Barring last-minute diplomatic disasters, ten new countries will join the European Union on May 1, changing the EU from a tightly-knit Western European club into a vast, continent-spanning crazy quilt of an organization.
For travelers, this means no more passport checks or customs lines when crossing between old and new EU countries, though the new countries may take a few months after May 1 to get their houses in order, according to EU spokesman Christopher Matthews.
"They will be part of the external border of the EU. Once you pass muster, you can then travel freely within the EU at large, " he says.
[Yes, we know Britain and Ireland have their own border controls. They've opted out of the EU-wide system, known as the Schengen Visa (www.eurovisa.info).]
Down the road, it'll probably also mean lower bus and rail fares between old and new EU countries, as tariffs go down and competition ramps up, Matthews told us, which is only good news for travelers. Creaky state-supported airlines in eastern Europe, meanwhile, may go belly up as EU rules clamp down on subsidies.
The ten new countries have joined the EU, but not the Euro, the European currency. Like Denmark and the UK, the ten new EU countries will (at least for now) keep their own forms of money.
The new European countries are:
Czech 'Em Out!
The new European countries look like a great alternative to the old European mainstays for US travelers, because costs are lower than in France or Germany.
Extending a European trip to take in the new Europe is easy. The best way to fly to the Baltic countries (Latvia, Lithuania or Estonia) or to Malta from Western Europe is by using EuropeByAir (www.europebyair.com), a system offering $99 flights to Vilnius, Kaunas, or Palanga, Lithuania; Tallinn, Estonia, or Lampedusa, Malta, from various European cities.
Low-fare airline SkyEurope (www.skyeurope.com), meanwhile, has hubs in Bratislava, Slovakia; Budapest, Hungary, and Warsaw, Poland, with direct flights to various western European cities. Prague is served by a slew of low-fare airlines.
You can also take trains, of course. Hungary, the Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia are all easy to get around by rail. There's a six-hour high-speed express joining Berlin and Warsaw, Bratislava is just about 90 minutes from Vienna, and Ljubljana, the beautiful capital of Slovenia, is only a few hours from Venice by train.
For train schedules to the new-entrant countries, turn first to Die Bahn (www.bahn.de). If that site doesn't satisfy, Hungary (www.elvira.hu/elvira.dll), Latvia (www.ldz.lv/en/informacija.htm), Slovakia (https://kvc.zsr.sk/initKvc.jsp?M=EN&jsp=Init), Slovenia (www.slo-zeleznice.si/Anglesko/meni_sz.htm), and Poland (www.polrail.com/pkprozklad.html) all provide domestic rail schedules online. Or you can buy the comprehensive Thomas Cook Timetable book, which covers all of Europe, from www.thomascooktimetables.com.
Rail Europe (www.raileurope.com) offers three passes to help you explore the new EU. The European East Pass lets you travel in the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia and Austria at prices starting at $158 for five days of travel within one month. The Czech Flexipass covers three days of travel within a two-week period, with prices starting at $48. And the Hungarian Flexipass provides five days of travel within a two-week period for prices starting at $76.
If you really want to save money, you can struggle with figuring out what ticket prices would be if you bought them in Europe. (The answer is generally pretty cheap.) Your best bet is to get in touch with a travel agent that specializes in eastern Europe; only Hungary -- out of the ten new EU members -- is the only rail system to publish prices online. You can get some ideas from the travelogues at www.seat61.com, which include ticket prices.
Truly adventurous folks can also call the following national rail systems:
- Czech Republic: +420/2-5422-5849
- Estonia: +372/38-57-123
- Hungary: +36/1-461-5500 or mavkozpontiugyfelszolgala@axelero.hu
- Latvia: +371/583-3397
- Lithuania: +85/269-2750 or vilniaus.agentura@litrail.lt
- Slovenia: +386/1-291-3332 or potnik.info@slo-zeleznice.si
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