People often ask us about what we have enjoyed the most during our travels. Below are the best bits, or favourites since we set out in our campervan from the Czech Republic in April 2011, to leaving Greece in July 2011.
Favourite city:
- Budapest - it is beautiful, has a great cafe culture, seems safe, and is easy to get around.
Favourite town:
- Napflion (Greece) on the Mani because of it beautifully maintained buildings, pride in heritage, and fantastic setting at the base of an old castle and on a beautiful bay.
- Plzen old town and České Krumlov (Czech Republic) - gorgeous ancient towns in the Czech Republic.
- Ioannina (Greece) - because of its interesting, diverse and ancient small shops – you can buy absolutely anything and they are all so quaint.
Favourite village:
- Eger (Hungary). We loved this old city and the wine caves around it. People were very friendly and it had a great atmosphere.
- Ohrid (Macedonia) - it was lovely, with a fabulous produce market, lovely old town and great coffee.
- Aegiali (Greece) - Greek villages are hard to beat - we especially loved Aegiali on Amorgos Island because of the friendliness of its people, and the stunning geographical setting.
Best campsites:
- Prague (Czech Republic) at Autocamp Trojská – a boutique site in the owner’s well-kept and treed back yard. Facilities and proximity to the city were great.
- Eger (Hungary) at Tulipán Camping Eger - for its friendliness and proximity to the village.
- Siófok (Hungary) at Camping Aranypart - a fantastic campsite right on Lake Balaton, with lots of trees, gorgeous sunsets, and great facilities. We had the place almost to ourselves.
- Low Tatras (Slovakia) at Kemping Sedliacky Dvor in Rohozna – the friendliest (Monique and Dion), and with breathtaking views of mist-wreathed hills.
- Ohrid (Macedonia) – we freecamped on a clifftop, overlooking the 3-billion year old lake.
- Ioannina (Greece) at Camping Limnopoula – our site was right beside the lake edge with fish regularly plopping in and out of the water and in the shade of ancient trees
- Meteora (Greece) at Camping Vrachos Kastráki (in Kastráki on edge of Meteora) - we had a shaded spot with great views of the mountains and lovely clean facilities and services.
- Gythion Bay (Greece) Gythion Beach Camp – we had a fantastic beachfront site and access to exceptionally clean facilities.
Favourite sights:
- The Mani (Greece) – all of it, with its diversity of housing, amazing mountains, clean water beaches, gorgeous mountain and fishing villages. It is breathtakingly and ruggedly beautiful.
- Melk Abbey and Sissi’s Castle (Austria) – they are an historic treasure chest of information.
- Spissky Hrad (castle in Spis region of Slovakia).
- Tatra Mountains (Slovakia).
- St Stephan’s Cathedral (Budapest).
- Sunsets over Lake Balaton viewed from Siófok (Hungary).
- The beautiful and vast fields of bright yellow flowers throughout Slovakia and Hungary (rapeseed plants used to make canola).
- Lake Ohrid (Macedonia) – 3 billion years old and crystal clear.
- Meteora (Greece) – the mountains and the accompanying monasteries were spectacular.
- Olympus (Greece) - the ancient site. The way the heritage has been preserved is just amazing.
Best experiences:
- Staying with Klara and her family and experiencing Czech family life.
- The Naschmarkt (main market in Vienna) provided a great food shopping experience.
- The spontaneously provided tour of 5 acres of ancient wine cellars in Tokaj (Slovakia).
- Taking a wrong turn and finding a restored castle with a restaurant where we had a fantastic meal (Slovakia).
- Unexpectedly coming across the amazing Spissky Hrad (Slovakia).
- Eating goulash in Hungary.
- Hearing our first cuckoo bird call (Slovakia),
- Finding small (and I mean small) quaint streets that require a 25-point U-turn to get out of (throughout the trip so far),
- Travelling the minor roads enabling us to see and meet people living in the rural parts of Czech, Slovakia and Hungary.
- Driving alongside the Danube and its many small, quaint and interesting wine towns (Austria).
Best buys:
- Our new wok which we use to cook fresh veges etc that we buy at local markets.
- A largish plastic box that fits perfectly under the driver’s seat and has so many uses.
- Sheet holders that go onto our New Zealand fitted sheets so that they don't wrinkle-up on the much thinner mattress in the van.
- Small speakers that run off USB so that we can maximise the music that Howard and Mark arranged for us at home - great stuff.
Overall:
We loved Greece - its friendly, helpful and fun-loving people; its diverse terrain of craggy mountains, crystal clear ocean bays, and plains filled with ancient olive groves, and its beautiful villages that function in so many seemingly difficult locations.
There was no McDonalds or Starbucks or big box retail shops (except in Athens!).
Unfortunately, as with most of the places that we have been through since leaving Austria, the public services and facilities are alarmingly poor or absent! There is no household rubbish collection and there is rubbish everywhere; hundreds of stray dogs and cats that leave a mess; rampant graffiti, and poor sanitation.
However, we have both been to Greece prior to this trip and notwithstanding this absence of public services, there has been a tremendous improvement in roading infrastructure and tourist facilities – it was very, very easy to get around and all sites where well signposted. We decided we would happily visit Greece again and again.