MOSCOW ROAD TRIP

[Chris.P]

Hi Everyone,

I'm thinking of taking the Bird for a spin, south or east, still not decided. Was thinking Morocco, but the ferry down to Santander from UK is coming in at ?500, which is a bit rich.

Was thinking of heading over to see a mate in Budapest, and then another 1,000 miles on to Moscow through Belaruss to see another bunch of old pals.

Anyone have any experience of roads through Belarus and wester Russia? I know Moscow quite well but not the roads out of town.

All the best,

Chris

 

[Rheumatoid]

Hi Everyone,

I'm thinking of taking the Bird for a spin, south or east, still not decided. Was thinking Morocco, but the ferry down to Santander from UK is coming in at ?500, which is a bit rich.

Was thinking of heading over to see a mate in Budapest, and then another 1,000 miles on to Moscow through Belaruss to see another bunch of old pals.

Anyone have any experience of roads through Belarus and wester Russia? I know Moscow quite well but not the roads out of town.

All the best,

Chris

Welcome

sorry no idea but you might want to change your ID so you don't get spammed.

R.

 

[Jaws]

OK, WHY are you looking as Santander ?
If you are going on a bike trip why do you want to do half of it on a boat ? !

We always ( and I mean always no matter what we are in or on, shoot across Le Manche ( chunnel if bike, ferry if motorhome, whatever is cheapest if car )

Morocco is great.. Petrol about £1.20 A GALLON, and everything else as cheap as chips too ( in fact at today's prices every thing CHEAPER than chips ! )

With the current exchange rate petrol through France and Spain works out about £3.50 a gallon.. That equates to about £132 to get from Dover to Gibraltar.. and you will have the trip too instead of the sea sickness !! ( The Bay of Biscay is rarely calm !! )

On the other side of the coin, Hungary ( and especially Budapest ) is a beautiful country .. been a few times in the van and loved it, but do remember they are still almost a third world country ( ok, thats pushing it but you know what I mean ) .. As such you will be viewed as a very rich person and will have to be careful with security both of the bike and all your belongings

I would suggest you think long and hard about going much further west though
You know about the massive problems in the Ukraine, and believe me, Belarus is not much better at the moment..

I would go do Hungary then head south and aim for Croatia..
Wonderful people, lovely place ( oft described as a south sea island on steroids ! )

On the way back, pick your way through the Alps and take in Timmosjock pass..
Up the top there is still the remains of the glaciers from the last ice age

On one side of the road, look down on the TOP of the clouds.. on the other side, walk on a 150,000 year old glacier

 

[richardgore]

On the other side of the coin, Hungary ( and especially Budapest ) is a beautiful country .. been a few times in the van and loved it, but do remember they are still almost a third world country ( ok, thats pushing it but you know what I mean ) .. As such you will be viewed as a very rich person and will have to be careful with security both of the bike and all your belongings

I would suggest you think long and hard about going much further west though
You know about the massive problems in the Ukraine, and believe me, Belarus is not much better at the moment..

I would go do Hungary then head south and aim for Croatia..
Wonderful people, lovely place ( oft described as a south sea island on steroids ! )

On the way back, pick your way through the Alps and take in Timmosjock pass..
Up the top there is still the remains of the glaciers from the last ice age

On one side of the road, look down on the TOP of the clouds.. on the other side, walk on a 150,000 year old glacier

What he said!

I did it the year before last - through Holland & Germany into Northern Poland, then down into Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia, Slovenia, Italy, Austria, Germany & France. All brilliant roads - especially the last half (except Germany, traffic jams everywhere) - very friendly and approachable people (not sure you'll get that in Russia at the moment). Although I thought about going further East but couldn't be arsed with the paperwork required, as well as the possibility of carnets and visas. I would strongly recommend it - the variation in countryside, culture, people and food was something I'll remember for a very long time.

If you do think of going anywhere along that route I can give you some excellent stop-offs.

Good luck

 

[Vinterceptor]

I would go do Hungary then head south and aim for Croatia..
Wonderful people, lovely place ( oft described as a south sea island on steroids ! )

On the way back, pick your way through the Alps and take in Timmosjock pass..
Up the top there is still the remains of the glaciers from the last ice age

On one side of the road, look down on the TOP of the clouds.. on the other side, walk on a 150,000 year old glacier

Kinell ya make that trip sound good (do you work for the Croatian tourist board by any chance?), must get me sen a passport. Have never toured on the continent as yet.

 

[Jaws]

What is really odd, is that up until 1987, apart from the odd day trip to France, neither of us had really been outside the UK..

Then woman saved up without me knowing and booked 2 weeks on Corfu
That kinda started the bug off..

But we could not do mush about it ( always skint or working all the time ) until about 2006. I sold a couple of my bikes and bought our first motorhome
That first year we went and did Austria, Germany, Italy and Switzerland ( and that was and will be the last time I go to Switzerland.. As amazing as the sites are, we found everything was based on greed.. Sorry if that offends anyone and I do not mean the people.. they were, in general ok but bloody miserable ! )

Since then the only places in Europe we have not travelled fairly extensively in are Norway, Sweden and Denmark..

Some places are great some are ok, but very few are disliked..

neither of us exactly love France, but I think that has more to do with us than them.. We have found a few places that were ok but in general France is really not to our liking.. and in general we have come to the conclusion the French are not great fans of 'Roz bouf' ( a term we have often come across and is a bit like calling someone from Egypt a wog, or from Italy a Spic )

Austria, Germany, Italy and Croatia are without doubt our favourite destination, though the Czech Republic is pretty nice too ( apart from the roads ! Jeez, who would lay a motorway with stuff that looks and feels like poorly put down cobble stones ! )

In all the above favourite places, not only do we seem to 'click' with the people but we have found them always ready to help and often offer warm hospitality
As it happens, given the fact we tend to meander and get lost quite a bit, always found the police in each country incredibly helpful.. almost to the point of embarrassment .. Lost track of the amount of times an officer has said, "I know a camp site but there is a a lovely spot you can stay for free for the night, follow me !" Or in a few cases, allowed to stay in their own gardens for goodness sake !

Vinterceptor, get that passport sorted out mate and just do it afore its too late.. Its a bugger trying to get an engine and wheels on your coffin, and the scenery is pretty boring too !!!

Darrell and I have even just pulled off an autobahn and set up the tents in the wooded areas that are often beside the roads ( but do not do this in northern Germany.. There are still wolves roaming the woods in places ! )