Roadtrip to Skopje, Macedonia

The first leg of my trip across Europe, was quite calm and uneventful. Just calmly driving from place to place as the road rumbled gently below the wheels of the car, the engine humming along. The landscape sailing past the windows as the kilometres counted up and up.

As the day went on, the road took me through wide-open fields, over rolling hills, through valleys, along rivers and lakes, finally over snow-capped mountains.

First day: Erlangen, Germany

I started my journey on the morning of Thursday, may 14th. The day was calm and quiet, it was a national holiday after all. Before actually setting out, I put the last items into the trunk of my car, preparing some lunch and making sure the house was ready for my departure.

Eventually departing a bit ahead of schedule, with a bit of rain in the morning. It wasn’t long before the rain stopped, but it remained overcast the entire day. The rest of the day was rather uneventful, except that most of the route took me along the German Autobahn, the section without speed limits… I was happy cruising along on the first lane, while the others were racing past on the third lane.

Having followed the same highway, almost since crossing from Belgium into Germany, I took the exit for Erlangen in the evening. A small university town, despite the roads being calm, there was a lot happening in the city centre.

Second day: Győr, Hungary

I had originally planned to take the route via the Czech Republic and Slovakia, but decided last minute to go Via Austria instead, saving 150km, while still avoiding the Alps. Other than that the road was quite calm, other than that the truckers were quite aggressive, if you weren’t driving fast enough for their liking… Which was especially frustrating, because they came really close, when I was sort of struggling to get up hills.

The road took me along the Danube, crossing it several times. Here the river was still quite small, definitely not the size it would have much later in the trip. The rest of the road passed without issues, making my way across the border and stopping for the night not far after the border.

After checking in to the hotel, and freshening up I went for a walk in the city centre, stopping at the local super market to buy some snacks and a drink for the evening. Afterwards I continued exploring the city, and soon what started as a light drizzle turned into a full rainstorm. By the time I got back to the hotel I was completely soaked and thunder was sounding through the sky. Despite this it was a nice and refreshing walk.

Third day: to Calafat, Romania

The third day, had the longest distance to travel, taking me all the way across Hungary and Romania. The rain continued all the way through the night and into the morning. Setting off under a gray sky and a fairly heavy rain, the air was cool and fresh.

As the gentle flowing hills of the Hungarian countryside rolled on by, the rain started clearing up slightly, going from a heavy rain to a light drizzle.

Eventually the rain cleared up, but the cover of clouds remained, resulting in a very cold day… This changed completely as soon as I crossed the border with Romania. As soon as I drove over the border, the sky cleared up completely and the temperature rose from a moderate 12 degrees Celsius, to 24 degrees Celsius. This sudden bright sunshine and rise in temperature was quite unexpected, but nothing that couldn’t be managed by taking a small stop, taking of my hoodie and opening the window.

Once I passed Timișoara, the otherwise flat open landscape started becoming more hilly. The mountains standing proud at the horizon, as the road went on, the mountains coming closer and closer. The landscaping turning from rolling hills to steeper hills and finally to mountains. The route took me along the E70 road, winding through the valley of the Cerna river. Under the cover of the trees and mountains, the air was a lot cooler here, a welcome reprieve.

The road took me closer and closer to the Danube again, forming the border between Romania and Serbia, eventually the valley I was following opened up as the Cerna river flowed into a large lake, of the Danube river, formed by a hydro-electric plant. The E70 road continued along the steep banks of the Danube river, however the Danube was a really wide river at this moment, the evening sun falling into the car, I continued.

As the evening came closer, I turned of the road, right before the border with Bulgaria. This was a small sleepy town, called Calafat. Here I had another hotel booked, once parking in front of the hotel, I went inside to check-in. There was a small barrier here, but nothing that Google-translate couldn’t fix and soon as I found myself in my room.

Fourth day: to Skopje, Macedonia

The day started with crossing the Vidin-Calafat bridge, crossing both the Danube and border between Romania and Bulgaria. This is also where I had my first passport control, but everything was fine.

Where Romania had a very mediterranean climate and landscape, Bulgaria had a much more lush landscape, starting the drive through a forest, following a country side from village to village. Eventually making quite a climb and crossing the Petrohan pass. The climb was steep and I had to take my time, but the road was empty so slowly I made my way to the summit, the peak obscured by the low hanging clouds.

Once making my way over the summit it was back down on the other side, as the road took me towards sofia. Once past Sofia, the road took me further south. Starting another climb towards to Deve Bair border crossing into Macedonia.

Once all the documents, paperwork and customs checks were finalized, I could make my way down the other side of the mountains into Macedonia, driving the last bit towards Skopje. Finally arriving at my hotel, where I am now, writing this entry.