By Melangebus around Europe - Balkans - 6500 km - 11 countries

August 15 - departure towards Austria

When we got up on August 15 in the morning, nobody expected that the first day would be full of surprises. The weather was bad, it was cloudy and rainy, and we had to hand over our bus to a mechanic to fix the first failure that delayed our trip by several hours. When we were finally complete, in the evening we set off towards the border crossing in Zwardoń. We spent the first two days in Austria , where we saw the tourist town of Villach, visited the Alpenarena - the famous ski jump complex, and even rested on one of the Danube's tributaries - the Drava River.

Through Slovenia

On the third day we crossed the Austrian-Slovenian border and headed to Bled . We spent two days discovering this region. We were beaching on Lake Bohinj, and the next day we climbed the castle hill of Bled, from where there was a wonderful view of a cobalt lake with a romantic island with a church. We also visited Ljubljana and its castle, and quite by accident we also reached Predjama, where the castle was built in a rock.

Slovenia, although a small country, has many tourist attractions, including caves. We chose the less popular but more beautiful Scotia Caves. They made a great impression on us: the underground canyon with the Reka River is the largest in Europe! The last place in Slovenia we reach is Piran - a beautiful coastal town.

During this time, we spend the night mainly in the wild, near forest roads and rivers .

Towards Croatia

The next points of our trip are Trieste and Rijeka . The Plitvice Lakes National Park makes a great impression on us. The turquoise water and the multitude of waterfalls resemble a paradise landscape. In Croatia, we allow ourselves a bit of luxury. We stay overnight at a campground near Zadar. We rest for two days by the bay, and in the evening we organize a barbecue. But it's time to move on, and on our route, the next city is Dubrovnik. We visit the city at night. The Old Town is beautifully illuminated, and we stroll around its corners for a long time.

Montenegro and Albania

In Montenegro , we travel along the coast. We visit Budva, a tourist town whose only attraction was the Old Town with its citadel. We stroll along the promenade, where the female part of the participants disappeared every now and then in stalls with souvenirs and clothes.

Albania was the biggest surprise for us. We were most afraid of entering this country, but the kindness and help that were given to us changes our beliefs. Traveling around Albania, we visited the capital of Tirana, Vlore and the remarkably scenic Llogara Pass. Our bus had other breakdowns in Albania, but thanks to the kindness of the Albanians, we easily reached Greece. In this extraordinary country we visit Meteora - picturesque rocks where monks settled, Athens and many monuments related to this city, Corinth and the famous Corinthian canal, Mycenae - ancient city, Nafplio and the Epidaurus theater. We also spend a few days on the beach, and a lovely Greek woman offers us vegetables from her own garden. Unfortunately, we missed the climb to Mount Olympus because such a trip would last two days and it was too hot and we were not properly prepared for mountain climbing. At this time, we change the route. We decide to return via Macedonia and Serbia, and we will not visit Romania. In Serbia, we visit Niš, Novi Sad and Belgrade - the beautiful capital of this country. There were also no surprises - we get a parking ticket in Belgrade.

Back home

At the end of our trip we visit Budapest . The city delights us with a lot of beautiful buildings and attractions. We move around the city on one of the oldest metro lines in Europe. We stop for the night behind Budapest, where we drink Hungarian wine for a successful trip. We'll be home the next day.

Summarizing our second trip, we come to the conclusion that once someone gets hooked on this type of traveling , they will never want to go on an ordinary vacation. We will associate this trip with beautiful, unknown places, the kindness that can be found during a trip and a few minor accidents. We have barely returned home, we already have some ideas for the next vacation. First of all, we would like to thank our media patrons and the Tekom Technologia company, which monitored our expedition. We would also like to thank everyone who kept their fingers crossed for us and followed our actions along the route.

The Melanżbus team www.melanzbus.pl