ficspam, and travel plans

[a_t_rain]

Posted the last bit of the Vorrutyers-now-being-slightly-less-performative series to AO3: Dirty Angel, missing scene between Dono and By right after the Council of Counts vote.

Going to Budapest tomorrow, not really sure where after that. (The nice thing about Budapest is that there is basically no direction you can travel from there that will not be interesting.) If anybody has particular favorite destinations in the Hungary / Austria / Slovakia corner of the world, please tell me about them! (I have a bit less than three weeks to play with, which is not really long enough, but it was as much travel as I could squeeze in between conferences.)

Comments

[hamsterwoman]

Well, Prague is my favorite, and pretty central! Also, Kutna Hora is both a nice town with an impressive cathedral and has the creepy bone church, if you're into that sort of thing.

In Slovakia, we haven't found as much to do, tourist-wise, but if you find yourself in Bratislava, I highly recommend the Modra Hviezda restaurant in the historical part of town (walking distance from the castle and basically across from St Martin). ETA: Wait, duh! The High Tatras on the Slovakian side were also really cool for hiking/mountain vistas.

In Austria, we love Vienna, Salzburg is really cute, and we really enjoyed our visit to Helbrunn, with the trick fountains. We also really love the area around Arlberg/St-Ankton -- gorgeous vistas there, and some very lovely hikes.

[a-t-rain.livejournal.com]

Ooh, thanks! I've been to Prague and Kutna Hora before (and to the High Tatras on the Polish side), so I wasn't necessarily planning on it this time, but good to have the tips on the restaurant and on Austria.

[hamsterwoman]

Very welcome! Specifically in Vienna, some of my favorite things were Schönbrunn Palace (I'm not really a palace person, but the grounds are incredibly gorgeous, and the view from the Gloriette is well worth the climb), the Natural History Museum (if one likes that sort of thing; also, it's got the Venus of Willendorf, which is tiny, but was very cool to see "live", and the building itself is very majestic -- but so is the fine arts museum across the plaza, if that's more appealing), and the Clock Museum, which is just kind of a neat little place. It's also just a really lovely city to stroll in.

In Salzburg, we really enjoyed our visit to the castle (incredible views). Also, if you end up looking for accommodations in the Alps, we have a favorite place, though I think it may cater more to families than individual travelers, in terms of value.

We drove through the Polish Tatras to get to the Slovakia side, and I came away with the impression that the Slovakian ones are more rugged (and also more to my taste), but probably not different enough to come back to the same fairly out-of-the-way area you've already been given a limited amount of time.

BTW, I have assorted photos from Budapest, Bratislava, Vienna, Helbrunn, Salzburg, and Austrian Alps visits posted on LJ, and if that would be helpful in "window shopping" / figuring out what you'd most like to see, I'd be happy to comment with some links.

P.S. If you'll be driving in Austria, they have some weird local rules that we would've liked to know about before we visited (you have to carry a reflective vest in your car at all times, though we were never prompted to produce one, and parking in time-limited spots -- i.e. most of them in places of interest -- is managed via disc parking.)

[nineveh-uk.livejournal.com]

Have a great trip. I have never been to Budapest, but if I did I would go to the Gellert Baths.

I like Vienna, and if you go you should go to the Belvedere and see the Klimts because they are not kitsch, they are astounding. The countryside round there isn't much to write home about, though the Wachau is pretty; you need to go further west in Austria for decent mountains. The Salzkammergut is rather 'Sound of Music'-y, but delightful and there's quite a lot to see there.

[a-t-rain.livejournal.com]

Definitely planning on the baths! Thanks!