Routes to Greece

[DaiB]

This year we are thinking of driving all the way to our boat rather than using the Ancona ferry route which we have done several times. Michelin gives two routes with 80 miles difference between them. 1st is via Dresden/Prage/Bratislave/Boegrad/Skopje/Thessaloniki and the 2nd is Stuttgard/Salzburg/Ljubljanka/Zagreb/Beograd/Skopje/Thessalonik.
Have you driven all the way and could you please advise which way you went and what if any problems you had.
Thanks in advance for any replies.

 

[B&M]

I would advise you to avoid Macedonia, a friend of mine got fleeced at the border when entering. The customs post insisted that their insurance was invalid and they had to take out very expensive local cover before they were allowed to transit the country. Relations between Greece and Macedonia are at rock bottom at present so don't expect a smooth entry/exit.

 

[Mr Cassandra]

I would advise you to avoid Macedonia, a friend of mine got fleeced at the border when entering. The customs post insisted that their insurance was invalid and they had to take out very expensive local cover before they were allowed to transit the country. Relations between Greece and Macedonia are at rock bottom at present so don't expect a smooth entry/exit.

How much was this expensive cover? Have you done this trip or relying on hearsay.?

 

[B&M]

It cost him €250 to buy what they said was a green card insurance, he was however towing a trailer which may have increased the cost.

 

[RichardS]

It's an easy trip as far as Zagreb although after that I've no experience unless you count 30+ years ago.

However, have tried several routes over the years, the best route from Calais is Brussels - Aachen - Cologne - Frankfurt - Nuremberg - Munich - Salzburg - Lubjliana - Zagreb

Richard

Edit: we always go via Lubjliana these days but I now recall that once when we actually wanted to go via Zagreb we actually went Nuremburg - Regensburg - Graz - Zagreb rather than dipping south to Munich.

 

[Mr Cassandra]

It cost him €250 to buy what they said was a green card insurance, he was however towing a trailer which may have increased the cost.

I have often looked at this trip and cannot get a straight answer to the Macadonion green card,some say its cheap and other expensive.
I am in Austria and need to get to Greece this week.and still cannot find the true costs.

 

[AndrewB]

I too regularly do the route via Ancona but this year wondered the same as DaiB.

As my car insurance and break-down cover does not include Macedonia but does cover Bulgaria, I had been thinking of trying the route Beograd - Sofia - Thessaloniki. Slightly longer but avoids the problem above. Has anyone tried that?

 

[vyv_cox]

Owen was in Bulgaria last week. He says Sofia to Thessaloniki is good, cheap motorway, reasonable main roads, light traffic.

 

[Mr Cassandra]

Owen was in Bulgaria last week. He says Sofia to Thessaloniki is good, cheap motorway, reasonable main roads, light traffic.

Who is Owen¿
I am on the ferry boat now.

 

[macd]

Who is Owen¿

He's the person who told Vyv about the roads from Sofia to Thessaloniki and sufficiently credible to it to be worth his posting that information here. Less relevant, he's also Vyv's son.

 

[Roberto]

reading this thread is like browsing a 20th century history book: Munich and Nuremberg, the whole Balkans lot, the iron curtain, bulgarian resorts, Yugoslavia... just missing the Ottoman empire anyone cares to drive through Constantinopolis ?

 

[macd]

Hi Roberto.
If the OP were really intrepid (and had a year or so to waste), he might follow Paddy Fermor's route. Accomodation might be a problem, though: not much nobility left in the latter half of the trip. He could round it off nicely by kidnapping a general in Crete.

 

[Roberto]

Hi Roberto.
If the OP were really intrepid (and had a year or so to waste), he might follow Paddy Fermor's route. Accomodation might be a problem, though: not much nobility left in the latter half of the trip. He could round it off nicely by kidnapping a general in Crete.

Hello Mac,
once more, thanks for your finest suggestions. I did not know him, a few minutes of internet searches and.. what a person

I need to learn more now.

 

[Tranona]

Hello Mac,
once more, thanks for your finest suggestions. I did not know him, a few minutes of internet searches and.. what a person

I need to learn more now.

Most important thing is to visit his house and get his housekeeper (if she is still there) to cook you a moussaka. featured on one of Rick Stein's programmes a couple of years ago. Look delicious.

 

[macd]

I need to learn more now.

Artemis Cooper's biog is a good place to start, Roberto.
To anyone one else, please excuse thread-drift -- although Fermor's works on Greece might interest anyone who spends time there.

 

[Metabarca]

I exchanged correspondence with Leigh Fermor some years ago and there was an intention to visit him in Greece. Sadly death intervened. A great man. His London to Istanbul route has recently been travelled and a book written about it (Walking the woods and the water) but frankly it was rather a disappointment. One of Leigh Fermor's fellow liaison officers (responsible for links with the Slovenians) is still alive and kicking in Trieste. Another extraordinary fellow.