derby to croatia

[steelprunes]

hi all, newbie to this site, got the website from mike carter's excellent book "travels through a mid life crisis".
wow, looking through some of the trips being planned, i feel a bit of a woos!!!
im going to calais-amsterdam- harz mountains-berlin-prague,kracow,budapest,zabgreb and then pula, then have a blat down the coast road to dubrovnik. then back via venice-trento and france.
bought myself a bmw 1100rt for the trip, which is way more comfortable than my spondon! i have three weeks to get there and back, which i hope will mean a comfortable meander rather than a balls out race around europe.
to be honest,i tried to keep the planning down to a minium and have nothing cast in stone but as i got into it, it did become reasonably defined although it has flexibility.
any tips,places to visit,campsites,hostels would all be welcome

cheers

steelprunes

[Vaufi]

Originally Posted by steelprunes

im going to calais-amsterdam- harz mountains-berlin-prague,kracow,budapest,zabgreb and then pula, then have a blat down the coast road to dubrovnik. then back via venice-trento and france.
...
i have three weeks to get there and back, which i hope will mean a comfortable meander rather than a balls out race around europe.
...
any tips,places to visit,campsites,hostels would all be welcome

Either it'l be a race, or you need more time or just forget about places to visit
If you do find time, let's start with the Harz: Quedlinburg (east of Goslar) is a UNESCO heritage site.
Berlin: Consult a travel guide and try to preselect, or just book a city sight-seeing tour.
From Krakow take a route across he higher Tatra to northern Slovakia before turning westwards to Prague.
When crossing Austria, take the road parallel to the A10 on the eastern side right across the Radstaedter Tauern to St Michael, carry on on the B99 to Leoben and take the Nockalmstrasse hrough the Nockberge NP.
The coastal road through Croatia is very beautiful, but be careful when wet! And mind the speed limits!
Southern Croatia: Don't miss Trogir.
There's a nice camping site in Trsteno, about 10 kms north of Dubrovnik. Parking is scarce in the old parts of Dubrovnik. There's a bus from Trsteno to Dub.
Maybe you could take the ferry from Dub to Ancona, Italy. Will save you lots of time.

[MarkLG]

I did a round trip to Dubrovnik a couple of years ago. Went down via Germany, Austria and Slovenia. Came back via the Dolomites, Swiss alps and back up through France. Clocked up 4500 miles in 3 weeks.
I looked at taking in Poland, etc on the way down, but to be honest I thought it would be too much of a push in the time available. Unless you're happy to clock up miles on the motorway I'd suggest saving the germany/poland leg for another trip and concentrate your time further south.
I'd recommend spending a few days in the Austrian and Slovenian Alps. When you get into Croatia allow time to visit at least one of the national parks and spend a few days on one of the islands. Of the coastal towns Trogir is worth a stopover. Dubrovnik isn't that big and can be covered in an afternoon and evening.

[sigoodacre]

Croatia is definately worth a visit but I would imagine it being better out of tourist season.
Stayed a few days on Korcula(down by that bit of Croatia where a narrow bit of Bosnia splits croatia) last year at a little family run campsite in lambarda.Was great as not too many tourists and campsite was not the type of place crowded with motorhomes with sat dishes poking out the top.
Thought we would try different island this year so went to Rab.OK, but first campsite we checked out was full to the brim,we took one look and made our exit.Found another one near Rab town and although busy not as congested as previous one.
We would have prefered to have gone further down to Korcula.
There is a national park just where you get the ferry to Rab which made a pleasant get away from the coast road laden with cars with boat trailers and motorhomes.Croatia has become a victim of it's own beauty.You may not have time on this trip but Bosnia should not be overlooked.
I would also say 3 weeks would be a bit of a rush depends on how much you want to see in each country.

Simon

[pottsy]

I agree with Sigoodacre´s post, 3 wks would be just a full-on rush with very little time to see anything - i´ve just spen 3 months doing a bit more than your plan and that was just about right wrt daily mileage and sightseeing.But at least that trip timescale will give you a taster for places to return to later with more time.

[iand]

you mention the harz mountains,
the guy who runs this place http://www.hotel-harmoniebadgrund.org.uk is resident on the classic bike forum ttp://www.classicbikeforum.com/forum14/1447.html, a few people off there have stayed at the hotel, i haven't but hope to one day!!