andriesfluit

Hi,

I'm planning a bike trip next summer and I need some advice. I'm biking to Kotor, Montenegro and I'm not sure where to start, either Venice or Athens. I'd bike along the Eurovelo route 8 and I was wondering if any of you have any experience with this particular route. And so my question: what's best, Venice-Kotor or Athens-Kotor?

I'll probably do around 100-130k per day, lightly packed on a road bike, riding from hotel/b&b to hotel/b&b.

So if any of you have prior experience with this route, do share. Or if you know of alternatives to the Eurovelo route, I'm all ears.

Cheers,
Andries

gerryl

I know nothing of the Eurovelo route. However I have cycled from Rijeka to Athens. I would definitely start in Venice. There is much more to see between Venice and Kotor then there is between Athens and Kotor.

CMAW 

I did my first cycling trip in the Balkans last summer (from Dürres back home), so I am not an expert, but I have been to Croatia before. The main thing to consider is that the Croatian coast is extremely crowded in summer season. Beautiful, no doubt, but on a few stretches traffic will be nightmarish. The EV 8 deals with this, partly, by islandhopping, so you'll have plenty of ferries to catch. If you don't like crowds and hate dense traffic, go trough Albania (the route from Athens). "Primitive" Albania is probably the most exotic country you can go see in Europe and it certainly has it charms, I'd recommend it.
Your avatar sounds Dutch, if you are, visit the forum on wereldfietser.nl, a few cyclists there have lots of Balkan expertise (for alternative routes etc.).
You'll probably have to deal with temperatures between 35 and 40° C but you're aware of that, right?

andriesfluit

Thanks! Would you mind sharing your route? Roughly.

andriesfluit

Thanks for the advice, I'll check out that forum! I'd like to avoid heavily crowded roads, yes. And I am aware of the temperatures, that's why I'll probably keep around 100k per day.

andriesfluit

Thanks for the advice!

I'd like to avoid heavy crowds, yes. And I'm aware of the temperatures, that's why I'll probably stick to 100k/day.

raybo

I planned a route from Venice over to Trieste on to Istria over Cres and Krk down the coast a bit and the up to Plitvice NP before heading north to Slovenia. I flew into Venice (from the US).

Several people I contacted suggested taking the train from Venice to Trieste and starting from there. In checking out the terrain between the two cities, I decided the advice was good and took a train to Trieste. This worked out well as the terrain is not particularly interesting, the traffic looked bad and the area has many rivers and streams that often can only be crossed at bridges on larger roads.

I was riding in May and the traffic on the Croatian coastal road was not particularly heavy. Though, I only rode down the coast about 20 miles. Note that going inland from the coast involves some serious climbing. I had to walk up a couple inclines that were too steep for me to ride up.

I wrote a detailed jounal of this trip with hundreds of photos, if you are interested.

I didn't find Istria all that interesting, though I rode a bit inland. I liked Cres. Krk was busy as it is connected to the mainland by a bridge. Plitvice NP was one of the trip's highlights. It is a bit out of your way but worth a detour or a bus trip on a rest day.

MarcusT

That is a shame that you did not enjoy inland Istria. After vacationing on the coast there for years, I got tired of the crowds and prices and moved inland. The interior has a great bike/trail program, the history is incredible, and the nature; beautiful.