A Spring and Summer Journey into Greece and Bulgaria 2022
Travelling by Motorhome and Bicycle
Summary of the Journey
Our motorhome journey lasted 75 days staying in 31 different places. The 5-year-old 3.5-ton 7-metre Dethleffs Sunlight motorhome (German-built on an Italian Fiat chassis) carried us faultlessly for 4,500 miles (7,200 km), an average of 150 miles (240 km) between places. The Paul Hewitt-supplied and maintained bicycles with equal reliability added another 1,413 km or 883 miles. Travelling in Bulgaria, Serbia and Croatia, gained an extra 22 non-Schengen days, keeping our actual and passport-stamp-verified Schengen count down to 53 days. This left 37 more days for another European journey in the Autumn.
Our motorhome journey lasted 75 days staying in 31 different places. The 5-year-old 3.5-ton 7-metre Dethleffs Sunlight motorhome (German-built on an Italian Fiat chassis) carried us faultlessly for 4,500 miles (7,200 km), an average of 150 miles (240 km) between places. The Paul Hewitt-supplied and maintained bicycles with equal reliability added another 1,413 km or 883 miles. Travelling in Bulgaria, Serbia and Croatia, gained an extra 22 non-Schengen days, keeping our actual and passport-stamp-verified Schengen count down to 53 days. This left 37 more days for another European journey in the Autumn.
A Map of the Journey
Key to the Map
Yellow lines are ferries, the red line is the route out to our furthest point (in southeast Bulgaria) and the blue line is the return journey. Some key points include:
Yellow lines are ferries, the red line is the route out to our furthest point (in southeast Bulgaria) and the blue line is the return journey. Some key points include:
- Entering the mainland through Ijmuiden, the Port for Amsterdam, where the overnight DFDS ferry from Newcastle docked, and leaving the mainland through the Hook of Holland on the daytime Stena Line ferry to Harwich.
- Ancona where the overnight Minoan ferry sailed for Greece.
- Igoumenitsa where the Minoan ferry docked (very near the Albanian border).
- The Mani Peninsula, the southern tip of the Greek mainland at the southeasternmost corner of Europe.
- Camping Sakar Hills in Biser in the southeast corner of Bulgaria, near its borders with
Turkey and Greece. - Camping Veliko Tarnovo near the city of the same name, in the north of Bulgaria on the road to Romania.
- Zagreb, the capital of Croatia.
- Limburg, from where we enjoyed our final two cycle rides along sections of the 250 km-long Lahn River Valley Radweg (Cycle Path.)
The Places We Stayed
Spread over 75 nights, we spent at least one of them in each of the following 31 places, the overall average stay being 2.4 days.
England: Haltwhistle, Overnight Ferry. Netherlands: Otterlo. Germany: Koblenz, Aichelberg, St Heinrich. Italy: Chiusa, Bologna, Overnight Ferry. Greece: Igoumenitsa, Kastraki Meteora, Glyfa, Tholo, Finikounda, Sparta, Gythion, Gerolimenas, Leonidio, Korinth, Plaka Litochoro, Alexandroupolis. Bulgaria: Biser, Skobelevo, Dryanovo, Dragizevo. Serbia: Cuprija/Batinak. Croatia: Samobar. Germany: Ingolstadt, Limburg an der Larne. Netherlands: Hook of Holland, England: Harwich.
Spread over 75 nights, we spent at least one of them in each of the following 31 places, the overall average stay being 2.4 days.
England: Haltwhistle, Overnight Ferry. Netherlands: Otterlo. Germany: Koblenz, Aichelberg, St Heinrich. Italy: Chiusa, Bologna, Overnight Ferry. Greece: Igoumenitsa, Kastraki Meteora, Glyfa, Tholo, Finikounda, Sparta, Gythion, Gerolimenas, Leonidio, Korinth, Plaka Litochoro, Alexandroupolis. Bulgaria: Biser, Skobelevo, Dryanovo, Dragizevo. Serbia: Cuprija/Batinak. Croatia: Samobar. Germany: Ingolstadt, Limburg an der Larne. Netherlands: Hook of Holland, England: Harwich.
Highlights of the Journey
The Total Distance of Motorhoming in 2022
The total motorhome distance for the two journeys, Summer and Autumn, was 6,558 miles (10,492 km) in a total of 115 days staying in 50 places, This is average stay of 2.3 days per place and an average of 131 miles (210 km) between places.
The total motorhome distance for the two journeys, Summer and Autumn, was 6,558 miles (10,492 km) in a total of 115 days staying in 50 places, This is average stay of 2.3 days per place and an average of 131 miles (210 km) between places.