thosoneill
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anyone taken a boat from say ancona to durres - was thinking of doing this solo then heading north through croatia - is this advisable ?
italy to albania
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Dont head north .... take a detour down to Butrint www.butrint.org - the coast road is absolutely stunning - got to be one of the best biking roads in SE Europe!! Good restaurants and hotels in Saranda... nothing like eating seafood - with sea just below your feet!
Yu can then loop back up the inland route,,, or do the coast road in the other direction
Yu can then loop back up the inland route,,, or do the coast road in the other direction
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ohh and do spend a couple of nights in Tirana... the Bloc is full of nice bars and restaurant ... including the 'Silverwings MC ' bar!
hi there,I am also thinking to take that route to greece..is it safe? there will be only myself going on the gs..
petkostas
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While heading towards Greece as far as I know the thing to be alerted for are trucks.
I would cross Albanian roads towards Greece in daylight (personal preference).
The Northern roads of Greece (close to Albania) are twisty with the varying tarmac condition, although they are exceptional in terms of views and nature sightseeing (one of the best around Greece) they trip towards Athens is going to last a lot of hours! (would be also the same for Thessaloniki) because of the mountains spread over there, make sure you take a rest if you decide to head towards Athens.
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Albania is safe! just watch out for the usual standards of Balkan driving!
Thanks guys, instead of spending 22 hours on the boat to patras better ride over trieste slovakia croatia albania(maybe there is a boat from croatia to patras or athens instead of driving albania) and get t o athens..
petkostas
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You are going to miss though a beautiful part of Greece, the Northern areas are a pure beauty and a place you must see if you are crossing Greece
Would propose a night over Epirus, somewhere like Zagoria and experience the Greek nature beauty as you won't see it
Patra to Athens is a lousy road, nothing much to see (although for your first time you will enjoy the sights).
If you do cross with a ferry and land to Patra, make sure you do it in the middle of the week or be prepared for some chaotic traffic madness, the national road (God can make it a national road) is under construction, 2 lanes all you have and the combination of summer and mad Greeks escaping city centers (such as Patra and Athens) won't make you a happy rider for sure if you choose to cross it during weekend.
Some of my pictures (although it was during the winter, you wont encounter any snow this time of the year) from Zagoria:
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/kostas-petrakis-photography/4603729165/" title="Little Papigo by Kostas Petrakis, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1044/4603729165_24e0b440ef.jpg" width="500" height="345" alt="Little Papigo"></a>
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/kostas-petrakis-photography/4558121901/" title="Steel the light by Kostas Petrakis, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3188/4558121901_1f4779689a.jpg" width="500" height="333" alt="Steel the light"></a>
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/kostas-petrakis-photography/4448358936/" title="The flow by Kostas Petrakis, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2773/4448358936_7d814ac88f.jpg" width="500" height="333" alt="The flow"></a>
Thanks petkostas.I think I will just ride over epirus and zagoria and instead of patras-athens-chios-cesme(turkey)after albania i will take quickest cross to kavala and direct to turkey from kavala.
petkostas
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I would say excellent choice!
There is a new huge road connecting Epirus with Thessaloniki, just look for Egnatia road, it's near Ioannina, it's not fully covered (updated GPS maps should have it, but for instance a MLS destinator I used at February did not have it), it will transfer you without any hassle to Thessaloniki!
If you change your mind we did the Italy, Greece, Albania, Croatia etc etc route last year. Check out the blog link below. Whichever way you go I'm sure you'll have a good time.
petkostas thanks. shall I get kavala to turkey direction or athens ferry to chios and ferry to turkey? because I am going to cesme..right opposite chios island.which one you wouldsuggest..also i am travelling just my self one motorbike only..
cheers gipsy,where is the blog? what a bout the insurance on that countrys bmw insurance doesnt cover. and green card?how did you fix it?I am also travelling my self ..do you think its good idea?many thanks.
hi,just got back from similar trip.got ferry from bari to durres.would not ride through italy again.lots of long roadworks on coast motorway.much better to ride from trieste down through croatia.ferry was 80e.Albania is safe and great to ride through.they do check log books/insurance etc at borders.best to have a green card though my ins company,e bike,said i didnt need one.cost me 50e at macedonian border! have a great trip which ever way you go
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insurance - groupama through carol nash provide green card for whole region....as wierpig said they do check!
Bosnia is well worth an explore - stunning mountains and gorges - and Sarajevo is beautiful.
Hotel Art in old town has good car park, rooms and a fast laundry service!! best price is on booking.com!
regards from sunny Sarajevo....
Gavin
Bosnia is well worth an explore - stunning mountains and gorges - and Sarajevo is beautiful.
Hotel Art in old town has good car park, rooms and a fast laundry service!! best price is on booking.com!
regards from sunny Sarajevo....
Gavin
petkostas
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Hey mate!
I am not sure of the ferries from Kavala, it's a big port of the North but I have never used it, I could check and get back to you if you are interested.
Ferries from Athens would probably be bigger and more comfy for your crossing, but make sure to book something on Chios because probably you are going to spend 1 night over there, you could of course camp!
P.S Made a quick check, NEL lines does have a ferry from Kavala to Chios (http://www.nel.gr/index.asp?a_id=95&land_id=2)
Gavin,see you are/were living in transylvania? Came back through se romania and the flooding was bad.rivers bursting banks,bridges damaged etc bacau region.Hope all is ok in your area.
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Hi - yep still living there - near Sighisoara! But away for the whole of july - bosnia, bulgaria and the flying out to Georgia
Just very wet in our area - no major problems !
Just very wet in our area - no major problems !
efhoristo petkostas..I will have a look..
petkostas
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