Your thoughts please!!!

stever1

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2 of us are thinking of going down to Greece next year, either via a ferry from Brindisi to Patras. Or by riding down the various countries on the East coast of the Adriatic sea. Then returning via Bulgaria, Romania etc.
I have no experience of any of these areas so any feedback on the quality of the ferries to Greece or the potential problems in these areas would be gratefully received.
 
It would be really hard to say what will Greece be like next year, its a lovely country with lovely people, but given the problems they have at the moment, immigration, money etc etc best wait and see, last time I was there over 10 years ago ferries where pretty much the same as elsewhere, just OK, as for Bulgaria and Romania, no experience with them places, maybe others will chip in.
 
Hi

Two of us have started planning a similar trip for next year. We have decided to have the bikes freighted to Athens, about £650. We will then tour and head for Garmisch, before coming home.

We decided to this this, because the costs are similar to driving there, but we can take our time touring the bits we want to see

Bill
 
I was there in May. Travelled down through Italy to Ancona and got the overnight ferry to Igoumenitsa. Fantastic place to tour. Mountain scenery in N Greece is second to none. Brilliant roads. Nice people and costs very reasonable.
Quality of ferries is pretty good. Not really an issue.
In N Greece we were unaware of any problems with "immigration". Another non-issue.
 
My tuppence worth..
2 separate trips here, but I have strange staff, 3 Romanians & 2 Hungarians, so if you need any info I can ask.. They offered their services as guides but my wife would poss kill me.! ��
See one recommendation https://youtu.be/Tq4ydUVgYTY but for Billwright it would be one long ride, which I may do myself as I went to Garmish for 2 days in 2017 & im definitely going next year.
They say we would be very safe in Romania & Hungary, Greece I'm assuming same, as long as you don't go looking in strange places or appear vulnerable. (50% of the time I travel alone but the nearest I got to getting mugged was by an Albanian small gang in Amsterdam, luckily I was with a group of friends)
Anyway, if anyone wants more help or info I'll ask for you..
keep posting progress guys..
 
2 of us are thinking of going down to Greece next year, either via a ferry from Brindisi to Patras. Or by riding down the various countries on the East coast of the Adriatic sea. Then returning via Bulgaria, Romania etc.
I have no experience of any of these areas so any feedback on the quality of the ferries to Greece or the potential problems in these areas would be gratefully received.

Go through the Balkans . Great country , great people , great roads . I felt safer there than the uk
 
Did a trip down to Greece and back up through Bulgaria, Romania & Hungary etc last year.
Just do it.
Nothing in particular to worry about.
Its Europe not the moon.


The ferries are fine.
Remember to get some currency for places not in the Euro. Just a bit for coffees etc. Everything else you can pay by card.
Get you NHS EHIC card.
Take a couple of different credit cards. Some don't work at random times - then suddenly they will.
The campsites are very good.
Loads of folk speak English especially younger people and those in the hospitality industry.
Point worth noting is that the unattended fuel stations put a hefty reserve on your card when you use them.

Check out tolltickets.com for info on which countries require Vignettes etc

Go for it and have a good one.
 
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Did a trip down to Greece and back up through Bulgaria, Romania etc last year.
Just do it.
Nothing in particular to worry about.
Its Europe not the moon.

Thats good to know. The thing is you hear all sorts of horror stories about insurance/tax etc. just don't know how much of it is bull.
 
Thats good to know. The thing is you hear all sorts of horror stories about insurance/tax etc. just don't know how much of it is bull.

All vehicle policies cover you for European travel but I think its limited cover. So might be worth having a word with your insurance.
You might want to consider European breakdown cover.
Also don't forget travel insurance.

The rest or Europe is no different than the UK when it comes to personal safety.
There's places that are safe and others which are dodgy.
Just use common sense.

Take all your documents with you.
You probably will not need them but then again........
 
Thats good to know. The thing is you hear all sorts of horror stories about insurance/tax etc. just don't know how much of it is bull.

Bosnia was the only country that we had a slight problem with . We had to buy insurance for €5 :blast . Just do some research on which border is open and if not just blag it . The Bosnia security chaps were a friendly bunch so just go for it .
 
Never been into Greece, but Romania, Bulgaria and the countries of the former Yugoslavia are absolutely fine.

East coast of the Adriatic is simply stunning.

As already mentioned, your insurance may not cover Bosnia - in which case simply buy insurance at the border.

As AberdeenAngus says "Its Europe not the moon." (though "It's Europe, not the moon." would have been better :thumb)
 
We went London > Italy > Greece > Turkey on the world famous 'Turkey Trot'

We just went, with no perception of what it would be like, what we'd find, if we'd even live to tell the tale. All was good; though I did take the precaution of booking our ferry tickets from Italy to Greece. It being a trifle annoying to just rock-up (as some had planned * on) only to discover that the vessel had just slipped her moorings five minutes earlier and wasn't due back for a day or two.


* I use the word 'planned' in its broadest sense, as the Trot and Dashes (excellent as they were) did not involve plans.
 
No worries with safety in the Balkan states if you follow usual precautions. You won't regret going.

Recommend:
Slovenia
Romania
Bulgaria
Montenegro
Albania

Insurance at the border into Macedonia was expensive - over E50 if I remember and not really worth it in my opinion. Campsites are few and far between once you're away for the coast and no cheaper than hotels mostly - we stayed on a Dutch owned campsite in Albania and it was way more expensive than the 4* hotel we stayed in the previous night :eek:

My real recommendation is to stay here www.motosapiens.org/
The village is full of bikers who came for a holiday and bought a house :thumb great fun place.

We caught a ferry from Albania to Italy and it was delayed for 10 hours - and they locked us onto the quayside until it arrived, still, we were on holiday - most of the time it's like being in rural Spain with nice towns and café culture..... but occasionally you're brought back to the reality of where you are e.g crap roads and waiting for a ferry. BUT you're on an adventure, on an adventure bike - so enjoy, as I said you won't regret it :thumby:
 
I am here now... my advice... just go with the flow and everything takes a bit longer, some of the roads are shocking, average 40 mph today was fast in some stretches. If the sat nav says 5 hours allow 6 to 7
 
Took the ferry from Ancona to Patras a couple of years ago. The ferries are good with decent facilities. However they are always full. A cabin helps to get some sleep and some privacy. Many of the locals sleep on deck or in the lounge areas which are noisy and uncomfortable.
The journey takes almost 36 hours!

Greece itself is great. There are few obvious signs of their recession. I am sure you will have a great time.
 
Took the ferry from Ancona to Patras a couple of years ago. The ferries are good with decent facilities. However they are always full. A cabin helps to get some sleep and some privacy. Many of the locals sleep on deck or in the lounge areas which are noisy and uncomfortable.
The journey takes almost 36 hours!

Greece itself is great. There are few obvious signs of their recession. I am sure you will have a great time.
Taken that ferry too. Definitely recommend a cabin as its a real party boat.
 
I'm just back from Greece Peloponnese, Greece mainland, Macedonia, Albania and back to Greece. Ferry from Venice to Patras and a return to Venice to Igoumenitsa...do it, you'll love it and not regret it !
We camped everywhere except Venice with absolutely no problems and people everywhere were friendly or even over friendly, had to get a new fuel pump for the 1150 in Albania and it really wasn't a problem apart from the language barrier ( learn some German ).
Join ADAC for breakdown peace of mind but if you just go to Greece Carol Nash breakdown would probably do, CN won't however provide insurance cover for Albania or Macedonia so you have to take your chances and buy at the border ( I was 50 miles into Albania before I could get any insurance as they wouldn't sell me at the border :eek:), Albania costs around 15 Euro for 2 weeks but Macedonia is 50 Euro for the same duration, although probably far better cover !
Watch out for crazy road surfaces and stolen manhole covers :rolleyes:
It would be easy to spend 2 weeks in the Pelopponese alone as the mountain roads are amazing and with very little traffic, mainland Greece and Albania also surpass alpine scenery as far as I'm concerned...did I say that the roads are virtually empty away from the coast.
Go with an open mind, be polite and courteous and you won't have any problems.

Same goes for Romania, Bosnia, Montenegro (bit like Slovenia but full of tourists on the coast), Hungary, Slovakia and Czeck Republic..all excellent to visit and an even better experience if you keep away from the main areas and travel through the small country and mountain roads.

It's back to the Pelopponese next year with a little sprinkling of Turkey this time :D
 
Did a trip down to Greece and back up through Bulgaria, Romania & Hungary etc last year.
Just do it.
Nothing in particular to worry about.
Its Europe not the moon.


The ferries are fine.
Remember to get some currency for places not in the Euro. Just a bit for coffees etc. Everything else you can pay by card.
Get you NHS EHIC card.
Take a couple of different credit cards. Some don't work at random times - then suddenly they will.
The campsites are very good.
Loads of folk speak English especially younger people and those in the hospitality industry.
Point worth noting is that the unattended fuel stations put a hefty reserve on your card when you use them.

Check out tolltickets.com for info on which countries require Vignettes etc

Go for it and have a good one.

Hi AberdeenAngus, I am planning similar myself next year, too and from Dolno Draglishte in Bulgaria. I want to make it a scenic route each way but the purpose is to visit family for a couple of weeks so do not want to spend too much time sightseeing, just riding good roads really. I wondered what distances you found comfortable doing daily through Romania, Hungary, Austria and maybe the accommodation you used.
 


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