RV Tour Balkan August 2017

Macedonia, Lake Ohrid on August 20, 2017, Camping Sunrise

We have been on the road for a week now. Finally, I find some time to start my travel report.

We started on August 12, 2017 at 1:00 PM in Pfaffenhofen. The team consists of Princess B, King M, and the driver A. Our plan is a round trip through the Balkans. Due to a severe thunderstorm front over Hungary and Serbia, we changed our travel route and continued westward via Innsbruck/Brenner to Ancona. The day before, we found a ferry from Ancona to Igoumentisa that even offered a cabin.

So off to Italy.

Our car, 130 HP, large refrigerator, and three spacious sleeping bunks

Quick stop after Munich. The heater is running, it's 13 degrees

The route via Garmisch is crowded, but at least it's moving. In Austria, we quickly loaded bottles of water without a deposit and then went up the Brenner pass after a short refueling stop.

Cold and rain at the Brenner pass

In the Etschtal near Affi, the weather was already better and we made good progress until Mantua.

We had chosen San Benedetto as our overnight spot. But the GPS pulled us off the highway before the Po river. An error, because the bridge over the Po is dilapidated and only 2.30 meters wide. And there is a width restriction with guardrails in front of it. Definitely a challenge in the dark, because there are only a few centimeters on the left and right sides of our big vehicle. It's better to leave the highway after the Po. The approach is problem-free and the overnight spot is nice and quiet.

San Benedetto commune - nice spot, central

Sunday traffic jam on the Bologna-Ravenna route. We should have driven to Ravenna the night before.

Short tour in the port - nothing special ...

except that it was hot. Luckily, our refrigerator was well stocked and nice and cold.

loading the ferry at 7:00 PM. The ship is large

and the motorhomes all have to go to the second level

and, of course, a stop on the ramp. That requires concentration.

Sunset still in Ancona - it is now 8:15 PM

At some point, all the trucks were loaded and we left. We were rewarded with a beautiful sunset.

About the Minoan ship, all I can say is: It has been floating for a long time and the kitchen is catastrophic and expensive.

In the morning, we were already on the Albanian coast

and arrived in Igoumentisa with a 1.5-hour delay, which is still punctual. Here, unloading went quickly because all the trucks continued to Patras.

We didn't feel like going on a longer drive and therefore headed to Camping Sofas Beach, located 40 km south. As expected, it was full, but we found a corner for ourselves.

Despite that, there was plenty of space on the beach and the food was delicious. On August 15, it was also a holiday in Greece, and the celebration of the Greeks and their guests went on with live music until 2:30 AM. And it was anything but quiet.

So the next morning, we headed to Archeron. on the drive along the coast, we were surprised that every beach was completely crowded. Apparently, the whole of Greece was still on vacation.

and that's why our destination, the Acheron with its springs, wasn't exactly deserted.

Equipped with water shoes and shorts, we set off anyway. The hope of a refreshing swim motivated us in the heat.

and the water is cold, maybe 13-14 degrees. At the beginning, our legs hurt,

but then the coolness was nice.

After swimming through the second pool (against the only slight current that day), the warming breaks got longer and the hot wind wasn't enough. After 35 minutes uphill, we turned back, shivering.

And then people came, people

and more and more people.

Even the really generous parking lot was full. We didn't mind. We even enjoyed the heated motorhome. Some sausages and then we were off to

Meteora.

We quickly reached our destination, Kastraki, and headed to Camping Vrochos, which was only half full. A cheap starting point for visiting the monasteries. The bus stops right at the door, because by 10:30 AM, there are no parking spaces left for a motorhome near the monasteries.

Meteora is worth seeing. The next day, the two woke up voluntarily early and we had breakfast at Agios Stefanos. After the visit, we headed north, along the country road

towards Kastoria. Along the lake - very beautiful. But my battery was empty.

But then it really caught our attention. Is this a promotional gimmick?

Hard to see - warning signs for bears!

Then through the mountains towards Bitola, already in Macedonia.

The border was unproblematic.

From Bitola, we continued towards Ohrid. Very beautiful landscape. Unfortunately, the bypass road from Bitola goes through smoking garbage dumps. You're definitely no longer in the EU.

After another 2 hours, we arrived at our destination. The Camping Sunrise on the west coast of Lake Ohrid.

Our pitch is right by the water!

View from the motorhome door!

The next day, bathing and catching frogs and fish were on the agenda. We also found snakes and nutrias right on the beach. The lake offers a lot.

You can hear the muezzin calling to prayer over the water. Nice little place run by a family. The facilities are simple, the restaurant only has 3 dishes. But we still enjoyed it!

Sunrise!

Sunset!

M.'s favorite dish: kebab filled with cheese and french fries

The tired princess tries the chicken. But it couldn't convince her. The french fries were good though.

On the evening of August 19, we went to Struga for dinner. We took a taxi for €1.60. It's not worth moving the motorhome for that.

The town was quite lively. This was the only time in Macedonia that the bill was incorrect. I don't think it was an unintentional mistake. The food was also only mediocre. However, we sat right on the Drin River, which was nice.

The next morning, we went to Ohrid. Again by taxi. €9 for 17 km. In Ohrid, it's difficult to find a parking space for the motorhome, so we were driven right to the gates of the old town.

Since we wanted to go up to the fortress first, we had already covered 2/3 of the ascent. Otherwise, King M would have revolted. The path is quite steep and already quite sweaty by 10:00 AM.

The basilica

In Ohrid, the view from the fortress is great, despite the haze in the morning. From the fortress, the way to Sv. Jovan, the most famous photo motif of Macedonia, is not far.

Nice beach at Sv. Jovan

Nice spot, but probably better in the evening and even better at sunrise when no one is blocking the view.

It was Sunday in August after all. Even the beach along the lake was completely full. After a stop at a beach restaurant, where we sat really nicely, we walked through the old town of Ohrid along the wooden boardwalk. And here it was like being in an oven.

What good is the special atmosphere when the two rebels and we took a taxi back to the campsite after 20 minutes.

Here, there was wind and it was much more bearable. Of course, the water also contributed to cooling down. There are also interesting animals here and you can go kayaking!

The water was nice and surprisingly cool due to the offshore wind!

We then continued north. My two rebels refused to visit Shkodra! Maybe a few days of beach at the sea would improve the mood? Montenegro, Ada Bojana is not far!

But we were annoyed by the border. It took almost two hours to enter Montenegro. It's a good thing we had a toilet and a well-stocked refrigerator with us.

Our destination was only 65 km away that day, but it took us almost 5 hours.

There wasn't much going on in Ada, plenty of space. Compared to Albania, however, it was relatively unkempt.

But the beach was promised to be the finest!

There was also wind only in the afternoon. Four relaxing days at the beach!

Dinner at the Bojana. The food was good, but clearly more expensive than in Albania.

But the sunsets were great

and there was always activity on the Bojana: kite surfers, fishermen, windsurfers, water skiers...

Good thing the season was already coming to an end.

On August 29, we already set off at 5:30 AM towards the north. After all, we had 3 borders ahead of us, and we still remembered the waiting at the Montenegro border. We quickly reached the coast road near Dubrovnik

Fantastic - I would have added another day. But the protests from the majesties were too much to bear.

So we continued to the next border:

to Bosnia and Herzegovina

and then, after a short refueling stop, half an hour later

back to Croatia.

The coast became more and more beautiful: bays, water in all shades of blue, mountains, cliffs, the island of Hvar

until we finally reached the picturesque Makarska Riviera south of Split.

Perhaps the most beautiful stretch of our entire trip!

To enjoy it, we found a small campsite

View from the beach towards the mountains

really beautiful

and the next morning, it was time to go home. We left the coast just before Brela towards the highway. The road to the Slovenian border is now well built and can be completed in just under 5 hours.

All quiet, :-)

also at the border crossing at the Karawanken Tunnel to Austria

Evening atmosphere at the Tauern

The rest was unproblematic.

Data:

- 18 days

- 3,250 km

- 12 borders

Highlights and what we planned:

- Ohrid, Galicia National Park, and Lake Prespa for hiking. Best in spring during the apple blossom when there is still snow on top of Galicia. But then with a rental car, as the roads are too narrow for our big vehicle.

- Drive around Lake Skadar

- Drive along the Adriatic coast from north to south, so you're on the seaside!