Carlisle to Sarajevo
 

Hi everyone and thanks for taking the time to read my first post on here.

I’m going to Bosnia Herzegovina in a month or so and will be staying at Viseko which is about 30 miles north of Sarajevo for two weeks. I was going to fly but then I thought why not take the bike. It’ll take longer and cost more but for the experience alone it’s got to be worth it. Always having meant to do some long trips like that it was decided. I’m taking the bike.

Originally I thought I’d just go for the quickest route and go by the motorway, I reckoned I could do that in three days (1600 miles) but I would be riding past some fantastic roads which would make a rather boring ride much more enjoyable, if a little longer so now I’m thinking about taking a more ‘scenic’, on the way there at least. To be honest though it’s more the roads I’m interested in than the scenery but I don’t mind stopping to look at the odd mountain or lake etc.

So I’ve been doing a bit of reading on various aspects of the trip and the more I read the more excited I get about the prospect. I would appreciate some suggestions of which roads to take that will make the journey more interesting while taking me in roughly the right direction and any recommendations for accommodation along the way. I’ll be riding a ’99 R6 with minimal luggage and no tent so looking for tarmac+corners and some bike friendly B+B type places.

From what I can gather there are some amazing routes through Germany and Austria and the coast of the eastern Adriatic sounds like it could be worth a look.

Safe riding :)

Hi,

Firstly, good choice! I did a similar route last year and it was a fantastic trip.

By far the best roads I came across were around Bavaria and the Schwarzwald in Germany. The best part was it doesnt matter which road you take, setting off south from Karlsruhe they just go on and on and on for hundreds of kms in any direction, largely traffic free, top quality surfaces and sweeping corners all the way.

If you ride with a sat nav when you get to Austria, just set it to avoid motorways and you can barely find a bad route! If you can, take in the Grossglockner pass, it costs a few Euros but you'd pay twice as much to ride it again.

Perhaps its a bit harsh to generalise, but I'd whip through northern France / Belgium / Germany as quickly as possible to spend more time enjoying the excellent roads from southern Germany all the way to Bosnia.

Accomodation wise, it depends on your budget, Europe is a very bike friendly place by and large. I was keeping my budget as tight as possible and found mountain huts in skiing areas were very cheap, well stocked with heavy food and beer and always have parking, plus you save a lot of time not faffing on trying to find a small place in a city centre.

Have fun
Stuart

Good decision! Three words:

Alps! Alps! Alps! :)

Just ride through 'em! Pretty much anywhere is stunning with plenty of awesome roads. Start at Chamonix - ride east till you hit Bled in Slovenia. Ride high mountain passes or drop onto the motorways if you are running out of time. loads of accom. Italian alps are just amazing.You'll see on a lot of hotels a little sillouette of a biker to show they are bike friendly, but to be honest, I've never found it an issue.

Having said that, a more northerly route has its attractions too. Bavarian and Austrian alps are great. I'd go one way and come back the other.

Croatian coast is fabulous.

You can't go wrong!

Matt :)

Hey, thanks for the replies guys.

Sounds like I'm onto a winner as long as I maintain a roughly south easterly direction I can't go wrong. Perhaps I should aim to reach Karlsruhe by the quickest route and then set the sat nav to take me to Bruck an der Großglocknerstraße, over the pass and onwards to Split, avoiding motorways? That's the current plan at least.

A few questions though. How long would you say I'd need to allow to reach Viseco going this way at a 'fast touring' pace? Would 5 days be reasonable?

I Understand I need to buy a Vignette on entering Austria and Slovenia. Is this only if I'm using the motorways or for all roads? Can I buy these at the border using a credit card or do I need to use cash?

Cheers

Dave

You can buy one at any petrol station in either country, and you only need them on motorways or on some express roads.They can be bought easily even before you get across the border, (which you probably won't notice that you've done) , at newsagents, tobacconists, and any shop with the respective sign on the window. I'd really recommend getting the Austrian one, depending on your route, it's just 4 euros. In Austria it's easy to find yourself on a motorway without realizing how you got there...

The slovene one is expensive but totally unnecessary, takes just half a day at most to cross the entire country on normal roads and there are gorgeous mountain routes to do this. Just note that the ring road around Ljubljana requires the vignette, as does the 12 km of incomplete motorway between Trieste and the the Croatian border along the coast. Feel free to PM me for any info.

Hi Giacomo,

Thanks, that's really helpful. Yes, the Austrian vignette sounds like a good idea considering the cost and as long as as I keep off the motorway from Trieste to Croatia and avoid Ljubljana I wont need to worry about any more. The plan is to get to Karlsruhe as quickly as possible and them avoid motorways as far as possible.

Cheers :-)

5 days is doable, I'd say, but you'll spend a lot of time in the sadlle, especially if you are on the good roads! :)

As long as you are OK with long days, then go for it.

Switzerland also requires a vignette on motorways. This one is worth getting if you decide to go through Switzerland on motorways as I believe the fine is quite large.

Matt :)

Just to agree with Giacomo, the Slovene vignette is pointless and depending on what time of year you're there, the motorway to the Croatian coast gets jammed with German & Slovene holiday makers blasting down in overloaded cars. On a hot day its not a great ride.

I also didnt get an Austrian one, but did end up on a motorway pretty much by accident but left at the next exit and nothing came of it, but its pure luck. A couple of Euros is probably worth it for the vignette as a sticker to remind you of the trip if nothing else.

I have driven through Slovenia 4 times and only realised you needed a vignette on the motorway the last time! The first time I was there nearly two weeks, driving about - used the motorway several times - no worries!:oops2:

The Austrian one is quite cheap from memory (about £8?) so is probably worth getting.

Matt :)

Just checked, a 10 day bike vignette for Austria is 4.50 euros apparently.

7.50 euros for a 7 day bike vignette in Slovenia.

And as said, a nice souvenir of the trip. (I've still got swiss, austrian and slovenian vignettes on the windscreen of my MX5 from a 2010 ski trip through the alps).

:)

You were very very lucky, the DARS (motorway company) thieves are zealous to the point of standing at the old slovene Italian border near Trieste, a few cms inside Italian territory, trying to stop people on their way out of slovenia. I shouted at one to get out of my way the other day.....

There's an on the spot fine of 300 euros if you're caught, and that's only if you can pay on the spot, otherwise this can easily double.


Come to think of it, even if the vignette is just 7.50E for a week (and weekly vignette for bikes has only just been introduced)....it's still much better to save this money , enjoy the ride, and spend it on seven beers instead...! beer