Route to Turkey?

[Orion]

We’re in the initial planning stage for next year and considering heading to Turkey for roughly 6-8 weeks in country - plus a week(ish) or two either way.

Not too keen on traversing Austria as we are >3500kg so a potential route would be Germany - Czech Republic - Slovakia - Hungary - Serbia - Bulgaria - Kapikule border crossing, with an option of Romania instead of Serbia if better driving wise.

Any thoughts from those who’ve gone that way would be appreciated.

Return is looking to be via northern Greece and the Igoumenitsa ferry to Ancona and over the alps ‘somewhere’.

 

[Langtoftlad]

Northernraider ?

 

[frwjd]

I believe the Igoumenitsa ferry gets booked up way in advance, others will know.

We went in November 2021 via Switzerland, Italy, former Yugoslavia, Bulgaria and Greece.
What time of year are you thinking?

 

[Orion]

I believe the Igoumenitsa ferry gets booked up way in advance, others will know.

We went in November 2021 via Switzerland, Italy, former Yugoslavia, Bulgaria and Greece.
What time of year are you thinking?

Yes, thanks we are aware of the ferry situation as we tried to get the Ancona routes when touring Greece and Crete in 2022 - had to make do with Bari and the not ideal drive down the A14/E55.

Possibly leaving U.K. mid to end April back July.

 

[guy b]

We’re in the initial planning stage for next year and considering heading to Turkey for roughly 6-8 weeks in country - plus a week(ish) or two either way.

Not too keen on traversing Austria as we are >3500kg so a potential route would be Germany - Czech Republic - Slovakia - Hungary - Serbia - Bulgaria - Kapikule border crossing, with an option of Romania instead of Serbia if better driving wise.

Any thoughts from those who’ve gone that way would be appreciated.

Return is looking to be via northern Greece and the Igoumenitsa ferry to Ancona and over the alps ‘somewhere’.

On our way back from a couple of months in Turkey. Driven to Istanbul a couple of years ago via the Hungary Serbia route and it’s a long long way.
This time we’ve got insurance for Albania and it’s been so much easier and quicker to get into and across Greece. Far more to see and feels a lot safer than Serbia.
Turkey is amazingly different but expect a level of rubbish you probably haven’t come across before. The places to see are some of the best we’ve seen across Europe BUT in between there is little to see and sometimes little opportunity to stop.
Can let you have more details if you need about route etc.

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[WESTY66]

We’re in the initial planning stage for next year and considering heading to Turkey for roughly 6-8 weeks in country - plus a week(ish) or two either way.

Not too keen on traversing Austria as we are >3500kg so a potential route would be Germany - Czech Republic - Slovakia - Hungary - Serbia - Bulgaria - Kapikule border crossing, with an option of Romania instead of Serbia if better driving wise.

Any thoughts from those who’ve gone that way would be appreciated.

Return is looking to be via northern Greece and the Igoumenitsa ferry to Ancona and over the alps ‘somewhere’.

Haven’t you got the go box equivalent malarkey in Czech, Slovakia and Hungary?? Being >3.5t in that part of Europe is a nightmare! As it Happens I traverse Austria easily without the go box at 5tons.
Interested in your route and trip though as I’ll be doing it in the latter half of 26, if it starts getting that difficult I’d rather drop down to 3.5t than miss out

 

[Brains]

We have found, after several transits of Austria, if you look like you are a conventional 3.5t motorhome, then you just buy a normal sticker Vignette at the border.

Our van, like your van, is also produced as a 3500kg model.
It just happens, as we are UK registered, ours, like yours, happens to be a bit over 3500kg because C1 licences are common in the over 50's in the UK.

My feeling is you are unlikely to be caught.

That said, I'd not try it with an A class, or a tag axle, or anything much over 7m
And if you do get caught, the fine can be quite heavy.

 

[Rob Turner]

Not a massive fan but the Roaming Radfords on YT have done that trip recently. There will be links to sites and border crossings etc.

 

[Parrot Face]

On our way back from a couple of months in Turkey. Driven to Istanbul a couple of years ago via the Hungary Serbia route and it’s a long long way.
This time we’ve got insurance for Albania and it’s been so much easier and quicker to get into and across Greece. Far more to see and feels a lot safer than Serbia.
Turkey is amazingly different but expect a level of rubbish you probably haven’t come across before. The places to see are some of the best we’ve seen across Europe BUT in between there is little to see and sometimes little opportunity to stop.
Can let you have more details if you need about route etc.

Interested to know how and where you got your insurance for Albania?

 

[guy b]

Interested to know how and where you got your insurance for Albania?

Came as standard with NFU for the last two years

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[suavecarve]

Did Austria last year in 3500+ no vignette.

Its a piece of the proverbial wee wee.

Having done it, I would be very unconcerned about traversing Austria. Prior to doing it, I was quite concerned about making sure I didnt go onto a vignette charging road.

Set sat nav for no tolls and follow instructions. Its just like France avoiding the Toll roads. The rest of the roads are fine with occasional mountain

 

[Marky146]

Sounds fun. I drove Isle of Man to Ankara in 4 days but you wouldn’t want to do that. The motorway goes all the way now.

Tunnel, head towards Brussels then East towards Frankfurt. The road branches at Passau and heads towards Graz. From there Maribor, Zagreb, Belgrade, Sofia Plovdiv and continue to Edirne. You can get the stickers for road tolls for all the countries together at the first border you need them. Turkey you can buy road insurance at the border when you get your permits, etc.

I would not recommend Istanbul. One huge traffic jam. Head south to Gallipoli- do the battlefield and graves tours and then get the ferry to Canakale. From there go to Troy! Then you can run along the Southern Coast of the Sea of Marmaris, towards Istanbul or go Sluth to Izmir and then east down towards Antalya or East to Ankara.

Just don’t under estimate the size of the country. It takes an hour to fly Antalya to Samsun. And well over two to fly from Izmir to Van in the East.

I flew for Sunexpress and we did the Anadolujet services from Ankara. Two fun years. Beautiful country. Crap politics.

Afiyet Olsun Hocam!

 

[lateralsteve]

I would avoid Austria at all costs. Returning via Brenner pass encountered Hitler's grandson, got fined 400 euros with our 11metre MH

 

[rvnib]

Recently finished 3 months in Turkey, happy to help with any information we can share. Certainly know an awful lot more now than we did at the beginning of June!

 

[Brains]

I would avoid Austria at all costs. Returning via Brenner pass encountered Hitler's grandson, got fined 400 euros with our 11metre MH

What was the charge ?
I would have thought Hitlers grandson would have at least invaded your country for any major transgression.

As per my comments above.
We have transited Austria several times, always with a Vignette, we have a German built motorhome,
it looks the same as all the other German motorhomes, except the steering wheel is on the 'wrong side' and its over 3500kg.
I would not try transiting Austria in an 11m motorhome unless you had a Go-Box

It is possible to transit Austria without a GoBox or a Vignette,
but you need to have a good navigator and not read the road signs, as they will always direct you to the main route.
(Also if snow or traffic block a route, you may have to sit and wait, or find a very long way around)

Austrian Vignette Stickers only cost a few Euros and are available in motorway service stations, shops and petrol station close to the border.

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