Estonia to Armenia

📍 Tallinn → departure

Kurri is calm and unbothered as always and this is how it starts.

📍 Warsaw area

We stopped near Warsaw for the first night. It`s easier to find apartments that allow all pets without extra fees, which is our usual approach across the trip. Kurri had a quiet evening and woke up to his birthday the next morning 🎂

📍 Zakopane area · Tatra Mountains

Day two took us to the Zakopane area in the Tatra mountains. Same logic, plenty of accommodation options that welcome pets without charging for it. We found a room in a mountain house with a garden, so Kurri got to walk outside in cool mountain air after a long day in the car. Good birthday present.

Warsaw accommodation

Zakopane mountain house

Kurri in Poland with some beautiful artwork

📍 Slovakia → Hungary → Romania

Our second longest driving day: straight through Slovakia and Hungary into Romania, three vignettes needed. Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland don't have tolls, but Slovakia, Hungary and Romania do. We always buy everything online before crossing. No hassle, no queues at the border to buy vignettes.

📍 Near the border · Rest stop

First night just near the border: an apartment building with an enclosed courtyard where Kurri could walk freely. After a long driving day that's exactly what you need.

📍 Transfăgărășan Road · The "Bears side"

We first drove Transfăgărășan in 2022: when we were still at the very beginning of Kurri`s training, and he only watched the place from the car. We started from the other side of the road back then, it was rainy and foggy and as we drove higher we literally arrived above the clouds. Everything was drifting, it felt dream-like, another world. One moment it was cold and the next, after the last tunnel, it turned sunny. This time it`s much more crowded, no clouds, but we came from the other side, where the bears are. So much had changed. More people, more noise, and at least 7 bear warnings on the way. We saw so many bears just relaxing by the road. Kurri's highlight was the grass near the highest point next to a waterfall - that's where he was happiest.

📍 Black Sea Coast · Mamaia

Two nights on the beach side: modern gated apartment complex with a small spa in Mamaia, just a walk away from the beach.

📍 Sunny Beach · Nesebar

We’d traveled this coastline before, so the stretch felt familiar. We settled near Nesebar for a couple of nights to rest and stock up at the stores before continuing down the coast toward Primorsko. If you’re looking for a beautiful beach, I recommend skipping Golden Sands and Sunny Beach altogether, though Nesebar itself is definitely worth a visit..

📍 Primorsko → Turkish border

Last stretch of the Bulgarian coast before crossing into Turkey. From Primorsko we drove straight through the border and kept going all the way to Istanbul, arriving the same day.

📍 Istanbul

First stop after crossing from Bulgaria, straight into the historic old city. We picked a hotel with a rooftop terrace looking out over the Süleymaniye Mosque, the Galata Bridge and the Golden Horn, one of those views that makes a one-night stay feel like enough.

📍 Safranbolu

From Istanbul we drove inland to Safranbolu, worth the long day for the old Ottoman quarter alone. Before leaving the next morning we stopped at a viewpoint over the town to see the UNESCO-listed houses from above.

📍 Atakum · Black Sea Coast

From Safranbolu we drove north to the Black Sea coast, settling into Atakum for a couple of nights. A good stretch to slow down after the long driving days getting into Turkey.

📍 Trabzon area · Altındere Valley National Park

Onward along the coast to the Trabzon area, where we settled in for a couple of nights. From here we took a day trip up into Altındere Valley to see Sümela Monastery, built straight into the cliffside. A steep but short detour off the coast road, and a completely different landscape from the Black Sea below.

📍 Kars area · Toward the Georgian border

Last stretch through Turkey, heading east through Hopa and Artvin before dropping down toward Kars, closing in on the crossing into Georgia.