Driving from Ireland to the Balkans

Perfidious Cretin · 18-11-2025 12:37AM #1

Hi all,

So in June this year I did a 8500km roadtrip around Europe. 3 and a half weeks and 21 countries. It was amazing, probably the best trip I've taken.

And all in a 2014 Mondeo 2.0 tdci with 318,000km on the clock. Didn't miss a beat.

Anyway, for next year I'm thinking of doing all of the Balkans, Greece, Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania and Moldova. Even chance Ukraine for an hour. My question is how difficult would it be in an Irish car. I know I'll have to get a green card and deal with all the border crossings but has anyone else done it? Just an idea I'm floating at the moment. Cheers.

Danny healy ray · 18-11-2025 12:54AM

kknow a lad that drove to Spain got a ferry across to Morocco with his ford escort mark 1 that was originally his grandfather's and drove to bottom of south africa few hairy moments in central africa but he survived it !

con747 · 18-11-2025 12:55AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058428586/driving-from-ireland-to-the-balkans

I thought I seen this before! Hope you do the next leg. Are you doing it in the same Mondeo?

Perfidious Cretin · 18-11-2025 12:58AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123996846#Comment_123996846

Yep. The same beast. Just passed the NCT with flying colours so she's good for another trip.

con747 · 18-11-2025 01:09AM

Fair play! Keep posting and keep the site alive.

db · 18-11-2025 09:16AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058428586/driving-from-ireland-to-the-balkans

Check out the AutoAlex channel on YouTube. They've done a few of these trips, mostly in older cars like your's.

T-Maxx · 18-11-2025 12:08PM

That's a lot of driving with not much time for anything else. 340km a day for 25 days in a row.

finbarrk · 20-11-2025 09:27AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123997399#Comment_123997399

Sounds like torture to me anyway. I'd need to be paid a lot of money to do it.

Perfidious Cretin · 09-01-2026 10:17PM

Well the ferry is booked and the planning starts. 3 weeks in July to get to Istanbul and back. Can't wait

JIdontknow · 09-01-2026 10:22PM

fair play to you, enjoy it and let us know the route you plan.

Perfidious Cretin · 09-01-2026 10:24PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124134106#Comment_124134106

I know it isn't for a lot of people but I love driving. A day stop in each place is enough for me. Plus I'm going to do something that I've wanted to do since I was a young fella watching F1 in the 90s, drive on the streets of Monaco.

John_Rambo · 09-01-2026 10:25PM

That's amazing!! I'm sorry, I can't answer your questions, but I'm curious.

I've done a few long trips in an old camper (and I'm not a mechanic)

Are you handy? Can you do running repairs on the car?
Where did you stay? Hotels or Campsites?

Perfidious Cretin · 09-01-2026 10:31PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124134119#Comment_124134119

Yeah I can do most things. When I drove the same Mondeo 8500km last June from Ireland to Lithuania and back the engine light came on once but I think that was more to do with the altitude and roads on the stelvio pass. I had my laptop and forscan diagnostics kit with me so I could clear the code and make sure it was all good.

Perfidious Cretin · 09-01-2026 10:33PM

And it was mostly hotels. I stayed with a friend of mine for a few days in Vilnius.

When I drove to the Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona back in 2023 it was a mix of camping and hotels. I'll be doing the same this time.

John_Rambo · 09-01-2026 10:44PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124134142#Comment_124134142

Brilliant. Was the car choice important? Were you looking at parts availability, ease of fixings and commonality (as in a rare Ferrari would be a pox). The high mileage is scaring me already and you've made it back!!!

Perfidious Cretin · 09-01-2026 10:49PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124134176#Comment_124134176

I've owned the car for a few years so I trusted it. It's high mileage yeah but it's looked after and serviced on time with genuine ford parts. Plus I took out European breakdown cover as a backup. The car is at 320,000km now and just passed it's NCT without a single issue. I was also getting 1100km out of a full tank of diesel.

John_Rambo · 09-01-2026 10:52PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124134186#Comment_124134186

It's a rare Irish case of what those engines were actually designed for. Car looks lovely, nice wheels and trim. Do you mind me asking your age bracket and head count in the car? Was it a wealthy young buck grand tour or an adventurous healthy retirement rip?

Perfidious Cretin · 09-01-2026 11:01PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124134203#Comment_124134203

I do all my travelling on my own. And I'll be heading off on my own in July. I've travelled a good bit around the world. I'm trying to visit every European country.

Bellbottoms · 10-01-2026 02:14AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124134095#Comment_124134095

How do you plan on getting the car back to Ireland?

Perfidious Cretin · 10-01-2026 09:59AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124134603#Comment_124134603

Driving of course.

Bellbottoms · 10-01-2026 12:11PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124134781#Comment_124134781

Awh ok. So a round trip. Nice.

Hotblack Desiato · 14-01-2026 05:23PM

Did you do the Saatse Boot, OP? (it was permanently closed last October)

Perfidious Cretin · 14-01-2026 07:59PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124147291#Comment_124147291

Indeed I did. Back in June. I'm lucky I got to experience it so. It's fairly tense when you drive it. After I stopped in Saate for a look, Estonian border security came looking for me. Pretty much interrogated me and asked why I was there. Went through all my documents. An experience though.

Perfidious Cretin · 19-06-2026 09:42PM

So the route is planned, pretty much everything organised and all the hotels booked. Ferries from Dublin to Cherbourg and Ancona to Split sorted and paid for. Green card for the insurance, international driving licence and France/Italy toll tag. Just have a few more bits to organise but this day 3 weeks I'll be on the ferry to France.

The highlights for me will be driving around Monaco, driving the Transfagarasan in Romania, a 3 day ticket for the Hungarian GP and doing a lap of the Nürburgring.

Car is serviced, timing belt done so she's ready to go. Can't wait..

Hotblack Desiato · 19-06-2026 10:04PM

I did a spin around Monaco including the tunnel. It's crap tbh. Not worth the effort, plenty of much more interesting things to do in the region e.g. Route Napoleon through the mountains down to Nice, or just enjoy the coast road

Megastreisand · 21-06-2026 07:20PM

Monaco can be really congested, I'd suggest driving the circuit early in the morning for the best experience. The Grand Corniche is worth driving for the views and nearby Menton is nice.

AndyBoBandy · 21-06-2026 07:45PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124564654#Comment_124564654

That's some trip..

I'm driving from Dublin to Lithuania again in 2 weeks, it'll be the 3rd time we've gone in our EV, but I try to take the shortest route possible.. this year I have it to ~970km driving through U.K./Netherlands/Germany to get to Lithuania (via 3 ferries).. We were thinking about a long weekend up to Estonia while we are over there.

There's a lad in one of the EV pages that goes out as far as Romania in his!

I think it's fairly cool getting an Irish car quite far from it's home (even though I cheat* a lot), as you do get the odd funny look here and there!!

*the final leg of my trip is always a 22 hour ferry from Germany to Lithuania, and then a 40 minute drive once we're off the ferry up to the house… and there's a lot to be said for arriving there after 22 hours of sitting around relaxing..

Perfidious Cretin · 21-06-2026 07:57PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124564740#Comment_124564740

It'll just be a case of driving the circuit. Something I've wanted to do since I was a kid. I'd be kicking myself if I didn't do it while in the area..

Perfidious Cretin · 21-06-2026 07:59PM

Cheers for the advice. I'll be there on a Sunday around 11am all going well. If I have time I might visit the Prince of Monaco's car collection.

Perfidious Cretin · 21-06-2026 08:00PM

Yeah I was getting some mad looks in Finland and even more when I was over in Narva. I reckon I'll be a rare oddity in the balkans, especially in the likes of Kosovo..

dobman88 · 21-06-2026 08:05PM

This is amazing. I've had it in my head that I want to drive from here to Croatia and back for a couple of years. For no other reason than the adventure of it.

I'll be following this with interest and wish you the best of luck with it.

Driving from Ireland to the Balkans

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