Arlberg - Insbruck - Kützbuhl - Zell am See and than you cross Alps over Glossglockner pass somewhere there (more or less)
look, there are som nay nice roads, you cannot take them all in one trip, and there is no need to
yes, and cross AT - SVN either over Wurzenpass or Loiblpass, Wurzen is a litle bit faster, Loiblpass is more twisty and longer.
What bike you have? Are you avoiding highways at all cost or using them / partially?
https://goo.gl/maps/D7JXti3r6chXmgmY8
you will mostly be riding by river Sava (which goes all the way to Belgrade where it discharges into Danube). The are around the border SVN - CRO is a distinguished wine and food region. In Brezice there is a very good restaurant Debeluh , if you will be hungry.
I have done between 2005 and 2008 the whole south america with my ex beloved ones CB 500 1999 and Hornet 600 2008.
For sure drive alone is the best, except when you find someone quite flexible and easy going. It ́s not hard but you must be patient.
I live in Basel area; anyone else?
Right now I'm touring around the balkans (the tour that I created this thread about). Been on the road for 4 days now, 4 more to go. Hit me up if you have plans for a weekend-ride come spring.
Posted on Sept. 6: I've been on the road for now 4 days, and save a few small rookie mistakes it's all been perfect.
Day 1: left Switzerland via Val Mustair, and reached the heart of the Dolomites around 4PM after 4 mountain passes. No pictures, I'm afraid.
It was a pretty long day, not because of the distance covered, but because of the rain and a few roadblocks. The rain suit held up just fine, but it was a bit of a sauna by the time I got to Mühlbach, a small and pictoresque village in South Tirol, where I stopped for the night. I was hungry and tired, and didn't take many pictures.
Sunday was a bit foggy, but at least dry. I rode through a few passes (including a near-zero visibility Jaufenpass), some heavy traffic, nice rolling hills, until I reached my coveted top destination #1: Ljubljana. To only say that it's beautiful doesn't really do it justice:
On Monday morning I left VERY early (around 6:30) as I decided to pull an iron butt, so that I could skip Zagreb (too big for a single night stay) and get to Banja Luka, the second largest city in Bosnia. At a gas station I made my first rookie gaff: I was hot after fueling up, quite anxious to remove my jacket and make a stop, so I parked (forward, not backed-in) a bit more downhill than I realized. Needless to say I realized too late, and had to back out off the bike, pulling it backwards. It's a workout. Anyway, Banja Luka is not a gorgeous city, but it deserves some exploration. There are some nice sights, and the local cuisine is great nonetheless.
There's a rather sub-exploited fortress there that dates back to the Iron Age. I wish there were at least a few more plaques:
That morning I was preparing to leave the city, so I geared up, climbed on the bike, and made my second rookie mistake. I left my helmet hanging from the front break while I adjusted the GPS mount so that it doesn't rub against the tank bag if I need to do a U-turn. Testing the handlebar movement I dropped the helmet, and scratched (just the tiniest bit) the visor. Doesn't affect my view, but it annoys me anyhow. A cheap lesson not to forget.
It was a short ride to Sarajevo this morning, and I got here just in time for lunch. I have already been here, and I really like the mixture of west and middle east:
What kind of trip reporting would this be without a picture and commentary about food? Comparing dinner last night (Cevapcici in the "Serbian" part of Bosnia, and the Bosniak Cevapi) and today...I can't tell if there's any difference...they chop the onion around here, while they slice it up north, it seems.
Anyhow, that's all for now. Tomorrow morning I start the way back I'll stop along the Croatian coast for the night, somewhere around Zadar, and I'll visit a friend in Slovenia, close to Villach (Austria), as my last stop. After that I'll head back home, either on highways and roads or the motor-train, depending on the weather. I'll add the last pics on the weekend.
Posted on Sept. 10: I came home earlier today. It was a wonderful 7-days. I'll pick up where I left off earlier this week.
I left Sarajevo Wednesday morning, and rode for 6 hours through national roads first and then some hill roads bearing straight west towards Split. I stopped for a little break at a memorial in the middle of a hill, with a great view:
Arrived in Split just in time for lunch, but it was unbearably hot and Split is a big city, so I did a 180 and decided to chew some leftovers in my bag and go straight to Tribanj, just a bit north of Zadar, where I had booked a room the day before.
The road connecting Zadar and Rijeka (just in case anyone doesn't know this already, and done the road at least 56 times) is the best I have ever seen and ridden in my life. It's just...amazing. My own 3 phone pictures are pathetic, so I snatched one off the web to illustrate the images in my head:
I arrived in Tribanj, halfway up the coast, around 3 PM, and enjoyed the view, the beach, and a few cold beers, as it was still over 30°.
On the next morning I headed out late-ish, around 9AM, and went all the way up the coast to Rijeka, and back into Slovenia, to visit a friend. The weather forecast showed rain for 4 consecutive days....heavy rain. So by the time the clouds were nearing black I suited up, and approached the border, where it started raining; the deeper I went into Slovenia the more it rained. It was pouring by the time I got to my friend's (sorry, no pics).
Yesterday I stayed at my buddy's place all morning, and decided to not ride back home in the rain, so I booked the motor train and left for Villach after lunch. I got to the train station around 5PM, with plenty of time to spare (loading time was 9PM), so I got to mingle with the hundreds of riders at the Faaker See Harley Davidson meeting.
Summary: 7-days, 1290km, no issues, no breakdowns. Yeah, 2.5 days of rain, but I didn't really miss out on anything.
TL/DR: Great trip, good food, friendly people, excellent views.
For those of you who reached the end of the message and are interested in touring, the MTCE (Motorcycle Touring Club Europe) is putting together a longer trip to the Balkans for next year, for which I already signed up. More info in their site: https://mtce.proboards.com/thread/61...n-registration
This might be preaching to the choir so feel free to disregard, but you may need a new helmet if you want to ensure maximum skull protection, as a drop can damage the shell which affects how energy is dispersed in future crashes.
If it landed on the visor, then the only damage is there and it'll be fine, scratches are annoying though.
- the roots are Persian, the famous Kebab, kabab, kebap, kebob, kabob, kibob and it traveled, and transormed in the land of Balkans, which were for a long time disputed territory (between the Otomans and the Habsburgs)
- the original* Bosnian cevapi are made of lamb and veal (and some mutton fett**), and the Serbian version would probably have in pork*** instead of lamb.
- the most famous are Sarajevo's cevapi
- Don't buy the frozen one in Denner, they are disgusting.
*of course the origins are heavily disputed
**which is IMHO the secret ingredient for good cevapi
***eating pork was a Serbian way of opposing Ottomans and those countrymen who converted to Islam