I am leaving on a Euro road trip in less than 24 hours! Even though I have been to many places in Europe by flight, I had been wanting to go on a grand road trip through Europe ever since I watched that movie called “Eurotrip” when I was about 13. Now after almost 5 years of living in Europe, it’s actually happening. I have been on a short European road trip a couple of years back, but this one that I am embarking on tomorrow feels more adventurous and interesting.

It was a result of a random plan of my boyfriend and his friend while they were drinking beers on a gloomy December evening last year, like “hey lets go to Croatia next summer on our motorbikes”. When he expressed that to me, I was obviously very excited and we immediately created an event page on FaceBook with the three of us as attendees. It irked me that it was all those months away but time flies! All this to say that after 8 months long wait, it is finally happening from tomorrow. 🙂
What is most exciting about this trip is that we’re traveling by sport motorbikes! Like those fast ones which I am not a fan of but had no say in it as a car journey meant hours and hours in traffic. And the boys love it, so there was no work-around it. I was in Zakopane and northern part of Slovakia on motorbike last year, and it was an okay experience (the part of being the passenger). This time I hope I can manage the body ache and concentrate on enjoying the scenery along the way without caring much about how difficult it can be to be a passenger on a fast motorbike for hours and hours.

Not just the traveling itself, but I also enjoy the long process involved before it: researching about the destinations, hotels and cars, the activities to do etc, doing those what other people might find boring. I absolutely do not mind spending time going through numerous pages on internet about the possibilities. So we’ve come up with an itinerary and have all places of stay booked. We will be gone for 11 days, and this might be short, but we plan to make the most of it. Our itinerary which by now I know by heart looks like this:
- First day: Lodz, Poland to Bratislava, Slovakia. Spend the night in Bratislava.
- Second morning: Bratislava to Budapest, Hungary. Spend the whole day sightseeing and spend the night in Budapest.
- Third morning: Budapest, Hungary to Mostar, Bosnia&Herzegovina, the second longest stretch of our whole trip at about 700 kms. Spend the evening and night in Mostar.
- Fourth morning: Do some sightseeing in Mostar and go to Kravice waterfalls. So, so excited about Bosnia altogether. In the evening, leave for Kotor, Montenegro.
- Fourth evening: See old town in Kotor if time permits. Spend the night.
- Fifth morning: See more of beautiful Kotor. Ride to a nearby national park for excellent views. Leave for Dubrovnik, Croatia.
- Sixth day: Do sightseeing in Dubrovnik. Leave for Zadar in the afternoon.
- Seventh, eight, ninth days: Relax in an island called Dugi Otok , near from Zadar, Croatia. Personally I look most forward to this.
- Tenth morning: Leave for Ljubljana, Slovenia. Do sightseeing for a couple of hours.
- Tenth evening: Arrive in Graz, Austria from Ljubljana, Slovenia. Spend the night.
- Eleventh morning: Long journey from Vienna to Lodz. The longest stretch of our trip at 780 kms!
It might look a lot to take in in few days, but I couldn’t be happier. Balkans is a very interesting area, and have you seen the photos of Croatian coastline? Gorgeous is an understatement! I can’t wait to enjoy a real summer vacation this year, while the not -particularly-hot and rainy Polish summer continues and see all those fabulous places.
[UPDATE: You can click here to read the stories from the trip. :)]
WOW! that looks quite a plan! Amazing itinerary:) Have a wonderful trip Pooja 🙂 Bon Voyage! Come back with lots of stories 🙂
Thank you so much! 🙂 I hope I will have many things to share after the trip on this blog!
Have a wonderful time! The trip sounds like so much fun!
Thank you for reading and commenting 🙂
im so excitedddd for you two…and on a motorcycle thats just perfect.
Thank you so much Dixya, I hope to have the time of my life! 😀
Very jealous! If you’ve got time, when in Ljubljana try to get over to Lake Bled – about an hour to the west. My favourite spot in Europe.
Thank you for the suggestion. I have heard many nice things about Lake Bled, I will talk with my travel mates about maybe skipping Ljubljana altogether for Lake Bled! Hard decision and just 4-5 hours in Slovenia 😦
All the best for your trip!
I have fond memories of that movie especially when I saw it again during my post high school graduation trip to Spain on the 20 hour bus trip 😀
Haha that movie reminds me of my younger self too! Wow 20 hour bus trip sounds long but maybe fun after graduation! 🙂
The bus tour was fine as we had a week in Spain at a beach 🙂
Have fun!!! 🙂 Sounds like an adventure you’ll remember for a long time!
A belated thank you! 🙂 It was a fantastic trip that I will post about in the upcoming days.
Have fun!! Road trips are the best!
It was indeed! Thanks 🙂
Hi Pooja. I also have that movie at home in the UK. I love the top picture. Shame it’s not quite in focus. I hope you are enjoying your trip. I am trying here to find out what’s wrong with my WordPress because I’m not getting notifications from anybody any more. I hope you got my other message this morning. I posted it on your ABOUT section.
Hi again, Dai.
I just got back last night and I am exhausted after such long motorbike rides. I am back at work but plan to rest tonight and maybe tomorrow before fully getting back to normal life. I hope you’re doing well and enjoying the summer in Lisbon, Dai!
Thanks, Pooja. Once again I have still not had any notification of your above comment. I came here because I got a notification that you clicked LIKE for my previous comment. Feeling fed up with all this now.
Oooh so exciting! How was your trip?! I’m going to Croatia for the first time myself next month and am so excited as I hear it’s beautiful!
Hi Shikha! My trip was fantastic – I will publish some blog posts about it soon. Croatia is really beautiful! The coastline is just stunning- and it’s possible to find beaches which aren’t overrun by tourists. 🙂
Ahhh have fun! Can’t wait to read posts about it!
Hi Jessica! Thanks – I had a great time! Writing and publishing about the whole trip soon 🙂
Nice! 🙂