Ive been contemplating a big ride through Europe for sometime - just never had the space to do it! Well this year things changed.... here it is. I started by asking this forum about travelling down through Croatia and got hold of the Adriatic Coast Highway (D8) and then Grossglockner Pass was mentioned and then Route Napoleon - well a strange mix but could I make it into one trip? Firstly I didn't set an end date for my trip (well I did, but didn't tell anyone - between 4 to 5 weeks).
Day one - leave home 0430 for 06:15 ferry Dover to Calais arrive in France - drizzle! Not a good start.... straight to Strasbourg via the toll roads for overnight stop and then onto Bad Gastein (via a short stop at Salzburg to do the tourist bits) - a winter sports holiday resort in Austria very nice, smart and very clean, stayed in local hotel - delightful - 66 Euros. Picked Bad Gastein as my stopover as it was just 20 miles from Grossglockner and I'd be refreshed after the 400 mile dash from Strasbourg.
Day 3 quick ride to Grossglockner - paid my 36 euros at the toll (but you get a sticker!) and a delightful road round the windy roads up to the top of Austria! Very busy mind you, lots of cyclists, cars, camper vans, you name it! And of course LOTS of motorbikes. This a fantastic ride, the road surface is brilliant and the views are exceptional all the way up to the top - watch out for sheep! When you arrive at the large cafeteria/shop at the top the views just get better - truly astonishing and the weather was great 21c at the summit! On the way down i took the Heiligenblut exit from the pass on my way through to Solvenia and on to Croatia for my overnight stop at Rijeka - top of the Adriatic Coast Highway! Well this was the first real test - as I entered Slovenia my satnav (Navigator V) went bananas on me - just could locate any roads or, of course, direct me to m y next stop 200 miles away! So test number two was how to use my phone as my GPS - not an issue you'd have thought especially as I'd planned the route using myrouteplanner - well not, but I'd no way of mounting my phone so I could view it whilst riding along! Anyway phone in my tank bag and all connected to my headset off I go again. Didn't like Slovenia too much (the roads that is) getting on to the motorway was a bit of a nightmare, at times resorting to my map, but eventually i made it onto the motorway down to Croatia arriving in Rijeka pretty exhausted after what should have been a relatively simple 250 mile day. Find my digs for the night which were what appeared to be an old student accommodation building located on an industrial estate above the city - it was fine but a bit austere!
Day 4 In the morning i set off to find a mobile phone mount for the bike - ended up with a 15 euro mountain bike clamp from a "pound" (Euro) shop but it did the trick! I now know (after asking this forum!) that my satnav didn't have the full set of maps loaded, and no I didn't check before I left! So approximately 1100 odd miles in I've made it to the start of the Adriatic Coast Highway (D8).
Day 5 - off to the Adriatic Coast Highway (id spent a lot of time on routeplanner setting the waypoints to force the route down the coast road through to the end at Ulcinj (Montenegro) it took a little while to get my bearings but after heading for thee sea and stopping for coffee at a local bar i found it and my satnav was locked in! This road is truly brilliant - once you get out of the large conurbations the road is beautiful and the views are truly fantastic in September there were still an awful of bikes doing the route - mainly in groups of 4 or 5. The weather was spectacular once again to match the views of the Adriatic - a lot of traffic in places but ample points for overtaking and then breaking hard into tight left handers, The road literally does cling to the cliff throughout and the bends and views just keep on coming. My GoPro was catching the lot! Various Eateries right on the coast with car parks that all seemed to have bikes parked up - so stopped for a break (now 36c) and a delightful lunch of Calamari - fantastic! Sibenic was my destination for the night with no dramas until I arrived! Sibenic is a beautiful Medieval coastal town - very popular -especially when this weekend included a medieval festival celebrating Croatia victories in the middle ages against marauding invaders. Fire breathing jesters, fireworks, dramatic sea batlle with more fireworks and lots of smoke! Needless to say it was BUSY! Theres me trying to find my digs in the midst of this which I now know to be a mediaeval walled town with tiny streets and lots of steps! Contacting the owner to find out where to go I was told to go left, right, left, up steps ... you get it! Eventually I find it, nice place! When i asked where i can park my bike the reply was "you can take it up the steps and put it in the hall",,, least said the better. Padlocked the bike to the lamppost on the seafront and went for beer!
Day 6 Sibenic to Neum (Bosnia Herzegovina) beautiful roads and views continue - mindful to watch the actual route on my satnav app. (its amazing what you learn when you are in the thick of it!) like learning that if you are using waypoints make sure you are really precise in where you put them on the map (bloody obvious) if you are just what seems a pixel out when selecting the position on your mobile the app will pick on a local road and wind you off route! Roads, bends, bikes, continue endlessly I may have got this bit out of sequence but Split was suffering from terrible wild fires as i road through- the smog was horrid (the carnage was evident - burned out vehicles at the top of the hill side - this continued for about 10 miles south of Split, Horrific and frightening for the inhabitants I'm certain. Needless to say the tourists still sunbathing on the beaches just off the D8.- safest place! As i let the area and drove onwards a seaplane swung straight overhead and turned into the sea - collecting water to douse the flames with further north. The plane then did a 180 degree turn climbing up above me again off to the fire scene -truly remarkable - and all in full view as i carried on slightly awestruck! Onwards I travel and nearing my overnight stop my satnav suggests i turn down what looks like a dirt track at a set of traffic lights! So pull over - i know i should go straight on - and adjust the waypoint on the App.... off we go....... oh no, bike wont start! Its 1600hrs on a Sunday near Bosnia - my digs for the night 30 miles away! it wasn't difficult to deduce it was the battery - id left my jump leads in the garage at home in exchange for a tyre inflater - but nothing to jump start with anyway! So what do you do when you are on a fantastic motorbike route - what else flag down a passing motorcyclist! First chap duly stopped (Pete the Czech - on his way to visit a friend in Albania) who duly pulled out his 12v car started battery and all was well inside 15 mins - phew or what! remarkable - fantastic chap - he was driving a brand new moto 900cc dual sports type model hed just bought for 9000 euros! I thank thaanked him no end and we parted company as he went his was way to Albania and me to Neum (Bosnia H) Very mindful not to stall the bike on the last section. Arrive in Neum, explain my plight to the owner of the digs i was staying at and by 0930 the following morning I had a new battery fitted (battery replacement exactly as recommended on this forum) delivered for just 52 euros! So kind and helpful - who would believe it! Neum is the only coastal resort in Bosnia H, and i a little tired and old fashioned - but nonetheless food and drink was good - slept well - relieved after my experience earlier... i should say. PS room with en-suite 35 euros!
Day 7 - satnav broken, using mobile, battery kappit, new battery fitted! Nothing can stop me.......... a quick phone call to O2 gets my data bolt on package upgraded to cover Bosnia H and Albania....... (no i didn't check this before i left home!). My journey now takes me inland travelling south through Montenegro, and then east through Albania , Kosovo, Serbia and into Bulgaria. Overnight stop in Ulcinj which i believe is the actual end of the D8
Day 8 - I did know that i would have no data whilst travelling through Kosovo and Serbia - but this was a relatively short section (100 odd miles) and data would be back on in Bulgaria . So went "old school" with map and pen - wrote down the main towns/roads in large letters inside my clear panel on tank bag! i planned this to be a longish day 350 miles plus. Next stop digs in Bulgaria. Across the boarder into Albania and quickly onto the motorway (is it the only motorway in Albania?) riding east up to Kosovo - a delightful motorway up into the mountains with some lovely high speed curves. Across the boarder into Kosovo - sun shining - very hot. Continue on the motorway via Pristina up to the border crossing with Serbia at Merdare. Stopped by Serbia Border control police and asked to pull over....... the outcome - you CAN'T pass through this border as a non EU Citizen or without an internationally recognised ID card...... hmmmmm! didn't know this... of course! Very diplomatic in their approach - this happens a lot so I was told...... no help to me though. Due to political sensitivites between Kosovo and Serbia you cant pass this way. You have to return back via Pristina and travel down into North Macedonia and then across via North M into Bulgaria - he was very mindful to remind me not to take any other route into Bulgaria - and this was the quickest! Well slightly gobsmacked at my stupidity, I get on with it - 250 miles to Sofia (Bulgaria) which included an extra 120 miles detour - and guess what... no data in North Macedonia either! Stopped in North M capital Skopje for more directions - asking a young group of people running a kebab emporium - who were very happy to help! (at this point a wailing police car arrives next to me and pulls over two kids on a scooter! - no crash helmets - so I'm told). Get directions and check against my map - off we go. Arrive at boarder crossing with Bulgaria its about 2100hrs now and starting to get dark/dusk. Photo taken , passport, V5 etc etc. Insurance documents please - no problem - they are on my phone. F#ck no data! (should have printed them in UK). After what appears an eternity of typing by the officer - he finally says "you can go now..... not a problem really"..... his actual words....! About ten minutes later in Bulgaria my phone springs back into life all data now back - with a phone call from my wife..... where are you! Well its a long story....... you get the gist of it!" A very winding auto route then takes me down the mountain into Sofia my stop for the night (only booked the hotel two hours prior when i got data back.) 40 euros - lovely large room in a brand new hotel. It was now 1130 PM and in CET so 2 hours ahead of UK. Exhausted - a 450 mile day and very stressful.... slept well and breakfast was fab! 2100 miles approx.
Day 9 - I only left the Croatia cost at Ulcinj to get to one place....... Bhudludzha...... in Bulgaria, and as consequence of achieving my mission I would travel a further 100 miles for a well earned break in the resort of Borgas on the Black Sea. So just 200 miles to my next digs and a further 20mins to Bhudludzha....... Quite a trouble free journey, find my digs, check in (35 euros for the night) and then off to Bhudludzha - a phenomenal, and outrageous, monument to Communism (Bulgarian Communist Party building) started building in the 1970s, completed in the 1980's and then ransacked in the 1990s with the end of Communism. It is astonishing, top of a mountain range and looking like a UFO has landed - in fact if you search UFO Monument of WWW you will see it. Quite desolate now and down on its heels so to speak - but still fantastic, a real sight to see, but not if you were one of the many who slogged to build it under a repressive regime. If you are going anywhere near Southern Bulgaria or the Black Sea its a must visit in my book - the effort and pain to get there is well rewarded. The area is also a shrine to lots of other communist type monuments.
Day 10 - ride to Borgas - stay at the Hotel City - 80 euros for 2 nights - enormous room with fantastic en-suite! Sleep! This is the end of part one of the ride - it should have taken 2100 odd miles but somehow i made it 2300 plus miles! WOWZER! A few photos to follow
Day one - leave home 0430 for 06:15 ferry Dover to Calais arrive in France - drizzle! Not a good start.... straight to Strasbourg via the toll roads for overnight stop and then onto Bad Gastein (via a short stop at Salzburg to do the tourist bits) - a winter sports holiday resort in Austria very nice, smart and very clean, stayed in local hotel - delightful - 66 Euros. Picked Bad Gastein as my stopover as it was just 20 miles from Grossglockner and I'd be refreshed after the 400 mile dash from Strasbourg.
Day 3 quick ride to Grossglockner - paid my 36 euros at the toll (but you get a sticker!) and a delightful road round the windy roads up to the top of Austria! Very busy mind you, lots of cyclists, cars, camper vans, you name it! And of course LOTS of motorbikes. This a fantastic ride, the road surface is brilliant and the views are exceptional all the way up to the top - watch out for sheep! When you arrive at the large cafeteria/shop at the top the views just get better - truly astonishing and the weather was great 21c at the summit! On the way down i took the Heiligenblut exit from the pass on my way through to Solvenia and on to Croatia for my overnight stop at Rijeka - top of the Adriatic Coast Highway! Well this was the first real test - as I entered Slovenia my satnav (Navigator V) went bananas on me - just could locate any roads or, of course, direct me to m y next stop 200 miles away! So test number two was how to use my phone as my GPS - not an issue you'd have thought especially as I'd planned the route using myrouteplanner - well not, but I'd no way of mounting my phone so I could view it whilst riding along! Anyway phone in my tank bag and all connected to my headset off I go again. Didn't like Slovenia too much (the roads that is) getting on to the motorway was a bit of a nightmare, at times resorting to my map, but eventually i made it onto the motorway down to Croatia arriving in Rijeka pretty exhausted after what should have been a relatively simple 250 mile day. Find my digs for the night which were what appeared to be an old student accommodation building located on an industrial estate above the city - it was fine but a bit austere!
Day 4 In the morning i set off to find a mobile phone mount for the bike - ended up with a 15 euro mountain bike clamp from a "pound" (Euro) shop but it did the trick! I now know (after asking this forum!) that my satnav didn't have the full set of maps loaded, and no I didn't check before I left! So approximately 1100 odd miles in I've made it to the start of the Adriatic Coast Highway (D8).
Day 5 - off to the Adriatic Coast Highway (id spent a lot of time on routeplanner setting the waypoints to force the route down the coast road through to the end at Ulcinj (Montenegro) it took a little while to get my bearings but after heading for thee sea and stopping for coffee at a local bar i found it and my satnav was locked in! This road is truly brilliant - once you get out of the large conurbations the road is beautiful and the views are truly fantastic in September there were still an awful of bikes doing the route - mainly in groups of 4 or 5. The weather was spectacular once again to match the views of the Adriatic - a lot of traffic in places but ample points for overtaking and then breaking hard into tight left handers, The road literally does cling to the cliff throughout and the bends and views just keep on coming. My GoPro was catching the lot! Various Eateries right on the coast with car parks that all seemed to have bikes parked up - so stopped for a break (now 36c) and a delightful lunch of Calamari - fantastic! Sibenic was my destination for the night with no dramas until I arrived! Sibenic is a beautiful Medieval coastal town - very popular -especially when this weekend included a medieval festival celebrating Croatia victories in the middle ages against marauding invaders. Fire breathing jesters, fireworks, dramatic sea batlle with more fireworks and lots of smoke! Needless to say it was BUSY! Theres me trying to find my digs in the midst of this which I now know to be a mediaeval walled town with tiny streets and lots of steps! Contacting the owner to find out where to go I was told to go left, right, left, up steps ... you get it! Eventually I find it, nice place! When i asked where i can park my bike the reply was "you can take it up the steps and put it in the hall",,, least said the better. Padlocked the bike to the lamppost on the seafront and went for beer!
Day 6 Sibenic to Neum (Bosnia Herzegovina) beautiful roads and views continue - mindful to watch the actual route on my satnav app. (its amazing what you learn when you are in the thick of it!) like learning that if you are using waypoints make sure you are really precise in where you put them on the map (bloody obvious) if you are just what seems a pixel out when selecting the position on your mobile the app will pick on a local road and wind you off route! Roads, bends, bikes, continue endlessly I may have got this bit out of sequence but Split was suffering from terrible wild fires as i road through- the smog was horrid (the carnage was evident - burned out vehicles at the top of the hill side - this continued for about 10 miles south of Split, Horrific and frightening for the inhabitants I'm certain. Needless to say the tourists still sunbathing on the beaches just off the D8.- safest place! As i let the area and drove onwards a seaplane swung straight overhead and turned into the sea - collecting water to douse the flames with further north. The plane then did a 180 degree turn climbing up above me again off to the fire scene -truly remarkable - and all in full view as i carried on slightly awestruck! Onwards I travel and nearing my overnight stop my satnav suggests i turn down what looks like a dirt track at a set of traffic lights! So pull over - i know i should go straight on - and adjust the waypoint on the App.... off we go....... oh no, bike wont start! Its 1600hrs on a Sunday near Bosnia - my digs for the night 30 miles away! it wasn't difficult to deduce it was the battery - id left my jump leads in the garage at home in exchange for a tyre inflater - but nothing to jump start with anyway! So what do you do when you are on a fantastic motorbike route - what else flag down a passing motorcyclist! First chap duly stopped (Pete the Czech - on his way to visit a friend in Albania) who duly pulled out his 12v car started battery and all was well inside 15 mins - phew or what! remarkable - fantastic chap - he was driving a brand new moto 900cc dual sports type model hed just bought for 9000 euros! I thank thaanked him no end and we parted company as he went his was way to Albania and me to Neum (Bosnia H) Very mindful not to stall the bike on the last section. Arrive in Neum, explain my plight to the owner of the digs i was staying at and by 0930 the following morning I had a new battery fitted (battery replacement exactly as recommended on this forum) delivered for just 52 euros! So kind and helpful - who would believe it! Neum is the only coastal resort in Bosnia H, and i a little tired and old fashioned - but nonetheless food and drink was good - slept well - relieved after my experience earlier... i should say. PS room with en-suite 35 euros!
Day 7 - satnav broken, using mobile, battery kappit, new battery fitted! Nothing can stop me.......... a quick phone call to O2 gets my data bolt on package upgraded to cover Bosnia H and Albania....... (no i didn't check this before i left home!). My journey now takes me inland travelling south through Montenegro, and then east through Albania , Kosovo, Serbia and into Bulgaria. Overnight stop in Ulcinj which i believe is the actual end of the D8
Day 8 - I did know that i would have no data whilst travelling through Kosovo and Serbia - but this was a relatively short section (100 odd miles) and data would be back on in Bulgaria . So went "old school" with map and pen - wrote down the main towns/roads in large letters inside my clear panel on tank bag! i planned this to be a longish day 350 miles plus. Next stop digs in Bulgaria. Across the boarder into Albania and quickly onto the motorway (is it the only motorway in Albania?) riding east up to Kosovo - a delightful motorway up into the mountains with some lovely high speed curves. Across the boarder into Kosovo - sun shining - very hot. Continue on the motorway via Pristina up to the border crossing with Serbia at Merdare. Stopped by Serbia Border control police and asked to pull over....... the outcome - you CAN'T pass through this border as a non EU Citizen or without an internationally recognised ID card...... hmmmmm! didn't know this... of course! Very diplomatic in their approach - this happens a lot so I was told...... no help to me though. Due to political sensitivites between Kosovo and Serbia you cant pass this way. You have to return back via Pristina and travel down into North Macedonia and then across via North M into Bulgaria - he was very mindful to remind me not to take any other route into Bulgaria - and this was the quickest! Well slightly gobsmacked at my stupidity, I get on with it - 250 miles to Sofia (Bulgaria) which included an extra 120 miles detour - and guess what... no data in North Macedonia either! Stopped in North M capital Skopje for more directions - asking a young group of people running a kebab emporium - who were very happy to help! (at this point a wailing police car arrives next to me and pulls over two kids on a scooter! - no crash helmets - so I'm told). Get directions and check against my map - off we go. Arrive at boarder crossing with Bulgaria its about 2100hrs now and starting to get dark/dusk. Photo taken , passport, V5 etc etc. Insurance documents please - no problem - they are on my phone. F#ck no data! (should have printed them in UK). After what appears an eternity of typing by the officer - he finally says "you can go now..... not a problem really"..... his actual words....! About ten minutes later in Bulgaria my phone springs back into life all data now back - with a phone call from my wife..... where are you! Well its a long story....... you get the gist of it!" A very winding auto route then takes me down the mountain into Sofia my stop for the night (only booked the hotel two hours prior when i got data back.) 40 euros - lovely large room in a brand new hotel. It was now 1130 PM and in CET so 2 hours ahead of UK. Exhausted - a 450 mile day and very stressful.... slept well and breakfast was fab! 2100 miles approx.
Day 9 - I only left the Croatia cost at Ulcinj to get to one place....... Bhudludzha...... in Bulgaria, and as consequence of achieving my mission I would travel a further 100 miles for a well earned break in the resort of Borgas on the Black Sea. So just 200 miles to my next digs and a further 20mins to Bhudludzha....... Quite a trouble free journey, find my digs, check in (35 euros for the night) and then off to Bhudludzha - a phenomenal, and outrageous, monument to Communism (Bulgarian Communist Party building) started building in the 1970s, completed in the 1980's and then ransacked in the 1990s with the end of Communism. It is astonishing, top of a mountain range and looking like a UFO has landed - in fact if you search UFO Monument of WWW you will see it. Quite desolate now and down on its heels so to speak - but still fantastic, a real sight to see, but not if you were one of the many who slogged to build it under a repressive regime. If you are going anywhere near Southern Bulgaria or the Black Sea its a must visit in my book - the effort and pain to get there is well rewarded. The area is also a shrine to lots of other communist type monuments.
Day 10 - ride to Borgas - stay at the Hotel City - 80 euros for 2 nights - enormous room with fantastic en-suite! Sleep! This is the end of part one of the ride - it should have taken 2100 odd miles but somehow i made it 2300 plus miles! WOWZER! A few photos to follow
