BMW BikerDays Rovinj Croatia

We have been talking to the organiser of the BMW BikerDays Croatia event planned for this coming September (28th-30th). It's to be held in the beautiful town of Rovinj on the Adriatic coast. It will be the first such event in Croatia and they say they are expecting around 3000 people. So nothing on the scale of Garmisch but worth considering.

They are very keen to have British bikers at this event and have offered to put on a "VIP" table at the celebrations for those Brits who turn up. The end of September/early October is, I think, the best time to visit Croatia anyway. It should still be very warm but the summer crowds will have gone. To give you some idea we were in this area last year, mid October, and daytime temps varied from 22C to 28C on the coast.

So here I am trying to encourage some of you lot to come along. There is, of course, a little bit of self interest here
Our place just happens to be a comfortable days ride from Rovinj. You could just blast down the motorways and get from ours to Rovinj in four hours, but I think most would prefer are more interesting route, five hours or so riding with time to stop and stare along the way. 215kms for those of you who like such details, actually in our region its far more about time taken than distance covered. High average speeds are only possible on the motorways, but with back roads like the one following the Soca valley why use a motorway?

Anyone coming from the UK will almost certainly pass very close to us so why not stop off for a day or two on the way to or from. As usual, if you stay two nights or more you get a free pass for the Grossglockner, Nockalmstrasses etc.

I will be riding down leading some of our guests taking a very scenic route. Anyone, regardless of where they are staying, would be welcome to tag along. More details a bit nearer the time.

The organisers are still working on their website but the do have a facebook page https://www.facebook.com/pages/BMW-BikerDays-Croatia/201724779846723 with some nice pics of the area

It would be good to have a decent British presence and even better if most of us could arrive en mass.

I will post more info as and when I get it. As soon as they get the website running I'll also post a link to that.

John

Pity I didn't hear about it earlier, we'll be "doing" Croatia down to Split in early September.

pity,im going to croatia in may,hoping to get to romania and hungary sometime in the future so ill deffinatley consider staying at your place

Enjoy

Hope you both enjoy Croatia, careful on some of the roads. The roadstone can polish like marble, with just about as much grip. Just watch the local riders slide around-usually with no safety gear!

John

Do you know if there's camping on site or nearby?

Camping

Sleepy said:

Do you know if there's camping on site or nearby?

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Yes, but they have said details won't be available until July.

John

Cutting it a bit fine if they're keen to see British Bikers... I'd like to start making plans well before then if I were to go.. Thanks for the reply anyway.

cultural differences

Sleepy said:

Cutting it a bit fine if they're keen to see British Bikers... I'd like to start making plans well before then if I were to go.. Thanks for the reply anyway.

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It's a British thing to plan ahead! Most of mainland Europe just does not do it. We get bikers from all over Europe, lots of Brits book early often as much as a year ahead. The Dutch follow the Brits and will book in the spring but the Germans often waiting until a couple before they travel. Here in Austria they think it is normal to advertise such an event jut a few weeks before it happens!

There is always next year thought.

Whatever you have planned ride safe and enjoy

John

Just to temp you!

A short film about Rovinj http://youtu.be/DjDKOFPBvUo

Website for the meeting is promised in a week-don't hang by the thumbs waiting though!

John

Some info in English

The organisers have added some new info http://www.longway2croatia.com/index.php/uebernachtung.html If you watch the video remember that at the end of September all those little people will be back in school!

More to come soon.

John

Advance reservations now being taken

Talked to the organiser yesterday and got a bit more info. He says the aim is to be a mix of the Garmisch and a Touratech travel event. They are planning a party on both Friday and Saturday nights,usual thing with live music and copious amounts of beer, films and talks from overlanders are also planned. Expect a few stunt riders too.

A total of 2,000 beds in hotels and apartments have been reserved for the meeting. Take a look at http://www.longwaytocroatia.com Drop down menu "Öbernachtung" Enquiries for these can been made now but as the Croatians have not confirmed the prices (too cold for them to be at work at the moment!) the organiser is saying that he will respond to any enquiry as soon as he has full details. Email him armin@longwaytocroatia.com his English is good, tell him which place you are interested in and for how many people and he will get back to you-no obligation here- if you change your mind it will cost you nothing.

I went, last May, to a Croatian biker meet in Umag, same sort of thing, they had block booked an two entire resort complexes-makes it a lot easier to book than having to contact local hotels etc until you find a place. There are to be buses to take people between the site and the hotels so those of us whose directional stability decreases as the evening wears on will have no problem getting back!

Camping will, of course, be available but they are not taking bookings until July-no idea why so late but it's not unusual around here. "There will be camping, lots of space so why do you need to book now" would sum up the attitude.

The location is superb, Rovinj is a lovely town and late September/early October is the best time to visit (early season is good too) still warm but not crowded-kids back in school so no passive parenting. I'm riding down on the Friday from our place, taking some of our guests with me, anyone in the area is welcome to come with us.

John

John,
I might be up for this, be good to stay at yours again, though having looked at my work duties, it looks as if I will have to be back at Norwich for a 6 pm shift on 3rd October. Whats the plan for travelling from yours to the event, accomodation there and when do you expect to return to yours? regards john

GADGET said:

John,
I might be up for this, be good to stay at yours again, though having looked at my work duties, it looks as if I will have to be back at Norwich for a 6 pm shift on 3rd October. Whats the plan for travelling from yours to the event, accomodation there and when do you expect to return to yours? regards john

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Hello John

That would be good. At the moment the plan is to ride down there on Friday 28th September. It's a good run down there- into Italy- Passo di Predl into Slovenia then follow the Soca valley, maybe lunch on the Italian coast or Piran in Slovenia depending on timings before going on to Rovinj, arrive late afternoon.
I will need to leave on Sunday 30th to get back to the hotel by late afternoon. If you came back and stayed that night it would leave 2.5 days to get back to Norwich-not a problem I would have thought.

We are going to register our interest in accommodation with Armin (the event organiser) in a few days time. We are thinking that a self catering apartment would be best. We could find out how big the apartments are and see if some of us could share-I don't snore much! At this stage it's just showing an interest, Armin is having trouble getting info on this because due to the extreme cold down there (for them) not many people are actually
working!

Let me know what you think.

John

Sounds good to me John, I have got the week off prior too, so the only rush is to get back, I got home from yours last year with only one overnight in Luxembourg and a stop in Belgium for some chocolate, so even that is not really a rush.Trying to get a mate interested in the trip, though he is in NZ for a month at the moment. I`m sure there must be others interested too, sure its a long way off yet, but no harm in making plans.

been following this for a while looks just the ticket after the leave bans because of London 2012.

look on the bright side

Trevtuck said:

been following this for a while looks just the ticket after the leave bans because of London 2012.

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We have talked to several people in the same position-seems they are drawing in people from all over the UK. The bright side is that September and October are usually great months to be biking here. The high roads don't close until the last weekend in October, the families have gone home and the weather is at it's most stable. Around the time of this meet it's normally at least as warm here as high summer in England. The hotel will be open as usual that weekend-we have some great staff-we will be in Rovinj enjoying the party.

It's quite normal on a ride out from here to criss cross the borders between Austria, Slovenia and Italy, I've never been stopped at any border crossing, I almost miss it. Going to Croatia is different, they check you both leaving Slovenia and entering Croatia. And you have to change your money-travel like it used to be!.

As I have said even if you are not staying with us you would be very welcome to join us on the ride down. And if you do stay with us don't forget that if you stay two nights or more you get a free pass to most of the private toll roads in Carinthia- Grossglockner, Nockalmstrasse etc.

Hope to see a few of you out here.

John

Hi John,
I would like to travel down to Rovinj with you guys. I have just booked Wednesday and Thursday, prior to the event at your hotel. If you have any space spare at Rovinj, I would be happy to share or I will arrange my own room/tent. I will be leaving the U.K. on Tuesday 25 September, if anyone wants to travel down with me. I also have 12 days after the event to explore the area. I have no fixed plans yet of where to go, as the region is new to me. If anyone wants to join me for all or part of the trip, or has any suggestions of where to visit, I would be happy to here from you.
Donnie.

lywood said:

Hi John,
I would like to travel down to Rovinj with you guys. I have just booked Wednesday and Thursday, prior to the event at your hotel. If you have any space spare at Rovinj, I would be happy to share or I will arrange my own room/tent. I will be leaving the U.K. on Tuesday 25 September, if anyone wants to travel down with me. I also have 12 days after the event to explore the area. I have no fixed plans yet of where to go, as the region is new to me. If anyone wants to join me for all or part of the trip, or has any suggestions of where to visit, I would be happy to here from you.
Donnie.

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Hi Donnie

That's great news, I'm in the UK until Saturday but when we get back I will be talking to the organiser about accomodation at Rovenji. With two days at our place you can explore some great roads before we head down to Croatia on the Friday. Did you book using our on line system? Nothing has come through yet but as mail is being redirected while we are away there might be a delay. If you can send a landline number to the hotel Email info@hochalmspitze.com then I can call you when I get back. I get free calls to UK landlines from my Austrian mobile so it won't cost you anything.

See you in September-first beer is on the house.

John

Donnie,
I'm looking at going on this one too, though have not booked anything with John yet, as at the moment my Mrs is threatening to come along.

GADGET said:

Donnie,
I'm looking at going on this one too, though have not booked anything with John yet, as at the moment my Mrs is threatening to come along.

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Hello, Ros says your mrs is very welcome! Ros is almost certainly bringing the car down to Croatia so there would be a spare seat if your mrs does not want to ride the twisties on the way.

John