Driving to Sophia Bulgaria (1 Viewer)

[Jac Sprat]

We are thinking about driving the moho to Bulgaria in August. Has anyone made this trip and could advise re length of journey and route etc?
We are hoping to join the Paneurythmy dance event in the Rila mountains if anyone knows anything about that? (Less likely)
Any thoughts or ideas about this would be appreciated.

 

[Mike4727]

Hi Jac, I actually live in Bulgaria on the Black Sea coast near Varna and have travelled to and from UK by car a few times. There are many routes to choose from depending on time and expense as always, your most direct route to Sofia would be down through Germany, Austria, Serbia etc ( this route not available to you if you have pets on board as you will have to stay within EU ) Germany, Austria, Hungary, Romania and down to the new Danube 2 bridge border crossing into BG at Vidin about 3hrs from Sofia or stay in Romania and travel through Transilvania to Bucharest and down to Ruse bridge crossing into BG, spectacular scenery this way. Another interesting route is to drive to Venice and take the ferry to Igomenitsa GR and drive up over the mountains into BG. The event you are interested in is held high up in the Rila Lakes region and I doubt you would have access with motorhome but here is a link to the group who can advise you on everything to do with the celebrations

Broken Link Removed Don't worry, it's in English !

Whatever your final itinary, you will enjoy your trip to BG. Wild camping is allowed pretty much everywhere here and there is so much to see. If you need any help or advice on BG just shout.

 

[Jac Sprat]

Thanks Mike that's really helpful. I thought we would give ourselves about a week to get over there. Is there a route with daunting mountain passes we should avoid? We are new to moho driving. But very keen!
Apparently it is fairly easy to get to what they call the lower camp in Zekiritsa. Do you think we can drive there? Then there seems to be a lift (ski lift type I think) up to the lake Rila area.
Do you know anything about the Paneuruthmy festival? It is an early morning meditation dance form that I have danced for years at dance camps and have always wanted to dance it where it originated around the Rila lakes in Bulgaria. Do you know anyone who has gone to it?

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[Jac Sprat]

Do you happen to know what the ferry cost is to Greece from Italy?

 

[Bacchus]

Do you happen to know what the ferry cost is to Greece from Italy?

I looked at this, I was thinking of a trip down to Puglia (to see the ex mother in law who lives there) then across to Greece and back via Romania, the ferry from Brindisi was about £125 which seems very reasonable

 

[Mike4727]

Depending on van size and number of passengers you will pay about 460euro on the Venice - Igomenitsa run in high season, have a look at Anek line website for more info, they do the "camping onboard " facility on that route, you have access to your van at all times, sleeping, eating etc. It saves a lot of fuel and driving so not as dear as it looks. Regards the dance festival I have no personal knowledge of it but my Bulgarian OH has been, she says that you will not get to the ski lift area in the Moho, only 4x4s get up there. If you do attend go well dressed - it's cold up there at night even in the summer. Driving in the mountains generally is challenging but you soon get used to it, just take it easy ! If you are in a large RV type setup you will need to do a bit of research on your routes in BG, the good side to motorhoming here is that you can camp up pretty much anywhere within reason, I am sure you will have a great time here.

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[Jac Sprat]

Thanks - some great tips.

 

[Lenny HB]

Do you happen to know what the ferry cost is to Greece from Italy?

We paid €500 return last year but that was with over 60's discount (10%) 15%for early booking in Feb & 10% Miloan Bonus club discount.

 

[travelbunyip]

We have been to Bulgaria in 2013 and in 2015. The route we took last year, with our itinerary in on our map.
http://www.travelbunyip.com/homepage/follow-our-2015-trip-map/
To read our blogs on Bulgaria click on the link below.
http://www.travelbunyip.com/homepage/category/countries/bulgaria/

We thoroughly enjoyed Bulgaria, great food, very cheap, easy to get around, lots of interesting places to see and friendly people. We did find many wild camping spots. At the Rila Lakes you pay a small amount for the car park and can then stay overnight. The car park is at the base of the ski lift that takes you up to the lakes.
Last year we paid 315 euros from Italy to Greece.
Hope this info is of some help.
Parking in the center of Sophia was very easy as you can see in the photo we could not have parked any closer to the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral. Parking cost 1 euro per hour.

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[Jac Sprat]

Thanks Travelbunyip
Yes I read all your Bulgarian entries yesterday - wonderful search facility on this forum!
Great news about being able to get the ski lift up to the lakes. Did you take the lift up? Is it far from the top of the lift to the area where they dance next to the lake?
I think you have persuaded us to go!

 

[Jac Sprat]

You can see in the pic how close (or far) the dancing is to the lake. As it's such a famous festival I guess the ski lift must be close by.

 

[travelbunyip]

We did take the ski lift up but it was late in the day and didn't have a lot of time to look around.
I'm sure that it cant be too far away as the place looks close to the lakes. Just go for it!!

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[Jac Sprat]

Yrs I think we will now
Overjoyed to hear we can access it from a carpark we can stay at.