Croatia: Advice on routes and accommodation

Not sure about October but i found Montenegro far better than Croatia for just about everything. You could probably fly into Sarajevo and get the mountains of Bosnia and Montenegro to satisfy your need for elevation. Both great places to cycle.

Japan would be a great place to cycle though if you have already been i guess you know what to expect. For me it is the people and the experience of Japan more than the scenery that makes a cycle in Japan such a pleasure.

Thanks Bicycleman, it is the first time I heard of this country. I searched the web for route and found one called the Balkan mountains that looks interesting. Did you do this route? How did you find the safety level? Was accommodation pricey in this country?

For flights, I think I can fly to London and change to another airline to get there. A bit troublesome transferring bike between flights and may lose some transit time, but there's no direct flight for me anyway.

Thanks for your suggestion, I'll explore more in the web first, and hopefully explore by bike soon.

Montenegro is amazing and probably suits a two week tour. You could try flying into and out of Dubrovnik making a nice circular tour which could be good to keep hold of your bike box, (there are no bicycle shops in Dubrovnik i should add) quite a few budget airlines fly into Dubrovnik from the U.K. some are very good with bicycles. I doubt any budget airlines fly into sarajevo but maybe from London they do.

Both Montenegro and Bosnia are safe and cheaper than Croatia, Bosnia is the cheapest and in places is super cheap.

Free camping is fine in both places with the usual warning about landmines in Bosnia. (look it up if you are going there).

Just check the weather.......... October is getting cold in Europe and i remember being in the snow line in July in Montenegro so if that is a concern have a good look at that.

Just to add Dubrovnik to Kotor is a ride to at least once your lifetime .

I checked, it may be a bit cold in October for Montenegro. I'll have to leave it for next year, plan it for some time in the summer. I think I'll plan for the Southern part of Japan (Kyushu) this year. It should still be warm enough in that part of Japan in October.

Thank you for your suggestion. I'll look into it instead of Croatia for next year.

Hi Arti
I did a route in May/June 2014 that cut form the North board of Slovania down to Rigeka and one down the Island of Trec, Mali Losinj, Zadar and on to Split, and we opted to bus to Dubrovnik as my partner was taken out and sustained a should injury.
We found the accomidation with airbnb to be pretty affordable as was the food if you were buying at the markets. As for hills, there is enough of them along the coast, it not a flat route by any means. Depending on the time of year, the ferries are more frequent in the summer months into Sept. We also found that some of the local ferries were no where to be found on any web search, but they did exist.
The other important thing I want to pass on...take any medications you think you might need with you, even Ibuprphen is a percription there.....and if you do not hold and EU passport, they will not prescribe you medication unless you are going for surgery.
Hope this helps....and if you would like to know more....drop me a line
Don
If you

Thank you Don. Very useful advice regarding the medications. I checked from web that people in general thinks that Slovenia and Croatia are safe countries, very low crime rate. Montenegro seems to have a higher crime rate than Slovenia and Croatia. But bicycleman did Montenegro without being mobbed or robbed. I think I should check more before deciding. And since I want to do it at a warmer time, this trip would be put to maybe June 2016. I'll ask you more if needed, thanks.

without being mobbed or robbed

Security can never be guaranteed anywhere - I'm acquainted with someone who suffered a violent robbery in Switzerland. But, if you exercise the usual common sense about rough parts of town etc, you don't need to worry about this anywhere in Europe west of Russia / Ukraine.

OK... But at least I should try to avoid wild camping, I think.

This topic has been automatically locked due to inactivity. Email community@lonelyplanet.com if you would like to add to this topic and we'll unlock it for you.