Hello all,

I'm planning a trip from the UK to Istanbul starting mid April for 3 weeks next year. Most of the trip will be touring around Eastern Europe.

Living close to Newcastle upon Tyne, I'll be getting the ferry to Amsterdam, then my first idea of the route goes like this:

Amsterdam -> Berlin -> Krakow, Poland -> Budapest, Hungary -> Deva, Romania -> Bucharest, Romania -> then across to the Black sea and down the coast as far as possible to Istanbul.

Then back from Istanbul:

Istanbul -> Sofia, Bulgaria -> Belgrade, Serbia -> Zagreb, Croatia -> then skirting the Austrian border to Bratislava, Slovak Republic -> Prague -> then back across Germany to Amsterdam. Just under 4000 miles, I reckon.

This will be my first time motorcycling outside of Western Europe, and am looking to do this on a budget of about £2000.

So, a number of questions for you more seasoned travellers:
- Time of year: Will the weather be OK, especially for the more northerly parts of this trip?
- Mileage: Does 4000 miles on mostley Eastern European roads sound doable in 3 weeks?
- Borders: A lot of this trip will be in the EU, but are there any issues with getting into those that aren't, any special docs I need, etc?
- Budget: To keep costs down I was thinking of doing some camping, but are there any equivalents of e.g. Travelodges in this part of the world?

If anyone has any ideas of places to visit along the way, or equally, to avoid/ Any other general advice will also be welcome.

Thanks in advance,

Nigel.

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Check out my progress with planning, and ultimately travelling on my Mid Life Crisis Road Trip - 2011.