hello! i am looking for some information on cycle touring the adriatic coast.. from slovenia down to greece.
we are two young women, thinking of spending around 2 months between july and september cycling down. a couple of questions-
- are we going to have a lot of trouble with the influx of holidaying motor traffic? are there smaller roads down teh coast where we can get away from it or is it mainly one major route?
- we are planning to camp in between finding hosts hopefully! what are the opportunities for wild camping like in these countries and/or the frequency of organised, legal campsites?
-i f we need to catch up on a day or two or need to skip a section, what is the public transport like and is it bike-friendly?
any info would be hugely appreciated!
Thankyou and happy cycling!
Hi both,
I cycled in Croatia with a friend last year and it is very beautiful. There aren't many other bikers, but you meet a pair occasionally. Croatians are very friendly, never pushy but a bit puzzled sometimes that you are too poor to own a car...;)
We went down from Rijeka, did some touring in Istria (campings & lodgings on the coast only! we did a bit of involuntary wild camping, which was ok, but is not a normal thing to do there). Generally speaking, the coast is full of campings. Appartments etc. are often booked in high season.
In Croatia, avoid the coastal road on the main land, traffic is terrible. I do not know of an alternative, since there are high mountains along the coast.
Instead, I would recommend island hopping towards the south. Islands are what the coast is all about:)
In Istria, we took the ferry from Bresotva to Cres (if you have time, go down to Beli and the culture centre), then on Cres take the ferry from Merag to the Island of Krk, bike down south to Baska. The ferry in Baska was out all season, but it is very easy to get a one way trip on a commercial tourist boat to Rab. We immediately went on to Pag with a water cab, and from there biked to Zadar (also very beautiful).
It was very hot, 33-38 degrees. For me that's ok, for my friend it was a problem.
the route involved some rather steep climbing (10% and over), but never very long.
Public transport is reliable but slow. Busses are the best way of travelling Croatia: fastest and and with airco. I never tried to take my bike, in high season it might be a problem because of limited luggage space.
Not all trains take bikes, we ended up waiting for 7 hours in Knin on our way back for the next train, but this one had a designated space for bikes and very helpful staff.
Split and Dubrovnik are not connected by rail.
Split is beautiful, but I visited by car and train, so no information on biking paths.
have fun and if you go there, give the island Cres my greetings
Anne