Semmes’ Eastern Europe Bucket List
My bucket list is a never-ending work in progress. I am continuously adding, altering, changing, and updating it. I love discovering new things, learning about new destinations, being inspired to try something new, etc. So, my bucket list serves as a reminder to me of the massive, exciting, ever-changing world. Do I think I will accomplish everything on my bucket list? I sure hope so! Anything is possible!
Make sure you check out all my other Bucket Lists! Here is my ultimate Eastern Europe Travel Bucket List. I break my Bucket List down into countries. I even include links to more detailed city Bucket Lists. Keep in mind that I will be constantly adding and editing items on this list. And, let me know if I should add anything else!
* The numbers refer to the items from Lonely Planet’s Ultimate Travel book
- OFFICIAL LANGUAGE – Belarusian and Russian
- BEST TIME TO VISIT – May to September
- CAPITAL – Minsk
- Explore the Bialowieza Forest, the largest and oldest forest in Europe (UNESCO)
- Visit Mir’s Castle Complex, which looks like something out of a fairy tale (UNESCO)
- Brest Fortress, a Soviet WWII memorial
- Visit Belavezhskaya Pushca National Park the oldest wildlife refuge in Europe
- Go to a Belarusian bathhouse
- Explore the beautiful Pripyatsky National Park
- OFFICIAL LANGUAGE – Bulgarian
- BEST TIME TO VISIT – May and June and September and October
- CAPITAL – Sofia
- See the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral
- #231. Visit Rila Monastery (UNESCO)
- Boyana Church (UNESCO)
- See the Madara Rider (UNESCO)
- Explore the old town of Plovdiv and the 2,000-year-old Roman amphitheater
- Explore the old town of Nessebar (UNESCO)
- Black Sea beaches
- Take in the views (and the smells) in Rose Valley near Kazanlak
- See the “UFO of Buzludzha,” a Soviet relic
- See the hilltop Tsareveta Fortress in Veliko Tarnovo
- Explore the Thracian ruins at the mountain-top site at Perperikon
- OFFICIAL LANGUAGE – Czech
- BEST TIME TO VISIT – April to June and Christmas time
- ✓ CAPITAL – Prague
- ✓ See the Astrological Clock
- ✓ #44. Explore Prague’s Old Town Square (UNESCO)
- ✓ #34. Walk across the Charles Bridge
- ✓ Find the Lennon Wall
- ✓ #172. See Prague Castle
- ✓ St. Vitus Cathedral
- Find the Dancing House
- Read a book in the library of the Strahov Monastery
- ✓ Eat a Trdelnik
- Visit the historical center of Cesky Krumlov (UNESCO)
- Explore the historic center of Telč (UNESCO)
- #353. Sedlec Ossuary, Bone Church, in Kitna Hora (UNESCO)
- See both the Jewish Quarter and the St Procopius’ Basilica in Trebic (UNESCO)
- #362. Karlstejn Castle
- Drink a Czech beer
- Visit Olomouc
- Enjoy the charm of Olomouc
- See the Holy Trinity Column in Olomouc (UNESCO)
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My name is Semmes Humphreys, and I am a luxury travel advisor. Follow me for travel advice, my insider travel knowledge, my amazing travel bucket list, and my adventures around the world.
- OFFICIAL LANGUAGE – Hungarian
- BEST TIME TO VISIT – April to June and September to October
- ✓ CAPITAL – Budapest
- ✓ Budapest (UNESCO)
- ✓ #110. Go to the Thermal Baths
- ✓ Take an outdoor bath in Budapest
- ✓ Take in the views of Buda from the Fisherman’s Bastion
- ✓ Walk along the Danube
- ✓ Walk across the Chain Bridge
- ✓ #277. Memento Park
- ✓ Go on a night cruise down the Danube in Budapest
- ✓ Go shopping on Andrassy Street
- ✓ Go to the House of Terror
- ✓ See the shoes on the Danube
- ✓ See Heroe’s Square
- ✓ Marvel at the Parliament Building
- Stay at Gresham Palace (but, I did walk into it!)
- Drink in a Ruin Bar
- Step inside St. Stephen’s Basilica (I never went inside… next time!)
- Vajdahunyad Castle
- Explore the Caves of Aggtelek Karst (UNESCO)
- Explore Hollókő Village (UNESCO)
- ✓ Eat Goulash
- Hortobagy National Park (UNESCO)
- Lake Balaton, Hungary’s freshwater “riveria”
- OFFICIAL LANGUAGE – Moldovan
- BEST TIME TO VISIT – May to September
- CAPITAL – Chisinau
- Stroll in the sprawling, lush Cathedral Park
- Visit the flower market
- Orthodox Cathedral
- Visit the Pushkin Museum
- Browse the world’s largest wine collection in the subterranean cellars at Milestii Mici
- #492. Orheiul Vechi, caves dug by 13th-century monks
- Visit Tiraspol
- OFFICIAL LANGUAGE – Polish
- BEST TIME TO VISIT – May to September
- ✓ CAPITAL – Warsaw
- ✓ Visit Warsaw (UNESCO)
- ✓ Warsaw Rising Museum
- ✓ Krakow
- ✓ #197. Rynek Glowny
- ✓ #487. Wawel Castle
- ✓ Old Town (UNESCO)
- #104. Visit Auschwitz-Birkenau (UNESCO)
- #213. Wieliczka Salt Mine (UNESCO)
- #341. Bialowieza Forest (UNESCO)
- #388. Visit the Wolf’s Lair
- ✓ #406. Malbork Castle, the largest Gothic castle in Europe
- ✓ Explore the old town of the port city of Gdansk
- Ski at pretty Zakopane
- Hike through the Crooked Forest
- OFFICIAL LANGUAGE – Romanian
- BEST TIME TO VISIT – May to June and September to October
- CAPITAL – Bucharest
- See the massive Palace of Parliament in Bucharest, the world’s second-biggest building
- See Dracula’s Castle (Bran Castle)
- Hunt for vampires
- #363. Danube Delta (UNESCO)
- #456. Bucovina Monasteries
- Explore the Corvin Castle
- Explore the medieval delights of Brasov
- The Bigar Waterfall
- Relax at the popular Black Sea resort of Mamaia
- See the wooden churches of Maramures
- Enjoy the views from the medieval citadel of Sighisoara (UNESCO)
- OFFICIAL LANGUAGE – Russian
- BEST TIME TO VISIT – May to October
- CAPITAL – Moscow
- Tour the Diamond Vaults within the Kremlin in Moscow
- #87. See the Red Square in Moscow (UNESCO)
- #480.
Sanduny Baths - See a show at the Bolshoi Theatre
- Gorky Park
- St. Basil’s Cathedral
- See Lenin’s Mausoleum
- Bunker 42
- Lubyanka
- Ride the Trans-Siberian Railway from Moscow to Vladivostok (5,772-mile journey)
- ✓ Visit St. Petersburg
- ✓ Visit the Historic Center of St. Petersburg (UNESCO)
- ✓ Peter and Paul Fortress
- ✓ #46. Visit the Hermitage
- ✓ #450. Church of Spilled Blood
- ✓ Visit the Winter Palace
- ✓ See the Faberge Eggs
- ✓ See the tombs of the Romanov family
- ✓ #390. Tsarskoe Selo
- ✓ Be amazed by the Amber Room in Catherine’s Palace
- ✓ Stroll in the gardens at Pushkin
- Go to the ballet
- Drink Russian vodka
- #282. Kizhi Pogost (UNESCO)
- Tobolsk
- Roam around Village of Dargavs, the City of the Dead
- Rosa Khutor Alpine Resort
- See the Motherland Calls
- Yekaterinburg
- Visit Veliky Novgorod, the birthplace of Russia
- Visit Kamchatka, the remote “land of fire and ice”
- Visit Sochi
- Spend time on the Black Sea coast, the nation’s summer and winter playground
- Siberia
- See the Siberian Tiger
-
Golden Mountains of Altai (UNESCO)
- #39. Visit Lake Baikal (UNESCO)
- Taimyr State Nature Reserve
- Visit Irkutsk
- OFFICIAL LANGUAGE – Slovak
- BEST TIME TO VISIT – May to September for hiking or December to March for skiing
- CAPITAL – Bratislava
- #482. Spis Castle, Europe’s biggest fortress
- The historic town of Banska Stiavnica (UNESCO)
- Bojnice Castle
- Hike around the High Tatras Mountains
- Dip your toes in the Dunajec Gorge
- OFFICIAL LANGUAGE: Ukrainian
- BEST TIME TO VISIT: May to October
- CAPITAL – Kiev (Kyiv)
- See the 1000-year-old St Sophia Cathedral
- Shop along Andriyivsky Uzviz
- See a show at the National Opera Theatre
- #156. Visit Chernobyl
- Cross the Tunnel of Love
- #438. Carpathian National Nature Park
- #452. See the caverns with mummified remains of monks at Kyevo-Pecherska Lavra (UNESCO)
- Explore the old town of Lviv (UNESCO)
- Go on a boat tour in the Danube Delta Biosphere Reserve
- Stroll the seaside promenade in Odesa
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Travel around the world with Semmes!
xx,
Semmes
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