Howdy good traveling people.

What's the road condition on Sofia-Plovdiv-Edirne part? The plan is to drive from Croatia to Istanbul in one day and, while we don't plan to rip the tarmac off, we do plan to travel as quick as possibl, i'm considered about the road condition and the road limits on this section.

Is there something we should be prepared to? How tolerant is the police for road speeding? And is the motorway all built all the way to the turkey border?

Many thanks in advance.

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SixDays02 | Croatia

Police are all over the place and are not flexible, so be careful. Roads vary a lot, mainly OK but with some large HUGE potholes which can catch you by surprise. But the traffic could be a problem - the major routes carry lots of heavy trucks. I crossed the Greek border, but the trucks meant high speeds were impossible - you can pass them, but not at full cruising speeds.

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Honda CBR 1100 XX, Yamaha XTZ 660, Harris Special

Did you had bad experience with the police, Wheelspin?

In general, the police from the eastern block is used to some 'bakschisch'...

We do plan to cross Bulgaria (althouhg it's a beautyful country) as quickly as possible so i'm opting now between behavin and how much will we have to pay for the tickets. ;-)

The bottom line is that i don't know how much time will we need to Istanbul and we do plan to make it to the Blue Mosque in one day...

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SixDays02 | Croatia

Hi, I did Trieste-Plovdiv last year in 18 hours, by car.
What you can expect is (Starting in Zagreb and ending in Istanbul) is the following:
Zagreb: toll (take ticket)!!!is usually a policemen with a radar there. Motorway all the way to Zupanj (98 kuna); a normal road and a motorway in construction to the serbian border. The crossing is usually fast. Change some money when in Serbia, especially if you think to speed.
A toll section to Beograd -120 km/- not 130! 7 euros or about 500 dinars you cross Beograd where there is a lot of traffic and a 80 km/h limit. A toll section from Beograd to Nis 15 euros or 1080 dinars. A few kilometers after the toll you get out of the motorway and take the road direction Sofija-Istanbul. The first 15 kilometers are a 2 way motorway under construction with a 60 km/h limit and a 20 euro toll-policemen for speeding. The road is a new tarmac to the border. For Serbia: DON'T SPEED nobody speeds, even locals! There are about 4 or 5 radar checkpoints when crossing Serbia this way. You are expected to pay 20 euros if fined (or much less, if you pay in dinars). Exiting Serbia: usually no problems, but they can ask you your insurance (green card). You enter Bulgaria. You pass "desinfection" and pay a "desinfection" tax 2 euros; You pass pass control; show assport(s) and vehicle registration document. 2nd customs: you get another stamp with your wehicle details in your passport and you can expect a little hassle: once I had to give the nasty officer a pack of Marlboro, but now they seem to refuse taking "gifts"- don't worry. If you want, change some money.
3rd you have to buy a vignette (the cheapest is for 1 week-4 euros). The road to Sofia is good. Just before you enter Sofia turn LEFT, as indicated; after 30 km you reach the motorway as indicated. Motorway all the way to Plovdiv and a bit more, then a fast 2 lane road to Kapitan Andreevo (turkish border). When exiting Bulgaria make sure you get your car stamped out (iznesena na...) and you get another small yellow stamp where is written Customs. You enter Turkey where you have to get a "triptik"- document of temporary car importation and 3 passport stamps. Change some money. There are checkpoints when you enter and exit the turkish border crossing. A cheap 3 lane motorway to Istanbul with a small toll tax (something like 6YTL). When you near Istanbul there will be a lot of traffic and you will be very tired; if you don't have an advanced booked place to stay, DON'T ENTER THE CITY, this is the idel coctail for having an accident: tired, in a 12million city with agressive drivers and with badly marked lanes. But don't panic, as it will make things much worse.
Fuel: Unleaded 95: Serbia:75 dinars- 90 eurocents; Bulgaria 1,95 leva 1 euro; Turkey 2,65YTL 1,60euros!!!!!
Make sure you full to the very top before you exit Bulgaria (I have been said that there is a tax-free petrol station on the bulgarian side of the border with prices of around 70 eurocents the unleaded 95). Be careful: In Serbia and Turkey there is leaded fuel;unleaded is known as bezolovni and Kursunsus, respectively.
Speeding: I would only speed in Croatia and Turkey.
Try to avoid the 2 million turks getting with cars to Turkey in early july and then back at the end of summer. If you get caught up USE ALTERNATIVE BORDER CROSSINGS: Vukovar HR-SCG; Strezimirovci SCG-BG; Lesovo BG-TR.
There are no motorway tolls in Bulgaria.
Have a nice trip.
P.S.:I am from Bulgaria.


[This message has been edited by qwer1234 (edited 09 March 2006).]

The last answer is a lot more useful than mine but I think the vignette does not apply to bikes, and nor did the disinfectant tax. Every time I got in a tax type queue wearing my helmet I was waved out of it and on through 'free'. I also ignored the departure tax out of Romania - loads of signs telling you to do it and show your receipt, but I figured I would go back if necessary. And it wasn't. Maybe anyone biking through that area alone is considered too stupid to explain it all to

I saw more police in Bulgaria in 2 days than in the whole of the rest of Europe combined (over 8 weeks !). And the road signs are a nightmare - very rare, and then only in Cyrillic. Not my favourite riding country - I thought Romania was much more fun.

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Honda CBR 1100 XX, Yamaha XTZ 660, Harris Special

Recently they have put road signs also in latin alphabet in nearly all places in Bulgaria (maybe becuse the EU membership). I am not sure, if the "desinfection" and vignette does apply for a bike. I can only say that when I entered Bulgaria while cycling all over Europe I didn't pay nothing.
Also note that toll prices are for cars, but I think that it's the same price for a motorbike.

Originally posted by qwer1234:
Originally posted by Wheelspin:

Guys, thank you very much for the help!
It will be fun.

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SixDays02 | Croatia

qwer, a very good post and i hope it`ll be useful to many of us.

SixDays, if you`r planning to go in Istanbul on te MotoGP, you can contact me because i`m goin with a friend, 2 bikes.

Bye

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let`s go

Hvala na pozivnici.

We do plan to visit Turkey in June. The plan is to enter Turkey in Edirne then drive down to Canakkale and the west coast and up to to Cappadocia. Depending how much time will be left (we do plan three weeks in total for the trip), we do plan to visit east Turkey. Nemrut Dagi will be visited, we opt now between two options: try to drive through all the eastern turkey and see Any and Dogubayazit or have a nice time around the lake Van.

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SixDays02 | Croatia

What's the hurry? Ted Simon is right, "the interruptions are the journey." What will you experience if you rush that journey? Speeding, dodging cops, some of whom you won't spot in time, missing out on fabulous places which you whizz through - good luck!

Good roads anyway!

When you enter to Turkey from Bulgarian border there is also a highway where you can drive up to 130 km/h legally and the road is excellent.
If you want to have a hotel booked for you in Sultanahmet (area near Blue Mosque and St.Sofia) you can send an e-mail to my friend Yasar has a travel agency there and really good person. yasar dogan [ydogan@tur-ista.com]
http://www.tur-ista.com/
If you don't want to be lost in the traffic in Istanbul, there is some short ways to get to Sultanahmet. Just send me an e-mail and I will tell you how to get the shortest way.
It is a pity, gas is very expensive here but it worths to see Istanbul and visit mosques.
Policemen in Turkey are kind / polite to foreigners. Smile and asqing roads etc. always helps.

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"where the traveller goes, nobody knows ! "

Samy, i`ll be in Istanbul on 28th till 1th may and if you`ll be available just send me a PM and i`ll contact you. i`m going there on a Moto GP so if you`re interested too, let me know
btw, i`m "taking off" in 7AM tomorrow, going trough Bulgaria and when i`m back i`ll write how was my trip.
c ya later.....

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let`s go

I'm planning to drive from Belgium to Istanbul in June, arriving monday the 5th. I will spend a few day in Istanbul before starting a grand tour of Turkey. Any sugestions for a hotel in Sultanahmet are very welcome.
@Samy, could you explain this short-cut to Sultanahmet, as I will be tired from the trip Sofia-Istanbul in one day?

On topic: in 2004 I was caught speeding 4 times in one day in Bulgaria, first 2 times I paid, last 2 times I had no more money left, so after a chat I just drove on.


This is my blog (in dutch):http://tony-ontheroad.blogspot.com/

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http://tony-ontheroad.blogspot.com/

Denis,

i completely do agree with you on the speeding and dodging cops. Usually i hate to do that but we want as much time as possible to spend in Turkey and since we also want to visit the eastern part, we'll need all the time we can get!

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SixDays02 | Croatia

Don’t do what I did in Bulgaria and misread the road signs. When we entered from Turkey I stupidly presumed that the sign for ‘Ruse’ would take me off to Russia! It’s not even the next country on the other side of the border…

It was the worst day of our trip going from the Turkish border to Veliko Tarnovo via Plovdiv in miserable wet weather. Lesson learned: (carry and) stop and read a map.
Stephan