A Polish friend of mine, in her 30s, recently said to me, “When I was growing up, Poland was bordered by three countries-the Soviet Union, Czechoslovakia and East Germany. Now all of them have been erased from the map.”
The same, more or less, could be said of just about every country in what used to be called the Soviet Bloc. Since the revolutions, wall bashing and democracy-building of 1989, four countries have disappeared from the map of Central and Eastern Europe, more than 20 have grown in their place, and nearly all the others have changed so radically that they’ve been practically reborn.
And that means new opportunities for travelers. Whereas just five years ago the region was a pretty forbidding place that only the intrepid dared travel, now even the most timid regularly visit much of Eastern Europe.
Just because you now can visit many of these areas, however, doesn’t mean you’ll necessarily want to. If Prague, Budapest and Berlin are now on the European tourism hit parade-with good reason, I might add-Tirane, Tbilisi and Tashkent are nearly as forsaken as ever-with equally good reason. (For more on one truly intrepid traveler who nonetheless visited Albania and its capital of Tirane, see the Traveling With . . . feature on this week’s cover and a related report on Page 10.)
In many cases, the changes since 1989 have come at high cost. In the former Soviet Union and the former Yugoslavia, wars are being fought on several fronts. And even in the more peaceful countries, crime-apparently a byproduct of freedom-is soaring. While crime rates remain below those of most cities in the Western world, and there is relatively little violence, visitors should be on the lookout for pickpockets and scam artists.
Since 1989, visa restrictions in the more western countries of the old Soviet Bloc have been eased or dropped altogether. And instead of requiring tourists to change $30 or more per day into near worthless cash at a fraction of the real exchange rate, most countries have scrapped such rules and devalued their currencies-providing real travel bargains in many cases. For example, a hearty Czech meal can be found in some Prague restaurants for $2 or less.
In the 15 countries of the former Soviet Union, however, visa requirements continue to hinder travelers. Visas for Russia can be difficult to obtain if not participating in an organized tour.
Furthermore, with skyrocketing inflation, the U.S. dollar has become the de facto currency. In Moscow, dozens of stores price their goods in dollars, although new currency regulations require them to accept only rubles. Still, the free fall of the Russian ruble has made for incredible bargains on goods and services that continue to be priced in the local currency: A first-class sleeper on the overnight Red Arrow express train from Moscow to St. Petersburg cost me only $4 round trip last year.
I remember my first foray into Eastern Europe in 1985, when I took an afternoon bus from Vienna to Bratislava, now the capital of independent Slovakia. On that early spring evening, the city was dark and abandoned at 7 p.m., and I had no idea where I was going to spend the night. Were it not for the kindness of a group of Slovak students, who at considerable risk to themselves put me up in their dormitory for the duration of my stay, I probably would have spent a cold, hungry night in the bus station and headed back for Vienna the next day.
Nowadays, about the only thing that hasn’t changed is the hospitality of the Slovaks. While Bratislava may not be New York City or Paris, it is easy to find a restaurant and a hotel-and myriad signs of life-after 7, or even after midnight.
Throughout the region, dozens of new, good restaurants have opened in cities where mere sustenance used to be an undertaking so grueling that I have on numerous occasions skipped several meals in a row. Now, I often anticipate dining in Prague or Moscow or Warsaw with pleasure-although many of the new restaurants also charge New York City prices.
Clubs and discos, once cheesy hangouts for prostitutes, rich bureaucracy brats and black-market currency traders, are often as hip and happening as any in Western Europe. Budapest and Prague, for example, offer clubs ranging from underground, hard rock and punk, to casino shows and quiet piano bars.
And hotels-which once automatically hung their “no vacancy” signs until a $5 bill magically freed up one of the dozens of empty rooms-are suddenly fighting each other for business. Nearly all of the major international hotel chains have opened in at least one capital in the region, although their prices are as high or higher than in Western Europe. Many smaller, privately owned hotels, however, have sprung up and charge as little as $40 per night for a comfortable and clean double room.
Even before 1989, the common people-to the extent that one had any contact with them at all-were usually welcoming, but officials often were downright nasty. On that first journey to Czechoslovakia-and on many other pre-1989 trips around the region-I was pulled off of trains and buses, my address book was confiscated by security police, my car was nearly dismantled, and I was on one occasion forced to pay a bribe just to leave the country. These days, at many borders I zip through with little more than a quick nod to the occasionally-even-smiling guards.
In short, travel in the region has gotten easier, although easier doesn’t necessarily mean easy. While it may not be generally advisable to travel in, say, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia or Moldova, though, many countries are well worth the trip.
The heart of tourism in the region, for reasons of proximity, safety and beauty, continue to be Hungary, the Czech and Slovak Republics, and Poland.
The Hungarian capital, Budapest, straddles the Danube River about 150 miles east of Vienna. Budapest, for years the most cosmopolitan city in the region, today buzzes with the energy of a newly forming market economy. On the Vaci utca pedestrian mall, shops overflow with goods, while along the banks of the Danube dozens of outdoor cafes serve rich coffee and sweet pastries.
In Prague, the melancholy Gothic and baroque capital of the Czech Republic, gold-tipped steeples and spires are beginning to shine through the gray that had for so long enveloped the city. Outside of the capital, the Krkonose Mountains of the Czech Republic and the High Tatra Mountains in neighboring Slovakia offer rugged mountains, serene lakes and thick forests.
Poland’s capital, Warsaw, is beginning to spruce up, although it still may take decades before the city fully recovers from the double blows of World War II and four decades of communism. The southern city of Krakow, on the other hand, managed to largely escape the ravages of both; Wawel Castle and the narrow streets surrounding the city’s market square show off Krakow’s history as the capital of Poland’s early kings.
More intrepid travelers might enjoy visiting Bulgaria and Romania, which are changing more slowly than their northern neighbors. The Bulgarian capital, Sofia, reminds visitors of a dowdy and unpolished Vienna. Romania, though, can frustrate even the most resourceful; the capital, Bucharest, is still reeling from the iron-fisted rule of the communist leader Nicolae Ceausescu, who demolished much of the city center to build a grand boulevard and a palace in honor of himself.
In both countries, the Black Sea coast offers some of Europe’s best beaches, although the accommodations are considerably less elegant than what one might find on the French or Italian Rivieras. Most of the hotels are concrete behemoths built to serve the maximum number of vacationers with a minimum of charm.
Ukraine and Belarus, the western flank of the former Soviet Union, are less developed for tourism than their neighbors to the east and west. Nonetheless, Yalta in the Ukraine offers miles of Black Sea beaches. As a bonus, the city gives history buffs a chance to visit Livadia Palace, where Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin met in 1945 to carve Europe into the postwar order that, just five years ago, seemed poised to last another century.
The Baltic States-Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia-are the most changed of the former Soviet republics. An easy jaunt from Helsinki, Stockholm or Warsaw, the three nations provide a window into the difficulties facing new countries in an evolving world, and they offer plenty of palaces, castles and churches for the casual visitor.
Finally, despite the recent fighting in Moscow, Russia remains one of the most fascinating places on earth. The treasures of Moscow and St. Petersburg-the Kremlin, the palaces, the Hermitage Museum-are all still there and as exquisite as ever. And the changes sweeping through Russia are well worth witnessing from up close; a simple visit to the GUM department store or the Moscow Metro (subway) can be as instructive as any number of museums.
In Russia and the former Soviet Union, as well as in the rest of the region, it is important to choose your destination carefully: No fewer than six separate armed conflicts-call them wars-are raging in the area.
