Hello Alessandro:

I have ridden almost exactly the same route that you posted, first in 2014, most recently last year. I had a great time.

Some thoughts for you from my experience (in no particular order of importance):

1) Unless your home (Italian) insurance company has included coverage of the former Yugoslavian countries and Albania on your green card, you will need to buy insurance for each of the individual countries when you enter them. For most countries this will cost you about €15-€20 for one or two weeks (more than long enough for your purposes), but Macedonia (not on your route, but very close to your route) charges €50 for two weeks.

Contact your home insurance company well before you plan to leave, and see if they can sell you coverage for the whole Balkans area. If they can, it will be cheaper than spending €15-€20 4 or 5 times during a two-week trip.

2) I don't think there are any areas that are "unsafe" on your planned route. In fact, I feel much safer (personal safety) in the Balkans that I would feel in places like Palermo or New York City.

Your motorcycle, however, is a rather attractive goodie, so you will need to take "normal precautions" when you leave it unattended. By this I mean park it overnight in secure compounds (all hotels, pensions, hostels, and bed & breakfast facilities will have secure compounds).

3) Be aware that many of the secondary roads, especially in eastern Albania, Montenegro, and BIH, may not be in perfect condition. Last year, I decided to take a very scenic road (so the map said...) from Dubrovnik to Pristina, and wound up riding down some cow paths... not the best kind of road for a 400kg Honda ST 1100!

So, buy some good quality maps (Michelin maps are generally trustworthy) before you leave, but don't put 100% trust in what the map shows. When you are in the Balkans, NEVER trust the maps inside GPS navigators (Garmin, Tom-Tom, iPhone, Android, etc.) to correctly indicate the type of road (nice paved highway vs. cow path). The GPS devices will show the road in the correct location, but the condition of the road may be very different from what the GPS says it is.

4) Hotels and restaurants are very inexpensive in these countries. So, I suggest you just stay in hotels. Use TripAdvisor to see what the hotels charge, and what other travelers have to say about the hotel. Among other benefits, the hotel will always have a secure (locked-up) area to store your moto while you sleep.

5) I don't recommend visiting Serbia - not because there is anything wrong with the place, but because they use the Cyrillic alphabet there and it is impossible to read the road signs, and also because the Serb border guards can sometimes be troublesome if they see stamps from Kosovo in your passport.

6) One possibility is to take the ferry from Ancona to Durres, Albania, and then ride northwards only. The advantage of this is that you will still see the same countries, but have fewer kilometers to ride. Your girlfriend will probably appreciate this - women often don't like to sit on the back of the motorcycle while you travel 400 km in a day. They prefer to travel only 200 km a day, and stop and smell the roses every hour or so.

Hope this info helps you,

Michael

Hi just crossed into Croatia from bosnia after six days there, did banja luka, Sarajevo, jasnice and trebinje. Yes the roads are knocked about and the driving standards vary from good to appalling, but the people were great, the roads empty and the views incredible. Its cheap as anything and should b on ur list. My ducati drew lots of attention at petrol stations so guarded parking and a bike cover is the way.
Try and avoid Sarajevo in rush hour though
Oh and it's blxxdy hot right now, mid thirties!!

Hi Chris,
thanks for sharing your "live" experience with me...your tips are precious!

__________________
I rode 47.000 km in Italy. If you are looking for an Italian Motorcycle Tours...I'm the answer!

Hi PanEuropean,
that's a way more accurate then I would expected...appreciated that!

the bit about the conditions of the roads changing from tom tom to paper maps it was illuminating!

__________________
I rode 47.000 km in Italy. If you are looking for an Italian Motorcycle Tours...I'm the answer!