Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
447 km from Bajram Curri to Bajram Curri, about 14 h 04 of riding. It goes by way of Church of the Virgin of Leviša, Dlaboka Reka and back through Church of the Virgin of Leviša. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 1,500 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available. It crosses Albania, Kosovo and North Macedonia - carry ID and check vignette or toll rules. A steady touring day rather than a sprint.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Lumi i gashit
Here the borders of Montenegro, Kosovo and Albania meet in the Prokletije, the Accursed Mountains, a rugged range of limestone peaks that rises above two thousand metres and is among the wildest country in the Balkans. The label uses the Albanian name for a stream, Lumi i Gashit, the river of Gashi, and the nearest places on the Montenegrin side are Plav and Gusinje, where Albanians and Bosniaks make up a large share of the population. Plav sits on a glacial lake, a cold, clear body of water ringed by high peaks, with a small mosque, an old Ottoman tower house and a quiet lakeshore promenade.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Lumi i gashit is where the day begins. Next is Church of the Virgin of Leviša.
2. Church of the Virgin of Leviša
In the middle of Prizren's old town, behind a wall and a fence, stands a brick-and-stone church whose bell tower rises above the rooftops. This is the Church of the Virgin of Leviša, Bogorodica Ljeviška in Serbian, one of the most important medieval monuments in the Balkans. It was rebuilt in the early fourteenth century under the Serbian king Milutin on the site of an older church, and its interior was covered with frescoes that are among the finest of their time.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Church of the Virgin of Leviša comes up about 123 km into the recorded legs. Next is Dlaboka Reka.
3. Dlaboka Reka
Few borderlands in the Balkans feel as folded and unhurried as the country around Peshkopi, in the Dibra mountains of north-eastern Albania. Across the frontier the same people are Macedonia's Dlaboka Reka, the Deep River, and the double name tells you the story: a Slavic and Albanian valley land cut through by a political line that locals still cross for weddings and markets. The Black Drin runs through the region, the great peaks of the Korab range stand along the border, and Mount Korab itself, at 2,764 metres, is the highest in both Albania and North Macedonia.