From Belarus back to the UK
 

Just focusing attention on the very end of my trip.

To leave myself with the maximum time in the most distant countries that I will be visiting, I want to travel back from Belarus to the UK as quickly as possible.

It looks like it should be do-able in two long days riding, stopping in say Berlin for a night, with a late night Shuttle back to Dover, but I would like to hear from anyone else that has covered that route and whether the Polish roads are good for that sort of ride,


Many thanks


Nigel

20,5 hours Minsk to Calais according to Google. In two days? Doable, but you'll be absolutely exhausted.

The problem with Polish roads is inconsistency; part of the time you'll be on an excellent multi-lane motorway (boring but fast), but they can start and end in the middle of nowhere, so you'll be crawling along in thick traffic at 50kph with no overtaking windows. And you're on the main east-west corridor for heavy trucks.

I'd consider taking the overnight ferry from Klaipeda. You arrive in Kiel in the late afternoon after having slept and rested for 24 hours, and if you so desire, can blast the rest of the distance to Europe largely at night, with less traffic on the highways.

Good grief that would b some ride. I used to regularly ride to my friends house in nitra Slovakia on my blackbird in two days, it's a 1000 miles and trust me I knew about it afterwards. I suppose if u were Nick Saunders then it would b a cinch but as you aren't then you are effectively not going to sleep for nearly two days or eat properly either as any stops will cumulatively eat into ur time as do fuel and toilet stops.
Three days is still a big ride but more realistic............best of luck

Apologies, to clarify, I would be starting out early morning from Brest.

However, with the uncertain situation regarding foreigners crossing from Russia to Belarus, I'm now looking at skipping Belarus altogether and doing northern Ukraine instead, so it would be more like a four day ride from Kiev, or three from western Ukraine.

Many thanks for the input, that helps to put it in perspective :)

Whatever you choose V1nn1e, don't do stupidly long trips unless it is absolutely a matter of urgency that means you have to. Exhaustion/tiredness is of course a potential problem but the bigger danger comes with the possible lack of concentration and the willingness to take risks to reach your goal. You shouldn't need me or anyone else to tell you that one mistake could end your trip and/or your life and/or someone else's life.

well whadya know, I'm in Brest at the moment! Keep an eye open for a G reg beige landcruiser!!

We're leaving tomorrow.

I've done this trip regularly from the UK, albeit by car. It is achievable in 2 long days. My best time in a fast car was 16 hours driving, slowest was this time in my landcruiser with the kids along, 2 days of 12+ hours because I can only do 60-70mph or so.

We used the border at Slawatycze rather than Terrespol this time. It's a much smaller border so much quicker and doesn't seem as admin heavy, but as it's not a tourist border it needs a bit of language knowledge.

The thing most likely to slow you down is snow at the moment! The Polish roads are now excellent and the toll roads are well priced, but they have gone a bit speed camera crazy. The road from Terrespol to Warsaw has been greatly improved and then it's reasonably priced toll roads pretty much all the way from Warsaw to the German Border. Once on the A2 in Germany it's pretty much unrestricted autobahn all the way to Hanover and beyond.

The accommodation is way cheaper in Poland. On the way over we stayed at the Motel u Olka in Boczów which was very nice and 33e for a 4 person room, breakfast was e3.50 and well worth it. It splits the journey up nicely into halves because of the time taken on the Belorussian border

I did the Ukranian border with Poland last year, I think at Przejście graniczne Hrebenne - Rawa Ruska but don't quote me on that. The border was excellent, pretty quick and efficient compared to previous crossing that have taken up to 20 hours!! The Ukrainian police though are utter arseholes and will try and fine you for anything and nothing. They will start at 1-2 weeks salary (e50-100) but can usually be ground down to 10e or even nothing at all. Their specialty is sitting just inside a change of speed limit coming into a town, but they will pull you over for all kinds of bullshit stuff as well, to them your just a cash machine.

Let me know if you need anything, my wife is Belorussian so we may be able to help if you have any questions/problems.

When are you travelling?

Ha, ha nice! I'm hoping the snow will have cleared by May ;)

I'm now going the other way around, and hoping to do Boulogne to Warsaw or eastern Poland in 2 days, then a 3rd day to get across the border to Brest. I'm then having a day to travel along the southern roads through Pinsk to Mazyr, then another day to cross into Ukraine at Novaya Rudnya and get to Kiev.

That looks sufficiently reasonable for me to pre-book my Chernobyl tour for the day after arriving in Kiev. :confused:

Thanks

I rode Kent to Warsaw in two days. I rarely do big days but Kent to Berlin was 588 miles; a long one but not too bad. Got to Warsaw mid-afternoon so the Belarus border shouldn't be an issue.