Bulgaria, Greece, Albania, Montenegro, Croatia and north late March/early April 2013
 

Hi guys

I’m riding my old Trannie from Doug and Polly’s in Bulgaria to NW Germany between 27March and 06April. The likely route is via Greece, Albania, Montenegro and the coast of Croatia. I’ll either head straight north through Slovenia and Austria or cut across the north of Italy/round the Alps, depending on the weather.

I’m hoping my route will be a bit warmer than when I was in Bulgaria in December :freezing::

http://i412.photobucket.com/albums/p.../Bulgaria1.jpg

http://i412.photobucket.com/albums/p.../Bulgaria2.jpg

There’s also a possibility of heading more directly/ west from Bulgaria through Macedonia.

Anyone riding the same way and want to ride together? Or if you’re local drink a beer/tea/ or something stronger?
Cheers
Chris

I'll be watching this thread and I'd be happy to get a beer with you in Thessaloniki, the capital of Macedonia. I hope you have your swimwear with you :Beach:

ps. In case you're a bit geografically lost, a few ancient historians may be a help for you bier

Hi Carlos
Swimwear is more preferable to thermal underwear :thumbup1:
I'll drop you a line when I'm passing by.
cheers
Chris

Hi Chris

Me and Mark Bushman are in Idilevo at the moment - weather good (only a bit nippy) - see you next week !

We rode to Albania last year from the Motocamp so maybe we can have a chin wag over a beer

Martin

Hi Martin
Looking forward to meeting you and Mark. Peach is collecting me at Sofia airport at lunchtime on Tues 26th. We should be back in Idilevo mid/late afternoon. Looking forward to some beers.
cheers
Chris

After a bit of reading, I now understand what you're talking about. I'll stand corrected and call the country to the west of Bulgaria "The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia". doh

Hi Chris,

I'll be closely following your posts too as I am planning to go through Greece to Albania, and on to Montenegro, Bosnia... Good luck and rubbers down :mchappy:
I am looking at ways to cross to Albania and it is hard to find good info. My original plan is to go from Corfu to Sarande but it seems that there is no car ferry on that route.
So possibly the other option is to go from Igoumenitsa, cross the border and carry on towards Sarande. The problem is that I can't find any clear info on the condition of the roads in Albania (specially regarding the Sarande-Vlore section). Any suggestion from your side or some source of information? What will you be taking?

Cheers

Oh, and deep respect for those winter pictures :thumbup1::freezing:

I won't be doing that again. I'm getting too old for freezing my nuts off!:funmeterno:

All I have is a 1:725000 paper map (Reiseknowhow) and OSM as a basemap on my Garmin 60csx. I'll be making it up as I go along. It'll depend a lot on the weather. I'll go which ever way is warmest/ least rainy. Remind me again in mid April and I'll advise on the exact route I took.

cheers
Chris

Me and Mark have cooked a beef stew (bubbling on the petchka -small Aga like oven - right now)

We will bring it down to the Motocamp tomorrow evening with some beer - Peach and Ivo will join in too.

See you tomorrow !

Top stuff!

Hi Carlos
I had a change of plan. I'm currently in Saranda/southern Albania and will ride to Thessaloniki on Tuesday 02April before heading back to Bulgaria.

Are you around for a beer on Tuesday evening?


cheers
Chris

Post Script to trip: A few snaps fro my southern Balkans trip

After riding through freezing fog in Bulgaria I made it to slightly warmer, but wet Skopje, the capital of FYROM. Here I decided I couldn't be bother to freeze my nuts off pounding the pavement all the way to Germany as planned. I bought an airticket from Sofia for the following week and did a quick jaunt around FYROM, southern Albania and northern Greece before returning the bike to Doug's Motocamp in Bulgaria. Here it'll live to ride another day in this beautiful part of the world.


http://i412.photobucket.com/albums/p...keohridmac.jpg
The sun finally appears.

http://i412.photobucket.com/albums/p...9lakeohrid.jpg
Lake Ohrid

http://i412.photobucket.com/albums/p...dlakeohrid.jpg
There's a road that links Lake Ohrid to its neigbour. Snow stops play.

http://i412.photobucket.com/albums/p...hridchapel.jpg
Chapel at southern end of Lake Ohrid, near Albanian border.

http://i412.photobucket.com/albums/p...sdifferent.jpg
Albania has an edge...

http://i412.photobucket.com/albums/p...anhighroad.jpg
Albanian high road along border with Greece.

http://i412.photobucket.com/albums/p...cuttoberat.jpg
Short cut up to Berat

http://i412.photobucket.com/albums/p...ratalbania.jpg
More of the same

http://i412.photobucket.com/albums/p...ratatnight.jpg
Berat at night

http://i412.photobucket.com/albums/p...ewsalbania.jpg
Coast road in southern Albania

http://i412.photobucket.com/albums/p...tarferries.jpg
Please avoid Star Ferries

http://i412.photobucket.com/albums/p...oadsgreece.jpg
Winding Greek road in the rain

http://i412.photobucket.com/albums/p...rnedgreece.jpg
In Greece they also sh!t on the highway. Apparently:innocent:

http://i412.photobucket.com/albums/p...nikigreece.jpg
Secure off street parking in Thessaloniki, Greece.:D The shop next to the hotel was unoccupied.

To bad you skipped Montenegro, but, as you said, there will be more opportunities for a beer. Anyway, if anybody interested in passing through or spending some time riding motorcycle in Montenegro, please feel free to contact me - I'm willing to assist.