Balkans travel advice, hints, tips, etc.

[helmik]

I had the same experience going from Croatia into Bosnia and back a day later. The most stunningly gorgeous border guard asked for my passport, I had a full face lid and sunglasses on, she looked at the picture, looked at me, smiled, handed it back and told me to hurry back to Croatia!!!!
Coming back, I crossed somewhere different, no one seemed to care and I too asked about insurance, just got a shrug of the shoulders.
That was September 2015, it may be different now to be honest.
I'm back to Croatia in June 2017, might cross paths.
Cheers
Mick

[hornet]

In the time we traveled through Croatia this year accommodation was far cheaper than northern Europe food was cheap too and beer wahay ,make sure you have currencies as euro is no good in Croatia you need kuna we saw so many campsites along the coast road which was great but less great from south of Karlobag we should have cut inland at that point. Anyway as a cool place to stay we ended up in skradin a marina town of old and new it's right at the entrance of a national park krka. Plitvic as previously mentioned is a stunning place and not expensive for what you see. We traveled up the d1 which from sebinek we hardly saw another vehicle and the views were great.

I'm certain that no matter what route you choose to travel the whole area will be an excellent journey. If you want to get more off tarmac Louis dut did a trip through the region and I'm sure he had gpx files for it

Mike

[mac10biker]

Insurance costs this year;

Albania 30 euros for ?? days
Bosnia 20 euros for 14 days
Kosovo 10 euros for ?? days
Macedonia 50 euros for ?? days (I think it was 30 days)
Montenegro 20 euros for 14 days

Like others have said it's really cheap in the Balkans (excluding Croatia). I used booking.com through the whole trip and probably averaged about 15 euros a night.

One of the things I love most about the Balkans is if you see a mountain/landscape that you really like, then most of the time you can just turn off and end up off road or riding along a dry river bed.

If it's on your route the one place I would advise to visit is Pluzine, Montenegro. I rode from there to Sarajevo and the road is stunning, with lots of other side roads to explore. And if you end up there then it would be a shame not to go on the P1 at Kotor, wow - what a road and view :woohoo:

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[bikenav]

hello Simon I think the Balkans seem to be going on to everybody's to do list, I have no idea why ,http://www.adventurebikerider.com/compo ... s/wink.png been twice myself and its on my list as this years "big trip". As others have said third party road insurance is an issue, last time I went I bought at border and also rode without, this time will try to sort something before I go if possible. The Croatian coast road is one of those where you do not know wether to doodle looking out over the Dalmation or try to scratch the pegs on every perfectly ridden apex. Loads of camping but expect European prices worth it at least once for a dawn swim, although I'm told the camper etc traffic there is really bad peak season. Away from the that bit prices are far cheaper, couple of points from my short time there(its along way away)
Albania has an interesting "edginess" to it
but Tirana was hot,gridlocked unpleasantness
Stayed in nice touristy hotel at N40 05.815 E19 45.223 parked IN resteraunt always a
laugh.

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Nice bit of road at N40 11.123 E19 36.211

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Montenegro was really nice
The coffee is terrible
The people are not the warmest to travelers/bikers/Welsh?
The interesting road surface/condition needs extra concentration at times

Open question is Macedonia worth the $50?

Enjoy your trip there You never know we might bump into each other but not in August too hot for a Welshman. When you come back be sure to tell people how unsuitable it is for adventure bike types.

[mac10biker]

Open question is Macedonia worth the $50?

If you asked me that at the border - No way (felt like she should have had a mask on)

Ask me now - absolutely Ridden in about 35 countries and this is easily in the top 3.

Skopje is a nice city if you like monuments, but Bitola is a thriving little town and I found everyone to be really helpful. If you go to Bitola I would recommend a hotel called Sumski Feneri, it's one of the nicest hotels I have ever stayed in for people and food. (thumbs)

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You have Pelister National Park right outside Bitola and there are loads of trails including one that takes you to the border with Greece and another that peaks at about 8500ft.

Macedonia is a beautiful (and cheap) country. Go - you won't be disappointed.

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[Louisdut]

My Advice for UK registered bikes is that if your heading down that way is plan ahead and when you renew your Insurance go with Ageas (you will have to go with a broker).

Ageas will give you a green card for all the Balkens & Turkey etc for max of 90 days (not including Kosovo we paid 15 euro).

We have been using Ageas for years now for two reasons:
1. Finding insurance at smaller borders can be hard and if you do it can be big money !!
2. Its only third party only where if you use your UK insurer and green card it will be fully comp.

Hope that helps (thumbs)

I would think Simon's Insurance will cover all above as standard as his not a UK registered bike.

[minkyhead]

just like to say thanks louis for your gpx tracks ive had time to look them over and read your RR properly ..ill be stealing a few tracks off you thanks (thumbs)

[Simon_100]

Sorry Simon you may have misunderstood me, I was not talking about breakdown cover I was talking about compulsory insurance cover to drive in these countries. Lonely Planet does a smallish Eastern Europe volume which has potted histories and other info on all the Balkan countries.

Thanks, I had misunderstood but as it turns out I'm OK as the policy includes the European Green Card system so I think I'm all right unless you're talking about special local requirements. But while I was waiting I was reminder that I like to get to know one place well* rather than do a 'whistle stop' tour, ticking off countries willy-nilly like so many people do - and in any event there's plenty to explore crossing France and Italy before I even reach the former 'eastern bloc!

On that subject, thanks to Herman for the tips about Croatia - looking very loosely that's on my route as I'm thinking of crossing Italy Alps out Tuscany back - or a better acronym the other way, TOAB! :whistle: While in France it's more about inviting myself to various friends' - in "Hi, I'm about a 'x' kms from your place ..." mode, so the least planning the better! (thumbs)

I'll have to check my health cover though as this is a 'freebie' that comes with my bank account - small print alert methinks!

Thanks for the hint about The Lonely Planet guide, but the issue (2015 edition) that I see at The Book Depository includes far more than I want, including Russia - it'll be interesting to see what the 2017 edition makes of that! - is both too extensive and too expensive for my needs. Meanwhile I've discovered a Wikitravel guide that could do with more input but is a good start.

Hmm, this stage is part of the fun too - and it's free!

Thanks one and all, I'll certainly plot these various routes into my Basecamp ...

Regs

Simon
* which brings to mind the beguiling prospect of Balkans HISS some day, say in Montenegro ... (thumbs) (thumbs) (thumbs) (thumbs)

[frgich]

The D8 coastal road in Croatia is a good way to get south with loads of campsites and accommodation. We cut inland at Obrovak over a mountain track towards Plitvice https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plitvice_ ... ional_Park which puts you out of the tourist bits and is a stunning route. I am working on a free pass for this years trip and will try and include Dooby's place in Zagreb http://www.lobagola.com/ this time. Hoping for May /June when the snow is well and truly out of the way. B)

Thanks for the heads up Herman (thumbs)

Simon, August is going to be very busy month, hot, loads of not so rested car drivers on man roads and usual stuff that goes with peak season months in tourism.

As for Crofty's input on green card/border insurance usually your Spanish/Euro insurer is not going to cover you in these areas. So getting the policy in front or getting the one at the border (not many border crossings carry these, so this can be a problem, and the number of posts on Balkan borders that will carry them is reducing every year - cost cutting by insurance companies) is the way to go.

Camping is widely available, it's affordable and smaller campsite will offer less stressful atmosphere as they usually do. This year aussie residing but originally a kiwi inmate from ADVrider Ashley rode from my place (Lobagola B&B) in Zagreb all the way to HUBB meeting. We arranged heavy detailed mapping for his ride (he is 68 yo but tough as hell) to Montenegro meeting with all the best roads combined from Croatia-Bosnia-Monenegro.

Expect food in resturants to go higher price wise in June/July/August but restaurants in little streets hidden from the water front in coastal cities will offer great food for less money.
I would suggest: Zumberak mountain range - Plitvice lakes national park - coastal road from Senj - Karlobag (very known twisties globally) - Zadar - Velebit mountain - then either continue along the coast -Trogir/Split and then Peljesac peninsula - Dubrovnik - Kotor bay and then moving upwards to mountains of Montenegro. Or from Zadar venture into Bosnia - Jajce - Travnik - Sarajevo or from Split aim for Blidije lake - Ramsko lake and then Sarajevo.

Frrom Sarajevo - Foca- Durmitor etc or Sarajevo - Mostar - Busko blato - Dubrovnik - Kotor

Something like that, there's loads of options and amazing roads and vistas.

HNY to everyone

Dooby

[Simon_100]

The D8 coastal road in Croatia is a good way to get south with loads of campsites and accommodation. We cut inland at Obrovak over a mountain track towards Plitvice https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plitvice_ ... ional_Park which puts you out of the tourist bits and is a stunning route. I am working on a free pass for this years trip and will try and include Dooby's place in Zagreb http://www.lobagola.com/ this time. Hoping for May /June when the snow is well and truly out of the way. B)

Thanks for the heads up Herman (thumbs)

Simon, August is going to be very busy month, hot, loads of not so rested car drivers on man roads and usual stuff that goes with peak season months in tourism.

As for Crofty's input on green card/border insurance usually your Spanish/Euro insurer is not going to cover you in these areas. So getting the policy in front or getting the one at the border (not many border crossings carry these, so this can be a problem, and the number of posts on Balkan borders that will carry them is reducing every year - cost cutting by insurance companies) is the way to go.

Camping is widely available, it's affordable and smaller campsite will offer less stressful atmosphere as they usually do. This year aussie residing but originally a kiwi inmate from ADVrider Ashley rode from my place (Lobagola B&B) in Zagreb all the way to HUBB meeting. We arranged heavy detailed mapping for his ride (he is 68 yo but tough as hell) to Montenegro meeting with all the best roads combined from Croatia-Bosnia-Monenegro.

Expect food in resturants to go higher price wise in June/July/August but restaurants in little streets hidden from the water front in coastal cities will offer great food for less money.
I would suggest: Zumberak mountain range - Plitvice lakes national park - coastal road from Senj - Karlobag (very known twisties globally) - Zadar - Velebit mountain - then either continue along the coast -Trogir/Split and then Peljesac peninsula - Dubrovnik - Kotor bay and then moving upwards to mountains of Montenegro. Or from Zadar venture into Bosnia - Jajce - Travnik - Sarajevo or from Split aim for Blidije lake - Ramsko lake and then Sarajevo.

Frrom Sarajevo - Foca- Durmitor etc or Sarajevo - Mostar - Busko blato - Dubrovnik - Kotor

Something like that, there's loads of options and amazing roads and vistas.

HNY to everyone

Dooby

Thanks Dooby, there's never anything better than having a'local' expert on hand. I'll double check my various insurance policies as you suggest - it's odd how much we take freedom of movement, universal health care, etc. fro granted in the EU, something that the Brits have decided in their infinite wisdom to throw away ...

I wouldn't have chosen to travel in August, both for the traffic and the extra costs and to an extent the climate, but I'm limited by the dates of the Traveller's Meeting. But in France and Spain it's allots essential to avoid travelling durum the week that August 15th falls in as in both countries it's not only a national holiday - The Assumption, a big Catholic 'thing' - but most businesses, factories, etc. close for their holidays either the week before of after, tending to overlap during the week in question.

So, I won't be leaving until Monday the 21st at the earliest so it'll be a bit of a dash to Montenegro, then dawdling back slowly in good time for my HISS event in Central Spain from September 12th. Looking at that I think I'm better riding down to the Croatian coast after Montenegro as opposed to the way your Australian friend - 'ere, less of the 'old,' I'm only a few years behind him! - did - so much planning, and it's all free at this stage! (thumbs) (thumbs) (thumbs)

Regs

Simon

PS I might set off before the dreadful weekend, leaving home - two hours from the French border - at dawn on Friday the 18th and lying low somewhere in Central/Eastern France while the holiday driver try to kill each other getting home ...