DRIVING FROM UK TO BULGARIA

There are several different routes to choose from when contemplating the drive from somewhere in the United Kingdom to Bulgaria.

A number of different agencies provide useful route-finding websites. One of the best is the ViaMichelin site at www.viamichelin.com Put in your UK home postcode and a destination town in Bulgaria and a detailed route is produced, including estimates of driving time, fuel use and road tolls.

BalkanKiwi has done the trip on numerous occasions, by the three main routes, ie:

• The “northern route” via Germany, Austria, Hungary and Romania;
  
  
• The “central route” via Germany, Austria, Slovenia, Croatia and Serbia; and
  
  
• The “southern route” via France, Italy and ferry to north-western Greece.
  
  

The easiest and fastest route:

The shortest route, both in distance and time, is the “central route”. From the Channel (tunnel or ferry) to Sofia by this route is approximately 2,300kms, of which the bulk – perhaps 90% - is on motorways. In a car traveling at 120-140kph, it can be done in two days of 12-14 hours driving and one night.

To minimize road tolls, the drive on the magnificent – but expensive - motorway across northern France will have to be avoided. This means heading north on the French side of the tunnel or ferry crossing, driving the short distance into Belgium before heading east across Belgium and a part of Holland to pick up the A3 autobahn near Cologne. You then have the choice of staying on the A3 all the way east to the northern Austrian border. The alternative, and BalkanKiwi’s suggestion, is to take the A8 autobahn to the east of Frankfurt and head south towards Munich, taking the Munich bypass motorway and connecting with the A10 towards Salzburg in southern Austria. The beautiful city of Salzburg is easily accessed from the motorway and is a nice place to spend the night en route.

This route then takes you across southern Austria, through some magnificent alpine scenery, to Slovenia via the Karawanken tunnel. Most of the short drive across Slovenia is now motorway. At the border with Croatia you leave the European Union but stay on motorway all the way across Croatia to the Serbian border. From that point also is motorway, though slower going as you pass through Belgrade, until the city of Nis, some 100 kilometres before the Bulgarian border. This final stretch is single carriageway of good-to-poor quality and needs to be treated with caution. It’s best to time your trip to avoid doing it at night.

From the Serbian/Bulgarian border (this crossing is known as “Kalotina” in Bulgaria) is just a short 50 kilometre drive to Sofia.

Driving across Serbia

Some people are nervous at the thought of driving across Serbia, because of the conflict there during the 1990s and the hostile regime under Milosevic. BalkanKiwi believes such fears to be unfounded these days and the drive across Serbia can be treated the same as across Croatia. As for zealous traffic police, there is perhaps much more likelihood of being stopped and “aggravated” in Romania. Provided you observe speed restrictions (particularly on the stretch from Nis to the Bulgarian border) and have proper documentation for your vehicle, plus the required safety equipment (first aid kit, breakdown triangle etc), you have little to fear from the Serbian traffic police.

The alternatives

The “northern route” which avoids Serbia by going via Hungary and Romania is not recommended. The main drawbacks are the slow and difficult 400 kilometres from the Hungarian border to the Danube, which passes through many towns and villages complete with speed restrictions and watchful police, and the unpredictable time needed for the 15-minute Danube ferry crossing from Calafat on the Romanian side to the Bulgarian town of Vidin. Waits of four to six hours are not uncommon!

The “southern route” also avoids Serbia, and keeps you in the EU all the way to the Bulgarian border, but involves either a long ferry ride from northern Italy (over 24 hours from Venice for example) or a long drive down the A14 autostrada to Brindisi in southern Italy for the shorter (eight hour) ferry crossing to Igoumenitsa in north-west Greece. From there to Sofia is approximately 700 kilometres but until the motorway over the Albanian mountains is fully operational this can be slow going, and best avoided if towing a trailer or caravan.

Both the “northern” and “southern” routes will add an extra night on the road (or on the ferry in the case of the southern route) plus attendant costs.

BalkanKiwi wishes you a safe and pleasant drive to Bulgaria!