Overland to Greece for Cali beginners

[belinda]

We are in Serbia as we head down to Greece in our first trip in our lovely California. We have learnt a few things so thought I would pass on some wisdom rather than just rely on the site for help.
First I would strongly suggest doing some research, things like insurance, border requirements, cash etc. Safeguard told us we were insured for everywhere in Europe except Albania, I took them at their word but was not speaking to a geographer, we were not insured for several other places and needed to get our heads around the route. We are insured for all EU and Serbia. The borders have all been very easy so far. You need to purchase Vignettes that let you use motorways mostly for free in Austria,Slovenia and Hungary, In Austria and Slovenia it is easy to find places to get the stickers. In Hungary it wasn't so easy and we ended up on a motorway without one, they photo you on the auto routes but then at the first garage we passed we were able to buy the virtual vignette, nothing to stick on the windscreen which was disappointing. At the Hungarian Serbian border there is a massive queue for non EU and we could have waited for hours but a kind Serb pointed us through to the EU non existent queue and we crossed the border in no time. I will try to add some tips after our journeys through Serbia. So far so interesting

 

[GrannyJen]

So nice to hear that you are on the road

Looking forward to hearing all about the trip.

Missing nothing here, except torrential rain for the last three hours

 

[dayslikethis]

We are in Serbia as we head down to Greece in our first trip in our lovely California. We have learnt a few things so thought I would pass on some wisdom rather than just rely on the site for help.
First I would strongly suggest doing some research, things like insurance, border requirements, cash etc. Safeguard told us we were insured for everywhere in Europe except Albania, I took them at their word but was not speaking to a geographer, we were not insured for several other places and needed to get our heads around the route. We are insured for all EU and Serbia. The borders have all been very easy so far. You need to purchase Vignettes that let you use motorways mostly for free in Austria,Slovenia and Hungary, In Austria and Slovenia it is easy to find places to get the stickers. In Hungary it wasn't so easy and we ended up on a motorway without one, they photo you on the auto routes but then at the first garage we passed we were able to buy the virtual vignette, nothing to stick on the windscreen which was disappointing. At the Hungarian Serbian border there is a massive queue for non EU and we could have waited for hours but a kind Serb pointed us through to the EU non existent queue and we crossed the border in no time. I will try to add some tips after our journeys through Serbia. So far so interesting

Done that trip many times, You could also consider stopping off in Macedonia - Skopje is very interesting having been turned into Disneyland in recent years with statues all though the centre of the city.
If you have time a small detour via Lake Ohrid is spectacular (here's a link to my video on our trip

). We did Thessaloniki and also the middle finger of Halkidiki which is just spectacular. Within a few miles of joining the middle finger you come across this beach where wild camping is easy - (

). Your Green card will cover you for Greece but Macedonia is likely to cost you around 50 euros. If you want the exact location of the beach in the video let me know

Footnote: Just before you cross the border from Serbia into Macedonia check out the long queue of empty white buses on the right - dozens of them parked up to convey migrants across Serbia - was there a few months ago. Staggering yet sad to see.

 

[belinda]

we should have asked questions before setting out, I am sure there is boundless experience from california owners re this trip. With our insurance as it stands we have decided to go through to SE Serbia then into Bulgaria and see some monastries. We have a dog with us which makes city stopovers tricky. Loving Serbia, useless though for campsites at this time of year. The first campsite we stayed at up north, near Subotica, was barely open, not really much more than a pub car park and they didn't seem that keen to give us access to toilet and showers. We actually slept downstairs with the roof down and biles on the rack and doors locked, all a first for this trip. Went to Novi Sad next and are staying up in a national park near there. We have booked into an apartmenti as no campsites at all and we don't feel like wild camping here yet. I am surprised how sad I am not to be sleeping in the truck!

So nice to hear that you are on the road

Looking forward to hearing all about the trip.

Missing nothing here, except torrential rain for the last three hours

We have had some really serious rain on this trip, and sleet up in the Austrian hills. NOw on the plains of Serbia it's looking to 29C tomorrow! Do miss radio 4 though.