Route suggestions for Croatia

Hi Robyn, I just left Croatia for Slovenia, now Italy. When heading north from Dubrovnik you cannot avoid the main highway which is a pain (no sidelane, lots of traffic, trucks), but soon you can take a loop inland. In terms of mountains, there is not much difference to the coastal highway. Next I took the peninsula towards Korcula (beautful but mountains, about 1400 elevation gain, I did this from Dubrovnik at once which was 130 km and in total 2200 elevation to climb. Too much!). Next you can take a ferry to Korcula (3,-, very narrow sea strait) and cross Korcula in a day. On the other tip you can take a ferry to Split. In this way you avoid a busy coastal road. From split there are many and very quit small roads to Sibenik. There I headed inland and crossed the Dinarian Alps. On the other side inland, the roads are quiet and its a very different landscape with a view on the Dinarian Alps with still snow. Also a sad area. I cycled in 2 days from Sibenik to Gospic in a landscape of abandoned houses and empty villages. This area was populated by Serbs and almost all have fled. From Gospic I planned to go to Rijeka but changed my mind and headed for Slovenia. You could return via Plivice, Mostar in Bosnia, Trebinj in Bosnia (very nice town!) and from there cycle the last 35 km back to Dubrovnik, for a circle.

I wrote a blog in Dutch with more details, use translate as it is in Dutch.

Have a good trip! Alex