Hi Tom,
I did a little tour of the Balkans last year and if you like your roads a bit rougher, I full-heartedly recommend Bosnia and Herzegovina (!!!), especially the region south east of Sarajevo and Mostar. In my humble opinion one of the top off road destinations in Europe. Often overlooked.
Go check out Gilga's beautiful thread on ADV:
Off-road Touring, Beautiful Balkans - ADVrider.
Montenegro is very beautiful, full of breathtaking mountain views, has better infrastructure, is easier to travel. Lots of tourists though, so it feels less adventurous and you'll be sharing the sights.
Albania: not so developed, feels rougher, less European. Very touristy along the coast (beaches and all that), but few venture further. Beautiful and worth discovering.
Your itinerary is pretty ambitious for a two weeks' tour. You'll be riding all day, every day, trying to reach your day's goal. I would seriously consider just getting down there and then slowing down and roaming around a bit.
Summers in the Balkans should be mostly hot and dry. But I had bad luck and happened to ride in the wettest two weeks of that summer. Not fun! You might not want to book accommodation too far in advance so you are able to change your route to avoid possible rain.
Cheers,
Julian
|