
Hello dear readers,
I have often heard from people around me about whether we can go to Greece or Bulgaria by our own vehicle or what we need to do to go. While thinking about this, I gathered some courage and decided to make a trip to Western Thrace.
In this article, I want to provide some small but useful information for those who think like me.
Firstly, if you are going to Greece or Bulgaria, the first thing you need to do is to obtain a Schengen visa. Since both countries are part of the European Union, you cannot enter without this visa. Of course, if you have a green passport, then you do not need to obtain a visa.
Another topic is the insurance you need for your vehicle. You need to obtain the Green Card, which is valid for traffic insurance in the European Union. As the name suggests, the Green Card is a green document that interestingly contains no English information at all (I was wondering how they understand this at the border, but you don’t need to translate anything; they accept it as it is). You can obtain this document for a minimum of 15 days. The cost is around 47 EUR. Not every insurance company provides this, but for example, Allianz does.
If you have settled your traffic insurance, I suggest you also make your vehicle’s comprehensive insurance valid for abroad with an endorsement. You never know what you will encounter. Also, if your vehicle is somewhat flashy, you will understand why you needed the insurance when you see the cars in Bulgaria or Greece because the vehicles there are very old and small.
If the vehicle is yours, there’s nothing else you need to do. However, if the vehicle is a rental, you need to obtain a notarized authorization document from the rental company. This document states that the rental company allows you to take their vehicle abroad and that you can carry out insurance and related processes. Do not forget this. This document is only required when leaving Turkey, so don’t bother with translations.
It is advisable to also pay any fines or debts of your vehicle if there are any, as they may appear in the system.
If your departure from Turkey coincides with a long vacation, I recommend being at the border before 7 AM. If it is not a very long vacation, then you do not need to leave this early.
I advise you to fill up your tank before crossing the border. Because on the Greek side, diesel is about 1.4 EUR. This, according to June 2019 rates, is about 10 TL. Therefore, it seems much more advantageous to refuel in Turkey. There is a large Shell station on the right side in İpsala where you can fill up.
Since you will be traveling a long distance, I recommend getting your vehicle serviced. You wouldn’t want to encounter vehicle-related problems in a foreign country.
When crossing the border from Turkey, they first check your passport. Then they check the vehicle documents. They do not perform any checks inside the vehicle. After that, you head towards Greece. Here, there is a check on the Greek side too. Once you pass both, you are officially in Greece.
On the Greek side, starting from the border, you will find a highway welcoming you. You can pay the highway fee in cash. Therefore, I think it would be useful to have small change in Euros with you. You are not required to have an HGS or OGS like in Turkey. However, I can say that the highways are more expensive compared to Turkey. You pay an average of about 2 Euros at the toll booths.
In Greece, unlike Turkey, you will not find rest areas or gas stations frequently. You will encounter very few places with toilets. In some areas, there are small convenience stores similar to canteens. Therefore, I can say that a long road awaits you without many facilities around. For this reason, it would be good to bring a cooler bag and prepare sandwiches to take along.
The speed limit on the highways in Greece is 130 km/h. However, they want you to reduce to 80 km/h in tunnels. I did not encounter many cameras or radar on the roads. If there is going to be radar, they will definitely warn you with a sign beforehand. I can tell you that there are cameras in tunnels.
On all roads in Greece, I saw small church models approximately every 50-60 km. Honestly, they caught my interest a lot; I am sharing a photo of one of them below.
Since the signs on the roads are written in both Greek and Latin alphabets, you can easily find your way. On the other hand, if you have any common navigation applications open on your phone, you can easily find your desired destination.
After crossing the border, you will notice that the roads are not very good until approximately Dedeağaç. However, I can say that after this point, the roads in all of Greece are good.
When listing the places you should see in Western Thrace, I can mention Dedeağaç, Gümülcine, İskeçe, Drama, Kavala, and Thessaloniki, in that order.
If you say you also want to see Macedonia while you are here, I can confidently say that you are making a very good choice. Because the center of Skopje is only 2.5 hours from Thessaloniki. Also, you can enter Macedonia with all the documents you have to enter Greece. Of course, I say Macedonia, but the country has recently changed its name to North Macedonia.
Crossing from Greece to Macedonia is easier than passing through the Çamlıca toll booths. Additionally, both Macedonians and the Albanians living here can converse with you in Turkish.
In Macedonia, you can drive on the highways comfortably. Just make sure to follow the speed rules indicated on the roads to avoid any issues. However, I did not encounter any radars in Macedonia. The highway fees in Macedonia can also be paid in cash at toll booths, just like in Greece. The currency of Macedonia is the Macedonian Dinar, and approximately 60 dinars is equivalent to 1 Euro. If you have Macedonian currency, you will be better off paying with that rather than Euros. However, Euro payments are accepted everywhere in Macedonia.
If you need to refuel, it is more advantageous to buy fuel from Macedonia than from Greece. There is a state-owned fuel station in Macedonia. If you enter a fuel station marked with the letter M, you can fill up your diesel vehicle for about 7.5 TL. You can pay with both Euros, Macedonian Dinars, and credit cards.
You won’t feel the lack of facilities on the roads in Macedonia as much as you do in Greece. You will find that Macedonia is greener than Greece. You will notice mosques in the villages welcoming you on both sides. I can say that most of these are Muslim villages. In this sense, you will feel as if you are passing through villages in the Black Sea region.
If you want to continue from Macedonia to the Republic of Kosovo, the only different thing you need to do is to take out an insurance policy. This is because the Green Card is not valid in Kosovo. You can obtain this insurance policy for 15 EUR at a local office when you pull your vehicle to the right at the border.
Crossing into Kosovo doesn’t take more than 10 minutes. I can even say that the only country where you will likely experience problems at the border is Turkey. In the others, you cross the border quite comfortably.
The highways in Kosovo are more beautiful than those in Macedonia. The highways in Macedonia are also more beautiful than those in Greece. You will see that Kosovo is greener than Macedonia as well. It will feel as if you are driving on a painted canvas.
I can say that the fuel prices in Kosovo are roughly the same as in Macedonia. Euro is accepted in Kosovo. Therefore, if you have Euros with you, you can take care of your needs without any problems. You do not pay any fees on the highways in Kosovo.
That’s all that comes to my mind; I wish you all a good journey.
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