How does the tea in Istanbul taste like??!

[El Dudeness]

This was the question a friend and I asked ourselves a couple of days ago and now we're already in the thick of planning what can only be one of the greatest rides in many years.

Between us we've been almost everywhere round Europe. Thomas was last year on his way to Russia when he had an accident and broke his arm and got sent home. I was supposed to do Russia this upcoming August but I had an accident a couple of weeks ago having fractures on my spine, ribs and collar bone so no Russian love for me either.

SO - screw Russia (for now)... Now we're heading from Denmark to Istanbul in Turkey i April 2015.

We're to Danes and an Englishman going from Denmark thru Germany over Poland, Belarus, Ukraine, Moldova, Romania, Bulgaria, Turkey, Greece, Macedonia, Albania, Montenegro, Bosnia, Croatia, Slovenia, Austria and back thru Germany on homeward bound.

AND here's where you guys fit in:
Does anybody have some does and don'ts on what to see or where to go, what to experience and so on and so forth??
We have 14 days so it's approximately going to be around 490-500ish km.s a day. The majority of the way will be on smaller country side roads but all paved. We're planning some highway mileage thru Germany both on the way out and back home from Austria so we can spend more quality time in the countries we haven't see before.

Any insiders on this little adventure will be much appreciated!

All the best guys and thanks in advance...

El Dudeness

(sorry for posting in the wrong group - just saw it when my finger hit the button on the mouse)

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[Kev63]

We travelled from the UK to turkey last year and returned through some of the countries you have planned to go through.

Whilst travelling through Bulgaria a great place to stay is motocamp bulgaria. Its about 36k west of Veliko . From there Shipka monument is worth a visit on the way south to the border.

I don't know about anybody else's experiences but it took us just under 2 hours to get through the Turkish border and we arrived first thing in the morning. The bike was unpacked and x rayed just for starters . The cost for us to get in was 45 Euro including a motorway vignette/card which we bought as we planned to be in Turkey for 2 weeks.

Travelling back north through Greece if you can change your route it might be worth a detour to the Monasteries at Meteora ( touristy but spectacular) and the Vikos Gorge. There are a couple of narrow paths that cling to the side of the gorge offering superb views with a bit of exposure. Both are accessible from Monodendri, another good place to stay with a couple of cheap hotels.

The coastal road north from the Greek/Albanian border is pretty spectacular although that way you would miss out on Macedonia. Just south of Shkoder is a superb campsite run by a Dutch Family. I confess we had trouble trying to find the road out of Shkoder to the border with Montenegro Insurance cost us 12.50 euro to get into Albania as my Uk policy did not cover it. Whilst in Montenegro I would recommend the bay of Kotor, apparently Europe's largest Fjord outside of Norway. Whilst there if you head back inland there is a road that climbs out of the bay from Kotor via 29 hairpin bends. The views from the top are superb.

As has been mentioned before Plitvica Lakes in Croatia lives up to all the hype. Again there is a handy campsite nearby where the small cabins are nearly as cheap as using the tent. There is also a bus that will take you too and from the park if you fancy a day off the bike. If just visiting, parking for bikes is free on the official car parks.

If you are staying in Istanbul itself for a few days they do a superb travel card which allows you to hop on and off the trams and buses when you want. We paid approx. £15 for 10 stops. Great value as we were staying in Ortakoy. Its also better than carting bike gear around in the heat visiting the sights. Whilst there head down to the sea front. The freshly cooked fish buns were superb.

Hope the above helps.
Kev

[rodyorkabr]

[video][/video]
It cant be as bad as this!

[V_King]

looks like a good trip, but if I were you, I would skil Belarus and NE borders of Ukraine. Belarus will leave a nasty asftertaste with half a day wasted and NE Ukraine borders are heavily loaded with commercial transport and customs are pain in the buttocks. just go through POland all the way to southern border to Ukraine, and then though mountains south - the roads are better and people are nicer.

[Radzz]

As the aforementioned English chap that'll be joining El Dudeness and co. on this adventure I thought I'd chip in:-)....Any help as regards the best places for border crossings, expected visa problems , maybe even expected weather conditions on some of the more mountainous parts of the journey etc would be greatly appreciated aswell as of course ideas as to which bits we just shouldn't miss out seeing on the way.

The route on the map is just a very rough outline of the circular tour we're planning and is in its very early stages of planning right now. As El Dudeness points out we will expect to cover an average of about 500kms a day , some days more and some days less depending on the type of roads we're riding that day which for the main part will be asphalt but knowing the other two guys we'll probably end up on plenty of gravel tracks, the odd field or even beach now and again. There is just no way they'll be able to resist it;-)...looking forward to some hints:-)

[Elle]

Does anybody have some does and don'ts on what to see or where to go, what to experience and so on and so forth??
We have 14 days so it's approximately going to be around 490-500ish km.s a day.

JMO but, I'd cut the total mileage in half so you can spend more than 1 day visiting these countries. Kev63 says it took 2 hours to get through the Turkish border - have you considered the time spent at fuel stations & setting up camp / finding a place to sleep too? If you visit any touristy places you may find yourself in queues or traffic. I've done the 'riding every day' trips and never want to do them again.
You could use the train from Koper to cut back on the long slog home.

[El Dudeness]

Duely noted.
Actually this is taking it down a notch than what we're used to so 500 isn't that much BUT we're planning on flooring it the first two days and last two days so that we have more time in the parts where the fun is.
And when we get there I'm thinking we're going down on averaging around 425 a day which will be absolute cruising tempo (thumbs)

[El Dudeness]

No further inputs??

[geordy paul]

Are you still planning on going through Ukrain???

[El Dudeness]

Are you still planning on going through Ukrain???

Yes Paul we are indeed.
But we're probably going to drop Belarus on the way down.

Thinking of something in particular?