Through the Baltic Republics to Greece: Autumn 2017

Motorhoming from Finland through Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Serbia and Bulgaria to  Greece

Margaret Williamson

(continued from: A Journey to Scandinavia in the Summer of 2017)

Introduction

After travelling in Spain and Portugal in the winter of 2016/17, we returned to England in the spring via France, the Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland and Scotland. Much of June and into July passed in the East and West Ridings of Yorkshire, before we were able to recommence travelling and the writing of this travel log.

During the remainder of the summer, we motorhomed in the Netherlands, Germany, Denmark, Sweden and Finland. The Tallink ferry Star took 2 hours to sail the 50 Baltic miles from Helsinki to Tallinn for the beginning of our long journey south through Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Serbia and Bulgaria, keeping to the east all the way until we reached Greece in early November.

Settling for a while at our favourite campsite of Ionion Beach (first visited in 1995), we will catch up with cleaning and writing of every kind - including the completion of this travel log. 

At the end of our motorhome tour of Scandinavia, we spent the last night on a Finnish campsite (the finish!) near Lahti, 60 miles north of Helsinki

Lahti to Tallink-Silja Ferry Terminal, West Harbour, Helsinki – 79 miles (sea level!)

The harbour is poorly signed 'Västra Hamnen'. The terminal check-in is at N 60.148626  E 24.913754. Timetable and Bookings on www.tallinksilja.com/en/web/int/tallink-shuttle-tallinn-tips

FERRY FROM FINLAND TO ESTONIA

Note that:

1.  Estonia is an EU member; currency is the Euro (currently €1.13 = £1).

2.  Estonia is in the same time zone as Finland (2 hrs ahead of the UK).

3.  There are no motorway or road tolls.

4.  Dipped headlights are compulsory at all times (even in summer).

5.  Tallink-Silja Line shuttle between Helsinki (West Harbour/Västra Hamnen) and Tallinn takes 2 hours, crossing several times a day, on 2 large modern ferries: 'Star' and 'Superstar': www.tallinksilja.com. Alternatives, with fewer crossings, are Eckerö (www.eckero.fi) or Viking Lines (www.vikinglines.co.uk).

6.  Diesel currently costs €1.16 (about £1) per litre.

IN ESTONIA

Tallinn Ferry Port to Lahemaa Kohvikann Restaurant & Camping, Palmse, Lahemaa National Park, Lääne-Viru County, Estonia – 50 miles

Camping open 15 Apr-15 Oct. www.kohvikann.ee  €15 inc 16 amp elec, new WC/showers, wash-up sink, free WiFi. Excellent restaurant/café (open all year, noon-9 pm, closed Mondays). N 59.506783  E 25.9608949

Our ferry arrives promptly at 3.30 pm in the port of Tallinn, Estonia's busy capital city. Tallinn City Camping is already closed (22 May-15 Sept) but our aim is eastwards along the coast. We find the ill-signed way onto rd 1/E20, a bumpy dual carriageway which leads to the Russian border and St Petersburg. The traffic gradually thins out as city gives way to forest, with Elk warning signs.

After 46 miles we turn off left onto rd 176 for Palmse and the Lahemaa (= Land of Bays) National Park. The Lahemaa Kohvikann (= Coffee Pot) restaurant/camperstop is on the left of the road, just before Palmse Manor. This is our third visit to a delightful site, providing a small camping area and excellent food cooked and served by the friendly and professional owners, Dieter (a German master-chef) and his wife Julia (from St Petersburg). It is very convenient for exploring the Lahemaa National Park, ideal for cycling.

Julia welcomes us, proudly showing the new camping facilities. The shower rooms even have heated mirrors to prevent condensation. We settle in alongside a lone Dutch camper before going over for a meal in the modern restaurant. Dieter's home-baked brown bread & herb butter makes an ample starter before salmon for M, pork for B, one apple pie & ice cream and one decadent chocolate mousse. We've been looking forward to this!

At Lahemaa Kohvikann Restaurant & Camping, Palmse

Over the next 4 days the weather turns wintry and wet, so we abandon plans to cycle around Lahemaa, which was a highlight of previous visits. A full moon and clear night sky means brilliant stars but very cold days. The WiFi works well, enabling writing, correspondence and forward planning. We also make full use of the restaurant, especially enjoying Dieter's 'Hamburg Fish Pot' - a delicious dish of fish, prawns, bacon and roast potatoes – followed by 'Grandma's Christmas Pancakes' with cherry sauce and ice cream.

Between rain showers we go for a brisk walk to the National Park Information Centre, next to Palmse Manor, which has extensive exhibitions on the flora, fauna, history and geology of this forested coastal area and a free film-show, as well as selling a detailed map of walking and cycling paths. The little Pood (village shop), opposite the Information Centre, is open although the building is crumbling away. In fact the stork's nest on its chimney looks more secure! Outside the shop a woman in a traditional long striped woollen skirt, topped by a modern fleece jacket, has a stall selling hand-knitted hats and gloves to a few passengers from the coach party visiting Palmse Manor, one of several 17thC Baroque manor houses in the area. In the 19thC they were renovated in classical style with landscaped parks. See www.palmse.ee/en    

On our last day the weather is dry after lunch. With no intention of paying €7 each to view the interior of the restored Palmse Manor, we take the camera for a walk behind the grand house in the woods, where there are three marked trails: the Lords' Walk (blue 2.5 km), the Ladies' Walk (red 1.5 km) and the Young Ladies Walk' (yellow 1 km). Our walk (yellow arrows) takes us alongside the incredibly still mirror-like water of a small ornamental lake and past a remarkable group of giant erratic boulders, brought with Continental Ice from present-day Finland. Lahemaa is the area most densely strewn with erratics in Northern Europe, some of them millions of years old.

Above all, it's good to talk at length with our hosts, who both have fluent English. Dieter shows us his new wood-pellet fired furnace, which efficiently heats the house and restaurant. We learn much about life and business in Estonia, a leader in technology compared with the UK. There is free fast WiFi in all public places (including buses) and voting in local or national elections is done on-line from home, indeed it was the first country to allow this, in 2007. And Skype was originally developed by Estonian programmers in Tallinn!

Click: magbazpictures.com/palmse-restaurant--camping

Palmse to Saka Cliff Hotel & Camping, Saka Manor, Ida-Viru County – 54 miles

Camping open 1 May-31 Oct. www.saka.ee/en/camping-caravan/  €15 inc elec, hot showers, free WiFi. No kitchen or laundry.  N 59.438889  E 27.191667

It's time to leave as Julia and Dieter are preparing to close for a well-earned holiday in Crete. There are hugs all round as they present us with a freshly baked loaf and a box of chocolates 'for the road'.

Back on rd 1/E20 we continue east through the rain, turning off at 14 miles on rd 23 for Rakvere, the capital of Lääne-Viru County. At the large shopping mall we pass, the car park is occupied by a circus complete with big top and caravans! We manage to stop in a side road to shop at Remi, a large store with everything we need from a plump roast chicken to some new underwear!

In the centre of Rakvere at 20 miles we park near the hilltop Linnus (castle) built by the Danes in the 14thC and much restored in 2004: www.rakverelinnus.ee/en. It's next to a massive sculpture of a bull, or rather an aurochs (an extinct long-horned wild ox), erected in 2002 to commemorate the city's 700th anniversary. We linger over lunch, hoping to walk up to the castle, but the downpour continues and we decide to drive on, rejoining rd 1/E20 eastwards.

We turn off 32 miles later on a very narrow road for a final 2 miles past Aa village to Saka Manor, an estate perched high on the limestone cliffs of the coast known as the Baltic Glint. There is a large empty grass area for camping in front of the Saka Cliff Hotel and Spa, where a coach party is just arrived. Pushing my way through the crowd and climbing over wheeled suitcases to get to the Reception desk, I check in and pay €5 deposit for the key to the camping facilities in a wooden cabin, clean and modern though unheated.

The new arrivals gather outside the hotel to raise a flag on one of the three tall poles. I learn that it's a weekend conference for a new organisation to help children in need. Behind the Saka Cliff Hotel and Spa is a more luxurious hotel and banqueting hall, Saka Manor House. The cliff top is dominated by a Soviet-era watchtower, with an outside spiral staircase for visitors who don't suffer from vertigo.

We settle in to a roast chicken dinner, followed by 'Midsomer Murders' in English on the local TV! Little do we know that the Children in Needers plan a late night party in the watchtower's ground floor Seminar Room, with music until 3 am. Boom boom …

At Saka Cliff Hotel & Camping, Saka Manor

Next morning, noticing that the door to the watchtower is ajar, we venture in, hoping to climb the inside stairs. They are blocked off but the debris of last night's party is strewn all over the Seminar Room: glasses, plates, empty bottles and beer cans, as well as unopened bags of crisps and nibbles and a 3-litre box of red wine. We admit to giving some of this a good home! Earlier we saw a vagrant looking in the campsite rubbish bins but he has gone, unaware of the bounty in the watchtower!

We brave the cold wind to explore the extensive grounds of Saka Manor. A path along the cliff top is signed 0.5 km to a 'waterfall' with steps down to the beach. In fact the waterfall proves to be a trickle and the extremely steep wooden steps look worn and dangerous. Returning on different paths we come across a geological display of errant boulders and an area called Bunker Hill, with two small German bunkers from WW2. Between 1950 and 1992 the Manor was a Russian border post and the stone monument that stood at the entrance is still there, its red star and Soviet map removed.

Near the watchtower we find safer access to the small beach below the cliffs, thanks to an award-winning metal staircase and boardwalk built in 2007. We have time to count the 234 steps on the way back up!

Click: magbazpictures.com/saka-cliff-manor

Saka to Kure Turismitalu Guesthouse & Camperstop, Tartu, Tartu County – 97 miles

Open all year. www.kuretalu.ee Overnight parking €18 inc elec, WC, good free WiFi. Shower €2. No kitchen. Laundry wash & dry €8.  N 58.40606  E 26.61278

On a wet, cold, windy Sunday morning we accept that it's time to migrate south for the winter. After driving 3 miles via Saka village, we meet rd 1/E20 with a lovely view of the shale oil mine and slag heaps and continue southeast towards Johvi for 5 miles before turning south on rd 93.

Following signs for rd 3 to Tartu, the landscape is one of flat fields grazed by cattle, the crops already harvested, the stork nests empty. As we bypass Johvi we are stopped at a police breathalyser check for all traffic, including trucks - and it's not yet 11 am! Teetotal Barry passes easily.

At Rannapungerja the road turns west along the shore of Lake Peipsi, the fifth largest in Europe, straddling the Russian border. We pass a couple of kiosks selling fresh or smoked fish from the vast grey lake, glimpsed through the trees when we park in a layby for lunch. An aged market gardener sits in the rain, his stall laden with potatoes, onions and pumpkins.

Rd 3 leaves the lake at Raja and continues south to Tartu, Estonia's second city, a religious and spiritual centre with the country's best university. After crossing the Emajogi River in Tartu at about 90 miles, we take rd 2, signed for Tallinn. The entrance drive to the guesthouse/camperstop is 5 miles along on the left.

Arriving in heavy rain at 3 pm, we park on one of the 4 overpriced places on a camperstop in the immaculate garden of the guesthouse. A hook-up and use of a toilet is included (showers extra, no kitchen). The Russian woman in charge does allow me to use the laundry in her basement for a concession, provided that I remove my shoes and don a pair of her slippers while she guards the place, following me round. Quite unnerving! No other guests arrive.

The local TV news shows the police checkpoint we went through earlier – part of a national campaign against drunk driving. We also watch 'France 24', which has world news in English, and later we find Midsomer Murders and Doc Martin (both in English) for light entertainment!

INTO LATVIA

Note that:

1.  Latvia is an EU member and the currency is now the Euro (at the time €1.12 = £1).

2.  Latvia is in the same time zone as Finland/Estonia (2 hrs ahead of the UK).

3.  There are no motorway or road tolls for vehicles up to 3.5 tons. Since July 2014, drivers of vehicles over 3.5 tons and designed to carry goods by road need to buy an electronic vignette. This applies to commercial vehicles and not to motorhomes. www.lvvignette.eu/

4.  Dipped headlights are compulsory at all times (even in summer).

5.  Diesel €1.094 (under £1) per litre at the time.

Tartu, Estonia to Caravanpark/Camperstop Rukisi, Rugaji, Latgale, Latvia – 143 miles

Open all year. www.rugaji.lv/pages/rukisi.html  Overnight parking €15 inc elec, WC. No hot water in low season. No kitchen. No internet.  N 56.991235  E 27.130193

It's still pouring down as we drive south from Tartu on the extremely busy rd 2/E263, with many roundabouts before we are clear of Estonia's second city. After 49 miles rd 2 bypasses east of the centre of Vöru, then continues south on its quiet way through the forest, at a height of 190 m/630 ft. To our right, hidden in the distant Haanja National Park, lies the highest point in the three Baltic States: Suur Munamägi (Great Egg Hill) at an unimpressive 318 m or 1,050 ft.

At 69 miles we reach the junction with rd 7/E77, near the point where Estonia, Latvia and Russia meet. Turning east for 2 miles to see the Russian frontier, we reach the large customs holding park for trucks, beyond which there are serious barriers. The only way is to return west along rd 7/E77, entering Latvia at 84 miles with no formalities. We thank the EU and the Eurozone for making this journey so much easier. The first time we drove through the three Baltic Republics in 1999, each of the borders took at least two hours to negotiate with exit and entry stations each with their own procedures, separated by a no-mans-land.

IN LATVIA

The E77 goes to Riga but, having visited that capital more than once, we turn off after 25 bumpy Latvian miles onto the minor road P39 to Alüksne. With nowhere to park in the town, we continue south on P43, which is equally rough. The roads are lined by autumnal trees, cow pastures and humble dwellings: Latvia clearly remains less prosperous than Estonia. At 124 miles we park in a muddy layby for lunch, then on through Balvi to the village of Rugaji, where we fill up with diesel. A mile later we turn left along a 1-km unpaved pot-holed road to the signed 'Caravanpark', listed in the Bordatlas. It's a gravel parking area with about 10 places and hook-ups outside a locked wooden hostelry and holiday cabins.

The place looks abandoned but a young man from a nearby house soon comes across through the rain to turn on the water, unlock the WC and take an excessive €15. Out of season there are very few facilities for a motorhome and no hot water. We are by one of a series of small fishing lakes with children's play areas and picnic tables, obviously popular in the summer when the hostelry is open. Now it is all cold, grey and marshy but it's been a long wet day and we are glad to have found a safe place for the night.

INTO LITHUANIA

Note that:

1.  Lithuania is an EU member and the currency is now the Euro (at the time €1.11 = £1).

2.  Lithuania is in the same time zone as Finland/Estonia/Latvia (2 hrs ahead of the UK).

3.  There are no motorway or road tolls for vehicles up to 3.5 tons. The vignette for vehicles over 3.5 tons applies only to buses, coaches and trucks – not motorhomes.

4.  Dipped headlights are compulsory at all times (even in summer).

5.  Diesel cost €1.049 (under £1) per litre.

Rugaji, Latvia to Camping Degesa, Salakas, NE Lithuania – 131 miles

Open all year. www.degesa.lt  Overnight parking €10 inc elec, WC, hot shower. No kitchen. No internet.  N 55.572298  E 26.156058

Next morning is still cold and grey but at least it isn't raining as we return along the pot-holed lane to Rugaji, south on rd P45 for 4 miles, then left onto the smoother rd P36 to Rezekne. The forest is cleared in places for arable and cattle farming, a scene of flooded fields and empty stork nests. On the north side of Rezekne we cross railway tracks and pass derelict factories and grim Soviet block housing. In the town's central square, at 38 miles, stands a statue that was twice destroyed by the Russians in the 1940s, restored in 1992. The inscription means 'United Latvia'. Continuing past a pleasant area of park land, we soon join the A13/E262 and continue south for Daugavpils, parking for lunch in a layby at 72 miles.

20 miles further we reach Daugavpils (= Castle on the Daugava), Latvia's second city famed for its prison and busy with trams and traffic. We manage to slip off the A3 dual carriageway that runs through the centre to park at a large Rimi store for supplies. Then, after crossing a bridge over the Daugava (a wide river linking Riga with Russia), we take the wrong exit from a roundabout and fail to join A13 for the Lithuanian border! Blame the SatNav (exit 1 or 2 would be good, but not the recommended exit 3). Finding no way through, we eventually return to the roundabout and (counter-intuitively) go north, signed Riga, to get onto the A13 running southwest to Lithuania. It is signed 'Meduni', a tiny village that is the last in Latvia! By now it's raining again and the highway is busy with trucks and road works. We do not have good memories of Daugavpils – and not just because of the crumbling grey housing.

IN LITHUANIA

We cross the border from Latvia to Lithuania at 116 miles, again without a pause, on the A13, now designated A6/E262. Zarasai, the large lakeside border town, has a campsite that had closed at the end of September. Eight miles later we turn left onto rd 179 for 5 miles to the tiny village of Salakas, then another 2 miles to the obscure entrance of a holiday complex by Lake Luodis.

Once again, as we arrive at a seemingly deserted site in the pouring rain, a man appears to show us where to park and plug in, indicating that we have the use of a WC/shower in the cold basement of the closed hotel. The only English he knows is 'Ten Euros', repeated several times before we produce a note and he disappears. Amazingly, the site is listed by ACSI as Open All Year! I do not bother to review it; there is no internet and it's been another long hard day.

INTO POLAND

Note that

1.  Poland is an EU member and the currency is the Zloty (PLN). Current exchange rate is approx 5 PLN=£1, or 4 PLN=€1. Some businesses accept cash in Euros, some don't, but card payment is widely available.

2.  Poland is in the Central European Time zone (so 1 hr ahead of the UK). Put clocks back an hour if arriving from Lithuania.

3.  Vehicles up to 3.5 tons pay tolls at toll booths along some major roads and motorways (in Euros, Zloty or by bank card). For vehicles over 3.5 tons, including motorhomes or car+caravan above this weight, there is an electronic ViaToll system (similar to Austria's 'Go Box'). See www.tolls.eu/poland

4.  Dipped headlights are compulsory at all times (even in summer).

5.  Diesel costs around 4.5 PLN (under £1) a litre.

Salakas, Lithuania to Zajazd 'Private' Camping, Suwalki, Poland – 190 miles

Fully open 1 May-30 Oct (Parking + elec only off-season, without water.) www.private.firmy.suwalki.pl  PLN 60 inc elec and WC/shower. Good free internet. Fill of water PLN 10; chemical toilet emptying PLN 5, even for paying campers!!  N 54.092994  E 22.937053

It is still raining, though a touch warmer, as we return through Salakas on rd 179 to rejoin the A6/E262, which will take us southwest through to Kaunas, Lithuania's second city and the interwar capital during the years that Vilnius (60 miles or so to the east) was in Polish hands. Autumn is keeping up with us, gilding the landscape as we go. After 25 miles in Utena we pass a shiny new Lidl store but can't easily turn in. The German chain has recently reached the larger towns of Lithuania and advertises on the local TV. At the next town, Ukmerge, the A6 ring road bypasses the centre and we continue, pausing in a café layby for a break at Silai, shortly before Kaunas.

We also hope to avoid the centre of this sprawling historic university city but the entrance to the A1 motorway/ring road is blocked off for road works. Nothing for it but to drive through the traffic of the badly signed city centre and across the Nemunas River until, with relief, we eventually join the A5/E67 dual carriageway signed for Marijampole and the Polish border. But the A5 soon reverts to a 2-lane road, quite inadequate for the amount of traffic and trucks of all nations. This is the 'Via Baltica', the only main road linking Poland and Lithuania (and thence Latvia and Estonia) without traversing Russian territory.

The highway does at least bypass the large town of Marijampole (25 miles before the border). After the last Lithuanian town, Kalvarija (named after the 17thC Catholic shrine there), the road is lined with countless fuel stations and TIR-parks for trucks, stretching to the Polish frontier. 

IN POLAND

We enter Poland at 173 miles, through the double-border checkpoint at Budzisko, without even stopping! Putting our watches back one hour, it's only 3 pm, the sun is out and the rain has stopped. Feeling happier, we continue south on E67 (Polish rd 8) for 13 miles to the Swiss Bar restaurant/truck stop, an old favourite for food and shelter. A tasty substantial meal of pork schnitzel with mushroom or cheese sauce, salad, chips and a soft drink each costs a total of 49 PLN (about €12), paid by card as we have no Zloty. Sadly, they have run out of apple pie! We have on occasion parked here overnight for a small charge (WC and shower available) but it does get very noisy and we are ready for a good rest after three long days of driving from Estonia.

Just another 5 miles into the first town, Suwalki, where the excellent new Osir-Eurocamping site we found 2 years ago has already closed for winter. The alternative is the Private (very private) guesthouse with basic camping and gloomy cabins in its garden. Even with a SatNav it proves difficult to find, just off rd 655 to the west of the main road in a narrow one-way street.

Although we had already telephoned from the Swiss Bar to check that the site was open, we arrive at a high security electric gate. Nobody answers the intercom and we are about to return to the truck stop when the gate slides open. The strange owner, a short-tempered woman called Jan with an abrupt use of a little English, comes out to indicate exactly where we may park in the empty garden. There is a WC/shower in a cold draughty shed and an outdoor washing-up sink. She points to a price list, with dumping or water-filling an extra (!), and says her son will come tomorrow morning to turn all water off as it might freeze. We dutifully use the hot shower at once, as instructed.

At Zajazd 'Private' Camping, Suwalki

Next morning it is not freezing, Jan is not around and her son does not appear! At least the WiFi works well, so we catch up with correspondence and listen to BBC Radio 4. Taking an afternoon walk into the town, we find an ATM for Polish currency, then spend some of it on eggs and bread at 'Biedronka' (= Ladybird), a Polish supermarket chain with a ladybird emblem. There is also a Lidl in Suwalki but it's further away and our walk is curtailed when it starts to rain. Back at our Private Stalag, both the pedestrian and vehicle gates are firmly locked. Jan eventually answers the intercom and lets us in, muttering that she didn't know we were out. We didn't know we needed a permit.

In the evening we enjoy a DVD film 'Almost Famous' (2000) about a fictitious rock group, Stillwater, touring the USA. It's so believable that we have to check on-line whether they really exist!

On our next (and final) day it is much colder, windy, wet and grey. Jan, who spends most of the day gardening in the rain, still insists that her son is coming to turn the water off. It doesn't happen! We spend time planning and phone the next four campsites along our route, using a mixture of English and German. I do learn that the Polish for No is Nie, while Yes is Tak (confusing, as that word means Thank You in Danish, Swedish and Norwegian, with which I'm more familiar!)

When I go to pay for 3 nights, Jan wants to know how many times we have emptied the chemical toilet (honest answer: one) and whether we filled our water tank (no). She then adds 8 PLN to the total, until I take her outside to look at the price list stating 5 PLN per WC emptying! She grumbles that her husband (who is gone) must have changed it and reluctantly alters the bill. The site is not in ACSI (no surprise there) but I am so annoyed that I take the unusual step of reviewing it on Google:

'Camping for motorhome with electric and WiFi. So securely locked in, it was difficult to get out and return (even on foot). Only one shower/WC for each gender, in a cold cabin.  Extra cost for filling with water (PLN 10) and for emptying chemical toilet (PLN 5). Owner tried to overcharge at the end until I pointed to price list displayed. Not at all friendly, but convenient for Suwalki at times when the much better Euro-Camp is closed.'

I calm down in the evening, over a plate of home-made spag bol with a glug of red wine from the Estonian Saka Manor, followed by some excellent cake from the Rimi store in Latvian Daugavpils. International cuisine!

Suwalki to Camping U-Michala, Bialowieza National Park – 140 miles

Fully open 1 May-1 Oct (Parking + elec only off-season, without water.)  Bialowieza Forest  PLN 60 (cash) inc elec and WC/shower. No internet.  N 52.69395  E 23.83088

Still raining as we drive 4 miles through Suwalki to join rd 8/E67, then onto S61, a new dual carriageway lasting for 7 miles until it rejoins rd 8 before Augustow. Continuing south through dripping forest, there are warning signs – Uwaga – for deer and elk. We find the many lorries a bigger hazard.

At 80 miles we hit Bialystok, a large city with far too many roundabouts, traffic lights, buses and trucks. The E67 turns southwest for Warsaw but we follow rd 19 south, signed Lublin. As we leave the city, we take a break on the parking area of a large cemetery, where the flower stalls are doing good business on this Saturday morning. Poland is strongly Roman Catholic, with many roadside crucifixes and well-tended graveyards, but as we continue down the eastern flank we begin to see Orthodox churches as well.

In Bielski Podlaski at 108 miles the Lidl shop, directly on rd 19, is a good place to park for lunch. There are already Christmas goodies in-store (in mid-October) but we don't turn down a Stollen cake! After another couple of miles we take the minor rd 689, east towards the border with Belarus. After the small town of Hajnowka, with a big new Orthodox church, the road narrows and goes through the Bialowieski National Park (established 1932). The entrance is marked by a statue of a Zubr or European Bison (as seen on Zubrowka Vodka). Stately golden-leaved trees frame the road.

The National Park is part of Bialowieza Forest, a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve straddling the Belarusian border: one of the last and largest remnants of the immense primeval forest that once stretched across the European Plain. The extensive forest is now home to 800 European bison, Europe's heaviest land animal, their numbers having recovered since being hunted to the verge of extinction during the First World War. See Guardian article for more on these magnificent beasts. A rough lane to the left leads 1 km to the Bison Reserve, where we have previously seen Zubr among many other protected forest species.

Today our aim is a delightful little campsite, two miles further on the right, a mile before the border village of Bialowieza. We remember the friendly old owners who live on-site from our stay 7 years ago (where did the years go?) but now the woman is left alone. She is out when we arrive but has left the gate and the toilets open for us; her two cats sleep peacefully in a box on the porch.

The camping lawn looks soft after so much rain but with nobody else in residence we park on the concrete path. After a dinner of home-made burgers, we eat the last of a memorable 600g box of small assorted cakes from Rimi in Daugavpils, made by www.sweethouse.eu back in Latvia. The box says 'Be Our Guest – Sweethouse – We create sweets against sadness'! It works: we feel happy!

At Camping U-Michala, Bialowieza National Park  

Next morning I have a long chat with our gentle host, who speaks German. She explains that yesterday her daughter took her to the doctor in Hajnowka and then home for tea. Despite the campsite being 'closed', she switches the water on for hot showers. Luckily it's not freezing yet, or all water would be turned off. In fact it is sunny today but sadly the washing machine in the garage is not working. She tells me how she and her husband came here after the Second World War when folk were being encouraged to re-settle the border zone. They planted the trees and built the guesthouse and camping from scratch.

After lunch we walk into Bialowieza village, over the foot-bridge and up to Palace Park, observing the extent to which tourism has developed since we came here in 2010. In addition to the Nature and Forest Museum, there is a new hotel and restaurant on the site of the 19thC Russian Tsar's hunting lodge. The Museum looks busy with a school party and is soon to close (at 4 pm), so we don't buy a ticket. A glorious sunset is a good portent of a change in the weather.

Before returning to camp, we ride a final 5 km each way on the lonely road to Grucki village and the Belarusian frontier, where we must turn back, though in summer it may be possible to cross with a pre-booked guided tour on a day-visa.

What an interesting day! I am happy to recommend the site on ACSI:

'Very helpful German-speaking owner. She lent us a map of the village and the forest that was useful for cycling around the area. Peaceful little campsite behind her house, with clean WC and showers and hot water for washing up. No internet.

Very convenient to visit Bison Reserve (4 km) or the Bialowieza Forest Centre in the park in the village. Excellent meal at Pokusa Restaurant, a short walk away.

Beautiful area for walking or cycling'.

Click: magbazpictures.com/bialowieza-forest

Bialowieza to Hotel & Camping Wodnik, Firlej – 133 miles

Open Easter-31 Oct & over Christmas/New Year. www.wodnikfirlej.pl  PLN 50 inc elec, WC/shower in hotel. Free WiFi throughout. No kitchen.  N 51.54852  E 22.51523

A return drive through the Bialowieza National Park for 11 miles to Hajnowka, where we park at Biedronka supermarket to use the Polski Bank ATM over the road. Then on to Bielski Podlaski and a visit to Lidl before driving south on rd 19. The autumnal forest is cleared in places, replaced by flat misty fields. There is considerable controversy over logging in the area beyond the National Park boundary. At 61 miles, making lunch in a layby beyond Siemiatycze at 2.30 pm, it is a warm sunny 20°C outside.

As we continue south we cross the River Bug, which rises in the Ukraine and flows for some 500 miles to its confluence with the River Narew, and thence the Vistula/Wisla (Poland's longest river, on which Krakow and Warsaw are sited). Since 1945, about 125 miles of the Bug mark the border between Poland to the west, and Ukraine and Belarus to the east. It remains notorious for the three extermination camps that the Germans located along the Polish River Bug under 'Operation Reinhard': Sobibor, Belzec and Treblinka. We have visited them all and the very name 'Bug' on the bridge makes us shiver.

Further down rd 19 we pass Radzyn Podlaski (where we once spent a night on a good TIR truck park) and continue, past Kock on a short new bypass , then to Firlej. It's easy to miss the entrance to the Wodnik Hotel and camping field, hidden among trees on the left soon after passing the small town, but we've been here before on our way to Lublin.

The helpful young manager in the Hotel Reception welcomes us to the adjacent empty camping field. It's an unkempt relic of the Soviet era, with tiny huts, crumbling facilities and very few electric hook-ups, but in a lovely position alongside the lake. Now in private family ownership, the campsite facilities are closed for renovation but Martin hands over the key to a hotel room to use the shower. We get on well with him: his fiancée is called Margaret and he is keen to practise his English. The campsite is being gradually refurbished with a promise of modern facilities. The hotel does look much better than on our previous two visits, clean and cared for, with new carpets and paintwork. It has a sauna/solarium, conference room, billiards, restaurant/dance floor (all open weekends only off-season) and new WiFi, which also works across the campsite.

Once settled in, with a long lead to the electricity, we have a quick Lidl pizza for supper.

At Hotel & Camping Wodnik, Firlej

Next morning it's another beautiful autumn day, ideal for a ride round Lake Firlej. The foot/cycle path around the perimeter is only 3 km, so we complete it 3 times (twice anti-clockwise, once clockwise for variety!) On the last circuit we have a look at the village of Firlej, with its shop, church, cemetery, doctor, pharmacy and fire station. The fire brigade are busy using their ladder for repair work on the roof of an old building. The lake is very quiet, just a lone fisherman on the shore and a single sailing boat on the water, while the cafés, children's playgrounds, boat hire and windsailing school are all closed. We assume Firlej is a popular destination in summer, with the city of Lublin less than 30 miles south down the main road.

Later, checking over the motorhome, we notice a large chip in the cover of one rear light cluster. Barry's temporary fix, with superglue and a piece of red plastic cut from a cycle reflector, works well.

We do enjoy the luxury of hot showers in a warm hotel room, while Martin expresses more regret that the camp facilities are closed. Absolutely no need for apologies: it is in fact a bonus, as described in my Google review:

'Campsite next to hotel is very insecure, with few electric points and no facilities. On the positive side, the WiFi works well and the helpful English-speaking manager gave us a key to use the shower and WC in a hotel room. Restaurant only open weekends off-season. Lovely position by the lake, ideal for walking or cycling round. A useful stop-over on the road to or from Lublin.'

Firlej via Sobibor to Karczma (= Inn) u Jedrka, Wlodawa – 85 miles

Open all year 9 am-9 pm. Jedrka  Free overnight parking at Inn. Good restaurant (see link to Jedrka). WC inside. No internet. N 51.55582  E 23.52687

We can't see Lake Firlej through the mist as we set off south down rd 19 on a very still morning. With no wish to revisit Lublin and its Majdanek Concentration Camp, after bypassing Lubartow we turn off on the quiet rd 829 to Leczna. It follows the River Wieprz through a series of tiny villages, each with a church and large graveyard from a time of greater rural population. In Spiczyn a couple of market stalls sell clothes, shoes and flowers. At Leczna, a small bustling town with Tesco and Lidl stores, we join rd 82 east to Cycow, where the road turns northeast on its lonely way to Wlodawa.

This city on the banks of the River Bug (where it forms the Polish border with Belarus, and the Ukraine immediately to the south) has an inescapable and palpable history. Placed as it was between the German and Russian fronts, with a sizeable Jewish population, it is only 10 miles from the Sobibor extermination camp.

On the way into Wlodawa there is a generous car park at Lidl, by the roundabout at the junction of rds 82 and 812, across from a modern Catholic church. Here, at 63 miles, we break for lunch and shopping before turning south on rd 812. After a mile or so, and a fill of diesel, we enter the open gates of Camping Astur on the left by the small Lake Okuninka. Though listed by ACSI as open to 31 October, it was closed when we came two years ago, so we've taken the precaution of phoning ahead: 'Yes, open'. A couple of workmen, speaking only Polish or Russian, are no help at all; the electric boxes are wrapped up for winter; the facilities locked and nobody else to be found!

Giving up, we continue down rd 812, looking out for the left turn (5 miles south of the Lidl roundabout) onto the very minor rd 816. It leads for 5 bumpy miles through Sobiborski Forest via the tiny settlement of Duzy Slobek to the Sobibor Camp Memorial Site, hard against the railway tracks at Sobibor station. A memorial wall stands on the right, opposite the siding where prisoners were unloaded from the cattle trucks under the pretence that they were in transit to the Ukraine. This purpose-built extermination camp saw the mass murder of 250,000 men, women and children (mainly Polish and Dutch Jews) who were asphyxiated with carbon monoxide between May 1942 and Oct 1943.

The Memorial Site is officially closed at present, as a new museum and car park are being built (due to open 2020). We talk to a group of young archaeologists working on a long roadside excavation outside the main gates and their foreman gives us permission for a quick visit. We know our way, having spent a night right here in October 2010 and revisited in 2015. We follow the Lane of Remembrance through the woods - the route along which tens of thousands of victims were herded, straight from the railway sidings to the gas chambers (disguised as 'disinfection baths'), now marked by a Soviet-era monument. The Germans had named this path Himmelfahrtstrasse (Ascension to Heaven Street). The 'gas' was simply the exhaust from a fixed diesel engine, which took at least 20 minutes to complete its deadly task. Beyond the site of the gas chambers stands a huge tumulus, a symbolic mound of ashes on the mass grave site, now covered in fresh white stones. There was no crematorium here; the corpses were buried in mass graves or burnt in the open, the ashes dumped in holes in the forest.

In October 1943 an uprising took place, with a mass escape of up to 300 prisoners, though less than 50 survived the War, including Thomas Toivi Blatt. This incident led to the immediate liquidation of the camp, in an attempt to hide the evidence. On the 60th anniversary of the revolt in 2003 the Dutch Government sponsored renovation work at the Sobibor site, including the Lane of Remembrance. Dutch Jews had formed the second largest contingent brought here to be killed, along with others from Czechoslovakia, Germany, Austria, France, the Soviet Union, Belgium, Romania, Hungary – the whole of occupied Europe. The Lane is lined with boulders, each recalling the names and details of a family murdered here, with a personal inscription from relatives, mainly from the Netherlands. The wife and family of Leon Feldhendler, one of the leaders of the uprising who escaped, are commemorated on one such stone.

After walking along the fateful railway line to the tiny station (still apparently serving two trains a day between Wlodawa and Chelm), we photograph the statue which has been temporarily moved from the Camp Memorial Site entrance. A man emerges from the building works office to see what we are up to, introduces himself as Head of Security and has a long interesting talk with us. We are certainly in agreement about the miracle of the European Union.

Click: magbazpictures.com/sobibor-extermination-camp

Then we return to Wlodawa, hoping that the 'Karczma u Jedrka' inn which we found two years ago (on rd 812 one mile northwest of the Lidl roundabout) is still open. The road is in a terrible state but, to our relief, we are once again welcome to park overnight. After a hearty meal of Chicken Kiev followed by apple pie or cheesecake with ice cream, we are joined on the lorry park by 3 logging trucks. When we wake early next morning, they are already gone. My Google review:

'A cosy inn serving good food, nicely presented. Convenient for visiting Wlodawa. It also has a large free car park where we were welcome to spend the night in our motorhome - a real bonus.'

Wlodawa to Camping Duet, Zamosc – 67 miles

Open all year. Camp Duet  PLN 74 inc elec and very basic facilities. No kitchen. Good free WiFi.  N 50.71919  E 23.23908

Leaving the motorhome parked at Lidl, we walk into and around Wlodawa, still promoted as the 'City of Three Cultures' (Jewish, Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox). The slender towers of its Baroque RC church stand proud above the river, near the onion domes of the imposing Orthodox temple. The Synagogue, however, no longer has a Kahal (the community that dated back to 1525). In spasmodic bursts, the Germans transported the entire Jewish population of the city, together with its last Rabbi, to the death camps of Sobibor and Belzec, further down the River Bug. Wlodawa was then proudly declared the first city in Poland to be completely Judenrein (cleansed of Jews). The Synagogue buildings (their treasures, furnishings and cemetery destroyed) were then used as German military storehouses. 

Just off the Rynek (main square, with the usual heroic Communist-era concrete statue) stand the two18th century Synagogue buildings that are now part of the Leczynsko-Wlodawskie Lakeland Museum. As we arrive at the 10 am opening time, a very helpful custodian appears from the administration building with a bunch of keys. She opens the two doors to the Big Synagogue, puts the lights on and takes 12 PLN  each for entry tickets. Photography is allowed and she particularly points out the Baroque altar-piece in the main sanctuary, one of the finest in Poland, which contains the Aron ha-Kodesh (Ark) where the Torah was kept. She has no English, we have no words.

The photographs on display fill us with overwhelming sadness. There are many black & white images of the city and its substantial Jewish population in the 1930's and it is heart-breaking to realise that all these smiling children and worthy adults were soon to die. The Great Synagogue has been beautifully restored (completed in 1990), with all the cult objects and holy books of this ancient and pious religion on display. Meticulously carved wooden figures inhabit the religious schoolroom. The upper women's prayer rooms contain a display of art, among which the wry wooden figures of Jewish elders, carved by modern local sculptor, Jan Pawloski, are particularly haunting.

Our friendly guide leads us on to the adjacent Small Synagogue. The meeting room downstairs preserves faded Hebrew texts on the walls, while the upper floors house art exhibitions, a section devoted to the long history of the city and the region, and an ethnographic museum with local costumes, weaving looms, fishing nets and traps, a boat made from a tree trunk etc, all beautifully displayed. The only visitors, we are left alone there for as long as we wish.

There are several publications on sale in different languages. On our previous visit we purchased 'From the Ashes of Sobibor', a book by Thomas Toivi Blatt. This memoir of a survivor of Sobibor (where Thomas was taken at age 15 along with his family, who all perished there) was finally published by the Wlodawa Museum in 2008, with the support of the Chancellery of the President of Poland. It makes grimly informed reading. Today we buy an excellent illustrated booklet in English, 'The Complex of Synagogue Buildings in Wlodawa', price 8 PLN. We will be haunted by its translation of six verses written by Jakow Rozenblat in Tel Aviv in 1945. Here is an excerpt:

“My Little Town Wlodawa rooted by the Bug River … 
Serenity disappeared, silence and peace. 

Ghetto supported with wires, Signs of agony of last Jews …
Sobibor spread ashes, dust. Elders, mothers and children
Burned at stake, my little town plundered …”

Click: magbazpictures.com/wlodawa-synagogue

From the Synagogues we walk down to the bank of the infamous River Bug, where there is no longer a ferry or bridge, no crossing point to Belarus or the Ukraine. Life in Wlodawa does continue but no Jews have returned.

Back in the motorhome, we drive south down rd 812 past the turning for Sobibor and on through the forest. A couple of mushroom sellers sit by the roadside, the fungi laid out on the bonnet of their car. Reaching the larger town of Chelm we are suddenly returned to the 21st century, with signs for McDonalds and KFC. Rd 812 takes us southwest, with a lunch break at 44 miles in a car park at Siennica Nadolna.  At Krasnystaw we join the busier rd 17/E372 (from Lublin) and head south in a grey drizzle, outside temperature a chilly 12°C.

As we pass Izbica railway station we recall Thomas Toivi Blatt's lines: “I was born in Izbica in 1927 and spent my childhood there … For me it was the centre of the world.” It was a shtetl or small Jewish town, many of whose population made their last journey on the trains to Sobibor. Now it's a quiet village of sad memories. 

Approaching Zamosc some 10 miles later, we turn right onto rd 74. Duet Camping is 3 miles along, on the right of the highway next to an unappealing Chinese Restaurant.  The over-priced and privately owned site is old and worn, with the most basic of facilities, but at least it provides a safe place for the night with electricity and WiFi. I add the only ACSI Review in English:

'Stayed on this campsite 10 years ago. Returning 7 years later, I found the place has deteriorated. The only improvement is the addition of free WiFi which worked. 
It's a grim, run-down site with primitive facilities and an unfriendly reception. There is no kitchen, just one filthy outside sink with cold water for washing up. The antiquated showers have no privacy whatsoever. The site is on a busy dual carriageway, next to an uninviting Chinese restaurant.
Camping price is very expensive for what there is - basically, just parking with a hook-up. It is exploiting the fact that it's the only site near Zamosc and it is open all year.'

On that previous stay we walked through the park into the old city, UNESCO-listed for its 16th century Renaissance centre. More recent history saw the Zamosc Uprising – the largest action of the Polish Resistance, from 1942-44, against the forced expulsion of Poles from the region, under the Nazi German colonization policy for Eastern Poland.

Zamosc via Belzec to 'Centre of Remembrance & Reconciliation' at Brzeznica, Nr Debica – 145 miles

Open all year (Museum closed Mondays). Free parking by an educational museum at Pustkow Forced Labour Camp/Mount of Death.  N 50.10015  E 21.51941

On a misty Sunday morning we return to rd 17/E372 to bypass the centre of Zamosc and continue south through quiet villages to Krynice. Outside the large cemetery here, the stalls sell flowers and candle-lanterns to decorate family graves for All Souls' and All Saints' Days. Lidl stores are currently selling potted plants and candle-lanterns in readiness, as well as the usual costumes and stuff for 'Halloween' (All Hallows Eve) – the American commercialisation of the same celebration. Pick your own ritual.

In Tomaszow Lubelski at 28 miles we buy bread at the Intermarche supermarket, which bears no resemblance to its French counterpart (nor do the croissants!) Lidl is also open (no Sunday closing in Catholic Poland) but has an awkward entrance.

Five miles later in the village of Belzec we cross the railway line and follow it to the station, beyond which there is a large car park on the left: the Museum and Memorial Site of the Belzec extermination camp. From here it is less than 10 miles along rd 17 to Hrebbene at the Ukrainian border. Entry to both the site and the new museum, funded by the American Jewish Foundation and the Polish Government, is free of charge. Open 9 am-5 pm (4 pm in winter), closed Mondays and public holidays. www.belzec.eu

Belzec was the first death camp that the Germans set up within the genocidal operation 'Aktion Reinhardt'. Between March and December 1942 almost 500,000 people were exterminated in its gas chambers, the majority of them Polish Jews, but also victims from Czechoslovakia, Germany and Austria.  By June 1943, with all the bodies burnt and the buildings dismantled, nearly all traces of the camp were erased and the area was planted with trees.

The two coaches on the car park have brought a large group of young Israelis who are carrying their national flag round the circuit of the symbolic graveyard surrounding the site of the gas chambers. Before walking this path ourselves in a cold drizzle, we spend an hour inside the excellent museum. Opened in 2004, it houses permanent exhibitions documenting the history of the camp, photos, maps, artefacts that belonged to those murdered and personal testaments of the few survivors. One particular recollection will remain with us. One of the very few Jewish men to survive Belzec by working round the camp overheard a child entering the gas chamber: 'Mommy, haven't I been good? It's dark in here.' At first, he said, such cries broke his heart until he could feel no more.

Chilled by the whole experience, we lunch in the motorhome before returning to Belzec village. Here we take rd 865 southwest through woodland and tidy villages to Oleszyce, a smart little town with parks, shops and fuel at 60 miles. After Jaroslaw, 20 miles later, we turn west on the new toll-free 4-lane E40/rd 4, which links Krakow with the Ukrainian border (and thence to Lviv). The E40 bypasses Przeworsk, where we camped at Pastewnik restaurant/hotel two years ago; no matter, as we learnt from a phone call that the campsite is now closed. We pass parking areas with toilets along the motorway, though no services or fuel have been installed yet.

The next known campsite is at Tarnow but we've found an earlier alternative 5 miles off the motorway, listed by www.campercontact.com. It is the museum car park on the site of a former German Labour Camp that operated from 1940-44, at Pustkow near Brzeznica www.ecpip.pl. At 140 miles we take the Debica-Wischod exit from E40, then turn north on rd 985 towards Mielec. Soon we turn right over a railway crossing, then follow the SatNav and signposts to the reconstructed forced labour camp. The gates are closed for the night but we settle on the quiet parking area.

Across the road, a flight of steps leads up through the woods to Gora Smierci – the Mount of Death. Walking round in the dusk, we read the memorial inscriptions and learn that this was the site where the bodies of prisoners who died, due to the harshest of work conditions, were burnt: a total of 7,500 Jews, 5,000 Soviet PoW's and 2,500 Poles. This is not a casualty list, it is slaughter.

We are not disturbed, except by yet another manifestation of mass murder in German-occupied Poland.

Brzeznica to Camping Harenda, Zakopane – 141 miles (alt 750 m/2,500 ft)

Open all year. http://campingharenda.pl/  PLN 74 inc elec, WC/shower and tourist tax. Free (unreliable) WiFi. No kitchen.  N 49.324128  E 19.984686

Next morning in pouring rain we find the museum gates still locked (though on the phone I was told 'open every day'). A very kind caretaker appears and finds us a booklet in English: 'Historical and Didactic Exhibition near the Death Mountain'. He regrets that the site is closed on Mondays, as do we! The emphasis of the booklet is on remembrance, reconciliation and education, rather than the history of the Forced Labour Camps and the Military Training Ground 'Waffen SS Truppenübungsplatz Heidelager' under the command of SS Rottenführer Hans Harmann in Pustkow. We would have learnt more from the exhibitions, documents, photographs and film inside.

It's 5 wet miles back to join A4/E40 at the Debica Wischod junction, then continue west. This brand new section of motorway, linking the Ukraine with Germany, is toll-free as far as Krakow where we will be turning south. The next rest area, 12 miles along, has generous parking space, picnic tables and modern toilets (no fuel or café yet). While we're there, a cleaner comes along on her bicycle to sweep, disinfect, replenish the paper and polish the mirrors! At 60 miles, past Tarnow, we have a quick bite at a good service area with BP fuel, a Wild Bean Café and McDonalds.

Near Krakow we take exit 420 for Lagiewniki, aiming for a camper stop listed in the Bordatlas at the APIS Guesthouse in Krakow-Swoszowice. Again, I had phoned ahead to check and we are 'most welcome'. We follow the SatNav to the street address (Podgorki Ul) but the extremely narrow lane does not go through to the Guesthouse, we can see no other way to access it, and it is still pouring down. Barry extricates the motorhome with difficulty and we return to the A4.

At the next exit we leave the motorway, which continues to Wroclaw, and take rd 7/E77 south. It's a busy dual carriageway as far as Tenczyn, then the old 2-lane road with road works and delays. A new highway all the way to Zakopane is due for completion in 2020.

As we climb gradually into the foothills of the Tatras, at 116 miles the road divides at Panskie. Rd7/E77 turns southwest for Chyzne and the Slovak border, while we continue south on rd 47 to Zakopane, a popular mountain resort. A panoramic rest area with an old wooden chapel, 5 miles later, stands at 650 m/2,145 ft though there's not much of a view through the rain.

Three miles before the centre of Zakopane, we turn right by McDonalds onto Ustup Road, pass Camping Ustup (closed from end September), then turn right for Camping Harenda. At the top of a steep crumbling drive is an empty waterlogged campsite, surrounded by misty mountains. Happily, the young woman in Reception speaks good English, having worked there for a few months. There is a single WC/hot shower in 'the small bathroom' and the WiFi works on-and-off. For laundry I must ask the 'white-haired woman owner' who lives at the adjacent house, speaks only Polish and is not at home.  

At Camping Harenda, Zakopane

Next day, dry at last, we can appreciate the view. I approach the owner (and her noisy dog) about laundry but eventually understand that the city water is turned off until 4 pm. It's more fun talking to the friendly Receptionist when she comes in. Her vocabulary is wonderful, as she explains where to empty the 'WC-Chemistry' and the 'Gravy Water'. She worked in a fish & chip shop in Peterborough – 'a big village' – and can't understand why the English like fish & chips. She found the taste 'very strange' but did like the vinegar!

There is a bus service from the main road into Zakopane but we explored it on a previous visit 8 years ago; also today is extremely cold! After lunch we wrap up for a short walk to the supermarket for bread, then warm up in McDonalds over an excellent drink of hot chocolate each, topped with a dollop of cream and dusted with cinnamon and cocoa. It's a modern hi-tec place, where the school kids who come in off the bus order and pay at a screen on the wall!

Back at the campsite, I manage to negotiate one load of laundry (wash & dry 30 PLN), under the close supervision of the owner. A lone German motorhome arrives later but the couple don't speak to us – or to each other. My ACSI Review:

'Small grass campsite with little hard-standing for vans. Convenient for short ride into mountain tourist town, with a bus stop nearby outside McDonalds. 

The main facilities were closed - just one (unheated) bathroom open, with a single WC, basin and shower for all. Luckily, only one other motorhome on site. Free WiFi OK most of the time. A friendly English-speaking girl worked in Reception part of the day, helping the owners who live on site but are difficult to find! A wash/dry laundry service was available for a price, though a sock was lost in the process! The camping fee was too high, given the lack of facilities, but the mountain scenery is splendid and the other campsite was closed.'

With a better weather forecast for tomorrow, we hope to cross the Tatras into Slovakia.

Click: magbazpictures.com/zakopane

INTO SLOVAKIA

Note that

1. Slovakia is an EU member and the currency is the Euro, currently €1.12 = £1.  

2. Slovakia is in the Central European Time zone (so 1 hr ahead of the UK).

3. Vehicles up to 3.5 tons need to register for an e-vignette only if driving on motorways (road numbers beginning D) and expressways (road numbers beginning R). Buy it at major border crossings or petrol stations - the minimum (10 days) cost €10 in 2017 and was well worth it! For vehicles over 3.5 tons, including motorhomes, there is an electronic toll collection system (as in Austria and Poland). Good luck with that! See www.tolls.eu/slovakia and www.highwaymaps.eu/slovakia

4. Dipped headlights are compulsory at all times (even in summer).

5. Diesel costs about €1.12 a litre (around £1).

Zakopane, Poland to Camping Podlesok, Slovensky Raj National Park, Hrabusice, Slovakia – 69 miles (alt 535 m/1,765 ft)

Officially open 1 Apr-31 Oct (but closed and barred when arrived on 25 Oct). Parked overnight free of charge by the side gate.  www.podlesok.sk  Free WiFi.  N 48.96444  E 20.38500

It's a fine sunny morning with a clear view of the snow-capped peaks all around, though still cold (6°C by 11 am). Returning a few miles on rd 47 to Poronin we find our intended rd 961 towards the Slovak border is closed for road works, so have to continue north towards Nowy Targ. At 9 miles we turn right in Szaflary on a very minor road through Bor village to join the better rd 49 three miles later, so avoiding Nowy Targ.

Rd 49 runs south directly to Slovakia but we turn off 6 miles later at the roundabout in Bryjow Potok onto rd 960 (7-ton limit) for a more exciting and exacting route. We pass 2 working horse-drawn carts as we leave the mountain village, then climb easily from 730 m/2,400 ft to 1017 m/3,355 ft, passing the other end of rd 961 before a hairpin descent to the frontier at 955 m/3,150 ft.

IN SLOVAKIA

From the large car park on the Slovak side, 26 miles scenic miles from Zakopane, we walk back to the bridge over the river that defines the border. On both sides the abandoned guard and customs posts are eerily deserted. Back at the car park, a young man is opening up the little souvenir shop selling hats and soft-toy sheep. To our surprise, he asks us to move on as a coach is due to arrive.

After 7 miles along rd 67, following the northern edge of Slovakia's Tatransky National Park, we pause for lunch on the empty car park of a ski centre at 1,000 m/3,300 ft. Lifts on both sides of the road and newly built accommodation in the nearby village await the snow season. Another 7 miles to Tatranska Kotlina, where we turn right on rd 537 for 5 miles to the popular mountain resort of Tatranska Lomnica.

Here are hotels, a railway station, cable car, tourists – and the shock of a pay & display car park! The campsite is long closed down, though there is an unfriendly 4-place paying camper stop behind a restaurant listed in the Bordatlas. Having paid €1.20 to park for one hour, we look for the bank previously used to change remaining Polish currency into Euros. As it appears to have moved, I ask at the Tourist Office and learn that there are no banks in the area, just an ATM. And no, they don't offer currency exchange, the nearest being at the railway station in Stary Smokovec, 4 miles west along rd 537. So on we go, to another pay & display car park: this time for the minimum €0.60 for 30 minutes. I do eventually find the souvenir shop on the station that offers exchange at a miserly rate (for example £1 = €1) and change our Polish Zloty, wondering if it was worth the effort!

A few Euros richer, we head south on rd 534 for 10 miles to the city of Poprad, where we meet the major rd 18 and turn into the car park of a large Tesco. Restocked (including a lovely chocolate gateau), we continue east on rd 18 for a few miles to the exit for Kisovce village, then follow the SatNav along country lanes to Podlesok.

At the entrance to the Slovensky Raj National Park - a lovely area for hiking or climbing – we know a spacious campsite with very basic facilities at a low price. However, it has a new barrier with locked gates and the Reception/café is closed. A notice in the window 'Open 8 am-2 pm' also gives a phone number for late arrivals and the code for the WiFi, which is working! We phone the displayed number, as well as two other numbers given on the campsite's website, but get no reply except a message in Slovakian. Defeated, we park overnight round the side by the padlocked rear gate, with a WiFi signal! If Reception opens tomorrow morning, we'll stay another night on-site.

It's very quiet apart from an occasional old car passing us along a rough track. Our guess that it leads to a Romany village is confirmed when a beautifully turned out cart jingles past at dusk, drawn by a fine pair of horses with red pom-poms on their bridles. The day ends with a peaceful dinner of shepherd's pie and chocolate cake.

Hrabusice to Aqua Maria Hotel & Camping, Velaty – 100 miles (alt 165 m/555 ft)

Open all year (camping seasonal). www.penzionaquamaria.sk  Suite for two (with bathroom, fridge, kettle, TV) €59 total including choice of breakfast. Free WiFi. One hour free use of Wellness Centre! Good restaurant.  N 48.504974  E 21.653311

Next day, a fine morning, Camping Podlesok remains closed, its phone still unanswered. Disappointed we leave, driving northeast via Hrabusice village to meet rd 18 at Spissky Stvrtok. A newly finished motorway D1 speeds the journey east from here to Presov, bypassing Levoca. There is a convenient fuel station before the junction, where we buy the required e-vignette for vehicles up to 3.5 tons: €10 for the 10-day minimum.

The D1/E50 is excellent, a smooth dual carriageway with a couple of short tunnels. At 19 miles we pass Spissky Hrad Castle on its imposing hilltop, a site we've visited previously. We take a break at 40 miles on a good service area, then continue to Presov and turn south. At Budmir we leave D1 (which goes on to Kosice), turning left on a minor road to Kosicke Olsany, where we meet rd 50 and head east. The motorway eastwards past Michalovce to the Ukrainian border is still under construction. In the summer of 1988 when the Iron Curtain was still firmly drawn, we cycled from the UK to the Ukrainian border and then to Budapest and Vienna for a flight back to the UK and so back to work.

A misty and atmospheric stop for lunch at 75 miles is on the Dargov Pass, up at 465 m/1,535 ft. A sign records the Battle of Dargov Pass, Dec 1944-Jan 1945, a time when Germany held the area on the Gisela Stellung defence line all the way to the Hungarian border. The Red Army of Soviet and Ukrainian forces attacked the Germans on both sides of the Pass. After a week of fierce fighting in the surrounding forest, the Russians took Dargov, followed by Kosice and Presov, eventually forcing the Germans back into Poland. The site is marked by a pair of light Soviet tanks on plinths, as well as a monument that is currently covered by scaffolding and sheeting.

Click: magbazpictures.com/dargov-pass

Impressed by yet another recollection of WW2, we hairpin down in a swirling mist to the town of Sevoce and on to Hriadky. Here we turn south on rd 79 past Trebisov. We are looking forward to a last night in Slovakia at a motel we discovered two years ago, just 5 miles before the Hungarian border. The modern 'Penzion Aqua Maria' hotel and camping (formerly Motorest Maria) is on the right a mile or so after the village of Velaty.

The small campsite and cabins are closed but we are happy to park and take a two-room Suite in the freshly refurbished hotel, which now has an indoor 'wellness centre', restaurant/bar, outdoor pool and tennis courts. Standard en-suite rooms are also available for a few less Euros. We have a good dinner by the log fire in the restaurant (Chicken Cordon Bleu or Pork Medallions), hot showers and a long sleep – luxury indeed.

At Aqua Maria Hotel & Camping, Velaty

In no hurry to leave, we choose a substantial breakfast of coffee, ham & (3) eggs, served with delicious home-baked brown bread and mini-baguettes. A lazy morning follows, using the house WiFi to check campsites in Hungary. Most of the sites along our planned route are already closed (Sarospatak, Tokaj, Debrecen) but we find an all-year Thermal Camping at Hajduszoboszlo.

In the afternoon we descend to the basement to see what a 'Wellness Centre' is, since we have one hour's free use (after which it's €3 per person per hour). The ultra-modern dimly-lit facility is stiflingly hot with weird music. There is a small pool with seats in the bubbling water, a pair of heated stone loungers, sauna, showers, changing room, lockers … and no other guests. Totally unfamiliar with custom and practice in such a spa, I splash in the pool for 10 minutes, swimming its length in 5 strokes, while Barry watches nervously.

Deciding it's not for us, we go back to the sanctuary of our Suite for more relaxing showers, followed by another excellent evening meal of salmon.

Click: magbazpictures.com/hotel-aqua-maria

INTO HUNGARY

Note that

1.  Hungary is an EU member and the currency is the Forint (HUF). Current exchange rate is approx 350 HUF=£1 or 310 HUF=€1. Some businesses accept cash in Euros, some do not, but card payment is widely available.  

2.  Hungary is in the Central European Time zone (so 1 hr ahead of the UK).

3.  All vehicles need a vignette (matricia) to drive on motorways and expressways. Buy it at petrol stations near the border; payment taken in cash (HUF or Euros) or by card. There is no windscreen sticker; the vehicle registration number and nationality are recorded onto a computer at point of sale. The minimum (10 days) cost 5,950 HUF (c €20) for vans and campers up to 3.5 tons. Vehicles weighing between 3.5 and 5 tons (classed as a Bus) cost more, and over 5 tons (Big Bus!) even more. See www.tolls.eu/hungary and www.highwaymaps.eu/hungary  

4.  Dipped headlights are compulsory at all times (even in summer).

5.  Diesel costs about 370 HUF a litre (just over £1).

Velaty, Slovakia to Thermal Camping, Hajduszoboszlo, Hungary – 136 miles

Open all year. www.hungarospa.hu/en  7,290 HUF (or €24) inc 12-amp elec, hot showers, cooking facilities and free WiFi. Good laundry. Free entry to indoor swimming pool and medicinal bath. N 47.45756  E 21.39396

At 10 am on a dull grey Saturday morning (last weekend of October), after another cooked breakfast at the Aqua Maria Hotel, we drive 5 miles south to the abandoned border post and enter Hungary with no formalities at all. A mile along rd 37 lies the busy border town of Satoraljaujhely. Here we get a fill of diesel and a 10-day Matricia (e-vignette) at the petrol station, look in the large Tesco store (depressing) and buy a few things at Lidl (somewhat better). Card payments avoid the need to obtain Forints.

Heading southwest on rd 37 we pass Sarospatak and its castle. To our right the south-facing Zemplen Hills are clad in vineyards, to our left flows the River Bodrog until it turns off to join the Tisza at the famous wine-town of Tokaj. This northeast corner of Hungary is a favourite area, where we would linger at a warmer time of year. In Szerencs at 44 miles we have a lunch break parked at a large shopping complex, then continue until we join the M30/E71 motorway, a smooth new 4-lane highway, on the east side of Miskolc.

This leads us south to meet the M3/E79: turn right (west) for Budapest or, as we do, left for Debrecen. The Rendorseg (Police) are lurking at the junction, with its low 50 kph speed limit. Driving east, we cross the broad River Tisza near Polgar. At junction 187, after the Gorbehazi services, the M3 continues northeast past Nyiregyhaza and on towards the Ukrainian border, while we take the M35 southeast to its terminus on the west side of the city of Debrecen.

Here we join rd 4/E573 southwest for the last few miles to the spa town of Hajduszoboszlo. Turning off towards the centre, we follow the SatNav past Hajdu Camping (open 1 May-30 Sept) to the larger Thermal Camping, where the German-speaking receptionist is extremely helpful and professional. With only one other (Hungarian) motorhome on site, we can park on a good pitch and it's no problem to pay with a bank card when we leave, adding any charge for laundry onto the bill. She apologises for the facilities, due for renovation, but they are a big improvement on our last visit here and much better than any we saw in Poland!  

After a long day, we relax over Bacon & Onion Flammkuche (it was French Week in Lidl) and the very last of the delicious chocolate gateau from Tesco in Poprad. Tonight the clocks go back an hour at the end of summertime, giving an extra hour in bed!

At Thermal Camping, Hajduszoboszlo

Winter arrives, with a cold morning of heavy rain. I make good use of the laundry, with one washer and one drier at 500 HUF (under €2) each, as well as a spin drier and drying room. The facilities are all cleaned early on this Sunday morning by a cheerful woman, seen later sweeping up autumn leaves on the paths. The water is piping hot and the WiFi works well. Amazed, I review the site for ACSI:

'The spacious site is now fantastic compared with my previous visit 7 years ago. It has been taken over by staff who care! The German-speaking receptionist went out of her way to explain what was included for campers (the medicinal bath and indoor swimming pool) and what cost extra. She pointed us to a good level pitch, where the free WiFi worked well.

There is plentiful hot water at all sinks, basins and showers, thanks to the thermal source. The facilities are dated, but clean and warm.  The laundry room/kitchen has washing and drying machines for a small price, as well as free use of a microwave, hot plates and a clothes drying rack.

The outdoor pools, restaurants etc were closed off-season but the indoor baths remain open.'

In the afternoon it turns bright and dry, so we wrap up against the cold wind to take a surprisingly long walk round the grounds and gardens of the huge thermal spa, which is still being expanded. The healing waters serve what is claimed to be the biggest bathing complex in Europe, with indoor medicinal bath and thermal pools; open air baths with 'Mediterranean Beach'; Aqua-Palace Closed Leisure Spa; Aquapark with slides etc; a range of therapy packages, wellness and fitness services; a boating lake with a former Soviet watch-tower that has been turned into a 'lighthouse'; even a naturist sun-bathing island in one of the small lakes! The massive car parks indicate the spa's popularity in the summer months in this land-locked country. 

Click: magbazpictures.com/thermal-camping-hajduszoboszlo

INTO ROMANIA

Note that

1.  Romania is an EU member and the currency is the Romanian Lei (RON). Current exchange rate is approx 5 RON=£1 or 4.5 RON=€1. Some businesses accept cash in Euros, some do not, but card payment is widely available.  

2.  Romania is in the Eastern European Time zone (so 2 hrs ahead of the UK and 1 hr ahead of Hungary).

3.  All vehicles need a vignette to drive on any Romanian road. Buy one at petrol stations or kiosks at the border; payment taken in cash (RON or Euros). There is no windscreen sticker; the vehicle registration number and nationality are recorded onto a computer at point of sale. The minimum (7 days) costs €5 for vans up to 3.5 tons (other options are one month or one year). Vehicles up to 7.5 tons cost more. See www.highwaymaps.eu/romania.  

4.  Dipped headlights are compulsory at all times (even in summer).

5.  Diesel costs about 5.66 RON a litre (just over £1).

Hajduszoboszlo, Hungary to Denta, Romania – 201 miles

Open all year. Free parking by children's playground in village, 9 miles before Serbian border at Moravita. N 45.357921  E 21.248659

We leave Hajduszoboszlo on a cold bright morning, the last day of October, southwest along rd 4/E573. Turning left at Kaba onto a very minor bumpy road (a short cut to avoid Püspokladany) is a mistake and at 17 miles in Földes it's a relief to join the better rd 42/E60. Then it's east for 30 miles to the Romanian frontier between the villages of Artand and Bors.

The border is very busy with international trucks and a heavy police presence. A guard checks our passports, looks inside the motorhome and waves us through to buy a 7-day vignette (€5: paid in Euros, change given in Euros). After a fill of Romanian diesel (paid by bank card), we put our watches on one hour and continue on rd 1/E60 for 8 miles to Oradea. The long queue of lorries waiting to enter Hungary stretches for 4 of those 8 miles, undergoing thorough inspection for migrants, and we do feel sympathy for the truckers.

Click: magbazpictures.com/hungarian---romanian-border

Working our way through the traffic and roundabouts of Oradea, we eventually find the way onto rd 79/E671 to Arad. It's a good 2-lane road but the motorway that is being built will be a big improvement, avoiding Oradea. On the outskirts of that city we are aware of the poverty, of gipsy hovels, a man pushing an old bicycle loaded with firewood, prostitutes lurking in laybys. Romania and Bulgaria remain the poor relations of Eastern Europe, despite EU membership.

Heading south on the arrow-straight road through flat open countryside, parallel with the Hungarian border, we pass through an occasional village and the small town of Salonta. At Chisineu Cris, where we first entered Romania from Gyula in the summer of 1989 when it was in the final throes of Ceasescu's dictatorship, we share memories of that epic cycle ride from England to Istanbul through a string of Iron Curtain countries. Romania came as a shock after Hungary, and it still does.

Approaching Arad at 126 miles, we see a little restaurant/motel called CET by a petrol station, at the roundabout where rd 7 turns west for the border crossing at Nadlac. For a €10 note we get a simple meal each and a basket of chifli (bread buns), declining the small amount of change offered in Romanian Lei. To bypass the centre of Arad, we take rd 7 west for a couple of miles, then turn south on the new A1 highway towards Timisoara. A motorway west from Arad to Szeged in Hungary is still under construction.

Unfortunately the A1 doesn't reach Timisoara. We must exit at Giarmata at 158 miles, nearly 10 miles from the city, and make our way in past shops (Lidl or Kaufland) and hotels, negotiating traffic jams, avoiding trams and trolley buses. We take the so-called ring road (the city is in desperate need of one) to the west of the centre, following a single sign for Moravita: the border town before Serbia. The evening rush hour is gridlock, there are many turnings without signs and we rely on the SatNav to get us through and out the other side, onto rd 59/E70 south for Moravita. Timsoara and its traffic have certainly mushroomed since our previous experiences, cycling through in 1989 or later visits by motorhome to its seasonal campsite.

Continuing south, the road grows quieter as we leave the city behind. The only TIR truck-park we pass is small and full, we see no hotels or restaurants where we could park overnight, and it grows dark. Not wishing to cross into Serbia until morning, we finally stop in the village of Denta, less than 10 miles before the border. A parking area on the right of the main road, next to a children's playground and opposite a little shop that is open, proves a safe place for the night.

As we take a short stroll round the village, we meet a few kids with pumpkin lanterns and realise that tonight is Halloween but it's too cold for anyone to stay out long and disturb us.

NOVEMBER 2017

INTO SERBIA

Note that

1.  Serbia is not an EU member and the currency is the Serbian Dinar (RSD). Current exchange rate is approx. 135 RSD=£1 or 120 RSD=€1. Euros or card payments are generally accepted.

2.  Serbia is in the Central European Time zone (so 1 hr ahead of the UK and 1 hr behind Romania or Bulgaria).  

3.  British-registered vehicles are now fully covered by their own insurance in Serbia: just show insurance certificate papers at border.

4.  There is no vignette to buy but there are regular small tolls on the motorways, payable in Euros or local currency. Carry plenty of small change.

5.   Dipped headlights are compulsory at all times (even in summer).

6.   Diesel costs about 158 RSD a litre (over £1).

7.  The Cyrillic alphabet is used on older road signs though most now have the name in Latin script, which is becoming more common throughout the country.

Denta, Romania to Istanbul Restaurant/TIR Parking, Aleksinac, Serbia – 182 miles

Open all year. €5 overnight guarded parking with WC. Excellent Turkish restaurant with free WiFi inside. Access from E761 (Belgrade to Nis toll motorway) southbound.  N 43.528885  E 21.707637

After a quiet night parked in Denta, we woke to see the villagers out and about early: horse-drawn carts, cows driven along the lane, women with little shopping trolleys and children on their way to school, all before 8 am. We moved along the main road a short distance to a quieter car park outside a sports stadium for breakfast, then continued 9 miles south down rd 59 to the Serbian frontier at Moravita, a well-remembered crossing point where we cycled into what was Yugoslavia in the summer of 1989. There is just one truck and one car waiting.

IN SERBIA

STOP !! Faced with double border checks as we leave the EU, we have to show passports, vehicle documents and insurance papers. After some delay, and a minor mishap when the end of the motorhome awning cover catches the edge of a low parapet, we enter Serbia, put our watches back one hour and continue 7 miles down rd 1-9 to Vrsac. From here the E70 takes us southwest towards Belgrade (Beograd), across an open agricultural landscape dotted with villages that look even poorer than Romania. We recognise shop signs in the Slav language (хлеб or Chleb = bread), some still in the Cyrillic alphabet but mostly not. A few folk brave the cold to sit at the roadside selling cabbages and other produce; at 10 am (Serbian time) it is only 9°C outside. 

At 55 miles approaching Pancevo we stop at a remarkably modern fuel station, with a smart café and toilets. Four miles later we turn off on rd 24, a good road that bypasses the centre of Bavaniste. Crops of tobacco stand in the fields. Shortly after Kovin we cross the Danube on a toll-free bridge, after which the road is immediately much bumpier as we continue south to Smederevo. The morning is now fine and sunny with no wind; smoke from the factory chimneys goes straight up as we pass through industrial Radnac.

Meeting the motorway from Belgrade, rd 1/E761, at 95 miles, we take a toll ticket and head south on the new 4-lane highway. At the next services, 13 miles along at Velika Plana, we are ready for a break at McDonalds (excellent cakes at the McCafé) which accepts bank card payment.

We intend to spend the night at the Aleksander Restaurant & Service Station about 50 miles further south near Pojate. After taking the exit (toll of 610 RSD paid by card) we realise that these services are only accessible to northbound traffic from the motorway! Back on the motorway, southbound for Nis, we spot the Istanbul Restaurant/TIR Park on our side of the carriageway at Aleksinac. The staff, food and customers are mostly Turkish and very welcoming. Parking is free for up to 6 hours or €5 overnight.

Taking a laptop into the little restaurant, we use the WiFi over cups of coffee until we have to move: not for the truckers watching a TV football match but for a coachload of young athletes who come in for a meal. They are a Turkish Wrestling Team on their way home from an international contest, so we don't argue!

INTO BULGARIA

Note that:

1.  Bulgaria is an EU member and the currency is the Bulgarian Lev (Lv). Current exchange rate is approx 2.2 Lv=£1 or 2 Lv=€1. Some businesses accept cash in Euros or payment by card, some do not. In particular, the small entry charge for places like museums, swimming pools, ancient sites etc will require local currency.

2.  Bulgaria is in the Eastern European Time zone, like Romania and Greece (so 2 hrs ahead of the UK).

3.  All vehicles need a vignette to drive in Bulgaria on any roads. Buy the simple windscreen sticker at kiosks or petrol stations near the border; payment taken in cash (Lv or Euros) or by card. The fee is €8 for the minimum (7 days) or €15 for a month, for vehicles up to 3.5 tons. Those weighing 3.5 to 12 tons can pay €11 for a one-day vignette, or €27 (week) or €54 (month). See www.tolls.eu/bulgaria and www.highwaymaps.eu/bulgaria

4.  Dipped headlights are compulsory at all times (even in summer).

5.  Diesel costs about 2 Lv a litre (under £1).

6.  Bulgaria uses the Cyrillic script (as in Russia), though major road signs will also show place names in the Latin alphabet.

Aleksinac, Serbia to Camping Kromidovo, Kromidovo, Bulgaria – 218 miles

Open March-Oct (other times by arrangement). www.campingkromidovo.com and www.campingbulgaria.eu/  30 Lv or €15 inc 16-amp elec, hot showers and free WiFi.  Chemical toilet emptying forbidden if using blue chemical toilet fluid! Five eco-friendly dogs loose on-site and welcome to deposit where they will.  N 41.454260  E 23.362990

At 7.30 am it's only 3°C as we leave the Truck Park (height 170 m/560 ft), take the motorway  A1/E761 south and climb gradually into the looming hills. After 17 miles we exit at Nis with a toll of €2.50 (it would have been €10 all the way from Belgrade). The A4 to the Bulgarian border and on to Sofia, about 100 miles away, starts as a bumpy dual carriageway but soon becomes a tight 2-lane road along a scenic ravine, signed as the Wine Route. A railway and a river follow the same gorge to our right; frost sparkles on the verges.

After passing an old Orthodox monastery we reach 250 m/825 ft and go through a couple of short tunnels before the road straightens and continues past Bela Palonka, where a section of 4-lane highway begins, finished as far as Pirot. Road works are under way along the line of a new road that will go from Nis to the border or beyond. Beyond the frosty fields there is snow on the distant peaks of hazy blue mountains.

At 61 miles, up at 375 m/1,240 ft, we take a coffee break at one of the many TIR parks with Turkish food, flags and truckers. Then it's on to the Bulgarian border, partly on the old road and sometimes on the new highway, with a tunnel at 480 m/1,585 ft that bypasses the last Serbian town, Dimitrovgrad.

IN BULGARIA

There are double passport checks at the border at 81 miles (height 490 m/1,620 ft), where we re-enter the EU, buy a 7-day Bulgarian vignette (€8 cash), put our watches on one hour and continue on E80 for Sofia: a good road, with the first fuel available at Dragoman (bank card accepted). In fact E80 is an A class West-to-East European Route running from Lisbon in Portugal to Gurbulak on Turkey's border with Iran. At 6102 km (or 3,792 miles) long, it connects 10 countries: at its eastern end it connects with Asian Highway AH1 which runs all the way to Japan. Now there's an idea for a great journey! 

We continue climbing towards Sofia, Europe's second highest capital after Madrid, passing the Route 80 Motel/camping on the left near Bozuriste, though it's too early to stop. About 5 miles later we meet Sofia's outer ring road, altitude 700 m/2,310 ft, and turn south at the roundabout to join the E79, signed to Greece!

Still climbing, the smooth dual carriageway reaches 915 m/3,020 ft before a series of short tunnels. At 128 miles (and 800 m/2,640 ft) a good service area provides a McLunch (excellent cakes again!) before we head ever-south down the Struma valley, now signed for the Bulgarian border village of Kulata. After Blagoevgrad the E79 highway reverts to a bumpy 2-lane road, parallel with river and railway. In Kresna, the thoroughfare is lined with shops and stalls selling all manner of souvenirs such as olives, wine, garden gnomes and ornaments – a sure sign that a border lies ahead (about 30 miles away).

Further down the Struma valley, at 207 miles, we turn off to shop at Kaufland supermarket in Sandanski, a popular tourist and wine-producing town at the foot of the Pirin Mountains, where we see vineyards. Another 8 miles down E79 we exit for Katuntsi and turn east, aiming for a new campsite whose owners, Sara and John, had written when they opened in April 2016 asking us to publicise the site. We look forward to meeting them and discovering a third British-run Bulgarian oasis, to join the excellent Sakar Hills and Veliko Tarnovo. After 3 miles of country-bumpkin lanes, we follow the obscure home-made signs through the seemingly abandoned village of Kromidovo, crawling round pot holes to an unlikely gate and a scruffy garden with a tepee. Can this be the 'glamping' site?

A young volunteer worker lets us in, while a loose Doberman defecates on the grass nearby. Then John appears, asking what the smell is! He explains they are just minding the dog for someone, so that's OK? 'Nobody else is here, park where you like' – actually, we don't like but it's getting late. At least there is electricity and WiFi, although we are not allowed to empty our own WC since we admit to using Thetford Blue chemicals. John offers no alternative disposal facility and disappears into the renovated house, the ground floor of which contains the communal toilets, showers and wash basins. Washing up is at a grubby outdoor sink. He does not remember emailing us to visit: 'that must have been Sara', who doesn't appear.

At Camping Kromidovo, Kromidovo

Next day is cold and wet, so I can't use the washing machine as there is nowhere to dry laundry except in the garden. At least the site showers are hot. We feel most uncomfortable in the strange atmosphere of this 'eco-camp', occupied by the owners, their 3 dogs and 5 cats, plus 2 extra dogs running loose. There is no sign of our hosts all day.

We talk to the two young volunteers on the Workaway Scheme who are painting a fence (he from the Netherlands, she from Canada). They've been here one week and are leaving next week for Macedonia, where she has family. A tiny stray ginger/white kitten turns up and I give it some milk, after which it follows us closely on a walk round what is left of the village, then vanishes. There is one simple shop (closed till 3 pm) and an open-air pool and café (both closed). A longer walk would take us to the Orbelus organic winery, to be seen on the hillside, but that has little appeal and it's raining.

One British motorhome arrives later but they stay inside, probably as shocked as we are. This isn't culture-shock, we are well used to Eastern Europe, but shock at the pretentious claims made for this site. See our article and photographs at:

Kamping Kromidovo Reviewed and magbazpictures.com/kromidovo-camping--town

INTO GREECE (with relief after Kromidovo!)

Note that:

1.  Greece is an EU member and the currency is the Euro, currently €1.12 = £1.  

2.  Greece is in the Eastern European Time zone, like Romania and Bulgaria (so 2 hrs ahead of the UK).

3.  There is no vignette to buy but there are regular small tolls on most of the motorways, as well as on the Rio-Antirio bridge over the Gulf of Corinth, payable in Euros or by card.

4.  Dipped headlights are NOT compulsory during daylight hours.

5.  Diesel costs about €1.25 a litre (over £1).

6.  Greece naturally uses Greek letters, though most road signs will also show place names in the Latin alphabet.

7.  National museums and ancient sites are free of charge for EU citizens on the first Sunday of each month between 1 Nov and 31 March. At other times, there is often a reduced rate for age 65 and over. They are usually closed on Mondays.

Kromidovo, Bulgaria to Elodia Taverna, Kerkini, Greek Macedonia – 35 miles

Open all year (restaurant closed Mondays).  www.elodia.gr  Free overnight parking for customers in grounds of excellent restaurant by Lake Kerkini. Free WiFi covering car park. WC inside.  N 41.211441  E 23.095873

On a fine sunny Saturday morning it's a great joy to leave Kromidovo, its campsite and its disintegrating road behind, drive 3 miles west along the lanes and turn south on E79 for Greece, our favourite European country. At the Kulata border, 6 miles later, there is a double check point as we exit Bulgaria, even though both countries are EU members. A guard looks inside before waving us on.

And so ends a journey of 2,300 miles in 34 days from the Finnish-Estonian border, an average of 127 miles between the 18 places where we stayed along the route. But there are another thousand miles yet to be enjoyed before we settle for a while in the southwest corner of the Greek Peloponnese.

Continuing south alongside the Struma River (Greek name: Strymona), the E79 is now a motorway with a toll of €2.40 on entry. We exit 7 miles later, turning west to cross the Strymona on a minor road via Neo Petritsi to Livadia, along the north side of the river's dammed lake. This is Lake Kerkini National Park, a protected area, though there are fewer birds than we remember, just the odd heron, and the lake is clearly shrinking. In Livadia we turn south to Kerkini village, where there is a left turn signed Limani (Harbour) for the final mile to the lakeside.

The Elodia Taverna is a traditional restaurant in its own park-like grounds, on the left shortly before the lake's western shore. There is plenty of space for customers to park overnight, with free WiFi and a tap available, and lunch is being served inside the rustic tavern. Delighted, we sit by a log fire and enjoy a really outstanding meal. The local speciality is buffalo steak, sausage or meatballs, though chicken and pork are also on the menu. The Greek Salad starter, topped with tasty buffalo-milk cheese, includes beetroot and boiled eggs as well as the usual tomato/cucumber/onion/olives: a meal in itself with wonderful bread and olive oil. The tender meats are served with rice, chips and vegetables. It's good to be back in Greece!

In the afternoon we walk along to the lake where a few visitors have parked their cars, come to take a horse ride through the buffalo pastures or a boat trip to see the flamingos and pelicans, or to buy souvenirs from the stalls. We politely decline any of this (Barry can't swim and we only ride bicycles) but we do climb the new wooden observation tower to look down on the assorted flying ducks and pygmy cormorants drying their wings. Then we walk back past the Elodia and sit outside a café in the village square, drinking coffee in a sheltered corner as the sun goes down.

Click: magbazpictures.com/lake-kerkini

Back in the motorhome, we listen to BBC Radio 4 'Any Questions' and watch an old Clint Eastwood film – the most relaxing evening for quite a while! The journey overland from Estonia, following autumn south, has been full of incident but now our aim is the Greek Peloponnese, our favourite winter base.

(continued at: In Greece: Winter 2017-18)