Balkans bound.

[Leith Laddie]

A 2.5 hour drive across Romania and we are in Sighisoara the home of Vlad the Impailer and home of a world heritage site old town. The old town didn’t disappoint and is full of wonderful sights. Our campsite is Aquarius in the centre of town a little pricey at 150 ROM or about £26. Flat pitch and no buses as everything is within walking distance although the castle is a steep walk. Plenty cafes and restaurants etc. it’s been very hot today and a wee thunderstorm would clear the air nicely but no sign of it yet.

 

[Leith Laddie]

After our hot day yesterday we have had constant rain all day. No in Sibiu which has a heritage centre with the usual painted houses and clock towers. We went to the palace art gallery which has European and Romanian pictures and artefacts. A fiver each for entry with the highlights being a couple of Rubéns and a Titian. We desperately need to wash the van after over a month on the road but kind of futile in this weather.

 

[Leith Laddie]

Only an hour’s drive today to the town of Deva famous for producing a string of Romanian gymnasts including Nadia Comanech who was the first to receive a perfect 10 in an Olympic Games. There is also a muckle castle on the hill reminds me of the one in that suburb of Leith called Embra.

 

[Leith Laddie]

A long drive from Deva into Hungary today we are parked up in some thermal springs resort which has seen better days. We wanted to go to Oradea but the reviews of the campsite put us off taking our 7.5 m Motorhome up a narrow and steep road so we decided to give it a miss. We got to the border and was just waved through great I thought after I’d mucked up the vignette and didn’t buy it until Wednesday rather than on Sunday. My cockiness was short lived when I realised that the Romanian checkpoint was right before the Hungarian checkpoint. My luck was in and after a brief check of our documents we were waved through. We head on to Budapest in the morning for a few days.

 

[Wanders from Glos]

Dubrovnik site cost us €19 per night with ASCI the site is Pod Maslinom. Split we stayed in Stobrec - Camping Split with ASCI €29 pn Sibenik we at Amadria Park €28 per night. Zadar cost €25pn at Falkensteinet. We are currently in Mostar in Camping Wimbledon I think it will cost us about €23 pn. We have done about 2500 miles from Scotland to Mostar. We paid €10 for a vignette for Austria and Slovenia we also bought a vignette but can’t remember exactly how much. We also paid tolls going through the Alps in Austria and in Croatia
Some pictures of Mostar.

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Enjoy Bosnia, we loved it when we went although that was about 15 years ago.

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[Wanders from Glos]

I don't know why I haven't noticed this tour before Leith Laddie, It's fascinating with lots of good pictures. It looks like you are having a fabulous trip and really deserves far more attention.

 

[Leith Laddie]

I don't know why I haven't noticed this tour before Leith Laddie, It's fascinating with lots of good pictures. It looks like you are having a fabulous trip and really deserves far more attention.

Thank you so much for your very kind comments.

 

[Leith Laddie]

The roads in Hungary are the very worst that we have driven on during our time here. We drove from the very run down thermal campsite to a fairly large one in Budapest costing €39 a night but it has free washing machines, free sunshine and great transport links into the city centre. At 7.30 pm the temperature is a very lovely 21 degrees. An afternoon of doing washing and setting up was an opportunity to allow us to watch the arrival of a large group of Captain Paul’s fellow countrymen and women as caravan after caravan parked up right next to us. Strange to hear so many people speaking English after hardly hearing any for the last 3 weeks or at least since we were in Croatia.

 

[Leith Laddie]

Budapest today was hot and very sunny. Great for seeing the magnificent architecture of this great city. Judge for yourself! The most poignant part of today was our visit to the holocaust memorial on the banks of the Daube which I didn’t photograph. The memorial is the representation of the shoes of those who were executed on the banks of the river and their bodies dumped in the Danube.

 

[Wanders from Glos]

Budapest today was hot and very sunny. Great for seeing the magnificent architecture of this great city. Judge for yourself! The most poignant part of today was our visit to the holocaust memorial on the banks of the Daube which I didn’t photograph. The memorial is the representation of the shoes of those who were executed on the banks of the river and their bodies dumped in the Danube.

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Great city, Budapest. It does seem to get hot, 40 degrees when we were there a few years ago.

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[Don Campbell]

We are now in Geneva on the way home having missed a lot of wet stuff in Italy. I wondered how many others were as surprised as we were by constant requests for cash payment in Croatia, Slovenia and Italy, normally accompanied by the explanation that the Government was robbing them! It was mostly in cafes, bars, restaurants and retail shops. Campsites mostly were happy with cards.

 

[Leith Laddie]

We are in Budapest just now and they are charging €39 a night in cash. We’ve made great use of the’free’ washing machines and the free sunshine. More places in Romania accepted cards than Croatia. The cash only approach knocks a real hole in the budgeting.

 

[Leith Laddie]

we visited the covered market in Budapest along with St Stephen’s Basilica both appear to serve the same purpose that of fleecing visitors.

 

[Beemer]

We crossed from Serbia to Romania at the smallest border crossing I’ve ever seen but both sides checked and stamped our passports checked our car registration and my driving license. Our visit to Timisoara was curtailed by a distinct lack of Motorhome parking and any campsites. It looked fabulous. We moved an hour and a half up the road to a lovely small site run by a Dutch couple . We had a great birthday dinner at goulash with potatoes and a pudding of pancakes. With a litre of local red wine.

Was the Romanian campsite called De Oude Wilg ? I have stayed there several times over the years and always found it pleasant and relaxing. The Dutch couple that run it are lovely

 

[Leith Laddie]

No we stayed near Miimis on a very small campsite with a three table restaurant.

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[Leith Laddie]

Scorchio in Budapest today we went over the river to Buda and found a restaurant called the Wagon but it was too early for lunch apparently. We then got a tram back to Pest where we did have lunch at the Marriott which was delicious and reasonably priced. Great spot overlooking the not so blue Danube. Our tram passed by the Parliament building so I thought it would be rude not to take a few pictures.

 

[Libellula]

I’m enjoying your travel vlog and photos. Thanks for all the information. This is one area I would like to ‘do’ in the future.

 

[Leith Laddie]

This must be the most stylish McDonald’s I’ve ever seen. We are in Vienna for a couple of nights. Staying at the camping Vienna West which has great transport links into the city centre. Not the most helpful reception staff and not the prettiest of campsites but we’re only here for a couple of nights and we are using it as a base to get into the town.

 

[Leith Laddie]

Today I met up with an old school friend in Vienna. He runs a tour company in Ireland. We both met when we went to Primary School 60 years ago. Facebook has been great for keeping in touch with friends and renewing old friendships. We had a lovely lunch opposite the opera and spent the rest of the afternoon gossiping like a couple of Newhaven fishwives. A great day and after the Hibees historic victory over Celtic a wee airing for my Hibs top.

 

[Stevil74]

What an amazing trip, thank you for posting it on here

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[Leith Laddie]

We left beautiful Vienna to head to Vilshoffen near Passau. We are parked in a camping aire next to the Danube beside Vilhoffen international airport. Small business planes all across Europe and beyond linking the town to the world. The site is costing €15 plus €3 for electricity showers are €1 and the sanitary facilities are spotless. We have met up with friends who live nearby.

 

[Leith Laddie]

Today was spent visiting friends and joining them for their granddaughter’s first birthday party. We managed to fit in a visit to a Baroque Monastery.

 

[bobnick]

Been well impressed with your thread.
Given a great isite of the regions you have visited.

 

[Leith Laddie]

Thank you!

 

[Leith Laddie]

Yesterday we drove from Vilshoffen near Passau to Luxembourg City where we will stay for 3 nights. We had intended to stop around Mannheim area but couldn’t find any space on the sites there. Luxembourg was also difficult to find anywhere with campsites full for the Pentecost holiday. We went to a very small free aire ina little village outside the city which can take 4 vans only to find 4 vans parked up already. We needed water so pulled into the service spot and the folks already there said just to park there for the night. We are booked into the Bon Accueil site for the next two nights which is where we stayed back in April at the start of our journey. The weather is going to be very hot so good for doing the washing.

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[Leith Laddie]

Luxembourg City on Monday holiday is very quiet with only restaurants open and very few buses running. It was a little taster for us of what we hope to see today. The campsite is once again full yet still feels very quiet The fuel is the cheapest since Romania, so we’ll fill up before heading to the Tunnel.

 

[3DOM]

Thanks for all the photos and taking the time
to share your journey with us.
Safe journey home

 

[Leith Laddie]

We left Luxembourg City this morning and headed to Coquelles before we go through the Tunnel tomorrow morning. All our shopping has been done and we will hopefully get as far north as possible possibly getting all the way home. It makes a difference with 2 drivers.

 

[Leith Laddie]

Waiting to board the 8.20 shuttle at the Tunnel. It’s turned so cold this morning. Hopefully the M25 will not be a nightmare.

 

[dryad]

thank you for sharing your trip, have enjoyed every post and pic, thank you..
but wrap up warm today, its pretty chilly out especially after the temps you've been enjoying..

.

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