Romania & Bulgaria

[Djenks]

Having undertaken a number of UK trips in a recently acquired Hymer 564, I am about to undertake my first (extended) trip to mainland Europe in a motorhome. I'm heading for Greece with a view to spending a fair amount of time during the journey in Austria, Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria. I can find very little information regarding campsites in Romania and Bulgaria and wonder if anyone can help?
Thanks in anticipation
Dave Jenkins

 

[DBK]

The CamperContact app shows a few.

 

[Snowbird]

We are in Bulgaria now and the reason there is little information on Bulgarian campsites is that the few campsites there are, are nowhere near what could be regarded as European standard. They were obviously built During the commy block period and little if anything has been done to them since.

 

[Djenks]

Thanks John,
Unfortunately the link provides for a great deal of information on Western Europe (particularly Spain, France & Scandinavia) but very little on Romania or Bulgaria. I have ACSI Camping Card membership but they too are light on these two countries.

 

[DBK]

Thanks John,
Unfortunately the link provides for a great deal of information on Western Europe (particularly Spain, France & Scandinavia) but very little on Romania or Bulgaria. I have ACSI Camping Card membership but they too are light on these two countries.

I think as Snowbird observes, there aren't many, even if you found a complete list.
In the CamperContact app make sure you zoom in on the map, many sites don't appear until you do.
You can also find some using Google maps of course. Again, zoom into an area you are looking at and enter "camping" in the search field.
I'll be interested in what you find as the route you are looking at is one I would like to use, though probably only coming back from Greece as we would probably use a ferry from Italy on the way out.

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[Djenks]

Thanks, Snowbird. I thought that would be the case at least so far as Bulgaria is concerned. I suspect I will be spending considerably more time in Romania than Bulgaria. I'll not finalise my route until in country but I do plan on spending some time in Plovdiv and Sofia. If you know those areas please do let me know if there is anything that you consider even half decent. Thanks again.
Dave

 

[Djenks]

Good advice with regards to the google map. I wasn't using it to its full potential. Thanks John.

 

[Tykatem]

We were in Bulgaria in July for several weeks and stayed in 3 campsites, 2 of them were owned and run by ex pats.
Sakar-hills campsite is close to the Turkish border and not too far away from the Greek border

http://www.sakar-hills.com/index.html

Then there's camping velikotarnovo located 15 minutes drive from the old capital of Veliko Tarnovo.

http://www.campingvelikotarnovo.com/

Both of which were nice sites, well maintained and extremely clean.

Camping Zora is a lovely clean site on the Bulgarian seaside resort of Obzor

http://www.zora-ob.com/en/

We also wild camped in several places including a lovely beach just south of Varna with no hassle.
As for Romania we just staged through and wild camped using Campercontact & Park4night

Pete

 

[Djenks]

Thanks Pete. I've made a note of the sites. I suspect a degree of wild camping will be necessary (to properly exploit the motorhome concept and keep costs down) and I won't mind that once I get a proper handle on where all my electricity is currently going. I'm a newbie to all this and for the moment at least it seems that despite having a significant sized solar panel and two leisure batteries I just cannot get my nose ahead when it comes to conserving electric. It can only get better! Thanks again.

 

[DBK]

Thanks Pete. I've made a note of the sites. I suspect a degree of wild camping will be necessary (to properly exploit the motorhome concept and keep costs down) and I won't mind that once I get a proper handle on where all my electricity is currently going. I'm a newbie to all this and for the moment at least it seems that despite having a significant sized solar panel and two leisure batteries I just cannot get my nose ahead when it comes to conserving electric. It can only get better! Thanks again.

I assume you have instruments to show battery voltage and current drain? I find these essential. They are the only way to know what's happening with the system and what can be left on and what needs to be turned off.

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[Snowbird]

One more thing that is against anyone thinking of camping in Bulgaria is although the weather can be good up until October, as it was last year. Everywhere, and I mean everywhere closes around the second week of September. We were here until the beginning of November last year and the weather was superb. There is a huge supermarket just down the road on the way to Sunny Beach. They emptied the place and locked it up on the third week of September. All the bars and restaurants close and our swimming pools were emptied the second week of September, even though the temperatures were still in the high 20s. I have asked why they do not extend the season several times and am told all the staff go home during September, then move to Bansko for the ski season.

 

[Djenks]

That is helpful; disappointing but helpful.
Unfortunately I cannot bring the start of my trip forward and having just looked at what the area of Veliko Tarnovo has to offer, I was considering adding Veliko Tărnovo to the draft itinerary. Thanks again.

 

[Snowbird]

One more thing to remember. Once winter does come to Bulgaria, it comes with a vengeance. Minus 25c is not uncommon, even in coastal areas. Once the weather does start to turn am outa here sharpish.

 

[Baldeagle7470]

That is helpful; disappointing but helpful.
Unfortunately I cannot bring the start of my trip forward and having just looked at what the area of Veliko Tarnovo has to offer, I was considering adding Veliko Tărnovo to the draft itinerary. Thanks again.

Veliko Tarnavo is a University town,I own a house close by but have not been there for some years,it's an interesting town with a little architectural interest and from memory at the confluence of the rivers in the town sits a pretty monastery which can be viewed from a couple of the better restaurants there.
If you have done your homework you may know it was once the capital of BG I think,however some years since visiting as I said but enjoyed my time there,worth a visit.
Do remember trying to find the stop cock under about five feet of snow in October .

 

[Djenks]

What with Pete's last post and now this comment by Baldeagle, I'm becoming increasingly concerned about my planned trip .
No, nothing's going to stop me. I'll just have to make sure I am sufficiently further south to avoid the worst of the winter.
Thanks to everyone for the responses to this thread. Any other advice will be much appreciated. I'll keep you informed of developments. Regards.

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[Djenks]

Apologies. Last post should have read "What with Snowbird's last post... etc"

 

[veevee]

This is all in French but most is self explanatory or use a translator on the section titles.

https://www.meteoblue.com/fr/meteo/prevision/modelclimate/sofia_bulgarie_727011

It's a historic idea of the weather in Sofia through the year. Of course these are averages and there can always be sudden exceptions, but it will give you a rough idea of what to expect and if it changes quickly then head south.

Here is the weekly weather and for the 14 day weather just click on 14-jours in the panel to the left.

https://www.meteoblue.com/fr/meteo/prevision/semaine/sofia_bulgarie_727011

You'll have to decide what you want out of your winter travels, involve yourself in local life or need a resort type area. Of course Spain and Portugal are hard to beat for resorts, but they are busy. Where you are heading will be different, just go with what you find and you'll be ok, always trust your instincts though.

BTW, there is a recent travel blog of a couple who have travelled through all the countries you have mentioned, if you are interested just ask and I'll post a link here.

 

[Djenks]

Weather info appears very comprehensive. I'll make use of that wherever I go. Thanks, Veevee.
Yes, I would appreciate a link to the travel blog. From all that has been said I suspect there will be a significant difference (in the various countries) depending on the season but it would be prudent for me to learn as much as I can irrespective of the season. Thanks again.

 

[veevee]

Here's the link to the Our Tour blog, they are a very nice couple and write the most comprehensive blog I've ever read. There's an expandable map of their travels about the 1/3 of the way down the home page and about 1/2 way down there's a country by country guide. Hope you have enough time to read what you need, there's a lot of it...

http://ourtour.co.uk/home/