presentation on how the product (like jewelry, leather, or herbs) is made to build trust. Then you are led into a massive showroom with locked or heavily guarded doors, where aggressive sales tactics are used until the scheduled departure time. We've done more of our share of those - pearls, leathers, jade, rugs, essential oils, bamboo products, silk etc.
No museums we have no interest in. In fact, we only paid one entrance fee into the Secession House Klimt exhibit.
Now we do love museums but of our choice.
You cannot linger at a museum, sleep in, or duck into a quiet hidden café or off-the-beaten-path shop when something catches your eye.
We could stop for a beer or glass of wine when we wanted to. Curl up and have potato chips for dinner if we wanted.
On another topic, don't trust AI. There were many times, when I was relying on it for daily plans when I would say "are you sure" and it says "oh, no blah blah blah". A couple of times it insisted that our hotel(s) were connected underground until I questioned it. Or I would ask "is this feasible" only to be told no.
TRAVEL
By the Numbers - that's an impressive number of miles/km!
| Route | Distance (Kilometers) | Distance (Miles) | Average Travel Time | Mode of Transport |
| Toronto (YYZ) → Copenhagen (CPH) | 6,276 | 3,900 | 8 hours | Flight (Direct) |
| Copenhagen (CPH) → Vienna (VIE) | 877 | 545 | 1 hour 40 minutes | Flight (Direct) |
| Vienna (Wien Hbf) → Budapest (Keleti) | 229 | 142 | 2 hours 20 minutes | Train (Direct) |
| Budapest (BUD) → Belgrade (BEG) | 308 | 192 | 1 hour 5 minutes | Flight (Direct) |
| Belgrade (BEG) → Bucharest (OTP) | 454 | 282 | 1 hour 25 minutes | Flight (Direct) |
| Bucharest (Nord) → Sinaia | 121 | 75 | 1 hour 30 minutes | Train (Direct) |
| Sinaia → Bucharest (Nord) | 121 | 75 | 1 hour 30 minutes | Train (Direct) |
| Bucharest (OTP) → Warsaw (WAW) | 948 | 589 | 1 hour 50 minutes | Flight (Direct) |
| Warsaw (WAW) → Paris (CDG/ORY) | 1,356 | 842 | 2 hours 25 minutes | Flight (Direct) |
| Paris (CDG) → Toronto (YYZ) | 6,010 | 3,734 | 8 hours 15 minutes | Flight (Direct) |
| TOTALS | 16,700 | 10,376 | 36 hours 35 minutes | 10 Segments Total |
As for steps we averaged 15,000 per day = 300,000 steps!
Three new countries to our list SERBIA ROMANIA and POLAND.
New airlines SAS Air Serbia LOT
SAS were good flights and we loved the fairly easy connection through Copenhagen. I did not like the seat configuration on SAS to Copenhagen. I had book 2 seats on Air France, one behind the other. SAS is 2 and 2. That meant I had to climb over John to go to the bathroom, not the best if he was asleep. Food was fine.
LOUNGES
Toronto KLM
Belgrade Dufry - we used our Priority card. Not impressive, crowded.
Bucharest Dacia Business lounge - we flew business class
Warsaw Air France
Paris Air France - we had no time between flights
PASSPORT CONTROL
Canada does not have exit passport control booths. We did have to do some exit booths.
TORONTO - COPENHAGEN - VIENNA
Since we travelled on Canadian passports from Toronto to Copenhagen and then Vienna, you are entering the Schengen Area—a zone of 29 European countries that have abolished internal border controls. Because Denmark and Austria are both Schengen members, Copenhagen acts as your entry point into the zone, meaning you will clear passport control there and face no passport control when arriving in Vienna.
The officer manually took our digital photo and fingerprints right at the desk. This officially registered us in Europe’s new digital Entry/Exit System (EES) and started your 90-day travel clock.
VIENNA - BUDAPEST
Both Austria and Hungary belong to the same border-free zone. Traveling between Vienna and Budapest on the train is legally no different than taking a train between Toronto and Montreal.
The train stations in Vienna (Hauptbahnhof) and Budapest (Keleti) do not have passport control booths for these routes. We simply boarded the train, showed our tickets to the conductor, and walked off the train in Hungary.
Our 90-day tourist limit (which started when we gave our fingerprints and photos in Copenhagen) is still ticking down, but it covers our time in Denmark, Austria, and Hungary collectively.
BUDAPEST - SERBIA
Because Serbia is not a member of the Schengen Area, flying from Budapest to Belgrade meant we were exiting the Schengen Zone entirely. As a result, we had to clear full passport control on both sides of the flight.
• Because we previously registered our biometric profiles into the Entry/Exit System (EES) in Copenhagen, the Hungarian border officer at the exit booth scanned our Canadian passports.
• No Exit Stamp: Just like when we entered, the EES completely digitized the process. The system took our photos to match against our existing file and digitally logged our exit date to ensure we didn't overstay our 90-day Schengen limit.
As Canadian citizens, we could not use the automated e-Gates (which are limited to Serbian citizens and a specific list of countries like the US, UK, and EU nations). We lined up for the manned border police booths.
The Serbian officer reviewed our Canadian passports and because Serbia is outside of the EU's EES digital framework, the officer physically stamped our passports with an ink entry stamp to document exactly when we entered the country.
BELGRADE TO BUCHAREST
Flying from Belgrade, Serbia to Bucharest, Romania meant leaving a non-Schengen country and re-entering the Schengen Area. Romania is a full Schengen member, so this flight required standard external border processing on both sides.
We lined up for the standard border police desks.The Serbian border officer scanned our Canadian passports and physically stamped them with an ink exit stamp to match the entry stamp we got when we arrived from Budapest.
When our plane touched down in Romania, we were officially re-entering the Schengen Area.
We headed to the border lanes for non-EU/all passports. Because we had already registered our digital biometric profiles (fingerprints and photos) when we first entered Europe in Copenhagen, the Romanian border officer simply scanned our passports. The EU's central Entry/Exit System (EES) automatically pulled up our existing file and recognized our biometrics.
The digital system instantly calculated how many days we had left out of our 90-day visa-free limit, automatically adding our time in Romania to our previous days spent in Denmark, Austria, and Hungary.
BUCHAREST - WARSAW
Flying from Bucharest, Romania to Warsaw, Poland is a 100% intra-Schengen flight. Because both Romania and Poland are full members of the Schengen Area, we did not have to pass through any traditional external border security desks or line up for the Entry/Exit System (EES) booth when traveling between them.
WARSAW - PARIS - TORONTO
Flying from Warsaw to Paris and then home to Toronto means we are officially exiting the Schengen Area and returning to Canada. Because our exit from Europe happens at our final point of departure from the zone, Paris is where we clear European exit passport control.
The flight from Warsaw to Paris is a domestic-style flight within the zone.
In Paris as we followed the flight connections signs to our international gate, we passed a border checkpoint. When the airport staff saw our Canadian passports and knew we were just transiting out of the zone, they directed us away from the human queues straight to the automated e-gate barriers.
We placed our Canadian passports face down on the glass reader. The gate read our digital chip, verified our document, and opened the first set of glass doors so we could step inside the booth.
Once inside, we looked directly at the camera on the screen. The system scanned our faces and matched it against the exact digital biometric photo we took with the officer back in Copenhagen.
The system instantly confirmed a perfect match, digitally logged our departure date to officially pause our 90-day Schengen clock, and opened the final glass doors to let us walk through to our Toronto flight.
The worst waits were Copenhagen (before a connecting flight) it was orderly, but very slow.
Belgrade, long lines, no order and we had a driver waiting for us.
AIRPORTS
In future will use Amsterdam/Copenhagen as a connection point. Never will we connect through CDG Paris again!
OTHER TRANSPORTATION
We used Bolt/taxis to and from airports, except in Belgrade, we booked cars with the hotel.
So very proud of us taking the subway in Vienna!!
BTW When our driver picked us up at Belgrade airport, he grabbed our two suitcases and started up an escalator, I cursed (under my breath) as it looked broken. I had forgotten that in Europe some escalators only move when you step on them because they use a smart energy-saving system. Instead of running continuously all day, they stay still or crawl slowly until someone needs them. Hidden sensors—such as photoelectric beams, motion detectors, or weight/pressure sensors—are placed right near the floor at the top and bottom of the escalator.
When no one is using the escalator for a set period, the motor either slows down to a crawl or stops completely to save electricity.
TIME ZONES
We were not impacted by many time zones. Once we got to Copenhagen we stayed six hours ahead of Toronto until we flew to Bucharest on the Friday where we gained an hour and were ecstatic that sunset was at 6:30. This was short-lived, however, as we got this notice on Saturday.
UGH now sunset would be at 5:30!
But it was worse when we got to Warsaw, no time difference, but sunset was at 4:15!!
November: The month begins with sunset around 4:07 PM in Warsaw, shrinking rapidly by about an hour and a half over the course of the month to end around 3:56 PM.
We were very impressed that the staff did actually change the room clocks!! Never, ever, have I seen that done.
HOTELS
ENERGY SAVINGS
When you stay at a hotel in Europe, you will often find that smart motion sensors control the room's lighting, heating, and air conditioning (HVAC) to drastically reduce carbon footprints and energy costs. Because electricity in Europe is highly regulated and expensive, hotels use these automated systems to ensure a room isn't consuming power when it is empty.
In older European hotels, you might be used to inserting your physical keycard into a wall slot by the door to turn on the power. If you pull the card out, everything shuts off. This can be a pain if you only have one room key and you want to leave something charging. We first encountered this in Belfast in 2007!
The Hiltons appeared to have replaced or upgraded this system with hidden occupancy sensors (usually Passive Infrared or PIR sensors) built into the ceiling or thermostat.
Hotel hallways use motion detectors to switch lights from a dim "standby" mode to full brightness when a guest walks by.
Just like the systems inside the rooms, this is done to save massive amounts of electricity in areas that are empty for most of the day and night. For safety and comfort, hotel hallways almost never go completely pitch black. When empty, the system drops the LED lights to a low, ambient level (usually around 10% to 20% brightness). This ensures the hallway still looks welcoming if you peek out your door, but uses a fraction of the power. Hallways are traditionally lit 24/7. By dimming them when empty, hotels can cut their hallway energy bills by up to 60%.
Note to self - I should have brought a night light for the bathrooms.
I love that we could open hotel windows.
WATER
I mention water here because we hardly bought any bottled water, other than to fill up. We should have brought our portable water bottles (Iceland).
The primary difference in water bottles between Europe and Canada centers on tethered bottle caps, which have gone viral as a point of cultural comparison. The European Union introduced a mandatory requirement under the Single-Use Plastics Directive forcing beverage makers to attach caps to containers holding up to 3 liters.
This rule stops loose caps from turning into environmental litter and makes sure they go through recycling facilities alongside the bottle.
The European hospitality sector is heavily focused on sustainability. Historically, hotels would place two plastic water bottles in every room each night. For a standard 200-to-300-room property, this meant purchasing, storing, and throwing away tens of thousands of plastic bottles every year. By shifting to centralized floor dispensers and giving guests reusable carafes or glasses, hotels drastically cut down their environmental footprint.
Our absolute favourite was Budapest Hilton, as it dispensed regular (flat) water and carbonated (fizzy, con gaz, mineral, sparkling, seltzer, soda) but it wasn't as gassy as our water.
HOTELS
Every hotel had a walk in shower!!
Vienna Ibis (chain All/Accor) large room - across from train/subway station. We chose this because we were taking the train to Budapest. Also the train station had everything you could want, including a grocery store. BONUS our room was ready at 10 AM after a trans-Atlantic flight. Had food and bar on location. No breakfast included. We bought fruit and yogurt one day. WATER was available in the lobby.
We've stayed in Ibis' before mainly in the England and Scotland (Carlisle, Liverpool). W
e stayed at an All/Accor in Sydney Australia!
Budapest Hilton Garden Inn - awesome location, we could see St. Stephen's outside the door. Fabulous breakfast buffet included (Hilton Honors) with an egg station and a restaurant and bar on location. Free welcome drink provided (came with a story). WATER every floor had a plain and mineral water dispenser, the best!
Belgrade Centar No 1 local - lovely room with robes and heated towels and floor. Great location. No bar. Buffet breakfast for a fee. We used it once, not impressive. WATER bottles provided daily.
Winner for Front Desk services, both women were amazing. One even walked us outside to our car around the corner.
Bucharest Hilton Garden Inn - room 228 awesome location on edge of old town. Fabulous breakfast buffet included (Hilton Honors) with egg station and a restaurant and bar on location. Free welcome drink provided. WATER bottles provided daily (unlike in the States and Canada).
Warsaw Hilton Hampton Inn - okay location, I think we originally chose this because we thought we would be taking the train. Breakfast buffet included for all guests and a bar on location. Free welcome drink provided. WATER on each floor.
FOOD/RESTAURANTS
COFFEE
Let's talk coffee... why do hotels use those automated coffee machines at breakfast? They are so slow, causing lineups, there is a learner's curve, and worst of all the coffee is lukewarm. Why can't we have a server walking around with a plain coffee pot topping up our cups?? I don't want fancy coffee with breakfast, unless I am having it in a cafe with pastry!
BAKED GOODS
Why are breads and pastries so good in Europe? There is a variety at every buffet.
BREAKFAST BUFFETS
I mentioned the hotels who provided breakfasts above. Some provided egg stations where you could get eggs freshly cooked to your preference or an omelet or waffles.
Breads & Crackers: Freshly baked rolls, dark rye bread, and crispbreads.
Proteins & Seafood: Sliced cold cuts, cured meats, and pickled or smoked herring.
Cheeses: Hard and semi-hard cheeses (such as Jarlsberg or Gouda).
Vegetables: Tomatoes, peppers, greens, pickled beets, cabbage, cucumbers, mushrooms.
Hot Items: Scrambled or hardboiled eggs, bacon, breakfast sausages, and baked beans (part of traditional English or hearty smorgasbord spreads).
Waffles, fresh fruit, bananas, apples, plums, yogurt, and muesli
Spreads: Butter, honey, various fruit jams, and chocolate-hazelnut spread (Nutella). In Belgrade they had individual tins of various hummus.
Pastries & Bread: Fresh croissants, pain au chocolat or other French pastries,fried donuts.
Local Highlights: Ajvar (a rich roasted red pepper and garlic spread), Kajmak (a clotted cream cheese spread), authentic Burek (flaky layered pastry filled with cheese or meat) Belgrade.
GLUTEN FREE
Gluten free - was not an issue. Allergens were posted on many menus, in detail!! Buffets always had gluten free breads/bars available.
The allergen number was then applied to the menu items it impacted.
The menu items across these five cities were mainly the same. Pork, pork pork, goulashes, schnitzels, sausages and strudels.
We ate many pork knuckles, the best, crispiest crackling was one John had in Buda at Spiler Beer Garden.
We did go for burgers a couple of times.
BUT oh, the lack of vegetables! This stems from a combination of short continental growing seasons, a historical reliance on food preservation, and a deeply ingrained cultural preference for meat and starches as symbols of prosperity.
While modern international restaurants in these capitals offer plenty of plant-based options, traditional Central and Eastern European cuisine treats vegetables differently than Mediterranean or Asian cuisines.
Vegetables are frequently served pickled (like sauerkraut, ogórki kiszone, or turšija) as a side dish or condiment rather than a main component.
Granted, the goulashes had lots of hidden vegetables.
I didn't realize how much vegetables we eat. We even thought, okay, we'll get salad, but they always came with meat!
Historically, meat was a luxury. Serving large portions of pork, beef, or chicken became a sign of hospitality and prosperity that still dominates traditional restaurant menus. We quickly realized that these were too big, so we would try to find something to share.
BEST MEAL
Dva Jelena (The Two Deer) is a historic, traditional Serbian tavern and restaurant in Belgrade operating continuously since 1832 where we shared a lamb dish.
John also would add his lamb from Wood in Sinaia and I agree that the garlic and cheese focaccia there was the best I've ever eaten.
WORST MEAL
Bucharest Dracula Bites - we shared a pork knuckle and it came with polenta, we hate polenta.
John would say it was his pasta dish in Belgrade. He almost ranks it as worse than our worst meal ever, in Pecos!! Although here at home, he recently declared
Union Chicken in Union Station as worst ever!
MONEY/CASH
• Vienna (Austria): Euro (EUR, €)
• Budapest (Hungary): Hungarian Forint (HUF, Ft)
• Belgrade (Serbia): Serbian Dinar (RSD, дин.)
• Bucharest (Romania): Romanian Leu (RON, lei)
• Warsaw (Poland): Polish Złoty (PLN, zł)
We took Euros from home and came home with half of it. Credit cards were accepted practically everywhere. In restaurants when you asked for the bill they would always ask "cash or credit".
We both used credit cards in Vienna at the train station for bathrooms. John also used a credit card somewhere else.
John took the smallest amount of Forint/Dinar/Leu/Zloty from ATMs. John was in charge of money, he paid bills.
Bolt was charged to our credit cards.
CITIES
How would we (collectively) rank them? Would we go back, walkability, sights, food.
Budapest - in a flash we'd revisit
Vienna - glad we revisited, no need to go back. We've seen some other pieces of Austria.
Warsaw - loved the WW2 history and Old Town, would like to see more of Poland
Bucharest - loved Old Town. Totally loved Bavarian atmosphere in Sinaia
Belgrade - we wouldn't go back (Serbia) because they allow smoking inside. Loved the pedestrian areas, and great restaurants but smoking......
Another odd/funny thing about Belgrade was the amount of Mar-a-Lago lips!!!
PACKING
We packed seven days of outfits to be reused over the 20 days. Mine consisted of navy, grey, black and tan, with a burst of colour in a peach top that went with everything. Three short sleeved t-shirts to layer over.
I brought 2 puffer jackets and two pairs of sneakers. Scarves to tie things together.
I always travelled in black pants, hoodie and a t-shirt.
John packed in the same way, he did throw in a couple of pairs of shorts, he ended up wearing a pair once.
I regret not packing a heavier winter scarf to wear in Warsaw! John thinks he should have brought a hoodie.
SOUVENIRS
We only bought an item each, in Vienna, a Klimt scarf for me and a cap for John!!
Montenegro
Poland (not Warsaw)
Malta
Norway Sweden Finland
REVISIT - could be easily built in as connections
Amsterdam
Brussels
Prague - John
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