4 in 1 road cycling Balkan express: Montenegro, Albania, Bosnia & Herzegovina and Croatia

Join this super diverse cycling tour and experience the diversity of the four countries, but also the very many elements they have in common. At first you will enjoy warm hospitality, discover unique and iconic landscapes and places and last but not least you will reward yourself with delicious local dishes and drinks.

Highlights

Durmitor National park and Tara Canyon – UNESCO World Heritages Sites

The biggest lake of the Balkans – Lake Skadar

Downhill the ladder of Kotor

Shkoder town in Albania

UNESCO sites: Kotor Bay, photo collection of Marubi (Shkodra), Ston and Dubrovnik (Croatia)

Ciro – Old Yugoslavian railway line in Bosnia & Herzegovina

Trebinje town in Bosnia & Herzegovina

Day 1: Arrival

Individual arrival at Dubrovnik/Podgorica/Tivat airport. Optional transfer to Zabljak. Great mountains and lakes await you here. Take the chance to walk to the Black lake in the evening hours. Adjusting of bicycles, welcome and orientation meeting.

Day 2: Durmitor National park – Tara Canyon (82km/+1100/-1750m)

Your cycling adventure starts with a beautiful panorama tour. All the time the mountains of Durmitor offer you a great and dramatic panorama, before you downhill to the famous Tara bridge, which spans over the deepest canyon of Europe, the Tara Canyon. You follow the road right above the emerald green waters of Tara river, to Mojkovac. From here you are shuttled 20km to Kolasin to bridge the main road.

Day 3: Towards the Accursed mountains (76km/+1100m/-1100m)

You cycling adventure starts right in Kolasin. Your first kilometers you continue to cycle along Tara river and later on you start climbing the to a pass at Komovi mountains. Continue to the town of Plav settled a the shores beautiful lake Plav and the entrance gate to the National park “Prokljetije”

Day 4: Into Albania (105km/+1600m/-2600m)

A fantastic cycling adventure takes you today to the sleepy Albanian mountain villages and to the “ Balcony of Enver Hoxer” (picture). You cycle a road which was only very recently rebuilt and got a tarmarc surface and therefore now conveniently connects this beautiful mountainous part of Albania with the city of Shkodra.

Day 5: Great panoramas above the shoreline of Lake Skadar (96 km/+1640m/-1640m)

Today you return to Montenegro and cycle the southern shoreline of Lake Skadar. You explore a remote and very unique region – sleepy villages, ancient chestnut groves and monastery islands, a prison island, vineyards and all the time great panoramas. Your cycling concludes in Rijeka Crnojevica, a former market place at the lake in Montenegro. Shuttle (20min) and overnight in Cetinje, the old royal capital of Montenegro.

Day 6: From Cetinje via Lovcen National Park and Tivat to the Bay of Kotor. Downhill the “Ladder of Kotor” to the Bay of Kotor (73km/+1200/-1800m)

You climb on the old road from Cetinje to Lovcen National park, which rises above the Bay of Kotor. In a next stage you will enjoy the most beautiful downhill Montenegro has to offer – the 25 serpentines full of panoramas above the bay. After these you arrive in Tivat. From there continue on the shoreline towards Kotor.

Day 7: From the Bay of Kotor into Bosnia & Hercegovina (91km/+1500m/-1200m)

In the morning first you cycle pass the highlights of the Bay of Kotor – Perast and its islands, Risan. From Risan you climb an old military road to the carst mountains pass into Bosnia Hercegovina. You downhill into Trebinje a picturesque town with great history and wines in Hercegovina.

Day 8: Bosnia & Hercegovina to Ston in Croatia (83km/+730m/-1000m)

Cycle along former Yugoslavian railway track the “Ciro” in direction to Croatia. You cross the boarder into Croatia and arrive in Ston. There you conclude your cycling adventure at the best possible way – with oysters and locally produced wine in Ston, the walled town. Shuttle (45min) to Dubrovnik.

Day 9 : Departure

Transfer to airport Dubrovnik or extension.

For more comfort while cycling through the very hilly landscape, we recommend the use of an electric bike.

This tour is completely customizable

The itinerary for this tour can be customized to suit your needs from your accommodations, difficulty and pace. Drop us a message.

Self-guided tours: travel independently but with the support of our back-up service

few exceptions, we offer all our tours as a self-guided options, to suit independent travellers. Enjoy the freedom and flexibility to walk, hike or bike at your own pace, taking breaks whenever you like, while we organise the logistics for you: accommodation, including breakfast; luggage transfers; detailed tour planning; a comprehensive information package, maps and GPS trackers. We’re always on the end of the phone, for emergencies or queries, so you won’t feel on your own. Thanks to our established partnerships along all routes we can ensure quick and efficient help in case of emergencies.

Guided tours – explore and experience – with a knowledgeable tour guide

If you value perfect organization and would enjoy the security of exploring with an experienced guide are perfect for you. From accommodation to food and transportation – everything is arranged. Our trained and certified guides accompany you throughout your entire trip. Guides are friendly and flexible, and can adapt the schedule according to the wishes of the group, changes in the weather or unexpected events. Usually a support vehicle follows the group all the time.

Accommodation

You will mostly stay in 3* hotels (4* on request) or in private lodgings (apartments, mountain huts, shepherds’ cottages) selected because of their charm or, sometimes, because they’re the only option in a remote location. We have selected small family-run hotels and cosy guesthouses wherever possible, with a good atmosphere and hosts happy to fill you in on the history and culture of their specific Montenegrin region. All rooms have private facilities with the exception of certain mountain guesthouses, mountain huts or shepherds’ cottages.

Meals

Breakfast is included at all accommodation. Evening meals are available for an additional charge, either at the accommodation or at nearby restaurant. We are happy to provide dining recommendations. Most accommodations also offer packed lunch service (€ 5-6), please let them know in the evening of your departure.

Extra spendings

You will need money only for lunches, dinners and drinks. A typical dinner costs between 15-20 €, a light lunch is € 8- € 10 and a liter of red wine from €10 – €12. Coffee is € 1,2 –€ 2,4 and a small beer (0,3l) € 1,2 – € 1,7. Entrance fees to National Parks € 2 – € 4/person These are paid right at entrance gates. The ferry passage in the Bay of Kotor is € 2/person.ATM machines are common in most cities and towns. But more challenging is trying paying with a credit card in remote places. Cash is the most easy way of payment and luckily, because of the prices in Montenegro, you don’t need much of it.

Fitness level and medical condition

You should meet a medium fitness level so you can fully enjoy the tour or you take advantage of one of our e-bikes. Because of the partly remoteness of this tour will take you, is quite neccessary that you let 3etravel know in advance of possible medical conditions. In case of emergency always get in touch with us with the ocal mobile phone we provide you, 24/7. We have a well established network of institutions and people along the routes who can fast respond to help you.Should you join a guided tour, all our guides are competent in first aid techniques and will do everything to sort out the situation in the most professional manner

Personal equipment

It is important to layer your clothing for different climates, as our tour may go through cool high mountain passes on one day and warm valley lowlands on the next. Rain in the mountains can occur unexpectedly. Helmet is a must unless you have made further arrangements with us. In the event of lost luggage we will provide you with a helmet and riding gear until the arrival of yours.

Rental Bicycle Models and Sizes

Our fleet of rental bicycles are 2018 onwards models for all our tours. When booking make sure you provide us details so we can reserve the most appropriate bike for you. You can do all hard surface tours either with touring bikes, road bikes or e-bikes. MTB tours are indicated separately. We have following sizes: Touring XS – XXL, road bike 48 – 58, ebike S-M-L. MTB 15”– 21”.

Along the rental bikes comes a waterproof pannier (20l), repair kit and spare tires, helmet (disinfected, but we do advise to bring your own); All bikes have two bottle holders. Please bring your own bottles.

Boarder crossings

If your tour includes boarder crossings, these are easy and straight forward. Everyone must have their passports or ID-card (EU citizens) on them at all time. Just show your passport, usually you have to show you passport twice, when leaving and again when you enter. If your have our luggage transfer service included please make shure your luggage is not locked.Cycling in Montenegro

The routing follows small side roads with little traffic. There are no bike lanes in Montenegro except in the capital of Podgorica and Tivat. You are shuttled to avoid any longer sections on main roads, which might get stressful since main roads in Montenegro are busy and narrow.

Montenegro’s cuisine

Montenegro’s natural diversity is reflected your plate or in your glass. We recommend to ask for local dishes which each restaurant will proudly present to you. In the northern and central parts sheep and beef are popular and very delicious. In the central part, Podgorica, Cetinje and Lake Skadar you lake fish, vegetables and of course a glass of “Vranac” wine will make your day. Always ask for local cheese, since cheese is a very essential part of Montenegrin cuisine. Cheese from Njegusi, Pljevlja or Kolasin are the most wellknown but any homemade cheese will match those easily in quality and taste. Coastal Montenegro offers of course fish and seafood. Eg. in the Bay of Kotor we are happy to organize you an oyster and mussels tasting right at the mussels farm – a nice treat while cycling. Another highlight for your tastebuds is Montenegrin olive oil which is produced all along the coast from Ulcinj to Herceg Novi.

Add- on food tasting experiences

You can spice up any of our tours with tastings of local products. We encourage you to taste wine, olive oil, honey, dairy, ham, oysters with wonderful families along our way. Wine & food tasting experience are from € 10 – € 25/person depending on the kind of tasting. Please get in touch with us on details.

Add-on tours and activities

Should you wish to dig deeper in a certain topic or into the history of a place please contact us we gladly organize the perfect expert for you. We can link you to local activity providers eg. City tour, Bird watching, sea kayaking, (speed) boat tours, crafters, cooking classes etc.