_Rick_
Diamond Member
Hi guys,
I know you're mostly Americans here, who probably won't have much topical information regarding the shitholes I'll be driving through, but at least some of you will be more open to the notion of a road trip, than my European brethren.
Here's my planned route: http://************/nhlqo7k
I plan to go clockwise, to save the best bits for last, even though this will mean that I'll go over the Stelvio pass in what I think is the "wrong way".
The initial northward leg is mostly to accommodate whoever will come along with me (I'm a bit worried about having to go solo, should nobody confirm their intent to join me, but I might still do it.)
Stops are planned in:
Munich (sister's place, if available)
Vienna
Budapest
Cluj-Napoca
Sofia (attending a wedding there)
Skopje
Ferry to Bari
Naples
Firenze
Chur/Zürich/elsewhere, depending on whether someone can accommodate me and my navigator.
That's eleven days of driving for 70 hours of total road/water time (9 hour ferry from Bar to Bari - would prefer Dubrovnik-Bari, but there's no service on Tuesday, and I've booked the Hotel in Sofia until the 18th of August - there's no way to make that distance in a single day). The night ferry to Bari is a bit of a boring option, but then I suppose out on the sea there's not much to do anyway, so you might as well sleep.
I'll be passing two locations where Top Gear filmed, the Stelvio being one, and the other being Ceaucescou's folly - a highway through the southern Carpathians.
I'll be traveling in a small hatchback, that has sufficient creature comforts and I hope I'll be able to get the 93 octane (98RON) that she likes, along the trip. No spare wheel on board either, because sporty! Got a spray-and-pray kit and I'll make sure to have the emergency numbers with me.
So, my questions:
Any general, non-obvious pro-tips anyone has regarding road trips?
Has anyone recently been in the region?
Should I be hardcore and do camping instead of taking a hotel/motel approach? (Don't have a tent right now, but that's not really an issue) Sould I head along the eastern Adriatic instead of down the spine of Italy (I'll be avoiding the coasts, because it's tourism season, and I expect those places to be flooded with people)?
Eastern European pro-tips in particular would be worth a lot to me, I've never been further east than Croatia in that part of the world.
I'll probably pay the 40 Euros it takes to have roaming Internet access, which should work in most of these countries, thanks to the EU's eastern expansion.
Oh yeah, and the first non-murderer who ants to join me is invited, since even the two people who appear interested in joining me are still uhmming and aahing. 😀
Edit: apparently tiny URLs are censored. But I won't be pasting 1000 characters of url in here. Those that are interested will know how to access the map.
I know you're mostly Americans here, who probably won't have much topical information regarding the shitholes I'll be driving through, but at least some of you will be more open to the notion of a road trip, than my European brethren.
Here's my planned route: http://************/nhlqo7k
I plan to go clockwise, to save the best bits for last, even though this will mean that I'll go over the Stelvio pass in what I think is the "wrong way".
The initial northward leg is mostly to accommodate whoever will come along with me (I'm a bit worried about having to go solo, should nobody confirm their intent to join me, but I might still do it.)
Stops are planned in:
Munich (sister's place, if available)
Vienna
Budapest
Cluj-Napoca
Sofia (attending a wedding there)
Skopje
Ferry to Bari
Naples
Firenze
Chur/Zürich/elsewhere, depending on whether someone can accommodate me and my navigator.
That's eleven days of driving for 70 hours of total road/water time (9 hour ferry from Bar to Bari - would prefer Dubrovnik-Bari, but there's no service on Tuesday, and I've booked the Hotel in Sofia until the 18th of August - there's no way to make that distance in a single day). The night ferry to Bari is a bit of a boring option, but then I suppose out on the sea there's not much to do anyway, so you might as well sleep.
I'll be passing two locations where Top Gear filmed, the Stelvio being one, and the other being Ceaucescou's folly - a highway through the southern Carpathians.
I'll be traveling in a small hatchback, that has sufficient creature comforts and I hope I'll be able to get the 93 octane (98RON) that she likes, along the trip. No spare wheel on board either, because sporty! Got a spray-and-pray kit and I'll make sure to have the emergency numbers with me.
So, my questions:
Any general, non-obvious pro-tips anyone has regarding road trips?
Has anyone recently been in the region?
Should I be hardcore and do camping instead of taking a hotel/motel approach? (Don't have a tent right now, but that's not really an issue) Sould I head along the eastern Adriatic instead of down the spine of Italy (I'll be avoiding the coasts, because it's tourism season, and I expect those places to be flooded with people)?
Eastern European pro-tips in particular would be worth a lot to me, I've never been further east than Croatia in that part of the world.
I'll probably pay the 40 Euros it takes to have roaming Internet access, which should work in most of these countries, thanks to the EU's eastern expansion.
Oh yeah, and the first non-murderer who ants to join me is invited, since even the two people who appear interested in joining me are still uhmming and aahing. 😀
Edit: apparently tiny URLs are censored. But I won't be pasting 1000 characters of url in here. Those that are interested will know how to access the map.
Last edited:
