UK to GREECE - BALKANS ADVICE NEEDED
 

A friend and I are planning a trip from the UK to Greece this summer.

Adventure bikes.

We are used to off road, but will be sticking to mainly tarmac for this one as we have only 8 days to complete the distance.

Our plan is to get to Austrian / Slovenian border with pace then ...

Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia, Serbia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Greece at ease.

No interest in motorways unless essential, we like the scenic route.

Any advice ? Must sees ? Must take roads / tracks (we are not adverse to tracks !!)

Thanks in advance.

Mike

My advice is don't, at least not in 8 days. Staying off motorways and having a good time will not even get you half the distance in 8 days ...

Not sure how Kosovo works, but why you drop Albania off from your list?

can be done
 

Hi Mike,
went down last year, 6 days from UK, 5 from france side. Got to croatia coast on second evening, just below Rijeka. I followed the coast road south, but found the going fairly slow, lots of italian camper trucks going about 30km/h. Jumped onto the toll motorway after Sibenik to by-pass Split - gets you down close to Dubrovnik, which is worth a good look. After that, you're in Montenegro, which requires a green card, as do quite a few of the others. Mine didn't cover montenegro (I think the insurance company thought. Serbia and Montenegro were the same country), so minor hassle. Also, what the customs all want to see is your original bike registration document, so dont forget it. The roads are getting worse by this stage, and quite a few old soviet era cars. Anyway, its also getting cheaper and less familiar, but don't miss out on Albania. Great place and mental roads, especially to the south. Once you hit Greece the roads are all perfect, but can be expensive (tolls everywhere). 10 days would be nice, but 6 is fine. BTW, took me 4 all up to get back to Bristol, but not much sight-seeing.
Paul

Don't know from where in Croatia you gonna enter Bosnia,let say you are down on the coast..Rijeka than to Gorski kotar mountain toward Plitvica lake or coastal route Rijeka - Sinj then winding mountain road up to Plitvice, then to Bihac by the gorgeous river valley to Bosanski petrovac - Jajce (well known lake and waterfall ) to Sarajevo.If you decide to go further East to Serbia amazing ride is from Sarajevo to Visegrad,excellent tarmac+amazing scenery then you weal be coming to Uzice and then decide if you haw time to go to Montenegro - Albania - Greece which is very nice ride ,tarmac excellent,that is
Uzice - Prijepolje - Bjelo Polje - Podgorica - Budva continue by the sea to Albania. This rout is good to: Uzice-Cacak-Kraljevo -Kosovska Mitrovica-Pristina (Kosovo)then Skopje Macedonia,have bean on these roads many times and each time loved it.
Forgive my English Haw a fun Kawazoki

Fore any infos about Greece, im gonna be around ;)

Dont miss Meteora in Greece, And try to spend some time to traditional villages like Sirako (or Syrako) and many others.