Russia/Ukraine and Eastern Europe Safety

HeyyMeow

Making my 2015 travel plans right now.

I have seen pretty much Western Europe so I want to travel more East. Places like Ukraine, Russia, Belarus, Romania, Moldova, Bulgaria, Serbia etc. When I keep mentioning this to people I am told that none of these are safe? At the minute I'm thinking of going it alone but if I found a reputable tour company then I would opt for that for safety.

If anyone has any suggestions then please reply.

sarkozy

Presumably Ukraine is best avoided, since there's a civil war there? Russia is huge, so not much to worry about beyond the typical. The other countries ... no wars there.

It's Europe afterall. I've lived in and visited more dangerous countries and little beyond petty theft happened to me.

A tour company would be the easy and safe way to go, but I'm sure you could do it yourself.

Do your research.

Columbia

I've been in Kiev for the last two weeks, and there's nothing to be even slightly concerned about here. The city is safer now than it was before Euromaidan. Lviv is the same.

Odessa on the south coast is changeable, at the moment it's ok (a guy working in this hostel spent a week there at the end of August).

Crimea and the east are to be avoided at the moment.

Romania, Bulgaria and Serbia are all fine. Russia should be too, with the obvious exceptions.

Don't overlook Bosnia & Herzegovina, if you're looking at Serbia and Bulgaria. Sarajevo is just a few hours from Belgrade (which I found a dry, uninteresting city) and it's a great, fascinating place, but becoming more tourist-y all the time. There's a load of stuff from the war (obviously), the abandoned site of the 1984 Winter Olympics, and the place where Franz Ferdinand was shot. You can also book trips to places like Mostar, the war tunnels, Srebrenica (site of a massacre of ethnic Bosnians by Serbs), Jajce, and other places (usually subject to a minimum of 2, which could be a problem if you're travelling alone.

kerry4sam

HeyyMeow wrote: »

Making my 2015 travel plans right now.

I have seen pretty much Western Europe so I want to travel more East. Places like Ukraine, Russia, Belarus, Romania, Moldova, Bulgaria, Serbia etc. When I keep mentioning this to people I am told that none of these are safe? At the minute I'm thinking of going it alone but if I found a reputable tour company then I would opt for that for safety.

If anyone has any suggestions then please reply.

Well I would suggest you Register your travels with our Department of Foreign Affairs. Linkie right here.

Thanks,
kerry4sam

HeyyMeow

Thanks for the replies. As far Ukraine I was thinking of going with Lupine Travel they have packages of two night stays in Kiev with a day trip to Chernobyl for a relatively good price. They will even sort out airfare if you want to fly in. That might be an option depending on where I am when I go there.

There is a possibility of me going to Croatia early next year to which I would add in trips to Mostar in Bosnia and also Montenegro. If I don't get the chance then I will be adding both onto my list for this trip. My sister is currently seeing if she can get the time off work so I mightn't have to go alone but I still want to prepare myself in case.

So general places I want to go I haven't bee to any of these places so any information on how long to stay or general travel between cities would be helpful or even routes. Let me know of other cities along the way that might fit in or be great to see.

Sofia, Bulgaria
Skopje, Macedonia
Pristina, Kosovo
Belgrade, Serbia
Chisinau, Moldova
----> Ukraine Tour here
Minsk, Belarus
Vilnius, Lithuania
Riga, Latvia
Tallin, Estonia
Helsinki, Finland

Taking the St. Petersline (think that's the name) ferry from Helsinki to St. Petersberg gives you a 72 hour free Visa to explore the city and then back to Helsinki so I think it's worth it. I could possibly head on to Sweden but I want to get the list above sorted first. I don't have a time scale or a budget yet so please any info or advice would be great.

mimihops

Just an idea that came to mind when reading your itinerary is to think about not just visiting the capitals only, for example in Kosovo Pristina is super but I'd look at including Peja and Prizren and the countryside around the Peja region especially as it's beautiful. Decani monastery in Kosovo is well worth a visit as well. You may already be aware but it can be a problem to go into Kosovo first and then try to go into Serbia directly and onto another country. Even having a stamp from Kosovo can occasionally still be an issue for getting into Serbia but usually they just cross it out now. Just something to be aware of anyway when planning your route, Serbia -> Kosovo -> Macedonia might be better than the reverse.

For Macedonia I'd be saying the same kind of thing, Skopje is a must but the real highlight of Macedonia for me was Ohrid - it's stunning there!

Albania is another place well worth visiting if you're down that neck of the woods, thoroughly enjoyed it there and felt very safe (apart from the crazy driving!!!).

HeyyMeow

I'm from Ireland, I thought I could enter these countries without problems. Do I need visas to enter any of these?

feargale

You seem to be biting off an awful lot. How long do you intend to be away?

HeyyMeow

I don't have finishing point yet so I'm opened to all options.

mimihops

HeyyMeow wrote: »

I'm from Ireland, I thought I could enter these countries without problems. Do I need visas to enter any of these?

You would need a visa for Belarus.

Rasmus

I think your itinerary is too tightly packed. Even if you did visit all these cities in one trip, you would miss some of the more interesting and picturesque parts 'Eastern' Europe, as these parts lie outside of capital cities.
I recommend either doing a southerly trip or taking the northern route. If going North, you could even drop Belarus off the schedule so you don't have to bother about a visa. The west side of Ukraine is still safe and you could access it via Poland from Lithuania.