Natural and Culturo-Historical Region of K and Boljuni
Plan this ride
Recorded distance
323 km
Riding-time estimate
8 h 02
Journey
Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
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.
From Tivat it runs 323 km to Tivat; allow about 8 h 02 of riding. The stops in between: Lokrum Island, Boljuni and back through Lokrum Island. It crosses Montenegro, Croatia and Bosnia & Herzegovina - carry ID and check vignette or toll rules. It suits an unhurried touring pace.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Natural and Culturo-Historical Region of K
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.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Natural and Culturo-Historical Region of K is where the day begins. Next is Lokrum Island.
2. 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.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Lokrum Island comes up about 80 km into the recorded legs. Next is Boljuni.
3. Boljuni
In the stony hills of eastern Herzegovina, a few kilometres from Stolac, a field of grey limestone blocks lies scattered among oak scrub and dry grass. These are stećci, medieval tombstones carved between roughly the twelfth and sixteenth centuries, and Boljuni has a few hundred of them, many decorated with reliefs: rosettes, crescents, spirals, hunters with spears, dancing figures holding hands, a man raising an oversized hand as if in greeting. Nobody fully agrees on who made them or what all the symbols mean, which makes standing among them oddly moving. Together with other cemeteries across Bosnia and Herzegovina and its neighbours, Boljuni is part of the UNESCO site of Stećci Medieval Tombstone Graveyards, inscribed in 2016.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at Natural and Culturo-Historical Region of K. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Natural and Culturo-Historical Region of K to Lokrum Island
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 to Boljuni
Lokrum Island → Boljuni is 83 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Boljuni to back through Lokrum Island
Boljuni → back through Lokrum Island is 82 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through Lokrum Island to Natural and Culturo-Historical Region of K
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.