From Trieste to Venice it's not terribly spectacular. The scenery is nice, but nothing compared to former Yugoslavia. Also, the road doesnt hug the coast for a large part, if that's what you are looking for.

One tip if you want to look at Venice: the place is a nightmare to visit by vehicle (even by bike), trying to get to it from the mainland is a serious pain. You will have to spend lots of time trying to get a parking space, then pay a rather large sum (we're talking 30 EUR and up), and then still take a bus+boat. A far better option is to pick a cheap hotel/hostel on the peninsula southeast of venice (Jesolo). Lots of cheap places there, also lots of free parking. From there you can take a bus to the end of the peninsula, and take the ferry from there which takes you right to the St. Marco square with a great view as you are coming in to Venice (better than the boat from the mainland). Much cheaper and quicker too.

As to the total trip Greece - Italy, I think the coastal strech from the Albanian border, particularly Montenegro, with Kotor and Herzig Novi, and the southern part of Croatia, from Dubrovnik to Split, are the most spectacular. The rest is nice, but does get repetitive after a while. Instead, if your ears allow, I would suggest to take a trip inland, the mountains are beautiful and the region is far less crowded. Plenty of nice things to see as well, Ostrog, Mostar, Sarajevo to mention a few.

Also note that during June/Juli/August the coastal road is full of overloaded T-backs and camper vans ;-) although not as bad as it used to be since the new motorway is finished.

Hi,

we did wild camping all the way from italy to greece:

Motorradtour durch Slowenien, Kroatien, Bosnien, Montenegro und Albanien nach Griechenland

LG, Tobi

Loved your site and story, many thanks.

That's great info Sirakor, as the best of it doesn't seem to be in the north. i'm toying with the idea of driving up as far either Split or Zadar and then getting a ferry across to Ancona. (I don't see any that run from Croatia to Venice this early in the season) My wife has seen Venice, so maybe I'll make use of your access suggestions on another trip.

Altho' it's improved a little I don't think I want to subject my ear to the high alps
so maybe I'll cut across to Pisa and then along the coast road to the south of France.

I'm open to suggestions....

YMMW but i wouldn't miss the part Zadar - Senj. Freshly paved with great, rugged tarmac, the road winds along the Adriatic see.

Here some notes i posted here few years ago:

- don't miss the canyon of river Tara in Monte Negro. It's stunning and
very nice with deep clifs. Also, the coast is very nice (Kotor, Herceg novi...).
- mind the coastal road from Makarska to Split. You'll get stuck in
heavy trafic and there's nothing really to see. Instead take the
parallel road (route 62, Kozica - Katuni - Dugopolje).
- Trogir is worth seeing - very small but also very nice, UNESCO world
herritage site
- Sibenik also - small and cozy with an great old town
- the coastal road from Zadar to Karlobag, Senj and Rijeka is just
plain great! It winds along the coast and the tarmac is very good.
Especially beautyfull is the part from Zadar to Senj)
- mind Rijeka - it's an industrial town.
- in general, the traffic around Rijeka tends to be very, very thick.
Opatija is made for guest with a lot of $$$ in their pockets but it can
be nice to have a stop for a coffe. Bare in mind that the traffic
around Rijeka and Opatija is very, very heavy, even for a motorbike and
you could end up spending even one hour to get to Opatija.
- the peninsula of Istria (the triangle Rijeka - Pula - Trieste) is
very nice with a lot of private pensions, family restaurants and
domestic food. If you don't have the time to visit the inland of
Istria, at least have a stop in Groznjan on the way to Portoroz and
Slovenia. Groznjan is a very nice little town for maybe few hundret
people based on a top a small hil. It's very scenic.
- regarding Trieste, if you do plan to continue to Alps, then this is
ok. If you just want to reach Austria, take into consideration to mind
Trieste and to ride through Slovenia as the west of Slovenia and the
Julian Alps with lakes Bled and Bohinj are beautyfull...

If you go that way. tell me how you got on with Insurance. I was going to use the same route. But could not get insurance. So changed to ride down Italy and then cross in to Greece.
John933

__________________
To buy petrol in Europe. Pull up at station. Wait. Get out a 20 Euro note, then ask someone to fill up the bike. Give person money. Ride away. Simple.

Hi Tobi, wann warst du da?
(When have you been there?)

Great info SixDays06, I'll research it more

Do you mean personal or car insurance John933? I'll have to doublecheck mine as I took it out to cover a whole list of countries with possible different routes in mind.

For you it would be car insurance. But for me I've been looking for bike insurance to travel further afield. So far no one in the UK will give out side EU. And that's a bummer.
John933

__________________
To buy petrol in Europe. Pull up at station. Wait. Get out a 20 Euro note, then ask someone to fill up the bike. Give person money. Ride away. Simple.

Maybe you can purchase it at the various borders? I've not done this route before, but that's what I have done in the past for other countries.