Each time we prepare a blog posting, we have had feedback asking for our route. Below is the route information for South-eastern Europe.
On this trip, we drove our campervan from its place of storage in České Budějovice in the Czech Republic, to the south-eastern countries of Europe including the Czech Republic, Southern Poland, Ukraine, Moldova, Romania, Bulgaria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Austria and Hungary. The journey took us about 195 days and we drove 13,938 kilometres.
Czech Republic - After picking up Vanni in České Budějovice, we headed to Prague for some sightseeing then on to Olomouc in the far eastern corner of the Czech Republic.
Poland - From there, we crossed the border into Poland and headed east visiting Katowice, Oświęcim (Auschwitz), Kraków, Tarnow, Rzeszow and the lovely Zamość.
Ukraine (west and north) - We then crossed into the Ukraine and spent some time in the north-western regions including Lviv, Uzhgorod, and Stryi, before heading back to Lviv. At the time, Russia had invaded the Ukraine and things were quite unsettled so we waited out some time in Lviv until we heard that it was safe to visit the capital of Kiev.
Ukraine (centre and south) - Once we decided to move, we went north-east through Ternopil, Kamyanets-Podilsky, and Vinnycja, to Kiev. From Kiev headed south, travelling a long way down through the centre of Ukraine to Uman, then on to Odessa on the Black Sea cost. It was not safe to go further south into the Crimea so we headed west into Moldova.
Moldova - In Moldova, we headed straight for the capital, Chişinău then drove around the area before heading south out of Moldova into Romania.
Romania (Danube Delta) – Galati, near the Danube Delta was our first port of call in Romania. From there we drove to Murighiol then got a ferry to the carless town of St Gheorghe on the Danube Delta.
Romania (the capital) – Leaving the Delta, we headed for Constanţa on the Black Sea coast, then drove west to the capital, Bucharest. Due to battery and a few other issues, we drove this coast-to-capital route a couple of times before moving on.
Bulgaria (to the coast) – From Bucharest, we crossed the border into Bulgaria and our first stop there was Ruse. We then headed slightly south-east to Veliko Tărnovo, then further south-east to the Black Sea coastal towns of Varna, Nessebar, and Sozopol.
Bulgaria (inland) – Turning inland we then headed south-west to Biser and Plovdiv, then north-west to take in Batak, Lake Batak and the Rila mountains and Monstery, before heading to Sofia, the capital.
Serbia (south) – We crossed into Serbia and stopped in Pirot. Then moved on to Đavolja Varoš, Ovcar, and Kremna.
Bosnia and Hercegovina (BiA) – From there we crossed into BiA and drove straight to Sarajevo then Mostar. From there, we popped over the mountains into Croatia but it was July with tourism at its peak so there were no campervan spaces to be found anywhere. So we stayed overnight in Trilj (inland Croatia) before moving on to Jajce back in BiA.
Serbia (north) – We then crossed into Serbia again but to the north, stopping in Sremska Mitrovica then the capital, Belgrade.
Romania (south-west) – To get from Serbia into Romania we crossed over the Danube into Drobeta-Turnu Severin, then drove north into the Apuseni Mountains to Gârda de Sus then Cluj-Napoca.
Romania (north-east) - By this time we were in the northern part of Romania and headed to the Maramureş area. Then on to see the ancient wooden churches around Sighetu Marmatiei then headed east following the mountains to Borşa, and the painted churches around Fundu Moldevei, Medias and Sighișoara.
Romania (central) – Heading south then, into the centre we stopped at Bran (Transylvania), and the capital Bucharest, before heading west to Sălişte, and Arad.
Hungary – From Arad, we crossed into Hungary near Szeged, before heading north to Kecskemét then Pápa.
Austria – We then crossed into Austria and whizzed through Vienna heading north to sell Vanni as this is our last year on the road in Europe.
Czech Republic - Leaving Austria we went into the Czech Republic driving north straight through Prague to Decin and Stará Oleška near the border with Germany. There was a campervan dealer there who we had met and we hoped to do a deal on the van. Not to be, we headed back to České Budějovice where she was ultimately sold. We then bused up to Prague and flew home to New Zealand knowing that Vanni was in good hands with a new owner.