Advice on travel through europe and the middle east.

Hi, I am an Australian citizen currently living in the UK. I am hoping to travel through eastern europe and the middle east in July with my friend from Slovakia. We are hoping to start in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Albania, Bulgaria, Turkey, Syria, Jordan, Israel and Saudi Arabia. If anyone had advice on the cheapest way to get around and where to stay and any visa's we might need it would be much appreciated!!

My only advice is to rethink your itinerary if you plan to visit the countries listed in that order. Once you visit Israel you will not be allowed entry into KSA.

You won't be allowed to go to Saudi Arabia anyway; they don't have tourist visas unless you're part of a package tour.

Forget about Saudi Arabia, as afz said, and make sure Syria is before Israel on your itinerary.

Forget Saudi Arabia unless you are going on a package tour as otherwise you need to be sponsored and that is not easy. Also, if you really want to go to Israel, make sure it is the last stop on your trip as you can otherwise be denied entry into many Arab nations if they detect that you have been there.

Well the cost of buses, trains, and shared taxis are really going to add up, but I've found that in places where there are multiple companies or taxis that you can play them against each other to haggle better deals. Like in Istanbul there is this massive bus depot and you just have to bounce around the different 'herders' (these guys that obviously get a kick back from the companies if you buy a ticket) and keep saying you got a lower offer from another company, till you eventually get the price you like.

When crossing into Syria (I was able to get my visa at the crossing, as of last year) they did check and question me to make sure I didn't have any evidence of going onto Israel.

Hi,

Regarding Bulgaria - once you get here you'll find it very easy and cheap to get to Istanbul. There are buses going several times per day to Istanbul and a one way ticket will cost you approximately 25EUR (a two-way ticket is 45EUR). It takes about 8hrs to get to Istanbul. Travelling within Bulgaria itself is also very cheap & easy: either via by bus or train, you can get to many places. Just to give you an idea: a bus from Sofia to anywhere on the seaside (400kms away) one way costs 15EUR; by train it will be around 10EUR.

Hope that helps :)