Tranquil Pines,Hungary in May/June 2018 ? (1 Viewer)

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Hoping to be a bit more adventurous next year so going to Hungary and then Slovenia/Croatia. Both retired so no rush, just want to be home latest early July. Possible non-toll route through Germany and Austria.

Advice please on why or why not plus any other things to beware of or avoid.

Naturally, being English I do not speak German, Austrian German, Hungarian, Slovenian or Croatian but I can do English slowly and loudly at a push.

Thanks in advance
 
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We visited Germany, Austria, Slovenia and Croatia in 2014. Perhaps our best trip ever in a motorhome. There is so much to see. Southern Germany is very scenic and I would recommend you have a look at 'The Romantic Road'. Austria was more or less on our route so we visited Vienna. A bit out of the way but there is a campsite just off the motorway and a short tram ride into the centre. A city worth visiting even if only to see the famous Lipizzaner horses, but there is just so much more too. Slovenia is stunning we stayed on lake Bled for a week at Camping Bled (ACSI) and also Ljubljana, a stunning little city with a campsite on the city ring road with a city bus stop just outside the Campsite.
I would like to see more of Slovenia, it has some stunning scenery and also visit Slovakia but need to do more research on that. I will be following your trip with interest as I'm considering doing Greece spring of 2019 so if not this looks like our alternative option. Most Europeans speak English it's the second language at almost all schools. Just thought I would add Croatia is mind blowing. Look at the Istra region where most of the campsites are based. Use ACSI as no wold camping allowed and when ACSI rates finish the price goes through the roof.
 
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teknik155

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We've done Hungary for 4 years and love it we will be there again this year. there are a few ASCI sites but as the prices are so low a lot are just inspected by ASCI. But they don't show up in the books they do show up on the old DVD and also on the App. On the thought of vignettes I always buy the austrian one as I have an elderly van that hates hills and back roads and for 8 or so euros for 10 days of motorways in austria I find it good overall value and hungary has a vignette as well so check their web page for a list of roads to avoid. If going to Budapest use the Hop on off bus to see both buda and pest. Don't forget mossie sprays as late june they come out to play.
On the hungarian forum page I've added a photo of a repair company in budapest that will repair most things fridges etc.
Also remember they have their own money so you will have to remember another conversion rate.

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On the thought of vignettes I always buy the austrian one as I have an elderly van that hates hills and back roads and for 8 or so euros for 10 days of motorways in austria I find it good overall value and hungary has a vignette as well so check their web page for a list of roads to avoid.

On the subject of vignettes I am confused - do you need these as a permit to travel on motorways or only as the way to pay motorway tolls?

Unfortunately my wife has a hospital appointment booked in early May which will delay our setting off and may force us to rethink where we go after Hungary.

Thanks for the tip about HUFs - also it seems that EURs are not accepted in the Tranquil Pines bit.
 

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Slovenia is very nice, the road of 100 hairpins (they only count the tight ones) is a nice drive and goes down the loverly Soca valley.
We did Croatia last year, drove down via Germany and Austria, liked Croatia apart from having to stay on sites most of the time. The smaller AutoCamper sites were more like aires we prefered them. We found it similar to mainland Greece with the mountains coming down to the coast. Found the beaches disappointing big slabs of conrete from the Russian erra and now breaking up. Several National parks but they tend to be a bit touristy & not very wild. We found the food disappointing OK if you like the contents of a salt mine on your food.
This was our trip.

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We holidayed on Lake Bled (package tour) in about 1983 so it was Tito's Yugoslavia rather than Slovenia. Hotel food was good, we tried a few restos for lunch but touristy not locals. A visit to a giant hypermarket in Ljubliana (sp?) explained why we were advised to stick to the tourist trail, the meat counter was bare except for a few miserable looking chipolata types (? cevapcici) and some very elderly, very dried smoked meat.

Hired car to drive into Austria for the day, the queues of cars into Yugoslavia from Austria were extremely long but clearly not to buy food.

Also visited Lipica to see the horses, they were in fine fettle but the surroundings were sooo shabby and run down.

Can't really remember much else about the trip so comparisons will be difficult. Wife no. 2 has never been so really looking forward to the trip.
 

teknik155

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On the subject of vignettes I am confused - do you need these as a permit to travel on motorways or only as the way to pay motorway tolls?

Unfortunately my wife has a hospital appointment booked in early May which will delay our setting off and may force us to rethink where we go after Hungary.

Thanks for the tip about HUFs - also it seems that EURs are not accepted in the Tranquil Pines bit.

Reference vignettes.
Vignettes are used as a way of paying for road improvements in that particular country, the countries state that all monies raised go on road improvements.
Most EU countries now use this as a way of making money off the people who damage the roads ie the road users. Every body in that country pays for a vignette or use a go box depending on the weight and size of the vehicle. 3,500 kilos or 3.5 tons is the deciding line between road tax and road theft.
There are 2 ways to get vignettes before and now you can preorder them on line or just before that countries border you will be able to buy their vignettes ie austrian vignettes in germany,hungary, croatia etc( you need them before you set foot in their country).
There are 2 types of vignette and these depend on the country Austria uses stickers that must be attached to a very specific part of the windscreen and Hungary puts your registration details on the computer and all you get is a reciept ( according to google austria is now going computer as well)
What do you get for your vignette??? Again this depends on the country but don't think that it only involves motorways because some A type roads are included. If unsure ask Mr Google about that countries vignette system and some where on the site will be a list or map of all the roads involved.
Types of vignettes. There are a week (sometimes classed as 10 days ) a month sometimes 3 months and a year.
Is it worth buying them. this depends on several factors are you a skinflint do you have a powerful newish van and do you like spending more time driving than you need to.
I can only answer from my point of view I don't mind paying as the main roads are pretty good and the back roads are abit naff. My old van is a bit asthmatic and dosen't like steep hills it loves motorways and 8 euros to drive almost anywhere in austria for 10 days is not a bad deal.
If you have a larger van or more than 2 axles then you will have to go box it and thats a completely different story
I hope this has been some use to somebody and I do know alot of you already know these things but we all have to learn something sometime. Always ask Mr google as you won't be the first person to ask that question
 
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