Krakow, Prague, Sophia or Istanbul?

[fdcg27]

Planning a trip to Tbilisi to visit son who moved there with bride in 2022.
A terrible flight, so we intend a few to several day stopover enroute, maybe both ways.
Want to avoid Western Europe due to the crowding with Brits and Americans along with their recent bad behavior having left a bad taste in the mouths of the locals.
Flight from here is about the same money to any of the above and from there to Tblisi is around the same money, so not really a consideration. Hotel stays are cheap in all of these cities.
Does anyone have any experience on which to make recommendations?
Open to suggestions on other cities to consider as well.

 

[Jimmy_Russells]

Prague one way and Istanbul the other

 

[Quattro Pete]

Prague one way and Istanbul the other

+1

 

[Vercingetorix]

Vilnius

 

[KGMtech]

Prague is a must see. I'd go back in a minute.

 

[KrisZ]

Krakow if you want to see Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camps.

 

[Brons2]

Planning a trip to Tbilisi to visit son who moved there with bride in 2022.
A terrible flight, so we intend a few to several day stopover enroute, maybe both ways.
Want to avoid Western Europe due to the crowding with Brits and Americans along with their recent bad behavior having left a bad taste in the mouths of the locals.
Flight from here is about the same money to any of the above and from there to Tblisi is around the same money, so not really a consideration. Hotel stays are cheap in all of these cities.
Does anyone have any experience on which to make recommendations?
Open to suggestions on other cities to consider as well.

Did this trip happen yet? If so where did you end up going for your stopovers?

 

[fdcg27]

Spent a week in Istanbul and then the next in Tbilisi. We had selected our hotels wisely and had many interesting things within a short, often walkable distance of the places we stayed in. Both cities are quite cheap by American or EU standards as well.
I'd recommend either to anyone. Lots of historic structures in each since these are very old cities, although Istanbul is nearly a thousand years older than Tbilisi. Both countries also make very good wines and we did do a vineyard tour out out of Tbilisi, a whole day out in the countryside with just our guide and his Prius.
We really enjoyed it.
OTOH, 14K air miles in two weeks is a bunch. We flew back through DOH, a gorgeous airport with reasonably priced Qatar lounges.
Fourteen hours and 7K+ miles non-stop DOH to ORD does get a little old.

 

[k1xv]

Turkish Air has excellent connections from the USA and throughout Europe.

 

[vavavroom]

If you go to Istanbul you can get a quality hair transplant for just 5 grand. My coworker is no longer bald!

 

[Vil_Riker]

Yeah, DOH is one of the best. Qatar Airways for the win, excellent service.

 

[JHZR2]

Prague one way and Istanbul the other

I realize this is OBE, but since the thread resurfaced… Agree on that option. Have been to both, love both, will go to both again.

I know it’s not as big a city, but Wroclaw, Poland is another interesting spot, which I really enjoy in terms of the city itself and the countryside. Not a bad drive to Prague or Dresden (another favorite of mine), and an interesting mix of older German and newer Polish influence. They only covered WWiI bullet holes in buildings in the last 6-7 years.

Also consider going through Bodrum Turkey and visiting various antiquities in the area. Ephesus was particularly memorable.

 

[4WD]

Turkish Air has excellent connections from the USA and throughout Europe.

Funny they are on our “maybe” list - but I have QA booked to DOH and CAI and back …

 

[fdcg27]

Funny they are on our “maybe” list - but I have QA booked to DOH and CAI and back …

Turkish has been developing IST as a world hub alternative to the Middle East and IST is now the seventh busiest airport in the world.
We flew to IST on Lufthansa and it was better than what I'd expect in economy from any US carrier and the A340 probably beats the 777 for passenger comfort, especially since you can book the window side pair of seats. We connected at FRA and were on a Lufty A320 NEO to IST. We flew Turkish from IST to TBS on a new 737Max 8. This included a meal service that was pretty good and a nice Turkish white. TBS to DOH was a Qatar A320, once again with a meal service and wine and we whiled away our hours long layover in the Oryx lounge for around $100.00 for the two of us. Well worth it, especially the shower and the attendant even brought me a toothbrush and shaving kit. The food was very good in the lounge and the wine decent. The 14 hours back to the US on the Qatar 777-300ER did at least have a decent selection of movies. I watched Blackkklansman, which I had wanted to see. I looked out the window a lot and actually saw snow capped mountians while over Switzerland and ferries crosing the English Chanel as well as the White Cliffs of Dover. It then grew cloudy over England's green and pleasnt land, so there was nothing more to see so I went to sleep and nodded in and out for a few hours.