Route

• Rigid gravel touring bikes: We were riding rigid gravel bikes with 44mm-2.1 knobby tires and gear for a 4 month journey (a handlebar bag, frame bag, seatpost bag/rack, and backpack each). Each of our bikes weighed about 45-50lbs total when fully packed, including water.
• Safety first: Our reference routes largely did an excellent job of avoiding car traffic. The exception is some of the Trans Dinarica connector routes and secondary routes that are mostly road. For example, we found the coastal road in Croatia too unsafe to bike, as well as the Podgorica-Shkoder connection. We also heard multiple bad reviews of Eurovelo 8. Aside from traffic risk, there were three main route risks in the region that we routed to avoid: high winds (Bora winds of Croatia/Bosnia), grizzly bears (e.g. Velebit, Durmitor), and shepherd dogs (wherever there are sheep and bears, so the mountains of Bosnia, Montenegro, Albania, and Greece). We want to have fun and explore, not needlessly suffer or take unnecessary risks.
• Variety: We prefer to keep things interesting, with gravel one day and asphalt the next, a long day followed by a short day.
• Bike not hike: We love the adventure of all kinds of gravel, but we generally want to bike not hike. We found hike a bike adventures are fun in the morning but a slog at the end of a ride. Sometimes I’ve left in short hike a bikes that were particularly scenic or worth it. Whether something is bike able will depend on skill level and gearing- there are many gravel sections Meg could ride that I walked.
• Simple routes are better: Where possible, we like to get in the zone instead of stopping to check directions and often taking wrong turns. (e.g. Komoot often included and Bikepacking.com sometimes includes detours for very short sections of gravel.)
• Comfort/resupply: These routes include the specific places we chose to camp and resupply, or at least the town we resupplied. We went to a grocery store every 1-2 days to resupply so we didn’t have to carry extra food. Typically routes don’t include detours for housing or food and leave it up to each individual to decide. The routes below are broken out into stages and include the places we stayed (except Airbnbs in cities). If you share our pacing and preference for cheap and decent campsites (and cabins in cold weather), you can follow this exactly.

I (Evelyn) relied heavily on Trans Dinarica and Bikepacking.com for route planning. Neither of them were exactly what we were looking for- Trans Dinarica was too much asphalt (their philosophy: most safe from traffic while most pavement possible so it is rideable for the largest array of bikes and abilities) and the Bikepacking.com routes were meant for mountain bikes (their philosophy: seek out the most interesting terrain possible, from stairs to rocky MTB trails to bushwhacking). We patched together a route that fit our sweet spot of rigid gravel bikes looking for some adventure.

I’ve tried to give credit to all of our reference routes in the descriptions below. I’ve included all of our GPX files that are based off of publicly available/free routes (e.g. Bikepacking.com or Komoot). I have not included the Trans Dinarica routes because they ask for payment for their route development. I include any notes we had on those sections below, but refer you to the Trans Dinarica website for their route.

There is a bike assembly station at the Ljubljana airport, right next to the oversize luggage in baggage claim. You can bike to the city center almost entirely on bike paths and lanes! The default Komoot “bike ride” route works pretty well, except it unnecessarily takes you down stairs and leads you into a construction zone as of September 2025. Here’s a corrected version.

We opted to camp at campsites to avoid risking the 400+ euro fine for wildcamping in Slovenia. We picked the cheapest campsites in each area with decent ratings (see @offderaills for full campsite reviews). Camping in Slovenia is a bit pricey (30-40 euros for two people and a tent), but you get what you pay for- the campsites are well supplied and maintained and very comfortable. Some days the campsites were perfectly on route, but sometimes they were a bit out of the way, as reflected in the routes below.

Based on comments online, the first day of the West Loop seemed quite fun but too intense for the start to our four-month trip, so I rerouted the first day to limit elevation and unnecessary hike-a-bike. It was still a lovely ride.

Camp Polonovik was not the best campsite (e.g. small, muddy plots), but it was cheap. There are plentiful, nearby alternatives that should have nicer facilities for a bit more.

Biking through wine country ended up being quite pleasant, though there were a few times we had to be on busier roads that didn’t feel as safe. The route below has been adapted to avoid those areas as much as possible.

We initially planned to follow the Bikepacking.com Adriatic Crest route from Illirska Bistrica to Opatija, but ended up winging it with a Komoot gravel route in a bid for a shorter day. That plan backfired somewhat- much of the Komoot route was not rideable, especially on a rainy day (this area is much more damp and slippery than the rest of Slovenia). But Komoot also showed us some really great sections. The following route is edited heavily to preserve the good gravel we found and remove the hike a bikes. Note this skips an official border crossing into Croatia- we had no issues with this later on when leaving Croatia. Though the final route is enjoyable, if you have more time, I’d recommend exploring other ways to get to the Cres ferry. Opatija was the worst campsite we stayed at in the region, so if you can avoid it, I would, and Istra has some great gravel (e.g. Lael rally, Istra bikepacking race). Note if you want to purchase bear spray for the mountains later on, a hunting store in IB is the only place on the route we were able to find it (for 70 euros).

We opted for asphalt on Cres instead of gravel to fit our timeline, and it was lovely. We arrived on a rainy day in low season, so there was basically no traffic other than a short burst of cars when the ferry arrived. In high season I would recommend exploring the gravel options (see Bikepacking.com’s Adriatic Crest, Lael’s Croatia rally 2025). We stayed at Camp Kovacine, which is an INCREDIBLE camping site/compound. Cannot recommend it highly enough.

Route references: Bikepacking.com’s Adriatic Crest, Lael’s Croatia rally 2025.

Krk has some gorgeous gravel and has some very very rocky mountain bike trails (which turned into hike-a-bikes for us). This edited route avoids the hike a bike and preserves the fun gravel. This route also skips a very steep descent to the Cres ferry port in favor of a longer and slower descent on the main car road. In high season, you may prefer the steeper descent (see both reference routes).

Route references: Bikepacking.com’s Adriatic Crest (find the rocky mountain bike trails here), Lael’s Croatia rally 2025 (follows the perimeter of the island – ideal if you have more time).

Option 2: Bike to Rjieka, bus to Prizna/Pag from there.

The Trans Dinarica route was great through Pag. The salt museum and cheese factory on Pag Town close early on Mondays, but if you are caught out you can get the same cheese at the grocery and there is another salt museum in Nin. Camp Strasko was Kovacine-level nice, at a lower price.

Stayed at Camp Dido for 15 euros for a tent for the night, which was great and has a lovely host named Sandra.

Here is the Zadar bus station, we bought tickets from the Flix bus office the night before. Arrive 30 minutes before departure. Here is the Zadar bus station. This is the busiest ticket office, but that office seems to be a middleman and gave us incorrect information about bikes on buses. Instead go a half block north to the Flix ticket office, who can call the bus drivers directly to check about your bike. The bus from Split to Mostar will stop at the border for customs.

There were 2 huge shepherd dogs at top of the gravel ridge that were friendly when we got of our bikes and approached on foot. Boracko Lake is a major tourist spot and was very dead in early October, with no camping open, only 1 guesthouse open, and the mini-market open upon request at the cafe. It probably would be fine to camp at one of the closed campsites, but there were many wild dogs. Stayed at: Apartman NeSa Boračko jezero (40 euros for one apartment with two double beds and a kitchen area). Multiple bikepackers we met went to Konjic for the night instead- it may be a better option. Trans Dinarica BIH-03

The pass to Tusila was open but sections were covered in enough snow that we walked our bikes. Stayed at the Outdoor Center, a lovely cozy mountain hut. 20 euros per person to stay in a bunk bed, 20 more euros for dinner and breakfast. You can opt to cook your own food on your own camp stove outside if you prefer. Trans Dinarica BIH-04

There is a decently stocked minimart in this town at 43.5042840, 18.4452349. Stayed at a cabin at 43.4812541, 18.4782100. 30 euros for the cabin with hot water and a kitchen, heated by a wood stove. There was a sign for a cyclist-friendly camp at 43.4871941, 18.4893790. Trans Dinarica BIH-05

The road parallel to canyon at the end of the day was okay in the low season but I think traffic may make it a bit anxious in the high season. There doesn’t seem to be a better way around. One of the rafting camps had a pack of dogs guarding it who chased us. The housing marked on the Trans Dinarica maps was closed but this yummy restaurant has hostel-style rooms available above for 15 euros per person per night. Trans Dinarica BIH-06

Stayed at Camping Zeleni Green Forest. Vida, the host, is lovely. 20 euros for a tent, 30 euros for a cabin (50 euros for 2 nights), 10 euros per person for dinner, 8 euros per person for breakfast. If it’s been cold and raining (and there is snow in the pass), Vida can help you check if the Durmitor pass is open. Trans Dinarica MNE-01, Panoramic Highways #2 “The Crown of Montenegro” http://www.montenegro.travel/uploads/brochures/Panoramic Roads/MNE/GPS-kruna-crne-gore.gpx

The ride through Durmitor is absolutely gorgeous. There’s a sweet little coffee stop here.
We stayed at Autocamp Mlinski Potok for 15 euros for a tent. The hosts were friendly and generous and offered us tea, but the old man patted me on the ass. I’d go to Ivan Do next time. The walk to the Black Lake is nice and we were never asked to pay a fee.

The Trans Dinarica route from Zabljak to Kolasin was full of shepherd dogs. You can’t count on the shepherds to be present or control their dogs- one shepherd just looked and us and shrugged as his massive dog hunted us down. I would not recommend the route. There aren’t great alternatives between Zabljak and Kolasin- the northern route following the Panoramic Highway is closed as of this writing, and the southern route is the main car route. Kolasin isn’t that fabulous, so I would just skip it next time and follow the Panoramic Highways to Niksic and either continue to Podgorica or train from Niksic to Podgorica. Here’s a sketch of what I’m thinking, dervied from the Panoramic Highways GPX file.

Bikes are accepted on the train but only in the final car. Be prepared to hustle to the final car and load your bikes on as quickly as possible to avoid delaying the train. You pay in cash on the train (we paid 10 euros total for two people and two bikes from Kolašin to Podgorica). The train has compartments like Harry Potter!

Podgorica is a nice place to resupply and take care of any medical needs. Specifically, we found that you can get a tetanus short or a rabies vaccine at their public health center for ~44 euros per shot (see this blog appendix for more details). Around Podgorica, we found Purple Eye Estate to be the best and cheapest camping option. One tent is 10 euros. The family also offers dinner and wine tastings at additional cost. A glass of the house wine is 2.50. We cycled between Purple Eye and Podgorica multiple times, so we can recommend two different routes depending on the time of day.

This is the first and last day of the loop. It is based on a popular out and back from Podgorica along the Lake Skadar. That route and the default on Komoot will take you out of town on a sketchy highway- we tried it on the way out of town and did not want to repeat. This route is longer but safer and more scenic. Another option would be to take the train from Podgorica to Virpazar, set up camp at Radoman and then do an out and back along the lake. Radoman is a lovely little camp by a small family vineyard that charges 15 euros for one tent. Washing machine costs 5 euros to use. They have one apartment available. Virpazar does have a grocery but it is down the hill from the campsite so you’d need to bike back up that hill at the end of the day. I’ve put a Voli (grocery chain) on the route out of Podgorica for stocking up earlier in the day. There is also a lovely cafe along Lake Skadar on the route.

You can continue straight to Uljce to skip the wild camp (most cyclists do Virpazar to Skadar in one day). If you do camp here, LEAVE NO TRACE.

Ulcinj is an interesting little town- it’s so close to the border that it is like a little slice of Albania within Montenegro. There are flamingos at abandoned salt flats just out of town- it is very peaceful to bike out there and observe (2 euro per person fee, bring exact change). There are many campsites along the beach, east of town. We stayed at Safari Camping for 18 euros for one tent, which was fine but facilities were mediocre and there were lots of wild dogs. That campsite or a similar one nearby is best if you want to maximize beach time or minimize expenses. Otherwise, I might stay at Hostel Pirate or Olive Trees Glamping next time to be a bit closer to the Old Town. The route is just set to go to Ulcinj’s Old Town to reflect my ambivalence about the housing options. In terms of route, we took the highway from Vladimir to Ulcinj and it was fine but not ideal- we had a close call with a tour bus and a surprise short tunnel. The route I’m recommending below is Komoot’s gravel recommendation to avoid highway where possible- we didn’t try this ourselves, but the gravel quality looks decent from Google Maps satellite.

Komoot’s gravel route will take you up by the windmills, which seems pretty cool. However, there were high winds the day that we did this route, so we opted for a more sheltered option. As of October 2025 there was construction on the road from Krute to Dobra Voda, but bikes and some cars can pass through (just think of it as bonus gravel :). We stayed in an Airbnb in Bar to avoid thunderstorms, but in nice weather I’d go to Bartula My Olive Garden camp. The no-windmills route does include the short tunnel but you are going downhill so it goes much faster.

Here’s the route that would go by the windmills:

: https://www.komoot.com/tour/2635528867?ref=aso&share_token=aZhEqkp4GjwW1gtxdyDVKVnF9v0cZkgwMLgjOi3neWTvHVjzJ5

This turned out to be a lovely route that reminded us of Bosnia. The gravel road out of town from Stari Bar was particularly nice. We found Stari Bar to be very touristy and crowded- just the view from the road was nice and then we moved on. Komoot thinks there is a long, narrow tunnel that you can use as a shortcut to avoid some elevation, but locals warned us against it, and there are wild horses near the entrance and sometimes inside the tunnel. The Virpazar grocery is conveniently at the end of the day before the hill up to the campsite.

If you want to bus across Albania, here are the details. No bus goes straight from Podgorica to Sarande, you need to transfer at Tirana. Go to the Podgorica Bus Station and ask at the information both for a ticket to Tirana. There are more frequent buses than what we saw posted online. Our ticket from Podgorica to Tirana was ~25 euros. You bribe the driver to put your bike on- he hemmed and hawed and asked for 15 euros each even though there was plenty of space. I think we could have brought him down to 10 but we didn’t try. The bus is supposed to be 4-5 hrs but it took 6 because our bus was broken. One rest stop. In Tirana there are 2 bus stations: the North South bus station for domestic buses and the more central international station. The bus from Podgorica will drop you at the international station and then you can bike straight down the road to the North South station (you can try asking the driver to drop you at North South but we had no luck). As of October 2025, the North South Station is under renovation, so just go to where the buses are parked and look for signs for Sarande. You buy the ticket direct from the bus driver. The ticket to Sarande was 30 euros, with no charge for the bikes. The route is 5 hours, with one stop. If you need a restock on water or snacks in Tirana, you can grab them from a kiosk on the ride over or there are people hawking water and snacks by the buses. Markets, bakeries and restaurants are open late in Sarande- we arrived at 10pm and saw like 5 different food options on the walk to our Airbnb. The streets are steep in Sarande. Sarande was a pleasant, relaxed beach town. I wished we had time to spend a day there.

From Sarande we took the ferry to Corfu. The ferry offices were closed so we bought tickets online a few hours before. The website asks that you show up for passport control an hour before. When we went in late October there was no line and passport control took 60 seconds- you could show up later and be fine. For passport control, we were asked to leave our bikes outside, get our passports checked, and then go back and retrieve our bikes and go back into the building and past the passport control again. The bikes were fine on the car ferry.

The Bikepacking.com route was determined to find the steepest possible grades and every set of stairs on the islands. We didn’t feel the need to prove anything and just wanted to enjoy the island. The route below is a heavily edited version of the original route. We also found cheap, decent housing hard to come by in the southern half of the island. We didn’t see any spots we felt comfortable wild camping (and Greece recently raised the fee for wild camping), there are no official campsites, and the cheap housing is poor quality (the budget villa we stayed at in Agios Georgios was moldy and mosquito-y and kinda unpleasant). We were here in the low season of the island, and I imagine housing is even more expensive and the island more full of people in the high season. The route below has been adapted to work for the best budget options on the island. I recommend booking in advance, even in the low season. FYI, most tourist services (hotels, campsites, and restaurants, etc.) on the island seem to fully shut down on the last day of October. Most of Corfu is very chill traffic-wise, at least in the off season. The roads going in and out of Corfu Town are the exception- I highly recommend sticking to the route on the way in and out of town. Corfu had more mosquitos than anywhere in the Balkans- bring bug spray and long clothes to wear at dusk/night.

If you take the 10am car ferry from Sarande to Corfu Town in the morning, you’ll get into town around noon. I recommend either bringing a packed lunch from Sarande and getting on the road or heading to La Boca (the starting point on the route) for a quick sandwich or omelette. There’s a lot to bike and see on the route this afternoon to make it to the hostel at a reasonable time. You can explore Corfu Town at the end of the loop. Heads up that Corfu Town is also quite expensive- expect US city prices. The way out of town goes through multiple little towns. Then through an olive orchard apparently associated with Governor’s Olive Mill. If you are interested, stop there for a tour. Then the route will take you in a circle around a hill topped with a monastery. Look out for some really old olive trees and a former castle (you can scale the wall via one of the buttresses). If your interest has been piqued and you are feeling good, tackle the climb up to the monastery and appreciate the view. Otherwise, take the pleasant coastal road north to Sunrock Hostel (we didn’t stay there, but it has by far the best reviews at that price point).

This is a short day, giving you ample time to enjoy the nice beaches of Palaiokastrika. Camping Palaiokastrika is a solid campsite with kind hosts. We only got to explore one beach and wished we had more time. Since it is a shorter distance, I’m recommending the route straight from Bikepacking.com. We didn’t do all of this ourselves, so it might be quite an adventure. Komoot has a decent default alternative if you prefer.

If you prefer to avoid wild camping, I recommend exploring the northwest via a loop without your bags, returning to Paleokrastritsa. (This is exactly what we did.) The first half of this route is mostly from Bikepacking.com, the return trip is from Komoot and turned out to be quite pleasant. There are multiple swimming options so bring your swimsuit. Note that the steel descent early on in the day is an old donkey path with that is rocky and poorly maintained, with a surprise drop in the middle. I recommend walking it unless you have a MTB and some experience. I kept it on the route because it is cool and worth the walk.

From here, we headed to Corfu Town. If you want to explore the northeast section of the island, you either need to do a pretty big day, wildcamp, or pay more for housing. Here’s our route to Corfu Town, and the wild camp option below.

If you are open to wildcamping, you can follow the Bikepacking.com route pretty closely.

You can take a ferry to Sarande or Igoumentisa (as well as other locations in the high season only, such as Paxos). The car ferries to Igoumentisa are very large and have no problem with bikes. You can buy tickets online. If you want to go to Athens, beware the Green Bus Line, which offers a bus-ferry connection to Igoumentisa and then on to Athens. Tourists to Corfu pack a LOT of luggage and there is no room for bikes, even in the off season. Even if the person who sells you a ticket says you can bring your bike, you will not be allowed to (we were treated to much head shaking and “this is impossible” and “who brings a bike on a bus”, etc from the various men in charge of luggage). Instead, take the ferry to Igoumentisa and go to the Igoumentisa bus station. They will issue you a specific bike ticket for your bus at a cost of 10 euros a bike. As of this writing, the only bus to Athens from Igoumentisa is 8:30pm to 2am. There is also an airport on Corfu.

What we did: ferry to Igoumentisa, bus to Athens.

Other options:

• Bike down the coast to Athens, route with komoot (eurovelo 8 doesn’t always pick safest streets)
• Before October 15th or so, ferry from Corfu to Paxos to Lefkada. Bike from Lefkada to Patras. Bus from Patras.
• Before October 15th or so, ferry from Corfu to Patras. Bike from Patras to Athens along eurovelo 8 (mixed reviews on how exciting this route is. Check komoot for safer side streets)
• Bike from Igoumentisa to Kalambaka. Road ride on komoot is 3 days worth, Camp at Ioannia and Metsovo along the way. This is cool mountain route and get to see Pindus. Downside is bear risk (can camp at campsites) wolf risk, and dog risk. Igoumentisa already had way more wild dogs than we saw on Corfu, though Shepard dogs are the real problem.

We did one day of biking around Athens, but it was great fun. Athens traffic is very forgiving to bikes. There are scooters weaving through traffic everywhere, so cars are used to looking out for you. This makes biking through traffic a freeing, adrenaline-fueled adventure rather than a stressful death trap. This route takes you out of the city to some lovely gravel on one of the surrounding hills. You’ll get a superb view of the city and maybe see some tortoises along the way. Then you can either descend into the suburbs and brave some big intersections as a shortcut, or continue climbing towards the coast. The area by the coast is very ritzy- you can get lunch here but expect California prices for small portions. Many restaurants are listed as 50+ euros. Pack your own lunch or see the recommendations below. We did this ride on unloaded bikes. The loop we did:

Best affordable lunch options seem to be after the gravel sections, as you are heading through the suburbs to the coast: Real Pizza, Kammoun Lebanese, PIATTA

Longer/harder but more scenic route, would recommend if you can start earlier in the day, before 11am.

This route skips more directly to the ritzy area. I recommend packing a lunch from Athens, going to PIATTA just after the gravel section, and/or grabbing a late lunch after the beach on the way back to Athens at ANESIS or a spot in Glyfada.