What's the Adriatic coastal drive like from Greece round to Italy?
 

Is it very mountainous with high passes?

The reason I ask is because I suffered a mild case of Bells Palsy a couple of months ago and altho' I thought I had recovered I found last week that I had problems with one ear not equalising pressure properly on a driven descent from 700m down to sea level.

Afterwards that ear felt woolly and a bit achey.

Ascent was o'k.

I suppose I could take long steep descents in stages with short breaks to balance pressures?

Hope this helps , I travelled through Yugoslavia, Dubrovnik -Mali- Splt in 1985 along the coast From memory a lot of mountainous coast quite high at times and dropping down to small harbour towns then climb back out ,with bad bus drivers. I backpacked back then but often think it would be great to do on a bike.
Sorry I cant give you any up to date info mate, but would like to hear your story, please post your views on this ride.

Hey Arow,

Good to hear that you are recovering, must have been more than a bit scary at the time.

There are some equalization tricks used by scuba divers that you could try such as closing your mouth, pinching your nose and trying to exhale through your nose. Not the easiest with a full face on but doable and usually pretty effective. Gum chewing is a tip sometimes suggested when travelling on airplanes, might help.

Ride safe.

I have problems with my ears too ( damage done by skydiving with a cold ) . I learned to be regimental with pressurising before the pain starts. The reason descending is difficult is because of the speed of descent.
If this continues to be a problem you could purchase a little device called a ditter, normally a small device worn inside the helmet next to your ear that warns you of a preset height when descending,you could adjust it to beep before the pain starts.

In answer to your actual question, I remember just a few mandatory passes as high as 700 meters, but for the most part you've got low elevation options all the way around. The real problem is that there is so much spectacular riding almost anywhere that you dip inland, away from the coast and into the mountains. It's difficult for me to imagine taking that route but not being able to take advantage.

Mark

As others have said the trick is to equalise the pressure little and often. The greater the pressure differential the harder it is to clear your ears. If it gets bad enough you can perforate your eardrum - something my daughter did back in Feb coming down from 2000m to 500m in the Alps. You should practice the techniques beforehand - it's not hard but there is a bit of a knack to it.

I've been down the coast road three or four times as far as the Albanian border (although not in recent years) and mostly it hugs the coastline but there are a few sections where it climbs away. Didn't pay much attention to the actual heights but I'd be surprised if it was more than 700m.

Hi,

I drove the coastal road in Croatia & Montenegro several times.
If you stick on the 'magistrala' which is this coastal road, you don't have this high altitudes.
It's a bit mountainous, but not that high. It goes steep uphill if you want to go to the inland however. (which is very very beautiful)
In Albania, I don't think you can stick on a coastal road. The road is leading a little bit more into the inland. but again, this wasn't that high. (but... very bad asfalt ) And, Albania was a great place to visit !

Have fun !!

Thank you all very much for the great responses and details of the route. That has reassured me. I will practice in advance and little and often.

I should have mentioned that I am travelling by car.

Much Appreciated MountainMan
My lopsided "smile" scared my wife more than me when it came on, I got jittery afterwards. This little setback got to more than the initial thing in some ways because I thought that tiredness aside I was mostly over it. Until last week I had only driven fairly gentle rolling lowland hils.

You don't have nothing to worry about at least not in Croatia, if you drive on "Jadranska magistrala" (Adriatic=Jadran) one which follows the coast you are practcly all the time on sea level.
But If you go inland from the coast (any point) be prepared for some climbing and descending

I can`t recommend this road.
I drive this one more then 10 years ago.
It remember that was verry crowded, many busses ...
tourists crossing always the street, stop and go.

- I prefer going on to italy at the day time.
- taking the night ferry from ancona or bari to igoumenitsa or patras.
(having a sleep while moving)
- next day: Crossing korinth to athens by bike
- evening: taking night ferry from: piraeus to chios 7 hours (small island)
- next morning: having breakfast on chios
- taking a small ferry to cesme (turkey) 1.5 hour trip

and go on travelling in turkey.
(another option from greek to turkey: Rhodos (GRE) --> Bodrum (Turk) by shipper: Dodekanes Express

schedules:
Greek Ferries to Greece - Italy Greece, Greek Ferry Tickets, Ferries Greece - Greek Islands Ferries, Greece Ferries
[url=http://www.erturk.com.tr]ERT

Thanks Nixa.

motravel thanks but I have done the greece italy route a couple of times before and wanted a change. Are you sure that the adriatic route is so busy now, maybe the roads have improved in the last ten years and not so busy out of the holiday periods. In may for example?

Arow,
The "Adriatic" route from Greece 'round to Italy is ~ 1500 km, from Igoumenitsa-Venice. There may be different road and traffic conditions in the first 750 km to Dubrovnik, but I can say that--in June 2010, at least--the second 750 km from Dubrovnik north to the Italy border, is both a beautiful and not heavily trafficked road. That half of the route is also mostly at sea level. Much of the route north of Split is motorway; a bit boring actually, but there are parallel alternatives.

You can parse this yourself on AA, ViaMichelin, or any number of mapping sites.

Howdy Arow!

two things you will love to hear:

1. Since Croatia built the E65 highway from Zagreb to Omis, the famous "Jadranska magistrala" isnt by far so crowded as it used to be;

2. the Jadranska magistrala gets partly crowded during end June/July/August. The rest of the year the magistrala is, well, almost empty.

So, just give it a go and enjoy. This route is marveleous, i ride/drive it several times a year. Each time i bring a camera to take few pics but, at the end of the day, i end up just riding and enjoying the setting Sun on the horizon. :thumbup1:

HI,

Thanks for the info here guys. I'm in Northern Italy right now on my Beamer and will be making my way South via Slovnia and Croatia some time next week.
After your comments I'm looking forward to it even more!
:scooter:

Thanks for the help sounds very good.

What is the scenery like from the Italian border to venice or verona please?

Anyone into camping - recommended campsites along route?

Is documentation straightforward albania to croatia with green card and gb passports