Travel / Driving from UK to Ukraine via Poland - need car insurance [46]


Your post interested me.

I am a UK citizen and long wanted to visit Belarus (as well as Ukraine). I tour many European countries with a Campervan/Motorhome. However getting in to Belarus is proving a problem with one of the Visa requirements being to state the "inviting party".......in other words they want the name and address of where you will be staying. As I tour using a Campervan, that is problem as I don't ever have an "inviting party" address.

So how did you get in to Belarus?

I contacted the Belarussian Embassy in London which was not a very good experience. They were quite rude and abrupt to say the least and did not even have a clue what a Campervan or Motorhome is!

Travel / Driving from UK to Ukraine via Poland - need car insurance [46]


My hopeful thought on that was finding some friendly village farmer or similar only too willing to allow me to park up on their land in exchange for a few Belarusian rubles! At some point i'd eventually need mains power unless I keep on the move every few days.

You say there are 'not so many camping areas'. Are there any at all and if so where/how are they found? The Belarusian Embassy were most unhelpful.

Travel / Driving from UK to Ukraine via Poland - need car insurance [46]


I have to ask....are you resident British with knowledge of Russian language?

I don't speak any Russian neither do I have knowledge of the Cyrillic alphabet and would rely on SatNav (the one I have does have Belarus installed) plus normal mapping for navigation. I have usually overcome the language barrier in other countries but Belarus would be a 'first' for me....assuming I can get in!

Travel / Driving from UK to Ukraine via Poland - need car insurance [46]


Thanks WR.

Where in Poland are you living?

I've toured the length and breadth of Poland and still keep going back! Love the place..and the people. Currently planning a three or four month tour during summer this year and will be in Poland (again!). Still more places I need to see, Gdansk, Treblinka, Sobibor (though i've been there before), Majdanek and Belzec.

Travel / Driving from UK to Ukraine via Poland - need car insurance [46]


Very nice area you are living in. I've passed through a few times heading for Swinoujscie on my way up to Peenemunde.

Never quite made Majdanek despite being fairly close. I was always on limited time due to work but now i'm retired and have all the time in the world to tour as long as I want to! As you probably gathered I have a keen interest in WW2 history and visit any related sites. Not everyone's idea of a holiday I know, but I am of an age where WW2 history was never taught at School and also rarely discussed.

Travel / Driving from UK to Ukraine via Poland - need car insurance [46]

That's on my list of "Places to Visit" Harry!

I research all these places first at home via the internet, log them on Autoroute mapping, then from that begin drawing up a rough sketch of a route.

Travel / Driving from UK to Ukraine via Poland - need car insurance [46]


My "Hotel" is on four wheels Harry! Maybe not quite four star but has all I need including onboard water tanks, H&C water, Shower, Toilet, Cooker and oven, Fridge, plus multi-standard TV so if I want to, I can tune in to Polish television...if I could understand it!

I just move on to another area whenever i'm ready to go.

Travel / Driving from UK to Ukraine via Poland - need car insurance [46]

They are few and far between, and much less sophisticated than in the west or up north toward the Baltic. I made an overnight at one near Sobibor which was very basic and no English spoken at all......which proved to be fun when I tried to get some kind of a meal! Just pointed to photographs on the wall of what I wanted!

Travel / Driving from UK to Ukraine via Poland - need car insurance [46]


Purple and Pink?!!!!

That's worth a photo just for a laugh!


Sounds like the sort of place I enjoy snooping around though I don't relish the idea of disappearing down some shaft never to be found again! Is the place fenced off as a restricted area?

Travel / Help with a travel plan to Poland [72]


Hhmm......that depends on what you see as "hot and sweaty"! One year i was in Poland near Krakow with temps of 30+c driving a vehicle which has no air-con so that was certainly hot and yes i was sweating!!

Last year i was at Czaplinek (Drawsko West Pomeranian) returning from touring the Baltic states. The weather had been all over the place, some days sunny and warm, other days raining and even cold temps. Really weird. The day had been pleasant enough, blue skies and sun, but approaching Czaplinek i saw a massive black cloud looming and the weather turned. Gale force winds ripped 20 metre trees out of the ground like matchsticks. It was over in minutes but pretty damn scary.