barcelona to Athens and back hopefully

[Spanish Bob]

My wife is going to visit her sister in Athens, I have been invited. I am only going If I am allowed to go by bike. Seems fair.

The first part of the trip is obviously very straightforward and I dont need any route suggestions. But if anyone has any route suggestions or hints from Slovenia downwards, please let me know. It wont be a very touristy trip (ie stopping all the timeso no need to tell me that Croatia has a beautiful coastline, as I know that and I´ll only have about 3-4 days to get there and another 3-4 to get back. (about 3500kms each way.

thank you very much

bob

 

[Iain Hogg]

If time is short, consider the ferry from Venice to Greece - at least in one direction.

I'm sure somebody knows which ferry I'm talking about?

Iain

 

[kcain]

I haven't done it the Croatia way but have done it three times via Italy, on my way through to Georgia. Seems to me that the problem is after Croatia - you don't want to do Albania at the moment. If you go via Italy then the best bet is a ferry via Ancona. There is a wonderful mountain road between Egoumenitsa and Thessalonica, but that is a bit out of your way for Athens (but worth the trip).

 

[Spanish Bob]

mmh the plot thickens....

thanks

 

[kcain]

A few more thoughts on your trip. Unless you want to do the tourist thing then Croatia doesn't really make sense. You might be able to get a ferry to Igoumenitsa or Patra from Split or Dubrovnik, otherwise you are stuck with crossing Albania, which is not a good idea when travelling alone, or Yugoslavia taking you via Kosovo and Pristina which are defintely not a good idea at the moment.
Best bet is a ferry from Ancona, Bari or Brindisi to Igoumenitsa or Patra which is very close to Athens. The advantage of the Italian route is also that you don't have any frontier crossings which can be very time wasting, and it might be better from an insurance point of view. Also, if you get a night ferry it saves you loads of time. I have done Aosta (Northern Italy) to Brindisi in 1 day (about 1,300km I think) so you should be able to do the trip in the time allowed.