CAS2602 Pearls of the Adriatic Sea
We started our tour in Split, on the Croatian coast of the beautiful Adriatic Sea. Leaving the city behind, we encountered a little traffic, but it soon thinned out as we followed the road towards Omiš. Crossing the mouth of the Cetina River, we took a sharp left turn almost immediately afterwards and began climbing into the spectacular Cetina Valley. The road wound its way deeper into the valley, with the cliffs rising on either side. Before long, we stopped for a well-deserved coffee at a former water mill—a perfect place to take a break and soak up the atmosphere. Roadworks forced us to backtrack for a while, but this turned out to be something of a blessing. We picked up a small, winding road that climbed out of the gorge, passing tiny villages seemingly clinging to the steep hillsides. Eventually, the road brought us to a lookout high above the river, rewarding us with a magnificent view over the valley we had just ridden through. After taking in the scenery, we turned around and headed back towards the coast. Some miles later, we reached the port of Drvenik and boarded the ferry to Hvar. After the short crossing, we stopped for lunch in the harbour of Sućuraj before setting off across the island from east to west. The road twisted and climbed through the island's rugged landscape, eventually bringing us to a fortress dating back to the era of Napoleon Bonaparte. From high up, we were rewarded with breathtaking views across Hvar and its surroundings, including the city of Hvar, which shares its name with the island itself. From there, the final miles rolled pleasantly beneath our wheels as we descended towards the impressive Amfora Hotel. After a long and hot day of riding, the welcome from the friendly staff and, perhaps even more importantly, the cool air in the lobby were both greatly appreciated. We finished the day with dinner at an excellent restaurant nearby—a perfect way to bring a memorable day on the road to a close.
Starting on the island of Hvar we crossed it from West to East and hopped on the ferry back to the mainland of Croatia. We saw great riding right next to the sea, passed over the Peljesac Bridge to the peninsula of Korcula and found a great lunch stop in Ston. After this, we rode another nice mountain road towards Dubrovnik and ended our day in our next wonderful hotel right above the seafront. An amazing dinner ended this perfect day.
After an awesome breakfast we headed for Dubrovnik old town. Seeing the majestic city walls first from above, we descended a stone-paved flight of stairs, and walked over the old drawbridge to enter the city through Pile Gate. After exploring the city for two hours, we made it up to the garage again, mounted our bikes, left Dubrovnik southbound, and enjoyed the sencnic costal road, before turning north-east and up towards the Kroatia - Bosnia border. Riding in Bosnia was awesome, even though road surfaces can change abruptly. After some miles we were asked once again for our passports, on the border between Bosnia and Montenegro. From there, we soon descended to the outer bay of Kotor, were we enjoyed our lunch. Crossing the bay at it's bottle neck by ferry was fun, and we rolled along the water front to the hotel for the better part of an hour. Koma Hotel with it's pools, private beach and spa welcomed us after a long and beautiful riding day.
Today we had a very nice rest-day ride into the national park Lovcen in Montenegro. From the Bay of Kotor a narrow mountain road took us via 25 switchbacks up to the top on about 1200 meters above the sea level. The view was stunning and the riding was wonderful. We came back to our hotel in the early afternoon to start with the other activities - private hotel beach, lunch, just having an incredible time...
Leaving our hotel, located at it's private beach in the beautiful inner bay of Kotor, we did a brief stop getting gas, and followed the bay's shoreline to it's western tip, were the road led us up into the black mountains, providing us with incredible views over fjord-like waters, rugged valleys, and quiet villages as we followed twists and turns, picking up speed reflecting our eagerness to ride. Passing into Bosnia was quick and easy, roads continued being just awesome. Aproaching Bileca lake, an artifical reservoir, at it's southwestern shore, we continued on the M20, had a good lunch, and rode off heading for Gacko, with dark clouds looming not too far ahead. Stopping short after, and getting rain gear out, we were riding in the rain for the first time on this tour. Free-ranging cows, lots of wash-out and sharp corners made the ride even more interesting. We passed the open coal-mining pit and adjecent thermobaric power-plant, and left the M20 for the R427, reaching Nevesinje. Turning left and going up the M6.1, enjoying wet twisties, the rain gradually cheased, and stopped alltogether as soon as we passed over the crest. The basin of Mostar opened before our eyes, us rolling down on dry surfaces, taking in the scenery touched by golden light of late afternoon sun. Getting to our hotel required us to do a funny turn first leading up and then down under the road we came, and further into old town, where a cold boot beer was ready at the parking lot. Well deserved, cheers to all!
Today, we are leaving Mostar in the Mountains and are visiting the huge Cross on top of Mostar. Our last view of the town in this beautiful weather sweetens us our goodbye. After we took some very local roads, we reached the border and the crossing was a breeze. It took us only 20 minutes to get through both checkpoints with the whole group. Back in Croatia, we found a very nice picknick place where Georg served us a wonderful picknick. We went on to reach the coast again and despite someone stole the pavement along the road we managed to arrive in Zadar successfully.
In Zadar, we had the second rest day on this tour. While some of us took it easy, sleeping in and exploring Zadar old town, the other half took a spin to Krka National Park. Rolling out of town, we soon hit the highway leading south-east. Kamenjak lookout was our first stop, offering marvelous views lake Vransko, the thin stretch of coastline separating it from the Adriatic sea, and the islands close to the coast. Dalmatia at it's best! We stood there for a while, taking all in. We back-tracked a little to reach the main road, only to discover more of the stunning scenery. After a good lunch, talking motorcycles and power sports in a broader sense, we mounted our bikes again, soon reaching the coastal road again, rolling through small towns like Drage, Turnaj, Turkljaca and Sukusan, before we reached Zadar again in the early afternoon.
Our last day of the tour starts in Zadar. We are leaving the city to the south, following the coastal road in the beginning. Then we turn into the mountains and start the real riding of the day. The backroads are quiet, nearly no traffic and in really good condition. Once again, we are more than lucky with the weather. We are visiting Krka National Park, take a nice coffee next to the River and enjoy the nice windy roads. After our lunch in Knin, we visit the source of the Krka river and take the afternoon for our ride back to the sea and to our final destination on this tour: SPlit. We arrive in the late afternoon and there is enough time to enjoy the city, get ready for the dinner and replay some of the great adventures we lived through during the last days. Another great trip ends with very good riders, that enjoyed Croatia on two wheels. Thank you for coming and see you next time. Keep the rubber down.