Weston-super-Mare/Elenite round trip

[henryjak]

Better late than never! Excuse any hiccups in conversions to £s!

DRIVING from ENGLAND via DOVER-CALAIS FERRY, FRANCE, SWITZERLAND, ITALY, VENICE-IGOUMENISTA FERRY, GREECE, BULGARIA

Left Weston-super-Mare at lunchtime Wednesday 4th August. Have not booked channel ferry yet. Arrived Dover 1720. The ferry ticket that was £25 on the internet was now £100 as it was ’last minute’. If we wait until midnight the fare would be back to £25. So booked the ferry on the internet for £25. Had a meal and then waited at Docks. Left just after midnight and arrived at Calais 0230 (local time). Drove until 0630 with 2 quick stops for a brew. Then had another brew and 15 minutes shut-eye. Off again at 0700. Break for 10 mins at 0845, 50 mins at 1015, 50 mins at 1330 and then drove on through the Swiss border to Lucerne, arriving at 1715. Roads in France had very little traffic on them. No police evident. Paid Euro 40 for road tax at the border; were given a crisp 10 Swiss Franc note in return. I presume this is normal practice although Henry had said to the official, when asked for Euro 40, that he wouldn’t be coming back again! Asked at a few hotels for their rates - not the cheapest country to stay in. Managed to find a hotel for CHF150 - equivalent £90.

Friday 6th. Left Lucerne at 0935. Spectacular scenery, many tunnels, longest of which was 17.5km. There can be major hold-ups going through the light-operated tunnels, but we were fine going in our direction. Other way - maybe 2 hours in a queue?! No police evident once again. Into Italy, motorway quite busy but fast-moving, around Milan. Still no police! Arrived at Lake Garda, just after 1700 having had a few 15 min breaks. Booked in at a hotel overlooking the lake - £65.

Saturday 7th. Left Lake Garda at 1030 and arrived in Venice at 1400. Had a couple of 15 mins breaks and got lost approaching Venice due to the somewhat strange road signs. Boarded ferry to Igoumenitsa in Greece at 1630 and left dock at 1700. Many people had boarded by foot earlier and had claimed a ‘spot’ on the boat and had set up camp. Tents, hammocks, inflatable mattresses. We had paid Euro 46 extra to have ‘airplane’ type seats - not the most comfortable. We would have been better off sleeping on one of the many settees! Very laid-back atmosphere. Nice food in restaurant. It is possible to go to your car during the voyage, but we did not know. We could have ‘brewed-up’, rather than pay Euro 2.50 for a cuppa. Arrived at Igoumenitsa at 1900 on Sunday 8th. Off boat 2000. Drove to Ioannina, roads, including motorway, almost empty and booked into 5-star hotel at 21.45 - £54 a night - bargain! To make up for no sleep Wednesday night and lack of sleep on the ferry, decided to stay 2 nights. Interesting, university Greek town, set on boarder of large lake.

Tuesday 10th. Left Ioannina at 1030. Motorway extremely quiet. The motorway will eventually be a toll-road but this has not yet begun. Spectacular scenery, countless tunnels and signs warning us to slow down due to it being ‘bear’ country! No proper service areas, though one was under construction. Few and far between pull-ins with loos only. Arrived at Porto Lagos at 1700 and booked into apartment - £33.

Wednesday 11th. Left Porto Lagos at 0845 (earlier than usual - to get away from the mosies!) Stopped by police within minutes of leaving. The only police we saw in Greece, apart from traffic police in Ioannina. They had a speed camera but we were not speeding. They were probably interested because of the GB plate. Wanted to see passports and asked us a few questions. Continued along the coast of the Thracian Sea, all motorway but with lovely views. Motorway still quiet - sometimes, on ’straights’, you cannot see a car in front or behind! Stopped just before Bulgarian border. Stopped in a bar for a drink. Very friendly Greeks - would take no money for drinks and the whole bar were discussing the ‘best way’ for us to proceed to Bourgas. Arrived at Bulgarian border at 1400. Showed our passports and were waved on. Strange we thought as no-one had asked us for any money. About 1km on we reached the real Bulgarian border - the last border had been Greek! Paid Euro 13 for one month’s Vignette (road-tax). The roads were the busiest and bumpiest so far but we averaged 45mph. Police evident and pulling in motorists. Arrived at Privilege at 2100.

TOTAL OUTWARD MILEAGE

Clock on leaving Weston 937
Arrival at Privilege 2800

Distances - approximate
Weston-super-Mare to Dover 223
Dover to Lucerne 525
Lucerne to Venice, via Lake Garda 375
Igoumenista to Porto Lagos 350
Porto Lagos to Bulgarian Border 155
Bulgarian Border to Elenite 235

1863
less 23 (mistake in Italy!!) = 1840 miles

Driving time (hours)

Weston-super-Mare to Dover 4.30
Calais to Lucerne 11.30
Lucerne to Lake Garda 7.00
Lake Garda to Venice 3.15
Igoumenitsa to Ioannina 1.45
Ioannina to Porto Lagos 6.00
Porto Lagos to Bulgarian Border 3.30
Border to Elenite 6.00

43.30 hours

Average driving speed 43 m.p.h.

PETROL

Already in tank £33.00
Dover - cash £28.00
Switzerland - card CHF 37.89 £23.00
Italy - card Euro 32.60 £27.00
Greece - cash Euro 30 £25.00
Greece - cash Euro 20 £16.50
______
£177.50

Less fuel left in tank - £20
Total =£ 157.00

TOLLS

France - Euro 20.25 £16.87
France - Euro 13.20 £11.00
France - Euro 4.10 £3.42
France - Euro 4.00 £3.33
Italy - Euro 1. £1.34
Italy - Euro 9.20 £ 7.66
Italy - Euro 4.50 £ 3.75
Greece - Euro 2.00 1.66
_____
£49.03
Less 19km mistake in Italy £3.75
Total =£ 45.28

Note: Toll will open imminently approximately 100km before Thessoloniki, travelling from Igoumenista.
No Service Areas of any consequence between Igoumenista and Thessoloniki, though one is under construction approximately 35km before Thessoloniki.

EXTRAS

Road Tax Switzerland - Euro 40.00
Less CHF 10.00 £27.30
Vignette Bulgaria
1 week - 5 Euro 1 month - 13 Euro £10.80
______
Total £ 38.10

FERRIES

Dover to Calais - card £25.00
Venice to Igoumenitsa - Euro 234 - card £195.00
______
Total £ 220.00

HOTELS

Lucerne - card - CHF 150 £90
Lake Garda - card - Euro 78 £65
Ioannina - card - Euro 130 (2 nights) £108
Porto Lagos - cash - Euro 40 £33
___
£ 296
Total = £757.00



DRIVING from BULGARIA via SERBIA, CROATIA, SLOVENIA, AUSTRIA, GERMANY, LUXEMBOURG, BELGIUM, FRANCE, CALAIS-DOVER FERRY, ENGLAND

Left Privilege at 0815 on Wednesday. Roads have improved over the past year and had no problems. Stopped several times for a break and arrived in Sofia at the hotel Jasmin at 1500. Highly recommendable hotel - Euro 35 - excellent cuisine! Left Sofia 1000 Thursday and headed for Serbia, about 1 hour away. No problem at border apart from about 45 minute wait. Vehicle engines were turned off and vehicles pushed up to the crossing. Official was only interested in Green Card which thankfully we had. Charges for insurance can vary from Euro 50 - Euro 200 depending on the official on duty. Serbia very cheap - particularly tobacco. Tolls not high. They accept Euros at most places in Serbia, notably Service Areas, Petrol Stations and Tolls. The currency is the Dinar. If you stop at road works, the approach to tolls, service areas or traffic lights, it is likely that someone will clean your windscreen and expect payment for it! Fine for the first clean as windscreen is more than likely dirty after the Bulgarian dust - but when someone cleans it 30 minutes later……refuse to pay! Drove on into Croatia - Euro 5 toll on Border - also an expensive toll around the capital Zagreb of Euro 12. We were hoping to find a hotel at a Service Area but, although there appeared to be quite a few - they had all closed down. Found ourselves driving for over 2 hours in darkness so saw very little of the Croatian countryside. At 2230 we decided to sleep in the car. We ate in the Service Area’s 24 hour restaurant, (currency is the Kunar but they take Euros), then hit the sack. There were several lorries parked up and a couple of cars. Woke up at 0200 - a Mercedes parked next to us had a table cloth on bonnet, laden with food. Several people - some from the Mercedes and some from a car parked several metres away, were enjoying a picnic. The car park was full - many cars had steamed up windows. Bodies were laid out in the cars and all around the car park on the verges. Lack of hotels and being a somewhat poor country meant that sleeping ‘rough’ was more than acceptable. There must have been a couple of hundred people in the car park! The clocks have gone back an hour.
Left the Service Area at 0510 and reached the Slovenian Border at 0730. Bought a vignette - Euro 15, but there are no tolls in Slovenia. Booked into a hotel at 1100 in the small town of Bled - Euro 82. Spent the day exploring - probably worth staying a day or two if you have the time. Left Bled 1020 Saturday and drove towards the Austrian border. Actual border line is mid-way through a tunnel - paid a toll of Euro 6.50 before entering the tunnel. Was expecting to fly through a scenic Austria - not too many miles - but how wrong we were. Found ourselves in queues of traffic , mainly due to the limitation of cards through the tunnels, and so many tunnels and very little actual ’Alpine’ scenery. Paid a second tunnel toll of Euro 9.50. Probably wasted 2 hours or more in queues. Rather than travel up thhe route we came down, we decided to drive up through Germany, The roads were excellent and had the added bonus of being toll-free! The Germany road runs almost parallel to the road we came down on in France and at times they lie close to one another. Definitely the road to be on when you compare it with the high tolls in France. Booked into a Service Area Motel for the night Euro 59. Sunday - continued through Germany the next morning, and into Luxembourg. Noticed long queues at Service Area Petrol Station and also in Service Area shop. Many German, Belgium and France people purchasing petrol and tobacco at bargain prices. Drove into Belgium and up to Brussels. Stopped off to visit friends for one night before heading to Calais - which is about 2 hours from Brussels. Found time to visit a supermarket in Belgium to stock up on Belgium Beer and also Adinkerke for cheap tobacco. Caught the ferry late Monday night - £30 and arrived at Dover during the early hours. Another night in the car - too tired to handle the 5 hour drive to Weston so decided to take the opportunity of spending some time with daughter in Brighton on Tuesday morning. Arrived back in Weston late afternoon.

TOTAL RETURN MILEAGE

Clock on leaving Privilege 2901
Arrival at Weston-super-Mare 4955

Distances - approximate

Privilege to Sofia 272
Sofia to Bled 622
Bled to Weston-super-Mare 1160
2054

Less 7 miles Sofia 2047
55 miles Bled 1992
Less 50 detour Brussels/Laura = 1942 miles

DRIVING TIME - approximate

Privilege to Sofia 7.00
Sofia to West Serbia 11.00
Serbia, through Croatia to Bled 6.30
Bled to hotel in Germany 9.00
(incl. 2 hour hold-up Austria tunnels)
Hotel to Belgium friend 9.30
Belgium friend to Calais 2.00
Dover to Weston, via Brighton 5.00

50.00

Average Driving speed = 38.8 m.p.h.

PETROL

Already in tank £8.00
Bulgaria - 42 Lev - cash £17.90
Bulgaria - 37 Lev - cash £15.75
Serbia - 2078 Dinar - card £16.36
Croatia - 179 Kuna - card £20.50
Austria - 32 Euro - card £26.31
Germany - 35 Euro - card £28.94
Belgium - 30 Euro - card £24.67
England - card £26.69
______
£185.12
Less £10 in tank

Total £ 175.12

TOLLS

Serbia - Euro 7.30 - card £5.80
Serbia - Euro 0.90 - cash £0.75
Zagreb - Kuna 105 - debit £12.02
Croatia border - Euro 5 - cash £4.16
Austrian Border - Euro 6.50 - cash £5.40
Austria - Euro 9.50 - cash £7.90
_____
Total £ 36.13

EXTRAS

Slovenia Vignette - Euro 15 - debit £12.29
Austria Vignette - Euro 7.90 - card £6.50
_____
Total£ 18.79

FERRIES

Calais to Dover £ 30.00

HOTELS

Sofia - cash - Lev 70 £29.77
Bled - card - Euro 82 £67.72
Germany - card - Euro 59 £44.51
_____
Total £ 142.00

Total = £402.04



FINAL COSTS

Petrol £332.62
Tolls £81.41
Extras (road taxes) £ 56.89
Ferries £250.00
Hotels £438.00
______
Grand Total £ 1,158.92

Hopefully setting out next Monday - trying out a different route to Privilege