Hello Again, It's time for us to plan the second stage of our trip and we're hoping to be traveling through Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, Slovakia, Ukraine, Poland and Czech Republic. On and off road routes would be great. Last time I posted route help on here I had a great response so hope you don't mind me asking again and as promised stage 1 was filmed and is currently being made into episodes for you all to watch (See Here: Aim For The Horizon). Plan to do the same with this stage as well. Thanks in advance. Rob
Rob, FWIW I travelled around Bulgaria about 9 years ago (sadly in a Renault Megane....) so my memories are a bit hazy. I can tell you what we visited that's worth visiting, although for routes..... From Sofia, we headed west then south to Rila Monastery. I think it's a world heritage site but there's camping near there (don't quote me on that. Looking at Google maps now makes me think they have spent a bit of money on the roads at last. Then we headed to Plovdiv, second city. A lot of faded splendour but with Roman ruins. We then meandered north via Karlovo and Gabrovo to Veliko Tarnovo. This is much more developed and a good mix of modern (i.e. working) and historic. I remember going over the mountain roads to get there, which were great in the car but would be fabulous on the bike. You could head north for Romania from there. However, we then turned back for Sofia from there. Again, some great roads until you hit the plains/valleys. That's about all I can help you with, but we found the Rough Guide pretty accurate. That and a local map, plus a few words in the local lingo and an understanding of how to read cyrillic got us by for 2 weeks. Enjoy!
If you go through Slovakia, definitely do not skip the High Tatras mountains. Not as tall as the Alps, but pretty close. Central Slovakia has very nice mountain roads. If you want to see hundreds of women that look like models, stop in Bratislava and go for a walk downtown in the evening. I recently discovered that there is a very cool motorcycle museum in Lesna, Czech Republic - http://www.veteransalon.cz/. Looks like it's worth stopping. PM me if you need more info on Slovakia.
Thanks for all the info so far guys this is great. I'm putting pins in maps as we speak. Anymore info or routes are welcome. Rob
What country will you be coming from when in Bulgaria? Next I assume would be Romania? I could help with suggestions--the already mentioned Rila Monastery. The 7 Rila Lakes National Preserve is a bit before that (100 km) and well worth the visit. You'll leave the moto, take the lift and hike. The ROdopi Mountains (Dospat, Trigrad, Yagodina cave), Perperikon around Pazardjik if you are going that far south. Of course, the Balkan Mountains (church in Sheinovo, Shipka, Buzludja--old komunist monument, and a fun twisty abandoned asphalt road, Etyra, Bozhenci, and V Turnovo). Doug's camp is near Turnovo.
I can help you with Czech, Poland and Ukraine section just specify how much time you have, when and what do you want to see
