Chris Dyson's Travel Blog

Almost half way through the year and I have already started making plans for travels in 2020. To escape the British winter I will be travelling to South America to visit Chile, Bolivia and Peru. I also have an extended layover in Colombia should I wish to explore the capital of Bogotá too. I posted in the past about competitions for free travel holidays. This is a good website that has lots in one place. - https://travelscoop.co.uk/posts/competitions I have updated my list of previous travel videos on YouTube with my most recent trip to the Balkans, which can be found here. - https://chrisdyson16.blogspot.com/2019/01/all-my-travel-videos-from-2014-2018.html Looking to book a hotel anywhere in the world? Use the link below and you will receive 10% back after your stay. - https://www.booking.com/s/35_6/7d62e267 Sign up and stay with Airbnb using the link below for £25 in travel credit on a future booking. - https://www.airbnb.co.uk/c/chrisd12290   Until it's time to tra...

The final full day of the tour started with breakfast at 07:00am and we departed the hotel just after 08:00am making our way back to Athens. After driving for several hours we made a lunch stop on the way back stopping at the beach town of Kamena Vourla. We would have well over an hour here as it was a late Easter weekend in Greece, before the final leg of the journey. Kamena Vourla, Greece The final drive together took us 2 hours and we said goodbye to the excellent driver for the final time. We had a couple of hours free time in the city or around the hotel before our farewell dinner which was scheduled for 19:00pm. I made plans to briefly explore Athens first thing in the morning however some things are closed due to Easter Sunday been 1 week later in Greece. It was the last morning before flying home so I went to breakfast early at 07:00am to make the most of the city. Unfortunately the Acropolis was closed on Easter Sunday so I walked around it and took some long distance...

Breakfast opened at 06:30am this morning but we were not due to leave until 08:00am so there was plenty of time to get some food. We had a quick break around 10:00am to buy some snacks ready for a bit of a queue at the border as it was Easter weekend 1 week later in Greece. We also had lunch straight after the border crossing from Bulgaria because we were approaching 2 hours since we last used the toilets. The White Tower in Thessaloniki, Greece. We drove onto Thessaloniki , arriving for an driving orientation tour at 14:30. We checked into the hotel just after 15:00pm and the rest of the afternoon and evening was free for us to explore the city on our own. I quickly left my suitcase in my room and started to walk to some of the key sights. It only took me a couple of hours with a decent pace on my own, before getting something for dinner and returning to the hotel. A video of this day can be found below:

Today was a free day in Sofia, Bulgaria but I decided to join an optional tour in the morning. It was to visit Rila Monastery in the Bulgarian mountains and we met in the lobby at 08:30am. We were picked up by the same coach we had travelled several thousand kilometres on to this point. Rila Monastery. The drive to the monastery took around 2 hours and we were given a small guided tour when we got there, visiting some of the upstairs rooms that not everyone gets to see. We spent a couple of hours here and had an early lunch before heading back to Sofia. We hit some traffic on the way back returning to the hotel just after 14:30pm. The rest of the afternoon was free but I chose to rest in the hotel room. A video of this day can be found below:

Breakfast opened at 06:00am this morning with a load and go on the coach at 07:15am so there was no rush. We departed southbound towards the Serbian city of Niš which was scheduled for today's lunch stop. After a mid-morning break we arrived in Serbia's third biggest city around 11:00am. I walked over to the fortress and also checked out the newer side of the city centre. This was a good chance to use up any remaining Serbian coins if anybody had any left to get an early lunch. Nišava River next to Niš Fortress. After lunch we made our way towards the border with Bulgaria. We arrived at the border at 14:00pm and started the process of leaving Serbia and entering Bulgaria. Unfortunately another coach had just beaten us in the queue so it added a little bit of time. We successfully made our way to Sofia and met the local guide for a walking tour. After seeing the main sights on a 2 hour walk we checked in to the hotel. Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, Sofia. Our dinner ...

Back on the road again today as we head south after a 06:30am breakfast, leaving the hotel around 07:15am. We set off driving towards the border with Serbia and arrived just before 10:00am. Usually going from an EU to non-EU country can be a slow process but we actually did it in under 1 hour. After making a final comfort stop we started the drive towards Novi Sad. View of Novi Sad from Petrovaradin Fortress. We arrived into Novi Sad and had just over an hour for a lunch stop. We walked into the old town for some exploration and then I split from the group to walk up to the fortress. We met back on the coach after 14:00pm and started to make our way to the capital of Serbia in Belgrade. We checked in to the hotel straight away and we were given the time of 17:00pm to meet in the lobby for the walking tour of the city. National Museum in Belgrade in Republic Square. The local guide met us in the lobby and took us on a 3 hour walking tour of the city. This concluded at the ...

Breakfast was once again at 06:30am but this time our departure time was set for 07:30am so it wasn't as much of a rush. We drove for a couple of hours and after a break mid-morning we arrived at Lake Balaton after noon. We would use this as our lunch stop for 1 hour by the lake. Lake Balaton. Driving onto Budapest arriving around 15:00pm, where we were met by a local guide for a driving tour of the city. The drive would take around 2.5 hours with stops for photos in between explanations of the various sights. After the driving tour we would meet in the hotel lobby at 18:00pm to make our way for the dinner reservation at a restaurant. The view of Budapest from Gellért Hill. After having an included 3 course meal we gathered outside and most of the group would make their way to an evening cruise on the River Danube. It would take 75 minutes total and we saw all the main sights lit up at night. By 22:30pm we made our back to the hotel via the metro. We looked forward to...