Connemara to Bulgaria

thecivvie

thecivvie

Well travelled
Location
Ireland
A friend and I are planning a road trip across Europe to Bulgaria for late June or early July to go to the mini Horizons Unlimited event at Motocamp Bulgaria.

He is on a CRF250L, I think, and I will be on my Himalayan. We are planning to stay off the main roads as much as possible. Max of 300 miles per day. We are allowing a week or so for each direction and a week or so there, so a month.

I will more than likely carry 1.5l of petrol in a container as backup.

We hope to use Bunk A Biker where possible or camp in people's gardens. I am medically retired so funds low.

Happy to meet up along the way or have people join us. We are 2 mad cap ex pats.

I will update this as we setup dates etc.

I will share the gp file via drive when I get a chance. Currently it is a rough plan.

Screenshot_20231116-124105.png
 
R

Roy Gavin

Well travelled
Location
Adelaide Australia
Looks a bit like a run I did in 1964 on a Velocette Venom, although we started from Edinburgh and turned down to Split on the Croatian coast.
Rained non stop on the way down so took us six days but made it back in three long 600ish mile days and the Dover ferry.
Only met the pillion , Maggie, a couple of weeks before, but she could read maps so we got on fine.
Lost touch with her for a couple of years but ended up marrying in 1967 and we has 45 years together.
Roads will have changed since then, for the better, so 300 miles a day should be no problem, but if you take seven days you would probably only need nearer 200 .
 
thecivvie

thecivvie

Well travelled
Location
Ireland
Roy Gavin said:
Looks a bit like a run I did in 1964 on a Velocette Venom, although we started from Edinburgh and turned down to Split on the Croatian coast.
Rained non stop on the way down so took us six days but made it back in three long 600ish mile days and the Dover ferry.
Only met the pillion , Maggie, a couple of weeks before, but she could read maps so we got on fine.
Lost touch with her for a couple of years but ended up marrying in 1967 and we has 45 years together.
Roads will have changed since then, for the better, so 300 miles a day should be no problem, but if you take seven days you would probably only need nearer 200 .
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I went to Mongolia in 2015 via Russia on a Honda Varadero. People said it was a bad choice but she behaved perfectly.
Did some stupid long days including sleeping on a petrol station's grass area. Not that I got much sleep.
Been to Russia 7 times in total and wanted to live there. Last time was 2 days after the Novichok poisoning in England. Being on a UK passport didn't go down well. Was supposed to be there for a year, left after 2 weeks.
 
R

Roy Gavin

Well travelled
Location
Adelaide Australia
Yep, 600 mile days are just about the definition of stupidity.
But I lost my wallet in Yugoslavia and had to wait on cash being transferred to us so we started the trip back two days late!
The camp site insisted that they held all our documents in their safe, so only lost cash, so I common sense was forced on u there!
 
Wintrup

Wintrup

Well travelled
Location
Cumbria UK
That's a trip I've been meaning to make for years. Usually I just go down to the south of France.
If you want to save money, then wild camp wherever the opportunity presents itself. With that in mind, look to buy a tent of a colour that blends in with the landscape and is quick and easy to erect. I've used a single pole Golite tipi tent for years. It's spacious, stable and, most importantly, waterproof.

In France use the municipal campsites. Most big towns have them and they are usually subsidised, so cheap.
 
thecivvie

thecivvie

Well travelled
Location
Ireland
Roy Gavin said:
Yep, 600 mile days are just about the definition of stupidity.
But I lost my wallet in Yugoslavia and had to wait on cash being transferred to us so we started the trip back two days late!
The camp site insisted that they held all our documents in their safe, so only lost cash, so I common sense was forced on u there!
Click to expand...
We are planning a week to get across so taking it super easy. Same on the way back.
 
Overdrive

Overdrive

Well travelled
Staff member
Location
Southern UK
I note you plan a maximum of 300m a day, on a CRF and a Himmy that’s quite some saddle time unless you’re on major roads.
What’s the total distance to get there? Maybe someone else can chime in with a realistic average speed of the bikes, but on varying roads and loaded with camping gear I very rarely average over 30mph on my Himalayan.
Sounds like the makings of an epic trip that I'd possibly like to do. Hope it doesn’t clash with the ABR at the end of June which is a must go for me - maybe you could combine it? A great event.
 
thecivvie

thecivvie

Well travelled
Location
Ireland
Overdrive said:
I note you plan a maximum of 300m a day, on a CRF and a Himmy that’s quite some saddle time unless you’re on major roads.
What’s the total distance to get there? Maybe someone else can chime in with a realistic average speed of the bikes, but on varying roads and loaded with camping gear I very rarely average over 30mph on my Himalayan.
Sounds like the makings of an epic trip that I'd possibly like to do. Hope it doesn’t clash with the ABR at the end of June which is a must go for me - maybe you could combine it? A great event.
Click to expand...
The plan is to take a week from the ferry port in France to Bulgaria. Things depend on the ferry we book, but we will only do 50 miles the first day in France.
Then we have set a 9am start to a 6pm finish and these are set in stone. We want to be finished early and not travelling at night time.
That gives us about 250 miles per day and allowing for an hour's lunch. We did this recently, and it was perfectly doable.
We are taking back roads and similar all the way. The reason for saying 300 miles is because of Romania. We want to do the passes before driving into Bulgaria and that will give us a longer day.
I use Furkot and find it a great tool for planning trips. Screenshot_20231207-232943.png
 
R

Robert

Well travelled
Location
Holland
Last September I rode to France, then crossed the Alps into Italy, rode to Bari, crossed the Adriatic by ferry to Albania. Been to North Macdonia, then back to Albania, Montenegro, BosniaHerzgovina, Croatia, Slovenia, Austria, and through Germany to Holland agian. Took me ten days, taking, some four thousand kilometers. Every day I would ride a few hours on motorways to cover distance, then a few hours on scenic roads to enjoy the ride. Started between eight and nine in the morning, finding accomodation between six and seven pm. Camping in France Italy and Germany, hostels, hotels in the Balkan.
Last day was the longest, starting from Augsburg in Gemany to Leiden Holland. It was raining alll day long.....
On the motorways I try to keep speed at 90 kph, same speed as trucks. Can do that for hours. Very fuel efficient as wel, managed 34 kpl on aveerage.
You plan for 400 km per day is very doable.
Have fun!
 
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