Croatian Adriatic Highway: Sibenik to Dubrovnik

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Sibenik

   Šibenik is one of the few Croatian Adriatic towns not founded by the Greeks or Romans but by Croats, first mentioned in the eleventh century, and it still has the feel of a place that grew from the hillside rather than from a plan. It climbs steeply from a natural harbour, protected by the long channel of St Anthony, with stone houses, steps and lanes arranged like a staircase up to the fortress of St Michael. At the foot of the slope stands the Cathedral of St James, a UNESCO-listed building constructed entirely of stone, without any binding material, between the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. Its dome is a vaulted shell of carefully fitted slabs, and a frieze of seventy-one carved faces runs around the apses, said to be portraits of ordinary townspeople.

   Read the complete Sibenik write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Sibenik is where the day begins. Next is Split.

2. 2. Split

   Split began as a retirement home. The Roman emperor Diocletian, born nearby, built a vast fortified palace on this peninsula around the year 300 and retired here after abdicating, to grow cabbages, so the story goes. After the Roman world fell apart, refugees from the nearby city of Salona sheltered inside its walls, and over the centuries the palace turned into a town. Today you walk through the Golden Gate, the Peristyle and the old cellars, and find cafés, shops, apartments and washing lines inside what is, effectively, a Roman building, with the emperor's mausoleum converted into a cathedral. UNESCO lists the palace and the historic centre.

   Read the complete Split write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Split comes up about 176 km into the recorded legs. Next is Makarska.

3. 3. Makarska

   Makarska sits under a wall of grey limestone, with the Biokovo mountains rising almost straight out of the sea behind the town. The highest peak, Sveti Jure, stands at about 1,762 metres, and the ridge runs for thirty kilometres along the coast, so the town and its neighbours, Tučepi and Baška Voda, are squeezed into a narrow strip between mountain and water. This is the Makarska Riviera, one of the most scenic stretches of the Dalmatian coast, and the old Adriatic Highway runs right along it, with views over the sea to the islands of Brač and Hvar.

   Read the complete Makarska write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   about 358 km into the recorded legs you reach Makarska. Next is Dubrovnik.

4. 4. Dubrovnik

   Dubrovnik was once an independent republic, called Ragusa, and it lasted for centuries by being clever. It was a small city-state that paid tribute to bigger powers, traded with everyone, banned slavery early, and kept a splendid ring of walls that still surrounds the old town. Walking the walls, about two kilometres of stone with towers and bastions, takes an hour or two, and offers views over terracotta roofs and a glittering sea. In 1991 and 1992 the city was shelled during the Yugoslav war, and the damage has been repaired, though a few signs remain. UNESCO added it to its list in 1979.

   Read the complete Dubrovnik write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Dubrovnik closes the day.