Athens- Thessaloniki-Budapest-Wien-Prague-Linz-Andermatt-Milan-Ancona-Patra-Athens
Hello, i am planning my first roadtrip accros Europe and since i am totally unexpirienced i am posting here my whole plans in order to get some useful tips, information or tell me about any mistakes i have made.
First of all, me and my friend are going to travel with an Opel Corsa 2004, 1200cc.
We are leaving from Thessaloniki in 21 December and we are planning to reach Budapest at about 21:00 the same day (and this is where my biggest problem lies, so plz higly comment about this part, ty).
We are going to sleep in any hotel we can find there and on 22 December morning we are leaving for Prague (through Wien).
We will spend 2 days in Prague and on 24 morning we are leaving for Linz (Austria) where we are going to spend the night.
On 25 we begin travelling for Andermatt (Switzerland) and we are staying there for 2 nights as well (in any cheap hotel available).
On 27 morning we are heading for Milan (Italy) and after we spend one night there, we are leaving for Ancona and then through ship to Patra and then to Athens.
Plz tell me your thoughts about our plans and also feel free to suggest anything u might consider as vital gear (to carry with us).
Reply to this Hello,
The only thing i dont get is why spend only one night in one of the most beautiful city in Europe, Budapest. It wil be beautiful with the lights on the boulevards (as Christmas it will be Chrstmas time). BTW I don't think you can make it to Budapest in such a short time. But that's only my opinion. Others have yours.😊))
Reply to this Hi Kosti, it is a long time since I did this trip so things may have changed a lot. But it is a long trip you are planning in very few days and in the winter. Thessaloniki to Budapest in one go is a VERY long trip, it is 1000 km which in the best of circumstance will take you at least 12 hours. The roads used to be OK but not great, maybe it is much better now, but I doubt you will be able to drive 100 km/h all the way. At this time (before the war) these roads had lot's of heavy traffic, as it was the road down to Turkey and the Middle East, and of course that always make things more difficult, huge lorries to overtake etc. You also need some time for rest stops during such a long ride, which always add more time than you thought. There will be borders to pass, which make take some time too. You need to take into consideration the risk of snow and ice, which may mean that speed is reduced significantly and accidents are prone to happen which may block the road for hours. That is of course true for most of your trip, as you will travel in winter. There may also be roadworks that will slow you down, and I don't know if there is any way to find out before. In short, my advice is to plan for shorter drives each day, to have some extra time in case those unexpected things would happen. It would be better to plan to stop somewhere in Serbia, although it will add an extra day- or alternatively skip Budapest. Also be aware that going into cities takes a long time, and if you are only going to sleep in Budapest (although I love this city and do think it is worth visiting - in fact unless there is some special reason you may skip Prague and visit Budapest instead which will save you quite some driving) you may just as well go past it and find accommodation somewhere outside in a smaller town. The same goes for Wien, no point going there and you may get stuck in traffic the whole day, as the shortest route is via Brno. Be sure to service your car and bring chains for the tyres. It is a great trip and I hope you will enjoy it!
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