Athens and Back - the Trip Report

Day 10. Plovdiv (Bulgaria) to Pitesti (Romania) 326 miles


A character-building day. I miscalculated with the planning so it ended up being a bit longer than I wanted. I was actually on the road for 10.5 hours, although that included an hour's break. The problem was the Danube, which is very long and very, very wide. I assumed it would be like the Thames, with lots of bridges. It’s not; it's like the English Channel but much longer and with no tunnel and less ferries. The ferries really weren’t very frequent and I couldn’t find a way to book one so I opted for a bridge detour, hence the dog leg in the route.


The first few hours were really good, going over the Troyan pass via the huge archway in the picture. The roads were great and quite empty. Really spectacular views. The next couple of hours were also good, flatter but still some nice roads and a pleasant rural landscape with a village every now and then to break it up.


I always thought the Danube was a large but scenic river, with cruise boats, castles and nice, mediaeval towns. It’s not; it’s a huge, brown expanse of water, with muddy man made lagoons, dockyards, warehouses and a long, slightly rusty bridge. It also has hundreds, if not thousands, of Turkish lorries waiting to be checked before they can cross it and although they try to leave room for other traffic, it’s still a slow crawl for a few miles. That was sort of OK though and I got across eventually and into border control where passport and V5 were checked and I was let loose in Romania.


After an hour or so, things got more challenging. I’d seen the weather forecast (storms) and I could see the showers in the distance but when I hit them, or them me, it was torrential. I even stopped and stood under a tree for a bit because it was so bad. The there was Bucharest. My route was planned to take in a bit of the Bucharest ring road. I was thinking M25 or Paris peripherique but it was more like a narrower, busier, flooded North Circular with a lot of roadworks. The water drainage in Bucharest obviously can’t cope and some of the standing water was 6 inches deep.


Eventually I got out of Bucharest and onto a motorway heading in the right direction. There were a couple more thundery showers and then It got drier as I went and was nice and sunny again as I arrived in Pitesti. By the way, can you be struck by lightning on a motorcycle? I saw a perfect fork of lightning strike the central reservation barrier probably 100 metres ahead of me, closely followed by a very loud crack of thunder that really made me jump.


I’d splashed out (55 Euro) on a nicer hotel (it is nice) and I was soon settled in and dried off. The good thing about where I am is that it’s about 30km from the start of the Transfagarasan, so that will definitely be part of tomorrow’s route. The weather looks good too. The Transalpino is also in the vicinity so my tentative plan is to stay another night in the vicinity and do both. The weather looks good too.


Some pictures of the journey and tonight’s dinner. They do like a pickle in Eastern Europe.



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Not a great view but a very nice hotel. I have plan; Bran Castle then the Tranfagarasan. Weather looks good.

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Day 11 Pitesti - Horezu 258 miles


A really good day. I’m not that far from when I started so really just a long ride out.

It was still raining in Pitesti when I left. There's not much to see here so I got going after breakfast and a short walk to get some cash. Imagine if a foreign tourist who had never been to England before ended up in Peterborough on their first night. It was a bit like that.

Anyway, the rain soon stopped, the sun came out and the roads dried. I had planned the Transfagarasan for today but decided to leave it until the afternoon and go and have a look at the alleged influence for Dracula’s castle. The roads there were good, and although the Castle (Bran Castle) looked the part it was absolutely heaving so I made do with a couple of pictures and headed for the Tranfagarasan.


Today is actually the 2022 opening day, the first day when the whole route is open. I chose to do it north-south, whereas most seemed to do it the other way, which was good for me. There were a few bikes, the most common by a long way was the GS. More cars though. It wasn’t too crowded but I have read it gets packed in high season. It’s a long ride; the famous bit with all the visible hairpins is only a small part. The surface is variable; generally good on one side of the mountain and not so good on the other. One thing that is good is that they obviously clean away all the mud/sand/gritty residue from the snow that is still there on other high roads.

A nice surprise is that there were quite a few bears on the lower slopes. I did get some photos although I was wary of getting too close. They seemed quite used to people but they were all mothers with cubs so I wasn’t taking any chances.

After the Tranfagarasan it was a bit of a slog to tonight’s accommodation, chosen because it’s near the start of the Transalpina. I’m a bit wary of the Transalpina because some articles I’ve read suggest that some of it isn’t tarmaced. I’ll give it a go, but will happily chicken out if the going gets too rough.

My accommodation tonight is really nice. My hostess speaks as much English as I do Romanian though so we’re both using google translate, which works better than you might think..

Tomorrow is the Transalpina (or maybe not), followed some miles in the general direction of the UK.

Some pictures then. My dinner is the first menu choice, which was the same as what I had yesterday minus the pickles!



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lovely day today, just had a coffee and am off.

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Day 12 Horezu to Arad. 257 miles


A fantastic day. Great weather, brilliant roads and scenery and (mostly) little traffic. It was about an hour’s ride from my digs to the start of the Transalpina. Any doubts I had about the road were completely groundless. It varies between super-smooth racetrack-like tarmac and a normal slightly rough and bumpy alpine road. And it’s long; it seems to go on forever. If anything it’s better than the Transfagerasan. That’s more of a brute force engineering triumph and goes up one side of a mountain, through a tunnel and down the other. The Transalpino is more sympathetic with the contours of the terrain and you stay high for longer. The approach roads are nicer too. Having said that, they are both fantastic.

There were a few bikes around, not so many GSs today but all adv bikes. Mostly Germans plus a couple of Polish and Dutch. Like yesterday, for some reason everyone was going the other way and I had the road almost to myself.

No bears today but quite a few cows on the road. And dogs, completely in the middle of nowhere. I wonder where/how they live?

I’m now in Arad, which is still in Transylvania but near the Hungarian border. It’s very hot again; up to the low 30s after the pleasant mid 20s (and cooler on the passes) of the last couple of days. It's quite flat and featureless here, very agricultural. The bike is safely (I hope) parked under the hotel, filled up and ready to go. I chose it because it’s near the edge of town but with downtown still walkable. An unexpected bonus is a south-west facing balcony; very handy for drying some much needed laundry! I think I’ve got enough to last me if I’m careful now…

I have some decisions to make about where I go next. I have to start making some serious inroads into the 1400 or so miles between here and home. I have a tentative plan of getting home on Tuesday so am going to head across Hungary in the general direction of Vienna tomorrow.

As usual, some pictures of the day. Arad is surprisingly grand. And it has trams - you definitely wouldn't want to get in the wrong lane at that roundabout!

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Oops wrong route, this is of course today's

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Onwards and upwards! Next stop Austria.

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Day 13 Arad to Pöchlarn (Austria) 376 miles


Quite a long day, made longer by the Romania Hungary border crossing. No drama, just a bit of a queue. I decided to ride across Hungary without stopping except for pitstops. Hungary is a step up from Romania in terms of infrastructure and the motorways, including the Budapest ring road, were excellent and well signposted. A world away from Bucharest. Having said that, I was a bit sad to be leaving Romania; it’s a beautiful place and everyone is really friendly. Apart from the waitress in the hotel last night that is, who was a right miserable cow…

The weather was near perfect, a sunny 25 degrees all the way. It was very easy going apart from the aforementioned border queue and another smaller one to get into Austria. That one was easier, just a nod through with no passport checks. I assume that’s because Austria and Hungary are both in the Schengen zone.

I made sure I filled up with cheap Russian petrol in Hungary at an unbelievable 1.2 Euro/litre. It’s 2.4 in Austria. I thought Romania was cheap at about 1.7. Back to reality then.

I’m now about 90 minutes into Austria, back on the Danube. It’s a lot smaller now, but still 200m or so wide. The hotel is nice but right opposite the railway station. The other guests are mostly cyclists riding the Danube. A few bikers as well and some KTMs for once. Bike is safely behind the hotel.

I must admit I’m a bit knackered today so an early night and an easier day tomorrow are called for. Some pictures as usual. This is a nice enough place if a little unremarkable so no need to hang around in the morning. The Austrian motorway services are fantastic, but boy are they expensive after Romania. A bit like petrol. My apfelstrudel, ice cream and coffee cost more than my 2 courses and 2 drinks last night. And you have to pay for the bogs! Mind you the service station does have a golf driving range. I even got the chance to resurrect some schoolboy German on the lady who served me.

Germany tomorrow, see you there.

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Nice view of the railway station this morning.

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Day 14 Pöchlarn to Ingolstadt (Germany) 250 miles

As I said, I had an early night and got on the road at about 9. The morning was an absolute peach of a ride. I’d chosen it at random with a bit of help from Kurviger and it was some of the best roads of the trip. Not the spectacular alpine passes of Romania but smooth, bendy, almost empty, well surfaced roads through rural Austria. It took me a while to figure out one reason it was better than riding in the UK - they don’t have hedges. You can see the road much better without them. I also knew I’d chosen good biking roads because there were a lot of other bikes out for a Saturday ride and there were also the same bike/death warning signs you see in the UK. No silly speed limits though.

I stopped for lunch at a nice town on the Danube called Deggendorf. German food portions are big!!

I’m now in Ingolstadt, yet another town on the Danube (or Donau as it’s known in these parts). Very pretty place with a nice friendly vibe. Deggendorf to here was Autobahn. Not as scary as you’d think; most people drive 75-80mph with only a few very fast ones. And in case anyone is wondering, the answer is 210kph before I bottled it! It felt steady enough and there was a bit more to come if I’d wanted.

I have a (partial) plan to get home now. I’ve got a hotel in Calais Monday night and a Tuesday morning Chunnel booked. I’m an easy 2 days from Calais here so I’ll find somewhere nice to stop on the way and maybe some nice roads too.

BTW the bike has used a bit of oil now. When I left it was filled to the max, now it’s a bit above half way. I assume that’s OK.

Now the pictures, in the order things happened today.

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Thanks Kev, looks like a great trip.

tuftywhite said:

Thanks Kev, looks like a great trip.

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It is. It's useful writing it all down otherwise I'd forget!

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Morning view. A really nice hotel and what I like is that they (and the one yesterday too) do proper single rooms; smaller but cheaper than paying for a double room twice the size.

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Awesome write up. Thank you!

I have to ask - how come you’ve taken two helmets with you?

tjmouse said:

Awesome write up. Thank you!

I have to ask - how come you’ve taken two helmets with you?

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I took a full face and a flip up for when it's hot. Tbh a bit unnecessary and I can't wear the flip up all day as it hurts too much! One of my lessons learned although it's been no trouble as I just leave it chained to the bike.

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Day 15 Ingolstadt to Adenau 304 miles.


Quite a gruelling day. And someone impersonated me! I’ll explain later.


It was a day of two halves again. Well actually more like three thirds. The first couple of hours was a nice, mostly fast bimble through middle Germany on mostly straightish A-roads, but with a few nice bends every now and again. The problem was, it got hotter. And hotter. By the time I got on the Autobahn it was 35 C and slowly climbed to 37. I like it hot but that’s too much. I had my mesh jacket and gloves but I could have been naked and it still would have been too hot. Even a 90mph wind at near body temperature doesn’t cool you down. And you lose so much fluid too. I ended up stopping a few times, drinking lots and tipping water over my head/clothes. That worked for about 10 minutes before I was bone dry again.

After an unwanted detour into Wiesbaden because of a road closure (it looked lovely for stroll in shorts/t-shirt) I was back on the back roads. They were very similar to yesterday morning; a really enjoyable three hours or so. Some nice views of the Rhein too (sorry no photos, my phone was dead). Mostly quiet and with quite a few bikes. I was behind a group for a time with two sidecar outfits, at least one a GS. They weren’t going that slowly either.

Anyway, I got to Adenau at about 7. It’s right next to the Nurburgring so full of motor racing themed bars and hotels. My hotel is really nice and I’ve got a better room that I paid for thanks to being impersonated. When I arrived and announced myself the guy on reception looked puzzled. He said that Mr M had already checked in about an hour ago. Two chaps had arrived together, one with a reservation and one without and he asked the one without if he was Mr M and he said yes, and got my room. It’s the first hotel abroad I’ve been to that doesn’t ask for ID. Anyway luckily they had a double room free so I’ve got that instead of the small single my doppelganger has. I’ll see if I can figure out who they are at breakfast.

I just had a nice lasagne and a very drunk German lady tried to pull me. Definitely not my type! The waiter thought it was funny though, as did a group of English guys who had earlier experience of her. Another funny thing about here is that neither the cafe I had an ice cream and coffee at when I arrived nor the restaurant I had the lasagne/got pulled took cards; strictly cash only. I wonder why? I’ve used cards nearly all the time on this trip and everybody up till now has taken them, including the sunbed guy on the beach in Greece.

Calais is 4.5 hours from here the quick way so I’ll see if there are some nice roads I can start the trip off with. Or maybe not as it looks like rain tomorrow morning.

See you in Calais.

Here are today’s pictures. The high temp was on a very hot garage forecourt. And a couple of oldies at the services. They were owned by a couple and the front one is 1975 and according to the owner it was struggling a bit with the heat (and so were they!)

My bike is parked behind the hotel next to a Ducati 748 (I think) and a Kawasaki Z900. They look like toys next to mine! Some nice cars too.

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A bit of a miserable day and probably the worst view yet!

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Today's view could be worse - GS is still there

Deise said:

Today's view could be worse - GS is still there

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True ..


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Day 16 Adenau to Calais (France) 285 miles

Quite an easy day to finish my stint overseas. The first hour or so was wet, getting out of the Eifel hills towards Cologne and lower lying regions and on into Belgium. This gave me the chance to hone my wet weather riding skills, which for me is riding very slowly, braking very gently and avoiding leaning over wherever possible. By the time I got to the Autobahn the rain had almost stopped, which is the way I’d prefer it. BTW the Germans have a habit of closing roads, with either the place you want to go crossed out or an unexpected barrier in the road. They’re not big on signposted diversions either.

Belgian motorways are like ours; crowded, with lots of roadworks and bad driving. Their service stations are awful too (at least the three I tried; I left the first one because it was so bad). They’re dirty, run-down and expensive and you have to pay 70 cents for the toilet.

I got to Calais about 5:30 and found my beachside hotel. The room is a bit like a bedsit but it does have a kettle and coffee, which is a first on the trip. Calais beach is nice enough, although like a lot of seaside towns in the UK, a bit seedy. The bike is tucked away in the most out of the way place I could find so I think it will be OK. I put my slightly weedy chain round the front wheel (mustn't forget it’s there!), I didn’t bring my huge, heavy one and I’m glad I didn’t. Funnily enough the places I’ve felt the bike to be least safe are here and last night near the Nurburgring. It’s all relative though.

My route for tomorrow is pretty much decided for me; M20, M25, M11, A1. About 3 hours all being well. The crossing gets me to the UK about 8:30 so I’ll be home for an early lunch.

Some (not very interesting) pictures from today. Chicken strips a lot smaller now. I met a guy at the Belgian services on an XR1000 who showed me a pic of his identical to mine GS. He said he'd had headers,cab and injection work and it made 145 BHP. Hmm...

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