Travelling alone by bus across half the continent of Europe is not everyone’s idea of a good holiday. I guess it wasn’t really a holiday, but more of a ‘journey’, and it was out of necessity.
I had to get from Bulgaria to Paris within one week and I really wanted to see as much of the landscape as I could and get a feel for what it’s like to be in these places, rather than just flying between destinations so I went on a crazy bus journey through seven countries in seven days.
I didn’t book more than a day ahead and used a few travel apps on my phone (Rome2Rio, Omio, FlixBus and Eurolines) to work out cross-country bus timetables.
I travelled through Bulgaria, Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia (technically – I only saw it from the bus window), Austria, Germany and France.
I created this two-part vlog series of the random adventure that included missed buses and a million Instagram photos. First watch the below videos of the epic journey and then keep reading below for more information on photo locations!
VIDEO PART 1 – Bulgaria to Serbia and one wrong bus station
In this video, I went from Sofia Bulgaria to Belgrade Serbia on the first long distance bus of this trip through Europe.
BOOK AT THE CHEAP PLACE I STAYED! In Bulgaria: Veliko Tarnovo hostel with lovely host and Sofia hostel walking distance from train station. Other links are below under each city.
VIDEO PART 2 – Croatia, Austria, a night alone in a bus station
The above video was the marathon leg going to Zagreb in Croatia, through Slovenia to Vienna in Austria, and a final sprint through Munich, Germany to Paris, France.
Instagram photo locations across Europe
I obviously vlogged this trip but I knew I wouldn’t have an opportunity to edit the vlogs for a while (it is a time-consuming task!) so I also focused on getting heaps of Instagram photos that I could edit and post each day along the way.
The vlogs share the locations I visited and I’ll share some more details on these below.
I filmed the vlogs on my GoPro Hero 6 and I shot all the photos on my Olympus OMD EM5 Mark ii with either the 12-40mm f2.8 pro lens and the 25mm f1.8 prime lens. It’s micro 4/3 so the equivalent focal length on full frame is double those numbers.
Photographing Belgrade, Serbia
Belgrade in Serbia had so many awesome photo locations and I highly recommend this time of year in late September to early October as the leaves were a beautiful orange and it wasn’t too cold yet.
To get the best photos of the Church of Saint Sava, go first thing in the morning to get the pretty morning sun rays going across the front if it.
BOOK AT THE CHEAP PLACE I STAYED IN BELGRADE (perfect location across the road from Belgrade bus station)
The Belgrade Fortress in Kalemegdan Park was a dream for Instagram photography. There is a wall that overlooks the city and in the mid-morning the light is best for this shot. If you go too early the greenery next to the wall will be in shadow.
There are SO many awesome little nooks around that even when it’s busy (I was there late morning and there were a few tour groups coming in) you can still find spots to yourself to get some shots, plus it was a nice place to wander around.
There are also some cool weaponry to see on display as the military museum in the Belgrade Fortress.
The Zindan Gate was an awesome spot for a photo if you can time it between the crowds 😉
Oh and be sure to check out the sunset by the river while you’re in Belgrade. I don’t know if I just got lucky because of smoke on the horizon but wow, I was treated to the most beautiful sunset there!
Photographing Zagreb, Croatia
Of course the Zagreb Cathedral is a highlight to photograph and make sure you have a nice wide angle lens and shoot low because that building it TALL.
I shot this photo just after sunrise. It would have been better about half an hour earlier to get sunrise colours in the sky but I was still pretty happy with this. The sun rises behind the cathedral so much later and there’d likely be some lens flare with the sun going directly into the camera.
BOOK AT THE CHEAP PLACE I STAYED IN ZAGREB (outside tram stop)
I was so lucky to be there late September/early October so all the leaves were orange and it was such a beautiful place to photograph.
Photographing Vienna, Austria
Okay, Vienna would have to be my favourite stop on this journey. While it was also the most expensive (I’m used to travelling cheap South East Asia, so the $8 coffees and $20 dorm bunk were a shock to my tight-arse budget), the beauty of this city just blew me away! And I packed A LOT in to one day of exploring.
The Weiner Riesenrad park would have to be the highlight! I had so much fun wandering around and feeling like a little kid looking at all the rides. I wen t there to get a photo of the big ferris wheel but ended up walking through an Oktoberfest celebration that happened to be on inside the park!
BOOK AT THE CHEAP PLACE I STAYED IN VIENNA (close to train station)
Due to an overnight bus never arriving at the pick up point in Vienna, I had to catch a bus the following morning to Munich so I didn’t have enough time to leave the bus station in search of photo spots there.
I ended my journey in beautiful Paris where I met my Mum and Aunty for a 5-day holiday together. And that’s where this post ends.
