Croatia, Montenegro and Albania

Ted

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Taking the coast road through Croatia, Montenegro and Albania to Greece then on to Turkey. Anyone been this way recently. Any problems with border crossings, paperwork entering/leaving Montenegro and Albania, stopovers, hotels etc. Have been to Turkey a couple of times in the past but usually take ferry from Ancona/Venice to Iguomenitsa as time was a constraint. This time have a longer stay planned so going to try overland and calling at Plitvic, Mostar on route. Will be 3 bikes and as we are all :rob usually get through borders without to much hassle as we look harmless :D
Thanks
 
Ted (and paintman :) )

Nice. Very good choices and great places to visit, the whole Balkan region has an energy and very different vibe. You won't regret it.

Croatia these days is very European and there's nothing remarkable about motoring. A document check at the border and Bob's your uncle. Be sure to appreciate the Dalmatian Highway is very long and takes a lot of time to traverse, it can also have heavy touring traffic in high season. Many folks have ended up jumping on the motorway to make some time up, self included on occasion. On the coast road may I recommend the town of Karlobag, there's a hotel in the main square overlooking the small harbour and it's a very nice place to be.

As an idea I liked the island of Hvar which is a couple of hour ferry ride from Split. Hvar town is very nice and you can make your way East across the island for twenty minute ferry ride back to the mainland and the Dalmatian Highway again.

For Montenegro, Albania and Bosnia Herzegovinia you will need a green card; expect documentation to be checked properly aside from if you're in transit from Croatia through to Croatia via the small stretch of Bosnia Herzegovinia at Neum (The petrol is cheap there at £1 per litre too ;) ); they don't take much interest in your documents, however if you enter elsewhere you'll need your green card and I'd suggest gaining that cover anyway as I see you're planning to hit Mostar which is in BIH.

Dubrovnik is a beautiful if very touristy place to head to and neighbouring Cavtat is also pretty and not far away.

Montenegro is visually impressive, almost Lord of the Rings landscape in some areas and the ride around Kotor Bay and then up into the hills from Kotor to Cetinje is wonderful. I've stayed in Bar, Ulcinj and the capital Podgorica. All are fine but I can't report anything remarkable (apart from ending up in an Only Fools and Horses themed pub in Podgorica, what a plonker).

Albania is chuckle territory. Very welcoming at the border to bikers on more than one occasion I've been. The main roads are mostly decent although pay attention for missing manhole covers, mopeds carrying hay bales, horses on the motorway and other generally hatstand highway affairs, including unsurfaced gravel sections under motorway bridges (!). The FCO recommend not to motor at night and I think they're on the money. I found the people really friendly and welcoming and have a soft spot for the place, don't let any of the above put you off.
Sarande down in the South is a recommended seaside resort type of place, but with its own Albanian style with good fish restaurants. The road from Vlore to Sarande is special. In Sarande itself I can recommend the Hotel Brilant, excellent accommodation with bikes safely stowed outside the front of the place with a little man watching them.

A point to beware of, if you use Garmin Navigation their maps are very poor off the beaten track in BIH and in places in Albania they are non-existent (Sarande for instance isn't covered). Also, Google Maps don't have proper coverage of BIH for some reason so not good for that armchair planning session.

Slightly off track, but if you end up fancying Serbia do your research on Kosovo as access isn't straight forward.
I also found FYR Macedonia very pleasant with around Lake Ohrid lovely.

Any other info you want feel free to drop me a note..

:beerjug:
 
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Ooh. I mentioned Split but failed to mention the Diocletian's Palace and old town.. places worth seeing.

That's getting old for you.. :rob
 
Balkans coast road is easy

Hi
I posted some info a few days ago about these countries. I have just ridden that exact route into Greece and round the top into Turkey. Currently in Izmir, heading to Ephesus tomorrow.

They don't hardly look at your passport in Croatia, or Bosnia on the the coast, let alone ask for insurance.

Montenegro is easy, just let them register your V5 details and when that is done, they hold your passport until you have bought the 10Eur insurance (15 days duration). Very pleasant and smiley people.

Albania didn't ask for insurance. I didn't realise I was in Albania immediately. I passed one barrier where they input the details, and crept through no man's land expecting to find an entry barrier but there was none... I was therefore not afforded that buzz of crossing the final barrier and seeing Welcome to Albania for the first time. Oh well. The roads are slow and bad. I averaged 26mph the whole of Albania (K12LT doesn't like gravel let alone the Albanian kerbstones ie the massive ramps between new and old strips of tarmac).

See details of Turkey in my recent post.

It is 37 degrees here. Bring your sun hat!
 
. ..Be sure to appreciate the Dalmatian Highway is very long and takes a lot of time to traverse, it can also have heavy touring traffic in high season. Many folks have ended up jumping on the motorway to make some time up, self included on occasion...

:thumb2 Good advice, this...just back from Croatia and, although usually realistic about travel times, we massively underestimated time down to Dubrovnik on the coast road and had a very long day, despite hopping onto the Motorway further North. Some of the sections under repair cause delays as well as general volume of traffic.
 
What a great site this is, Roberto, Kazakdan and E. Buygum I appreciate the time and effort you took to reply, Thanks.
John.
 
Don't encourage me, Paintman :D

If you go to Mostar, you will need a green card (or buy insurance at the Border)...it's only the coastal Croatian-Bosnian border where they don't seem to bother checking. I am insured with BMW and, to my amazement, they issued me with a Bosnian green card free of charge...
 
Plitvice lakes get very busy. We stopped at the Villa Lika:

http://www.booking.com/hotel/hr/villa-lika.en.html last year and a short walk to one of the buses termini that can take you around the lakes. It is very popular with Croatians, and even in September the popular bits were jammed with people taking pictures and videos on Ipads.

I hate to think what the cosatal Jadranska Magistral is like in the summer, bad enough in September, but some great bends / views when clear. We're contemplating going down to Kotor next year, if we do we'll be keeping to the inland roads as much as possible.

Split and Zadar really nice places, with Split more touristy, and I'd recommend a tour of Diocletians Palace, check the tourist office as the cost is meant to be fixed.

We crossed the border into Croatia at: https://maps.google.co.uk/maps?hl=e...2k&biw=1366&bih=618&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wl no fuss, just a quick check of the passports, and similar coming back north on the E61.
 
Been to Croatia a few times but mostly northern part, Zagreb, Pula on route to Hungary, Ukraine etc. Been to the lakes, want to revisit for a couple of days, stopped at a camp site about 6k from it and got a bus to the first gate.
Never gone all the way down and on into Greece as usually on my own and was worried about Albania. Met a few people some years ago who had bad experience riding through but things seem more secure these days and there will be 3 bikes on this trip.
keep the info coming as you can never have enough, also gives ideas of what to see and do on route
 
Been to Croatia a few times but mostly northern part, Zagreb, Pula on route to Hungary, Ukraine etc. Been to the lakes, want to revisit for a couple of days, stopped at a camp site about 6k from it and got a bus to the first gate.
Never gone all the way down and on into Greece as usually on my own and was worried about Albania. Met a few people some years ago who had bad experience riding through but things seem more secure these days and there will be 3 bikes on this trip.
keep the info coming as you can never have enough, also gives ideas of what to see and do on route


ted,stayed here a couple of times.nice place and people.http://www.jakirusa.com
 
Same route and worried about albania

hi chaps. i will be doing the same route from london to turkey through the croatia,montenegro,albania,mecedonia.bulgaria and turkey or from montenegro into albania and then into greece to turkey however i am worried about albania as i didint hear any good about the road conditions and traffic.

I was also wondering about the croatian coastline how busy it might be as time pressure will be on and will try to do 200miles a day . you think it is realistic or might be very busy roads and slow ride.

how is Albanian roads , i am planning cross the country into macedonia.

i am not sure how safe to ride in bulgaria if anyone rode through bulgaria can give some information about the road conditions and the police.
 
If you go to Mostar don't bother changing currency, they accept Euros. Mostar is fascinating.

Croatia - if the signs are up warning of the Bura (very high winds) , believe them. I didn't and ended up pinned to the armco on a bend. The mountains do not all have armcos!!

Albania is fantastic, people very friendly, roads shite. People drive too fast, and there are a LOT of accidents. Tirana was being dug up when we went, so should be vastly improved by now, but it was great fun navigating the potholes with the oncoming wagons ( much easier on 2 wheels). If you get a chance go to Fusche-Kruje and ride up the mountain to see the monument to Skanderbeg. There's good food and drink there too.
The border guards were delighted when I tried to say hello in Albanian, and more than helpful just because I gave it a go.

Have fun, wish I were going again! :thumb2
 
Lots of great info. on this Thread, thanks to all for posting... :beerjug:

Hoping to head down this way fairly soon...
 
I was also wondering about the Croatian coastline how busy it might be as time pressure will be on and will try to do 200miles a day . you think it is realistic or might be very busy roads and slow ride.

I'd guess that 200 miles a day would be possible, as it'll be 6:40 at 30 mph which even the campervans get to most time, but it would be a very frustrating day anytime from June to the end of September. As I've said it has great views and bends, and when you get a clear run its stunning. But, I'll give it a miss next time I'm in the area.
 
Rather than start a new thread, I'll hijack this one. We will be heading down to Croatia in mid September and hoping to have around 6 days in country before we have to start heading back. i was hoping to get as far as Split and stay there for 3 days . Is it worth heading that far south or is there plenty do and see further North on the coast. We were looking at a couple of days chilling on the beach before heading back via Plitvicka.
The last few trips we have done, we have booked accomodation before we set out as it can be a pain in the tourist areas trying to find something at a reasonable cost. What are others recent experience of accomodation in the tourist areas of Croatia??

Thanks

Baz
 
Taking the coast road through Croatia, Montenegro and Albania to Greece then on to Turkey. Anyone been this way recently. Any problems with border crossings, paperwork entering/leaving Montenegro and Albania, stopovers, hotels etc. Have been to Turkey a couple of times in the past but usually take ferry from Ancona/Venice to Iguomenitsa as time was a constraint. This time have a longer stay planned so going to try overland and calling at Plitvic, Mostar on route. Will be 3 bikes and as we are all :rob usually get through borders without to much hassle as we look harmless :D
Thanks

A couple of us did this last August and I agree with the others. All easy. Croatia is now EU for a start, Bosnia is no probs. We went through Mostar which is a lot bigger and more cosmopolitan than I thought it would be for a start, then up into Sarajevo then down and out to see Dubrovnik, then south through Montenegro (10 euro insurance on the border), then down into Albania, through Tirana and down into Greece. Ferry back from Patra to Bali and up.

Booked hotels a day ahead on the internet (hotels.com), easy peasy. Usually about 50 euros for a twin. Don't go mad in Bosnia/Montenegro/Albania. Lots of bikes down there. Lots of Italians but most go straight west from Tirana and get a ferry to Italy from there. The roads south can be a bit hit and miss. Some are rough as a badgers but some are OK.

People were generally friendly, Bosnia is beautiful. I sat down in the old town of Sarajevo for lunch in the middle of summer and got served sprouts:thumb

I think having a quiet pipe and driving sensibly saves a lot of hassle down there and the police don't hear you coming!. Just go with the flow. It was as easy as pie though.
 


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