Archived:Balkans

To Travel By Car: A Plan

1.#0 friday: [ben's house] to calais [[getting to ben's] + 2 hrs drive + 1.5 hrs tunnel]

1. saturday: calais to munich (a fast day, but this is just getting out) [9 hrs]

--- this is where the trip proper begins ---

1.#2 sunday: munich to ljubljana, via lake bled [4 hrs + 1 hr]; ljubljana in afternoon/evening

1. monday: ljubljana to trieste, via the skocjan caves [2 hrs + 1hr]; trieste in afternoon/evening
2. tuesday: trieste to split, via the plitvice lakes (a mainly driving day) [3 hrs + 3 hrs]
3. wednesday: split in morning; split to sarajevo, via mostar (just a pass-through) [1.5 hrs + 1.5 hrs]
4. thursday: sarajevo to kraljevo (and the zica monastery) [5 hrs]
5. friday: kraljevo to belogradchik, maybe via nis [2.5 + 2.5 hrs]
6. saturday: belogradchik and the castle in morning; belogradchik to sofia [3 hrs]
7. sunday: spend the day in sofia
8. monday: sofia to belgrade (a driving day) [7 hrs]
9. tuesday: if we care to do it, belgrade in morning; belgrade to budapest [5 hrs]
10. wednesday: budapest in morning; budapest to vienna [3 hrs]
11. thursday: if we care to do it, vienna in morning; vienna to prague [4 hrs]
12. friday: spend the day in prague

--- this is where we start the return ---

1.#15 saturday: prague to reims (a hard day's drive) [8 hrs]

1. sunday: reims to [ben's house] [5 hrs drive + 1.5 hrs tunnel + [getting home]]

--- a short pause before the end of time ---

• days of size >5 hrs drive in trip proper: only day 4, trieste to split and day 10, sofia to belgrade
• a proposed alternate also: add a third long day's drive, doing kraljevo to sofia in one run without stopping [7 hrs, direct], and adding an extra day to rest and see the sights in budapest
• note please that i have allowed time in all cases for diversion, meandering, getting lost, seeing additional sights and so forth; if you believe the times in "A Plan" below then one can reduce by 20% to 30% all the times which i have given

A Plan

1. London to Frankfurt (5 hours on continent + 2 in UK, so quite a long first day)
2. Frankfurt to Munich (inc. some German fun) (3:25)
3. Munich to Trieste (4:47)
4. Trieste to Sarajevo (6:49, so quite long)
5. Sarajevo to Podgorica (6:47, so quite long)
6. Podgorica to Tirana (2:30, a bit of a relief after the previous two days)
7. Tirana to Pristina (5:34)
8. Pristina to Belgrade (3:43)
9. Belgrade to Budapest (3:50)
10. Budapest to Prague (4:58)
11. Prague to Hannover (4:33)
12. Hannover to Rotterdam (3:53)
13. Rotterdam to London (2:55 on continent + 2 hours UK)

Note that this is 13 days, so we have room for expansion here.

Plan 9.Least-Car-Time

Route designed for maximal exploration of Balkans with minimal 6+ hour car journeys, maximal days with no driving.

1. Fly London to Zagreb - ~£150 return, but instantly cuts at least two days of pointless Germanliness - arrive 8pm
2. Zagreb to Split (4 hours by highway, 6 hours if we take the scenic coastal route)
3. Split to Sarajevo (5 hours. Potential to stop in the Alps)
4. Day in Sarajevo
5. Sarajevo to Belgrade (5 hours)
6. Belgrade to Prishtine (4 hours)
7. Day in Prishtine
8. Prishtine to Podgorica (5 hours)
9. Podgorica to Tirana (3 hours - plenty of scenery to explore)
10. Day in Tirana
11. Tirana to Bitola (4 hours - additional scenery) (FYR Macedonia tick)
12. Bitola to Igoumenitsa (4 hours)
13. Igoumenitsa to Venice (boat - Thurs 0800 - Fri 0800)
14. Venice to Zagreb
15. Day in Zagreb
16. Fly Zagreb to London

A plan to fly to Ljubljana, and back from Istanbul

A map

1. Fly to Ljubljana. Spend rest of the day there.
2. Drive to Trieste and spend day there (1:08)
3. Drive to Split (5:00)
4. Spend day in Split
5. Drive to Sarajevo and have a look around (4:25)
6. Drive to Podgorica - quite a long trip (6:48)
7. Spend day in Podgorica, then drive to Tirana (2:33)
8. Morning in Tirana, then drive to Skojpe (4:40)
9. Day trip to Pristina (1:34 each way)
10. Spend day in Skojpe
11. Drive to Salonica in morning/early afternoon. Spend rest of day there (4:00)
12. Day-trip to Mount Olympus (2:39 each way)
13. Spend morning in Salonica, and drive to Alexandroupoli (2:52)
14. Drive to Istanbul and Asia! (3:48)
15. Spend day in Istanbul
16. Fly home from Istanbul

A plan take a train to Munich, and back from Istanbul

A Map

1. Meet in London, take Eurostar to Brussels and IC(E) to Munich
2. Drive to Ljubljana (3:53) via Lake Bled (on the route)
3. Drive to Trieste via Škocjan Caves (on route) and spend day in mixture of two places (1:08)
4. Drive to Split, stopping off at Plitvice Lakes (5:00 to Split, or 6:07 to include diversion to lakes and park)
5. Spend day in Split
6. Drive to Sarajevo via Mostar (nice bridge) and have a look around (4:25)
7. Drive to Podgorica - quite a long trip (6:48)
8. Spend day in Podgorica, then drive to Tirana (2:33)
9. Morning in Tirana, then drive to Skojpe via Ohrid (4:40)
10. Day trip to Pristina (1:34 each way)
11. Spend day in Skojpe
12. Drive to Salonica in morning/early afternoon. Spend rest of day there (4:00)
13. Day-trip to Mount Olympus (2:39 each way)
14. Spend morning in Salonica, and drive to Alexandroupoli, perhaps including a visit to Mt. Athos (2:52)
15. Drive to Istanbul and Asia! (3:48)
16. Spend day in Istanbul and fly home