Roads in Southern Bulgaria

[sola_bristol]

Anyone know anything about the roads in Southern Bulgaria? Planning a trip to Istanbul and aiming to go in via Macedonia and S Bulgaria and back through Northern Greece to Italy via ferry. Roads on map look nice and twisty in a mountain context but clearly not main roads (yellow on my map). It looks as though they're surfaced but I'd love to hear from anyone that's used them. Towns include Goce Delcev,Smoljan, Ardino
Any help gratefully received

 

[Riders Rest]

Did a similar trip in 2006 didn't go to Istanbul went through Galipoli to south Turkey the roads were nothing to worry about.

Went via France, Germany, Austria, Hungry, Romania, Bulgaria, Came Back through Turkey, Greece, and took the Ferry over to Italy, France Alps etc

I have a journal of the trip www.whereistonynow.co.uk/tour2cure.htm.

 

[sola_bristol]

That's a great ride report so thanks a lot for that but the roads in Southern Bulgaria I'm looking at are way south of that.

 

[D6]

mostly good, iv travelled most of em, the motorways are better than englands, i wouldnt worry,
you may get a few pot holes etc, but you have to be on the back roads, bulgarias road network has greatly improved over the last 4 years or so..
not surfaced roads are restricted to inner villages nowadays...
nessebar is a good coastal stop off point, (nr bourgas)
if you venture further up, velica turnovo is ace at night , (massive light show at the castle).
bulgarians are some of the friendliest people iv met

 

[sola_bristol]

That's Great D6. Thanks for the reassurance

Cheers

 

[agent2494]

Road trip

Maybe able to help out here my girlfriend lived over there for ten years will ask here when i am home at the weekend, maybe a free night in her hotel and a pint at murphy's too!!! maybe on the cards

 

[(RIP) ugg]

mostly good, iv travelled most of em, the motorways are better than englands, i wouldnt worry,
you may get a few pot holes etc, but you have to be on the back roads, bulgarias road network has greatly improved over the last 4 years or so..
not surfaced roads are restricted to inner villages nowadays...
nessebar is a good coastal stop off point, (nr bourgas)
if you venture further up, velica turnovo is ace at night , (massive light show at the castle).
bulgarians are some of the friendliest people iv met

Wot D6 said .

Roads are smooth , riding from Varna , towards Sofia is a very scenic
ride .

Just watch out for the cops, even tho they might seem a bit wooden



ugg

 

[sola_bristol]

Thanks for the help guys and if the girlfriend looks like that then we'll be looking for that hotel!

 

[E. Buygum]

Sola Bristol, planning something similar in June but am likely to head out through Austria, Hungary after that. Working at the moment to estimate reasonable daily mileage after that. I usually do around 450 miles in Western Europe if just aiming to make progress (have done over 600 but quite hard work) and around 250 miles maximum if out to enjoy the day. Not sure what I should aim for through Rumania, Bulgaria: have you come to any conclusions yet? Riders Rest, thanks for the link...just had a quick scan of your website and it's inspiring.

 

[everywherevirtually]

the roads can be mixed but nothing a GS can't handle. There is an EU road building campaign underway but the lesser roads will be a bit more gravelly and pot holed.

Mountain roads near Montana (The Bulgaria Montana)

a lesser level crossing

This was as bad as I found... add in some rain and it would be a bit muddy.

out on the main routes though and you could be forgiven for thinking this is Wales.

 

[Ghostrider]

Hi

Have a look at my blog from last year. I went to Istanbul via Greece and then the homeward trip through Bulgaria.

http://www.ukgser.com/forums/showthread.php?t=185579

The roads were Ok better than the ones in Romaina. I noticed the rural roads were really rural (horse/carts etc) but as soon as you hit a large town it was quite modern.

No problems for fuel etc.

Signposts very good

No problems with the Police

The border controls entering from Turkey were a pain but nothing a bit waiting didn't fix.

Overall Bugaria was ok.

Have a good trip PM if you need anything else

Ghostrider

 

[purds]

Sola Bristol, planning something similar in June but am likely to head out through Austria, Hungary after that. Working at the moment to estimate reasonable daily mileage after that. I usually do around 450 miles in Western Europe if just aiming to make progress (have done over 600 but quite hard work) and around 250 miles maximum if out to enjoy the day. Not sure what I should aim for through Rumania, Bulgaria: have you come to any conclusions yet? Riders Rest, thanks for the link...just had a quick scan of your website and it's inspiring.

E Buygum

If I may answer on Sola's behalf as he and I have done many touring trips together including Romania a few years ago and we are doing the Istanbul via southern Bulgaria trip this May.

Looking back on the route planning for Romania we were usually planning 250 - 300 miles per day which was easily achievable. This year we are planning on around 200 ish per day as we are intending to take the very scenic route and also want some time to lookaround.

Just a tup - watch out for readar raps in Romania - particularly on the Sibiu to Arad road if you are going that way. Almost every speed limit had one but they only seemed to stop foreign plated vehicles.

 

[Ghostrider]

+1 on the radar traps I got caught in a 50kph limit.

 

[D6]

watch the other traffic, they tend to warn you well, and in advance in romania,
if your going scenic routes, get good maps

 

[E. Buygum]

Thanks, chaps...am now working out the route and I'll probably post in "open invites" when it's looking O.K. The dates for the return Cesme-Ancona don't seem to work too well so I'll probably go Ancona-Cesme...3 days easy down to Ancona, a couple of days at sea and then it gets interesting! Have got hold of maps of Romania, Hungary and have ordered one of Bulgaria. Is there anything better than staring at a map of a winter's evening? My Garmin Quest is on the blink and I'm thinking of buying a Zumo 660. Errr..it's not going to be cheap, this trip.

 

[Bulgarian]

The main roads in Bulgaria are OK. Most of the small roads between towns are good too but some of them are not. If you need good maps it is not a problem you can find them in every gas station also in English. If you ride trough soutern Bulgaria direction Greece or Turkey you will pass Rodops mountain. There are many nice places to see. Depnds on how long long time can you spend there. About the road taxes in Bulgaria for the bikes it's free. Be careful with the road cops about the speed limits, it wouldn't be free. If you need any other information just ask.

 

[(RIP) Andy007]

I rode there with 2 of my mates last year, only probem we had was with the road signs been in Russian/Bulgarian and the map in English ! When you were trying to navigat through a town it became quite frustrating.
I have a few apartments in Sunny Beach and if thats on your route let me know and you can stay over at GS rates (foc) as Ghosterider did on his trip last year.