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  #1  
Old 28 Apr 2004
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Eastern Europe
I am planning to go to Eastern Europe in June. I have been to the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary before and am this time planning to get as far as Bulgaria. I may travel via Poland, Romania, Croatia and Slovenia.

I have insurance anywhere in Europe but are there any other things I need to be aware of such as Visa' laws, customs, dangers etc?

Also, can anybody recommend any good campsites?
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Old 30 Apr 2004
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Hi,

Poland offers culture & landscape. Gdansk has been beautifully restored, Malbork boasts one of the greatest castles of the Templars. Stunning! Passing through Marzurskie lake district is very scenic. I haven't been in the Tatra mts., but they must be very nice as well.

In the cities I'd prefer to stay in B&B with my bike locked away, Ostroda SE of Malbork offers good camping facilities, but usually the sanitary business is a bit smelly... So I sometimes preferred to camp in the wild.

Romania I'm planning to visit this summer. What I was told by people that have been there several times is that B&B is very cheap, so I'll probably make use of that. Outside the cities camping in the bush shouldn't be a problem.

Croatia & Slovenia are absolutely no problem at all. Just be careful of speed traps in Croatia - but then, you're on holidays and not fleeing anywhere. Slovenia is most scenic in the NE, Croatia in the south, esp. south of Split. Plitvic lakes near the Bosnian border. When travelling south in Croatia the most scenic drive is the coastal road. Camping is usually good. Very nice campsite in Trsteno just 20k north of Dubrovnik. Islands Peljesac & Korcula are very recommendable as well.

Enjoy your trip!

Hans
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Old 30 Apr 2004
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Vielen Danke Hans.

The main purpose of my trip is to look at some of the property prices with a view to maybe an investment property but I have travelled quite a bit in Europe and am aiming to enjoy myself too. I might have a look at Colditz and Auschwitz on the way down then head on down to Bulgaria.

I read somewhere else that camping rough in Romania can be dangerous as they have bears out there but I don't know if they were just pulling your leg?

Cheers
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Old 30 Apr 2004
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Old 1 May 2004
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hi, sanguine biker,

i'm planning a trip to eastern europe myself this summer - romania is favourite - i fancy the black sea coast and transylvania. i won't be going 'til late july, though but wondered if there might be value in our meeting for a and a chat. i'm in bromley so we're practically neighbours.

what do you think?

zenbiker
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Old 2 May 2004
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In Feb this year we stayed in Bran in Romania which was great, Rasnov is also worth a visit. Romanian border control was fine, watch out for the Romanian cops pulling you for "speeding". We encountered many so called speed traps. For some reason they only seem to stop vehicles with foreign plates. We asked for a reciept and got one, it stated that we were riding a red honda, we are on a bright yellow BMW GS.

The Bulgarian coast along the black sea is good, some nice roads. We stayed in a place called Sozopol which seemed nicer than Varna or some of the bigger places. Have a good trip.
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Old 3 May 2004
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Watch out for the speed cops in Romania. We were stopped this year, along with other foreign plated vehicles for so called speeding. We asked for a receipt, they gave us one. It said that we were riding a red Honda, were on a bright yellow GS!

A good place to visit and stay is Bran or Rasnov, nice castles.

With regards to Bulgaria make sure you have you insurance document with you as the border patrol didn't speak much English other than shouting "Green card, Green card". I got out my insurance cert and explained that we dont have green cards any more and pointed to the relevant section on the cert. Eventually he waived us on. We rode down the coast and stayed in a place called Sozopol, very nice and seemed better than the bigger places like Varna.

Have a good trip
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Old 3 May 2004
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Talking about bears - that's certainly a point. In the canadian Rockies I hung everything smelling remotely like food with a rope from a tree when camping in the wild. But I should think you should only encounter bears in Romania up in the remote areas of the Carpathians.
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Old 28 May 2004
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I'll be travelling to Romania at the end of July. My wife and I have an appartment and a cottage out there and have done the trip many times before.

I'll be travelling via France, Belgium, Germany, Austria, Hungary and Romania. If anybody is interested in joining me for all or even just part of the journey, you are more than welcome, Just mail me

[This message has been edited by Oldgit (edited 29 May 2004).]
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  #10  
Old 11 Jun 2004
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[QUOTE]Originally posted by the_sanguine:
[B]I am planning to go to Eastern Europe in June. I have been to the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary before and am this time planning to get as far as Bulgaria. I may travel via Poland, Romania, Croatia and Slovenia....

Hello my friend,
I go to Romania each year in summer with my wife on my old Honda. So I have to tell you that I had no problem at all.
There are too many interesting and nice places in Romania f.ex. South Bukovina with monasteries etc. If you want I can write you more in email or send you some maps ... you can also see ma snaps on www.dablyk.com ---> http://www.dablyk.com/albumm.php or http://www.dablyk.com/album4.php
btw. This summer I plan this http://www.dablyk.com/dofca004.jpg

------------------
dablyk
Honda VF750F, BMW K75RT

[This message has been edited by dablyk (edited 11 June 2004).]
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