CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
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.
425 km from Tivat to Tivat, about 9 h 36 of riding. It goes by way of Lokrum Island, Vjetrenica Cave, Stećci Medieval Tombstone Graveyards and Bijača. It crosses Montenegro, Croatia and Bosnia & Herzegovina - carry ID and check vignette or toll rules. It suits an unhurried touring pace.
Expect company on a summer weekend. Early is better than fast. For about 50 km this is Adriatic Highway, Jadranska Magistrala, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it.
The Bay of Kotor is a drowned river canyon on the Montenegrin coast, a set of linked basins pushed deep into the limestone mountains, and here at its inner reaches, around Risan and Perast, it feels more like a Norwegian fjord than the Adriatic. The mountains drop almost straight into the water, the villages cling to a thin strip of shore, and the light changes the colour of the sea from green to steel to deep blue as the day goes on. The whole region is on the UNESCO list for its natural beauty and the cultural layering of its little towns.
Read the complete Natural and Culturo-Historical Region of K write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Natural and Culturo-Historical Region of K is where the day begins. Next is Lokrum Island.
From the walls of Dubrovnik you look straight across a short stretch of sea to a low, dark green island covered in pines and holm oaks. That is Lokrum, and it is the closest thing the city has to a back garden. No cars or motorbikes are allowed on it, and nobody may stay overnight. You leave the bike on the mainland, catch one of the regular boats from the old harbour, and in about a quarter of an hour you step onto a quay with peacocks strutting about as if they owned the place, which they more or less do.
Read the complete Lokrum Island write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Lokrum Island comes up about 80 km into the recorded legs. Next is Vjetrenica Cave.
The karst country inland from Dubrovnik is a landscape of grey limestone hills, stony fields and long, flat-bottomed valleys called poljes, which flood in winter and dry out in summer. Popovo Polje, on the Bosnian side of the border, is one of the largest, and at its edge, near the village of Zavala, lies Vjetrenica, the most famous cave in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Its name means wind cave, from the strong current of air that blows out of its entrance, cool in summer and noticeable from a distance.
Read the complete Vjetrenica Cave write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 130 km into the recorded legs you reach Vjetrenica Cave. Next is Stećci Medieval Tombstone Graveyards.
Radimlja, just outside Stolac in Herzegovina, is the finest of the stećak graveyards, and it lies right beside the main road, which makes it one of the easiest pieces of medieval Europe to stop for. Stećci are massive limestone tombstones, shaped like chests, slabs or little gabled houses, carved between the twelfth and sixteenth centuries across the medieval kingdom of Bosnia and neighbouring lands. Many are decorated with reliefs: spirals, vines, crescents, stars, hunting scenes, dancers holding hands, and knights with swords and shields, and one figure at Radimlja raises an oversized right hand in what may be a greeting or a blessing. In 2016 UNESCO listed a group of these graveyards across four countries together.
Read the complete Stećci Medieval Tombstone Graveyards write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Stećci Medieval Tombstone Graveyards, about halfway. Next is Bijača.
In western Herzegovina, near the town of Ljubuški and close to the Croatian border, the land is a mix of karst hills, fertile valleys and vineyards, baked by the sun and scented with sage and fig. Near the village of Bijača, the necropolis of stećci, the medieval tombstones that are unique to this region, is one of the sites included in the UNESCO listing of stećci, spread across Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro and Serbia. The tombstones, carved with crosses, spirals, figures and inscriptions, stand among the grass and stones, a silent reminder of the people who lived here centuries ago.
Read the complete Bijača write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Bijača sits at 178 km, about halfway. Next is back through Stećci Medieval Tombstone Graveyards.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Stećci Medieval Tombstone Graveyards write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Stećci Medieval Tombstone Graveyards comes up about 253 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Vjetrenica Cave.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Vjetrenica Cave write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 298 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Vjetrenica Cave. Next is back through Lokrum Island.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Lokrum Island write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Lokrum Island, late in the day. Next is Natural and Culturo-Historical Region of K.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Natural and Culturo-Historical Region of K write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
The route ends here after 425 km.
Natural and Culturo-Historical Region of K → Lokrum Island is 80 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Lokrum Island → Vjetrenica Cave is 50 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Vjetrenica Cave → Stećci Medieval Tombstone Graveyards is 46 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Stećci Medieval Tombstone Graveyards → Bijača is 39 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Bijača → back through Stećci Medieval Tombstone Graveyards is 38 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Stećci Medieval Tombstone Graveyards → back through Vjetrenica Cave is 45 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Vjetrenica Cave → back through Lokrum Island is 50 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Lokrum Island → Natural and Culturo-Historical Region of K is 78 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.