Croatia,Monenegro & Albania

[Nick54]

We are going to travel to these countries May & June 2014 for 8 weeks. We intend to travel down the coast of Croatia but will visit the Paklenica, Plitvice & Krka National Parks. From Dubrovnic travel to Montenegro and hopefully Albania.

 

Can anybody recommend any campsites or places to visit?

 

Has anyone any advice on Motorhome & breakdown insurance for these countries?

 

Martin

[gwyn]

The only site in the acsi book in Croatia that was bad was the one at Nin all the others we went to were absolutely fine. The one at Krka national park was particularly good. We enjoyed Croatia so much we are going back there this spring.

[Guest JudgeMental]

Plitvice & Krka well worth a visit, the island also..haven't time to really discuss our two trips 2011/2012 but if you use the search function there will be lots of info ..

[Bulletguy]

Nick54 - 2013-10-02 6:35 PM

 

We are going to travel to these countries May & June 2014 for 8 weeks. We intend to travel down the coast of Croatia but will visit the Paklenica, Plitvice & Krka National Parks. From Dubrovnic travel to Montenegro and hopefully Albania.

 

Can anybody recommend any campsites or places to visit?

 

Has anyone any advice on Motorhome & breakdown insurance for these countries?

 

Martin

 

Martin

 

I've recently returned from a three month tour which included the countries you want to visit.

 

First of all you will need a Green Card to enter Croatia, Montenegro and Albania. The only company I could find prepared to offer this was Scenic http://www.scenicinsurance.co.uk/ who provide it free of charge if you insure with them. Other Insurance companies tend to 'pull their faces' and much 'raising of eyebrows' in shock/horror that anyone dare to even consider going to these countries.

 

Croatia is expensive.....very expensive. It's not taken them long to recognise the fact they have the Adriatic on their front doorstep which draws millions of tourists every year. Yes the coastal road is very scenic and there are numerous Campsites enroute, but be prepared to pay anything up to 25 euro a night at some of them. The road is a bikers dream but not so much fun for drivers of large motorhomes. I have a Ford Transit Duetto PVC yet had to pass up many 'photo opportunities' as there simply wasn't enough room for me to park at some places.

 

Croatia uses the Kuna as their currency and though some campsites and restaurants etc will accept Visa, you will need a small amount of Croatian currency.

 

Montenegro around the coast is full of Russian billionaires ships and not at all interesting. Head north out of Podgorica up to the Tara Canyon which is part of their National Park and a UNESCO World Heritage site. At 50 miles long and over 4000 feet at its deepest it is a truly amazing site to see. I stayed on a family owned Campsite right in the Canyon (can dig the details out if you want them).

 

The currency in Montenegro is the Euro so no problems there.

 

If you get to Montenegro then you are not that far off Albania so depending on how much time you have it's perfectly possible to get there.

 

Apart from the road from the Albanian border of Hanii Hotit which is newly constructed, don't expect too much from Albanian roads which often have a habit of "disappearing" into rough dirt tracks. They are still 'roads' but just very dusty and rough. I made my 'base' at Camping Albania http://www.camping-albania.eu/ in the small village of Barbullush. Owned and run by a Dutch family the site itself is good with excellent toilet/shower block facilities and has a Restaurant and large swimming pool. The only 'gripe' I had was the site ground has no shaded pitch areas so if the weather is hot, your van will become like a cooker. Also the Restaurant only served evening meals 'as and when' the owners felt like it (their way of 'helping the Albanian economy' they told me!).

 

Before Camping Albania there is another site on the edge of Lake Shkoder http://www.lakeshkodraresort.com/camping.html I didn't stay here but was told it's a very nice site.

 

Everything in Albania is cash only so you will need some Albanian Lek though certain tourist areas will accept euros as will large fuel stations.

 

Be aware that both Croatian and Albanian currency cannot be used outside either of those countries and any surplus you have you will need to exchange before crossing the border. Whatever you do don't leave it until you return to UK as no Bank or Tourist office will exchange them. You will also find you cannot buy this currency in the UK either.....you must buy at the border or in any town.

 

Forget working out how much you may spend on exchange rates. I was working with six different currencies and soon gave up....it simply isn't worth mithering about.

 

Also worth mentioning is TomTom GPS won't work in Albania and is also very limited in Montenegro....they simply haven't mapped the place. Garmin is the only satnav which will pull co-ords in.

 

Enjoy your trip!!

 

[Nick54]

Thanks for information. We have been to Croatia before about 7 years ago, it was not cheap then. I have wanted to go to Albania for a while and wanted to go before it gets to comercialised.

 

Martin

[Bulletguy]

Nick54 - 2013-10-03 6:37 PM

 

Thanks for information. We have been to Croatia before about 7 years ago, it was not cheap then. I have wanted to go to Albania for a while and wanted to go before it gets to comercialised.

 

Martin

 

When Communism moved out of Albania.......the Mafia moved in. Capitalism by the gun if you like....very little difference! Nothing to worry about as a tourist though.

 

Yes it has a very long way to go re. "commercialism" and seems to have no 'middle ground'. People there are either dirt poor or very wealthy. Stick with associating with the locals in little villages or towns and you will be fine. Albanians are very friendly people and quite curious about 'crazy foreigners' who come from distant countries.

 

You will find some with knowledge of English, but very very few. Strangest of all was when searching for this damn Campsite (i was working off notes written long hand as i couldn't get any co-ords on my satnav), i drove through this village and missed the sign. I stopped at a little shop where a local was flogging old washing machines out on the front (lots of shops like this), and waved my pad at him with the words Camping Albania on. Imagine my surprise when he replied in perfect English, "you've missed the turn which is about 300 metres back on your right....".

 

Turned out he'd lived and worked in Portsmouth!

 

[chris]

Just come back from 4 month tour of Europe including 8 weeks in Croatia. We loved it.

Its as cheap or expensive as you want to make it. We found our stay there cheaper than Austria and campsites in Germany. Yes, you have to use campsites in Croatia but we found some cheaper than ACSI. The toll roads are cheaper than France too. we have visited the three National parks and loved them. We were there for June and July.

Camp Marina - Krka National Park was 90 kuna including electric. That is just under £10.....that is dirt cheap. Paklenica, there were a couple of small sites on the side road approaching the park but we used ACSI and stayed in Camp Plantaza for 16 euroes including electric. Finally, at Plitvica we stayed (3 years ago) at a main site several miles past the lakes which was not cheap but on par with main sites in UK.

The sites we did not like were the big, all singing all dancing sites which charged for everything . We loved the small family sites especially on the Peljesac peninsular.

We stayed at Camping Pod Maslinom at Orasac which was 12km north of Dubrovnik but the bus stop was outside. This site cost us 104 kuna which was £11.40 a night in July and included electric. A lovely simple but clean site with very friendly owners.

At Loviste we spent £16 a night (without electric) but were only 15metres from the sea. At Trpanj we paid £17.50 no electric for another small family site at the beach.

We love Croatia and would have gone to Macedonia too but we were not insured which is something that we have to look into for next time so double check your travel and van insurance to make sure you are covered.

Its not as cheap as Stellplatz or Aires but do your research and you can find some great family sites.

Enjoy your trip as more and more people are travelling East

[Bulletguy]

chris - 2013-10-03 11:41 PM

 

Just come back from 4 month tour of Europe including 8 weeks in Croatia. We loved it.

Its as cheap or expensive as you want to make it. We found our stay there cheaper than Austria and campsites in Germany. Yes, you have to use campsites in Croatia but we found some cheaper than ACSI. The toll roads are cheaper than France too. we have visited the three National parks and loved them. We were there for June and July.

 

Depends on what you call 'cheap' Chris? The A1 motorway from Zagreb to the end (60 miles north of Dubrovnik) will set you back 45 euros! The section into Dubrovnik itself is still under construction so God knows what the charge will be once that's done.

 

 

chris - 2013-10-03 11:41 PM

 

We love Croatia and would have gone to Macedonia too but we were not insured which is something that we have to look into for next time so double check your travel and van insurance to make sure you are covered.

Its not as cheap as Stellplatz or Aires but do your research and you can find some great family sites.

Enjoy your trip as more and more people are travelling East

 

You need Green Card for Macedonia and as mentioned in a previous post I struggled to find a company prepared to offer it. All should......but they won't. In the end Scenic trumped the lot of 'em by offering Green Card free of charge so I went with them. I needed it for Montenegro, Albania, Serbia and Bosnia.

 

Quite why our Insurance companies are so stuck in the dark ages i'm not sure, but it always frustrated me greatly when on previous tours to find MH folk from the Netherlands (who are always everywhere!) access these countries without any problems.

 

The reason more people are travelling East is because they know its much safer than in the West, not to mention mega cheap (dependent on where you go). However I never saw one UK registered vehicle during my time in Bosnia or Serbia.

 

[Mrs T]

We like very much the travel descriptions given here. There was a time when we went everywhere and thought nothing of it but reading of some journeys such as on here and the very long distances involved we wonder why some people do it (but we did). There was a time when I wandered all over NZ and part of OZ for no particular reason just to be there so I guess its a similar attitude.

 

Keep writing the travel stories.

[Guest JudgeMental]

Driving to Valencia region Monday and that just under 1200 miles, to the Istria peninsula region in Croatia is under 1000 miles. so not really as far as it looks.......can do both in 3 days.

 

The national parks are really stunning!

[Bulletguy]

Mrs T - 2013-10-04 10:08 AM

 

We like very much the travel descriptions given here. There was a time when we went everywhere and thought nothing of it but reading of some journeys such as on here and the very long distances involved we wonder why some people do it (but we did). There was a time when I wandered all over NZ and part of OZ for no particular reason just to be there so I guess its a similar attitude.

 

Keep writing the travel stories.

 

In my case Mrs T my 'wanderlust' began at an early age when a friend of mine whose elder brother told him we could join the YHA at 13 as long as we got our parents signatures. Phil and I were both keen cyclists and to our amazement, our parents agreed. There was no stopping us after that and we were off on our bikes every Friday as soon as we'd got home from school. We'd cycle around the Peak District and stay Friday and Saturday nights in a Youth Hostel. By the age of 15 we'd cycle toured around all UK apart from Scotland, and at 16 we ventured abroad.

 

Unfortunately (or fortunately......depending on your view!!), by then we were both in full time employment which restricted our travelling. We had the money....but never enough time. And really that's how it was to be for the rest of my life until I retired at 60.

 

Now I can spend as much time as I like seeing the countries i've longed to see, but doing it 'my way'.

 

Already have plans in place for next year (route drawn up etc) to tour Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia, but also looking at Russia, Belarus (since figuring out exactly how to get in) and the Ukraine.

 

[Petra]

I have not been to Albania with the motorhome but I did visit the country in the course of my employment when it was just changing from Communism. I found the locals really friendly and a lot spoke English which they said they learned off the radio. I would suggest you go to the town of Sarande, and you must visit the Roman ruins and Temples at Butrint.