Few stats and a breakdown of costs for our European van trip in 2013.
After a few days of bad weather and our departure to Nepal in two weeks from Warsaw we decided to make a dash for it to Poland, it would take us a couple of days. We were heading for Andrews parent’s place and the thought of creature comforts and a Mum to look after us was very appealing.
We took the border crossing into Montenegro from the south of Shkodra, Albania. It was a very short queue and we just needed to purchase an insurance doc which was 15 euros. Montenegro was stunning. Lush green mountains so colorful with flowers everywhere.
Tires swapped over from the previous flat and we continued our route North.
After a few hours driving along windy mountain roads dodging goat herds, pigs, donkeys and pot holes we spotted the most beautiful beach for a swim. It was down a steep unpaved track of about 150m from the main road. Moments later... Boom and Hissssss...
After making use of the valuable free showers on the beach in Greece we hit the road again on our way up north.
We drove towards Itea (a coastal town) for the night before visiting Delphi. On the mountainous route we came across large numbers of goats crossing the road.
From Itea we drove 10 miles north to Delphi, which once was a home to the famous Greek oracle.
From Sparta we drove to a beautiful salt water lake in Limni Vouliagmenis, north of Korinthos.
We visited the extensive ruins of Mystras a World Heritage listed site near Sparta. It was an old Byzantine fortress town with the ruins of churches, libraries, strongholds.
Our next drive took us down the very rugged peninsular of Mani. This area in history is know for its internal feuds and darted about the mountainside you can see houses of a fort like structure and castles.
This five day beach stop, 30 minutes south of Kalamata, was our favourite place yet. The beach was not the best so far (but it did have showers which was handy), but the generosity and friendliness of the local people made it.
From "the bay" we headed further south down the western most ‘finger’ of the Peloponnese. Our first stop was the Voidokoilia beach.
This spot was recommended to us by Costos, a barman (and a surfer) who worked at the campsite further up north and gave us many decent tips on where to go next.
From Patra we headed down the west coast of the Peloponnese. Around half way down the coast we found an excellent family run campsite next to the beach with a very friendly vibe.
We set our foot in Greece mid day on Friday the 30th of August at the port of Patra. Our first mission was to find, the very appraised in travel guides, tourist Information center where we could get a decent road map of Greece. After unsuccessfully wondering around for a while, Holly popped into to a travel agent to get some directions. A few minutes later she emerged with a friendly Greek-American lady who explained that during the economic crisis a lot of civil servant jobs were cut and the information center we were seeking for is now closed. She very kindly took us to a good book store with lots of maps and gave us some initial schooling about Greece in a lovely New York accent.
We headed south into Italy’s heel awaiting our departure from Brindisi to Greece that was due in three days. About an hours drive south of Brindisi, past Lecce, we found many excellent free camping options right by the beach.
Yup, it was expected that sooner or later something will go wrong. As we were driving through a rather long tunnel without a hard shoulder, the little, red, “you’re loosing coolant mate” light started flashing disco style on the dashboard. We knew right away what the problem was as it’s a re-occurring fault that got us twice before on the English soil. One of the rubber coolant hoses loosens and pops out of a pvc pipe that connects it with the radiator at the front of the van.
From the lake we headed for the east coast. Our drive took us though The Parco Nazionale dei Monti Sibillini, a beautiful, mountainous national park.
From Pienza we headed to Lago Trasimeno in Umbria. We free camped by the lake in different locations for the next two nights.
Having left Volterra we visited Pienza a very picturesque renaissance town, which in 1996 was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Volterra, a hilltop town in Tuscany, was our next stop and we stayed in a campsite just outside the towns walls.
The drive took us though the French Italian boarder near the coast. We opted to take a toll road at this point due to the high volumes of August traffic along the coastline. Our German T3 friends had just come through this bit of coastline (without using the toll) it took them hours just to travel a few miles.
We were just around 20 minutes away from Saint Tropez and it was getting late. Cruising on local roads we were looking for somewhere to stay.
After leaving Beaune we spent the whole day driving. At this point we really got into taking local roads rather than motorways. It takes longer but makes a more pleasant drive and avoids the expensive toll charges. Because we’re travelling slower it’s easier to spot and pull up at interesting places. Handy when travelling without a plan.
We found a nice spot in a campsite in Beaune with little lizards climbing the wall next to us.
We were passing Dijon on the way south and decided to drive in, have a looksy and score a pot of that famous mustard everyone knows it for.
From Luxembourg we drove directly to Burgundy in France. We were stung 12 Euros on the way for accidentally finding ourselves on a toll road. To make some savings we decided to wildcamp and headed off down a Michelin road atlas ‘scenic route’, about an hour north of Dijon.
On route to France we drove through Luxembourg and decided at the last minute to check it out. We knew very little about the place other than the name oozing luxury and glamour.
On Sunday we left with Tom and Sophie and headed for OHM 2013 (Observe, Hack, Make, a sort of geeky festival) just north of Amsterdam.
We left London early morning to catch a ferry from Dover to Dunkirk from where we drove to Deventer in Holland.
After months of getting the van ready for a trip around Europe we are finally off. Big thanks to the East Dulwich Campers crew for helping us get her ready for the trip.