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Italy… where all the roads lead to Rome
We started our 2-month hitch-hiking trip in Rome where we admired the marvels of antiquity and enjoyed a scooter ride by night, offered by our wonderful Roman hosts. Next, we directed ourselves north, to experience the beautiful Renaissance architecture of Siena and Florence, indulge in the bohemian atmosphere of Bologna and follow the tourist trail in Venice. In Mestre we attended a Balkan music festival and we spoke about God with our very educated Iranian host in Trieste.
On the whole, Italy treated us well and we definitely recommend this destination. Italy is a country with the highest number of UNESCO World Heritage Sites, so we expected it to be beautiful and it certainly was. There were 4 things that surprised us, however. The first being the prices. We learnt that in Italy everything was a lot more expensive than we’d expected it to be and so it was quite difficult to keep the budget low. Another shocking, or maybe I should rather say disappointing, thing was the famed Italian food, which in our eyes was hugely overrated, pricey and lacked variety. How many times a day are you supposed to eat bread- or pasta-based products? Not to mention that towards the end of our stay we felt that not blood but tomato sauce pumped through our veins. The slightly hostile approach to tourists, which we noted in the most popular Italian destinations, was another thing that took us aback. I understand that if you see hoards of lost and disorientated people every day, who don’t speak your language and expect good service, you might be a bit fed up, but there’s no need to be rude! And the forth, but this time a very positive surprise was the easiness of hitch-hiking and CouchSurfing, which made our stay very interesting and helped to keep the costs down. Don’t believe all those who say that it’s impossible or even difficult to hitch-hike in Italy. We met loads of wonderful drivers and even managed to hitch an inter-village bus for free. Italians are definitely a positive and cheerful bunch and you can certainly rely on them to help you out on the road.
More posts from Italy
On the road that leads to Rome
Siena and the search for a fair price
Art and leather in Florence
A hitch-hiking day that could have gone so easily…
Nostalgia Bolognese
Venice: a tale of two cities
Trieste: The God question and the most German of Italian cities
Two random nights in Venice and Ljubljana
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Slovenia… where everything is so small that you can reach the Alps or the Mediterranean within half an hour ride from the capital
Not including the super small states like the Vatican City or San Marino, Slovenia is one of the smallest countries in Europe and you can definitely smell the Mediterranean breeze and feel the Alpine gusts of wind on your cheeks, standing on the central square in the Slovenian capital of Ljubljana. The city is so small that you can cross its old town within 5 minutes; just to give you the scale!
While in Slovenia we did some slacklining with our hosts in Ljubljana, visited some tiny medieval towns (Škofja Loka and Ptuj) and hiked in the Julian Alps by the picturesque Bled and Bohinj Lakes.
This tiny and scenic country, which is the gateway to the Balkans, was so pleasant that we spent there way too much time but we don’t regret it at all. Hitch-hiking was childishly easy and Slovenes proved to be a very hospitable crowd. So welcoming that they don’t even need to know you to offer you their apartment to stay in, which happened to us in Ptuj! Slovenia is a must for everyone who’s heading to central Europe!
More posts from Slovenia
Cycling, tight rope walking and the tiny capital of Ljubljana
Two random nights in Venice and Ljubljana
Our experience of hitch-hiking in Slovenia
Lake Bled, Mount Pršivec and the Return to Nature
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Croatia… where the sea is warm and the beaches are full of Eastern-European tourists
Croatia, with its stunning nature, attracts more and more tourists every year and now we know why. Its beautiful coast and its UNESCO listed Plitvice Lakes is something that everyone should experience and given the relative low prices, it is also something that everyone can afford. No wonder we met in Croatia swarms of tourists, indolently lying on the beach all day long or partying in seaside discos till the morning hours. Our Croatian experience was no different, truth be told, as we entered Rovinj, Krk and Dubrovnik with nothing else on our minds but rest, swimming in the sea, drinking beer and eating fresh fish.
Zagreb was a quite pleasant, but concrete-made, capital with an interesting selection of weird museums, like the Museum of Broken relationships or the Museum of Naïve Art.
Hitch-hiking in Croatia was still relatively easy, although once we stopped a garbage man who had a gun on the back seat (we didn’t want to know why). We have also made friends with one of our drivers and we hope to see him again in Barcelona.
More posts from Croatia
Zagreb (Croatia) and the Museum of Broken Relationships
From Zagreb to Rovinj: the luckiest hitch-hike and a picturesque seaside resort
Krk: Camping on the beach and the poor man’s Slavic Ibiza
Hitchhiking to Plitvice Lakes National Park and the cacophony of noise
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Bosnia & Herzegovina… where the mountains are spectacular and the hitch-hiking is slow
We entered Bosnia from its least touristy corner and headed north to Banja Luka, the capital of one of its two autonomous republics: Republika Srpska (Serbian Republic). On our way we learnt that the country is still very much divided and the wounds that were brought by the last war haven’t properly healed yet. It doesn’t help that the three Bosnian ethnic groups: Bosniaks, Serbs and Croats follow three different religions (Muslim, Orthodox and Catholic respectively) and live in different parts of the country. Many new buildings, dozens of war memorials and the abundance of new graveyards everywhere you look are the painful memento of the war that ended only 19 years ago.
We have also learnt that in those northern parts of Bosnia, where there are not many tourists and backpackers (since everybody seems to head only to Sarajevo and Mostar), hitch-hiking is not the best way to get around and we spent many hours on the road fruitlessly waiting for the lift that never came.
But by no means do we want this to discourage you! Bosnia is a wonderful country with many hospitable and helpful people and its green freezing-cold streams, its steep and narrow canyons and its rocky mountainous are just jaw-dropping. Bosnia & Herzegovina is in our opinion the most picturesque country of all the Balkan states, so don’t hesitate to include it in your next itinerary!
More posts from Bosnia & Herzegovina
Our first experience of hitch-hiking in Bosnia & Herzegovina
Bosnia & Herzegovina, Republica Srpska & the problem of perspective
Hitchhiking failure and on the tourist trial in Sarajevo and Mostar
One last bus to the crowds of Dubrovnik, Croatia
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Montenegro… where the prices are as high as the mountains
We entered Montenegro with the hope that its beauties hadn’t been explored by many and it would be a cheaper alternative to the over-saturated with tourists Croatia. We were wrong! The medieval coastal town of Kotor, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is a real treat for the eyes and a blow to your wallet. Its popularity among Russian (read: rich) tourists, made it way too expensive for our liking.
On the contrary, the capital of the country, which everybody had warned us against visiting, was an interesting change and we were glad to escape the happy-beach-holiday atmosphere of the popular Mediterranean resorts.
On the whole, Montenegro was a good experience and hitch-hiking in this country was very much doable, although it required lining up next to 20 locals at one point. But live and learn, as you never know when you will have to compete for a hitchhiking spot again.
More posts from Montenegro
Entering Montenegro, Kotor Bay and Tourist Disinformation Office
Our first experience of hitch-hiking in Montenegro, accommodation problems and the beauties of the least touristy of towns, Podgorica
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Albania… where your preconceptions are challenged
Albania (along with Kosovo) was the country which we had feared the most, but after visiting we fell in love with it above all other places on this trip. With its complicated history, incomprehensible tongue that doesn’t resemble any other Indo-European language and its welcoming and warm people, Albania turned out to be a very interesting place, in which we wish we could have stayed longer.
Some of the most memorable highlights include: attending a Roma protest in the capital of the country, Tirana; sleeping wild and getting lost in the forest and being driven by an Albanian drug dealer through winding mountainous roads. On top of this were the thousands of little acts of kindness by members of one of the poorest countries in Europe. Albania, you have stolen our hearts!
More posts from Albania
Entering Albania, the Albanian capital and when assumptions makes an arse of you and me
Trip’n Hostel, Tirana, Albania – How to run a hostel
Our first experience of hitch-hiking in Albania, camping wild and getting lost in the forest
Tanks to Berat in Albania, Visiting Berat Castle and Leaving before it was Time
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Macedonia… where it’s hard to keep up with change
Visiting Macedonia was to be one of the major points of our trip, given that it was the capital of the country where we’d met over 6 years ago. So we were going back to Macedonia, anxious to see if it has changed and to reminisce about our first trip together.
Skopje has indeed changed a lot since we last saw it and it must be said that not for the better. The plethora of monumental buildings and statues, which are meant to prove that the great heroes of antiquity, Alexander the Great and his father Philip II, originated from what is now FYR of Macedonia, have rather overshadowed the beautiful cobbled stone streets and artisans’ shops. Skopje is no longer the charming dusty capital of a tiny south European state it used to be. It’s become a monolithic, shiny and a bit of a soulless place, if you ask us.
While in Ohrid, by one of Europe’s deepest and oldest lakes, sitting on the same hill as we were sitting exactly 6 years ago, Jon pulled out a beautiful ring and asked me to marry him. I said yes and that means we have now one more reason to view Macedonia as our special place!
More posts from Macedonia
The confident hitchhike from Albania to Macedonia and Ania’s Ohrid surprise
Skopje the capital of Macedonia, Catching up with Friends and being Amazed by Change
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Kosovo… where cheerfulness of the locals makes it hard to believe the war ended only 14 years ago!
Before we entered Europe’s youngest state, we had imagined to see war torn building, streets covered with debris and miserable people blaming everyone around for the hardships they’ve been through. Instead, and to our utter surprise, we found a flourishing little country, full of open, hospitable and forgiving people who were ready to help, host and show us around.
We hitchhiked with a Kosovar shepherd, were invited to stay at a rich businessman’s house and drank rakija with a group of Serbs and Kosovars who were friends. We attended a film festival in the old capital of Prizren and walked the streets of the developing new capital of Pristina, whose two major streets bear the names of the US presidents.
Kosovo, like Albania, proved to be an unexpected treat and despite the slight problems resulting from crossing the border between the two still hostile states: Serbia and Kosovo, we recommend visiting this country to everyone who would like to experience the birth of a new nation.
More posts from Kosovo
Our first experience of hitch-hiking in Kosovo, drinking rakija with the locals and attending the Prizren film festival
Prishtina hitchhike, staying with a Kosovar businessman and a grim grey cafe culture
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Serbia… where the praise you hear doesn’t live up to the reality
Yet another surprise was ahead of us when we crossed the border of the 10th country on our itinerary, Serbia. In the times of Yugoslavia, it was Serbia who played the role of a ruling state and as we were proceeding through the Balkans every so often we heard stories of its former power, its great monuments and apparently the most beautiful nature on the whole peninsula. You can easily imagine our disappointment when we crossed the Serbian border to find ourselves in a grey, industrial land where cars went whizzing past us and it took a very long time for somebody to stop and give us a hand. We hate to generalise, but the majority of Serbs we met had bigger mouths than hearts and we were almost glad the trip was coming to its end and we had to rush through.
More posts from Serbia
Hitchhiking through Kosovo & Macedonia to industrial and grimy Niš in Serbia
The End of the Line in Belgrade, Serbia
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Hungary and Austria… which were the last fleeting stops of our trip
After Serbia, Jon had to catch a plane to London, so we split in Budapest and he went on to England and I jumped on a train to Vienna. I spent there a great couple of days walking around, admiring its great architecture, eating exotic fruit we found on Naschmarkt, listening to classical music and playing card games with a chess master who was my host.
More posts from Austria
The end of our 2-month hitch-hiking trip across the Balkans and the last days in Vienna
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All in all, the trip was very interesting and as always we met tons of wonderful people who were ready to selflessly help us, strangers. We climbed some soaring summits in Slovenia and Montenegro, swam in the warm sea in Croatia and Albania, ate local specialities and listened to lots of turbo folk on the way.
Statistics:
Countries we visited: 12 (including Vatican City)
Kilometers covered by land: 4456 km (+389 km that took me to get from Vienna to my hometown Katowice, Poland)
Days in total: 58
Hours hitch-hiking: 122,5h
Number of drivers: 98
Different nationalities of drivers: 18 (Italian, Czech, Polish, Bosniak, Austrian, Croat, Slovene, Serbian, Swiss, Brasilian, Belgian, Montenegrin, Ukrainian, Albanian, German, Russian, Kosovar, Macedonian).
Number of CouchSurfing hosts: 8
Money spent per day: 24€ (including all transport, accommodation, food with at least one hot meal a day, lots of alcohol and entry fees).
written by: Ania
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Read all the posts from our 2 month hitch-hiking trip across the north of Italy and the Balkan Peninsula:‘The Balkan Peninsula by Thumb 2013′!
The trip was under the patronage of a Polish independent travel website eTraveler.pl.
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Włochy… gdzie wszystkie drogi prowadzą do Rzymu
Naszą dwumiesięczną wyprawę autostopem po północnych Włoszech i Bałkanach rozpoczęliśmy w Rzymie. Dzięki wspaniałym gospodarzom z Couchsurfingu, za dnia podziwialiśmy cuda starożytnej architektury, a nocą śmigaliśmy przez rzymskie ulice na skuterze. Było super, ale musieliśmy jechać dalej, bo przecież mieliśmy w planie zachwycanie się pięknem renesansowych miast: Sieny i Florencji, zachłyśnięcie się awangardową atmosferą Bolonii oraz deptanie po piętach turystom w Wenecji. W Mestre mieliśmy okazję posłuchać muzyki bałkańskiej na festiwalu, a w Trieście dyskutowaliśmy na metafizyczne tematy z naszym bardzo wykształconym gospodarzem z Iranu.
Spędziliśmy we Włoszech wspaniałe dwa tygodnie i zdecydowanie polecamy podróże po tym kraju. Włochy są państwem, w którym znajduje się największa liczba obiektów Światowego Dziedzictwa UNESCO, zatem spodziewaliśmy się, że będzie to piękne miejsce i tak w istocie było.
Byliśmy mile zaskoczeni, że tak łatwo można we Włoszech podróżować na stopa i korzystać z Couchsurfingu. Dzięki temu udało nam się podreperować budżet, ponieważ okazało się, że wszystko było dużo droższe niż się spodziewaliśmy. Nie wierzcie wszystkim tym, którzy mówią, że łapanie stopa we Włoszech jest trudne czy wręcz niemożliwe! My poznaliśmy mnóstwo wspaniałych kierowców, a nawet udało nam się zaliczyć przejażdżkę między-wioskowym autobusem! Włosi to zdecydowanie bardzo pozytywny i wesoły naród, i zawsze można liczyć na to, że pomogą na drodze.
Z tą wspaniałą włoska kuchnią, to lekka przesada, po dwóch tygodniach naszego pobytu czuliśmy się jakby w naszych żyłach płynęła nie krew, lecz sos pomidorowy. No i ile razy dziennie można jeść potrawy oparte na chlebie czy makaronie?
Więcej postów z Włoch
On the road that leads to Rome
Siena and the search for a fair price
Art and leather in Florence
A hitch-hiking day that could have gone so easily…
Nostalgia Bolognese
Venice: a tale of two cities
Trieste: The God question and the most German of Italian cities
Two random nights in Venice and Ljubljana
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Słowenia… gdzie wszystko jest tak małe, że wycieczka w Alpy czy nad Morze Śródziemne, to zaledwie pół godziny jazdy samochodem ze stolicy
Nie wliczając super-miniaturowych państewek takich jak Watykan czy San Marino, Słowenia jest zdecydowanie jednym z najmniejszych krajów w Europie. Można dosłownie poczuć śródziemnomorską bryzę czy dotyk alpejskiego wiatru na policzkach stojąc w samym centrum głównego rynku w stolicy kraju, Lublanie (słoweń. Ljubljana). Wyobraźcie sobie, Lublana jest tak mała, że można przejść wzdłuż starego miasta w niecałe 5 minut!
Podczas naszego pobytu, po raz pierwszy spróbowaliśmy swoich sił w chodzeniu po linie. Było trochę adrenaliny! Odwiedziliśmy malutkie, romantyczne i pełne uroku, średniowieczne miasteczka (Škofja Loka i Ptuj), a także wybraliśmy się na górską przechadzkę w Alpach Julijskich, nieopodal zjawiskowych jezior Bled i Bohinj, dostarczających przepięknych, malowniczych widoków, znanych chyba ze wszystkich folderów turystycznych, reklamujących Słowenię.
Łapanie stopa okazało się dziecinnie proste a Słoweńcy udowodnili, że są naprawdę przyjazną nacją i tak gościnną, że nie muszą cię nawet znać, aby oddać ci klucze do swojego mieszkania, co przydarzyło nam się w Ptuju.
Nasz pobyt w tym malutkim państewku, o bardzo urozmaiconym krajobrazie (morze, góry, jaskinie, lasy), zwanym „bramą Bałkanów” był tak wspaniały, że zostaliśmy tam dużo dłużej niż zamierzaliśmy. I oczywiście wcale tego nie żałujemy. Zdecydowanie polecamy Słowenię każdemu, kto wybiera się na podbój Europy środkowej.
Więcej postów ze Słowenii
Cycling, tight rope walking and the tiny capital of Ljubljana
Two random nights in Venice and Ljubljana
Our experience of hitch-hiking in Slovenia
Lake Bled, Mount Pršivec and the Return to Nature
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Chorwacja… gdzie morze jest ciepłe a plaże pełne są turystów z Europy wschodniej
Piękna chorwacka przyroda przyciąga każdego roku coraz więcej turystów i zupełnie nas to nie zaskakuje. Wspaniałe chorwackie wybrzeże i Jeziora Plitwickie wpisane na listę Światowego Dziedzictwa UNESCO są czymś, co każdy powinien zobaczyć, a biorąc pod uwagę relatywnie niskie ceny, są także czymś na co każdy może sobie pozwolić. Nic więc dziwnego, że spotkaliśmy w Chorwacji chmary turystów leniwie wylegujących się na plaży czy imprezujących w pobliskich klubach do wczesnych godzin porannych. Prawdę powiedziawszy, my w tym względzie wcale nie odbiegaliśmy od normy i odwiedziliśmy Rovinj, Krk i Dubrownik z zamiarem nie robienia nic innego poza zwiedzaniem, relaksem, pływaniem w morzu, piciem piwa i jedzeniem świeżej ryby.
Zagrzeb jest całkiem przyjemną, choć bardzo betonową, stolicą z ciekawym wyborem dziwnych muzeów, jak np. Muzeum Rozbitych Związków czy Muzeum Sztuki Naiwnej.
Podróżowanie po Chorwacji było całkiem proste, chociaż bywali różni kierowcy. Raz zdarzyło się nam, że zabrał nas śmieciarz, który trzymał pistolet na tylnym siedzeniu (nie wgłębialiśmy się w szczegóły, ale miny mieliśmy niewyraźne i cieszyliśmy się, gdy dotarliśmy do celu). Innym razem zaprzyjaźniliśmy się z jednym z naszych kierowców i mamy nadzieję, że niedługo odwiedzi nas w Barcelonie.
Więcej postów z Chorwacji
Zagreb (Croatia) and the Museum of Broken Relationships
From Zagreb to Rovinj: the luckiest hitch-hike and a picturesque seaside resort
Krk: Camping on the beach and the poor man’s Slavic Ibiza
Hitchhiking to Plitvice Lakes National Park and the cacophony of noise
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Bośnia i Hercegowina… gdzie góry są widowiskowe a łapanie stopa powolne
Wjechaliśmy do Bośni od jej najmniej turystycznej strony i podążaliśmy na północ do Banja Luki, stolicy jednej z dwóch autonomicznych republik Bośni: Republiki Serbskiej. Po drodze dowiedzieliśmy się, że kraj nadal jest w dużym stopniu podzielony a rany zadane w czasie ostatniej wojny jeszcze do końca się nie wygoiły. I nie sprzyja temu fakt, że w Bośni żyją trzy odmienne grupy etniczne: Boszniacy, Serbowie i Chorwaci, które różnią się także wyznaniem (odpowiednio: Muzułmanie, Prawosławni i Katolicy) i mieszkają w odmiennych regionach kraju. Widzieliśmy wiele nowo wybudowanych domów, ale też wiele pomników upamiętniających ofiary zbrodni, a wszechobecne cmentarze stanowią bolesne świadectwo wojny, która zakończyła się zaledwie 19 lat temu.
Na północy Bośni, gdzie nie ma zbyt wielu turystów czy backpackerów, bo przecież wszyscy tłumnie kierują się do Sarajewa czy Mostaru, podróżowanie stopem nie jest najlepszą metodą poruszania się po kraju. Spędziliśmy na drodze wiele godzin bezowocnie czekając, aby jakiś samochód w końcu się zatrzymał.
Ale w żadnym razie nie chcemy was zrazić! Bośnia to wspaniały kraj gościnnych i pomocnych ludzi, zielonych (!) lodowatych górskich potoków, wąskich i stromych kanionów, kamienistych grani górskich, które dosłownie wprawiają w zachwyt! Bośnia i Hercegowina to według nas najbardziej malowniczy kraj Bałkanów, więc nie wahajcie się dodać go do waszego planu kolejnej wyprawy.
Więcej postów z Bośni i Hercegowiny
Our first experience of hitch-hiking in Bosnia & Herzegovina
Bosnia & Herzegovina, Republica Srpska & the problem of perspective
<a href="http://hitchhikershandbook.com/2013/08/23/hitchhiking-failure-and-on-the-tourist-trial-in-sarajevo-and-mostar/" rel="bookmar