Route suggestions for UK to Crete trip
 

Wondered if any Hubbers have any suggestions for an interesting (non-motorway) route to Crete - I want to be there by 10 Oct and plan to stay about a week. I'm based in the Isle of Wight.
Are there any places best avoided?
Any advice would be very welcome.
Probably be riding my trusty Aprilia Peg...
Thanks
Brian
PS
Anybody fancy tagging along you'd be more than welcome!

Do you want to get there quickly or slowly?

Thats what determines your route really.

Why would you think there was anywhere to avoid?:confused1::confused1:

Hi Liammons, thanks for your response
I'm not in any great hurry - probably take no more than 2 weeks to get there
I had read (on this site) that there had been some problems moving between Kosovo and Serbia....

That is a thing of the past according to reports on thorn tree.

A nice route down would take you via Slovenia, acfoss Croatia and through Bosnia. Then cross Montenegro and down trough Albania.

Lots of great mountain roads and scenery, lots of back road and even off road options especially in Albania. And lots of sightseeing options too,you could spend a week or two in any of those countries if you want.

The coast road down is nice but busy, inland is much less travelled off the main roads.

Back via Macedonia, Kosovo and Serbia, or take a detour into Bulgaria. NEBulgaria is beautiful, especially Belogradchik.

Thanks Liammons that looks like a fantastic route and I do prefer twisty mountain roads, although I won't be going off-road on the Peg - its the Factory version (17in wheels) - not suitable as I found out when in Morocco a few years ago!
Any idea what sort of weather I might encounter at that time of year (October)?
Thanks again for your suggestions
Brian

bike hire in Crete - anybody done it?
 

Have had to revise my plans so now only going to Crete next month for a quick visit (only 7 days - by plane) and I see that | Motorbike Rental Crete hire out various likely looking bikes ...... wondered if anybody has been to Crete & hired a bike ... any experiences to share, recommendations, etc.
Cheers
Brian

I hired a BMW F650 on Crete years ago. I was based near Heraklion which is about in the middle of the island. On day one I ran along the NE coast road, day two NW coast road, day three SE and day four SW with no real plan or expectations on any day. It was really enjoyable out of the towns and tourist areas, Souda Bay was especially pleasant.

Sounds great ... exactly sort of bike I was thinking of (also perhaps an Aprilia Pegaso as I own a Factory).
Can you remember where you hired from?
Thanks

The resort I stayed in had several shops hiring out scooters, some of them had bigger bikes. I just went for the biggest available, I did give it a thorough check over before I handed the cash over though.

Thanks for that ... think I'll just 'wing it' and see what's available in the resort (Paleochora) ...

Hi Brian:

I agree very much with Liam's suggestions above, this because I have just done almost the exact same route that he set out during the past 6 weeks.

I left Zurich, rode east across the Dolomites in Northern Italy (very pleasant riding, and a remarkably civilized section of the country, considering it is Italy), entered into Slovenia, then went down the coast road through Croatia, Bosnia, Montenegro, and Albania into Greece, with diversions inland (Sarajevo, Mostar, Srebrenica, etc) along the way. After riding around the Peloponnese, I went back north via Macedonia, Kosovo, Montenegro (the east side this time), Bosnia (again, the east side this time), Croatia, Slovenia, then Austria.

I enjoyed all the countries. The road quality degrades in a linear fashion as you go south, with Slovenia having roads equal to Switzerland, and Greece having roads equal to Africa (worse than Albania). From a safety point of view, you should consider all the countries south of Croatia to be "daylight riding only" due to variable road conditions.

The cost of living also decreases as you go south, with Montenegro, Kosovo, and Macedonia being remarkably inexpensive. Greece is very expensive for what it offers, and in my opinion, Greece is poor value for the money. Hence, be sure to enter Greece with a full fuel tank, and all the cigarettes and alcohol you plan to consume until you are once again out of Greece.

As for Liam's comment that "The coast road down is nice but busy", I believe that is true in the summertime, but it was not the case for me during early September. The only traffic congestion I encountered on the coast road was from about 50 miles north of Dubrovnik into Dubrovnik. Other than that, I pretty much had the road to myself... all the summer vacationers had returned (to the Netherlands, I suspect) by the end of August.

Hope that information helps.

Michael

Thanks Michael... just the sort of route I enjoy ... hopefully I can fit a trip like that next year sometime (want to do a US coast-to-coast in 2015 first!)
In the meantime I'll have to be satisfied with hiring a bike in Crete next month and only for a week :-(
Brian