Istanbul - Dubrovnik - Budapest
 

have 2 weeks vacay I need to use up by end of march (working in Asia)

Can you guys give some suggestions on must see / dos in each city

Am flexible and open to anything really, let me know if I should swap out for other cities

Want to check out Eastern Europe, Bucharest was another city that looks cool, is 14 days enough time for all 4?

Thanks

I've been to all 3 recently but in separate trips. You could easily do all 3 in 2 weeks with time leftover to do daytrips,
4-5 days in Istanbul
4-5 days in Budapest
2-3 days in Dubrovnik

You can do Budapest-Istanbul-Dubrovnik. As there are no direct flights from Dubrovnik to Budapest.

Alot of this you can find on Google, but here's what I did anyways.

Istanbul: Aya Sofia, Blue Mosque, Grand Bazaar, Topkopi Palace, Chora Church (for the mosaics), Boat on the Bosphorus, Istiklal Avenue, Taksim Square, go to a Hammam. Daytrips: You can go to Safranbolu, but I really like Amasra on the Black Sea.

Budapest: Parliament, Budapest Castle, Churches, House of Terror, Take a bath at one of the bathhouses - I went to Széchenyi Baths but I hear Gellert is good too, go to an Opera- it's super cheap I saw Don Giovanni for 2 bucks. Daytrips: I didn't really go on any, but I'm sure there's plenty of Hungary you can visit.

Dubrovnik: Old City, walk along the City Walls, go to the beaches nearby, take a Game of Thrones Tour. Daytrips: I went to Montenegro for 2 nights (which was great), but you can also Mostar. Both are a couple hours drive away.

Let me know if you need more details for anything.

my tentative schedule:

Mar 11th arrive Budapest
Mar 14 arrive Dubrovnik
Mar 17 Mostar day trip
Mar 18 Montenegro Day trip
Mar 19 arrive Istanbul
Mar 25th fly out Istanbul evening

you guys think I have time to squeeze in Athens or Santorini at the tail end there
or maybe a 1-2 day trip elsewhere

Pm'd you

Istanbul: Basilica cistern (which is 2 blocks from Blue Mosque), Dolmahbace palace was also a nice visit, check out a footy match (I went and saw a Besiktas match -craziest football atmosphere ever!), I did a food tour which was really cool (culinary backstreets), go to Beyoglu for brunch and watch the traffic flow by along the Bosphorus (Kale Restaurant)

+ everything CivicBlues mentioned..

Budapest: (what CivicBlues said)