Natural and Culturo-Historical Region of K and Vjetrenica Cave
Plan this ride
Recorded distance
292 km
Riding-time estimate
7 h 26
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.
292 km from Tivat to Tivat, about 7 h 26 of riding. It goes by way of St. Barbara, Lokrum Island, Vjetrenica Cave and back through Lokrum Island. It crosses Montenegro, Croatia and Bosnia & Herzegovina - carry ID and check vignette or toll rules. It was put together for the scenery rather than the shortest line.
Scenic road chapters
Adriatic Highway, Jadranska Magistrala
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.
Chapter facts
Length
50 km
Named road
Adriatic Highway, Jadranska Magistrala
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 St. Barbara, 35 km on.
2. St. Barbara
Konavle is the long, fertile valley that runs south east of Dubrovnik towards the Montenegrin border, and St. Barbara is a small church at Dubravka, near its upper edge, surrounded by a field of medieval tombstones. These stećci, heavy carved blocks of limestone dating from the late Middle Ages, are part of the cross-border UNESCO listing of stećci cemeteries shared by Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and Serbia. The Dubravka group is one of the most accessible in Croatia, and the setting, with the church, the old stones and the view over the valley, is quietly beautiful.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
St. Barbara comes up about 49 km into the recorded legs. Next is Lokrum Island.
3. 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
about 97 km into the recorded legs you reach Lokrum Island. Next is Vjetrenica Cave.
4. 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.