Montenegro or bust.

West Cork Paul

Man in a Shed
Subscriber
Mrs P, being pure bred Irish has travelled a fair bit around the world, in fact it’s hard to find a country she hasn’t been too. She has a bit of a travel bug and I promised her in 2019 we would go travelling again throughout 2020 and onwards since we were both in a position to do it. Well we got to Lisbon in January and that was it. March’s trip to San Sebastián was cancelled as was May’s to Vienna and July’s to Italy and so on and so on😕.

So during 2020 I started reading a whole load of books on long distance touring and watched a whole load of videos mainly to tour vicariously as my plans were dashed due to the Covids but as I sit here in the dark winter weeks an idea in my mind has been fermenting. A place Mrs P hasn’t been to. Montenegro.

Now I want to do some touring and Mrs P likes some culture and as I don’t think she’s up to riding pillion for 5 days there and 5 days back, or maybe I’m not up to having a pillion for that long/far, I came up with a cunning plan to combine both our wishes. Namely, I ride there (and back), Mrs P flys there (and back) 👍🙂.

So the rough plan is:
Dover
Calais
Belgium
Luxembourg
Germany
Austria
Slovenia
Croatia
Bosnia
Montenegro

Although I have a fair few miles to go just to get to Dover 😕.

When’s this gonna happen? Well, assuming Mrs P & I are vaccinated, got our little passport stamps to prove that and assuming most of Europe’s been vaccinated by the time we go and the Covids are under control then I’m looking at late Sept/early Oct.

I have mentioned this to @Sambo but I’m also throwing it out there if anyone else fancies tagging along - with or without partners. Just because I’ll probably be solo there and back and Mrs P will be flying in doesn’t mean anyone else has to follow suit.

As for small details like ferries, hotels, detailed routes etc well I’ll be working on them over the coming weeks/months and any suggestions anyone may have are very welcome 👍

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That's a lot of riding!!! My advice is do comprehensive routes to see some sights on the way down and back otherwise you will get sidetracked to motorways
Agreed, I want to avoid M-way/Autoroutes. It’s 1500 miles give or take a bit so I reckon 5 days (ish) at 300 miles/day. It’s a long way for sure but then there’s a week or so there before the turn around and back.
Jeez, I’d forgotten all about those cars. My first company car was an Austin Maestro and my boss had the Montego, I so coveted his car, a pure status symbol, you’d really made it in the early 80s if you had a Montego Mayfair.

Oh how shallow and naive I was back then 😕
 
Agreed, I want to avoid M-way/Autoroutes. It’s 1500 miles give or take a bit so I reckon 5 days (ish) at 300 miles/day. It’s a long way for sure but then there’s a week or so there before the turn around and back.

Jeez, I’d forgotten all about those cars. My first company car was an Austin Maestro and my boss had the Montego, I so coveted his car, a pure status symbol, you’d really made it in the early 80s if you had a Montego Mayfair.

Oh how shallow and naive I was back then 😕
300 Miles a day is no problem but start adding interesting mountain passes and it becomes tight its the reason I've always shipped my bike to memmingen in Germany you land and an hour later you heading into the Austrian alps and some of the most epic roads in Europe and it will cost the same had mates that done the land bridge for years till they done the shipping it means its all quality time on the bike!
 
Exige says ‘pick any of my bikes’. Fly over and I’ll meet you at Dover with the steed of your choice!

I’d love to join part of the trip but I think it will be Spain again next ! Belgium planned for September though ....
 
We've got a similar trip planned, excluding Montenegrowith stop overs so that its not 5 days on the bounce getting there at 300 miles a day.

Our plan is leisurely ride through Romantic Strasse Germany, 2 nights in lake Bled, 2 nights in Split, 2 nights in Dubronic, 2 nights in Sarajevo.

Should have done it this year but Covid etc etc.

TB
 
300 Miles a day is no problem but start adding interesting mountain passes and it becomes tight its the reason I've always shipped my bike to memmingen in Germany you land and an hour later you heading into the Austrian alps and some of the most epic roads in Europe and it will cost the same had mates that done the land bridge for years till they done the shipping it means its all quality time on the bike!
With Overlanders or whatever they’re called ? if they’re still in business 🤔 it’s a good idea, I like it 👍🏼
 
A couple of years ago we toured to southern Italy,

Overnight ferry from Hull to Rotterdam - rode to Dusseldorf and took the overnight train to Innsbuck - straight off the train and into the alps. Saved 4 days of autobahns out and back.

I'd be interested but not until things pan out re CV/BS, needing vaccines etc, as I won't be having that.
 
A couple of years ago we toured to southern Italy,

Overnight ferry from Hull to Rotterdam - rode to Dusseldorf and took the overnight train to Innsbuck - straight off the train and into the alps. Saved 4 days of autobahns out and back.

I'd be interested but not until things pan out re CV/BS, needing vaccines etc, as I won't be having that.
The crowd I've linked bring all your gear including your helmet and the lockup is in the airport complex, I travel with a tank bag and nothing else leave Dublin at 2pm and you sitting on your bike driving into the German alps at 6.30 stop in Austria that night and head all the way down to Montenegro all in 10 days as you loose no time travelling the motorway or ferries we take a couple of days off one in Croatia and another in Montenegro I've done it a couple of times and it's a beautiful part of the world!
 
What’s their route from Dublin? If it’s ferry to France I’d need to get to Dublin first - not a big deal, I’m in Lancaster.
 
What’s their route from Dublin? If it’s ferry to France I’d need to get to Dublin first - not a big deal, I’m in Lancaster.
There may be a UK Co that goes into Memmingen too, I have a faint recollection of reading something ages ago. It’s one of those provincial out of the way airports that the likes of Ryanair describe as ‘Munich Centrale’🤣

@The skitz I guess a normal bike would be 1/2 the cost of a GSA then 🤣.
 
@West Cork Paul It seems a shame to go there and basically miss out Switzerland, Northern Italy and the Alps. Have you considered a route down through Italy and getting a ferry over to Montenegro? Or maybe coming back up that way on your return?

I'd personally add a couple of days to the itinerary and stay off the motorways. I wouldn't do more than 200 miles a day once you get down to Southern Germany so you can take it in.

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I did a route very similar to this back in 2005 on a BMW F650 Dakar.. that was in the days before Romania joined the EU, and it was very much like the wild west in some parts. You'll have a whale of a time - much will have changed since I did it, but key points -

* Plan ahead for the things that you want to see, or specific routes that you want to take in;
* Don't plan ahead too much, otherwise it'll turn into a join-the-dots exercise, living day-to-day is very rewarding. On our adventure, we had only one hotel prebooked (in Germany) - everything else was a case of us rocking up into a village and seeing what was available.


Mike
 

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@West Cork Paul It seems a shame to go there and basically miss out Switzerland, Northern Italy and the Alps. Have you considered a route down through Italy and getting a ferry over to Montenegro? Or maybe coming back up that way on your return?

I'd personally add a couple of days to the itinerary and stay off the motorways.

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I have indeed considered an alternative route back to the one there and would love to incorporate Italy, I shall research ferries from Montenegro to Italy 👍.
 
I did a route very similar to this back in 2005 on a BMW F650 Dakar.. that was in the days before Romania joined the EU, and it was very much like the wild west in some parts. You'll have a whale of a time - much will have changed since I did it, but key points -

* Plan ahead for the things that you want to see, or specific routes that you want to take in;
* Don't plan ahead too much, otherwise it'll turn into a join-the-dots exercise, living day-to-day is very rewarding. On our adventure, we had only one hotel prebooked (in Germany) - everything else was a case of us rocking up into a village and seeing what was available.


Mike
Thanks👍. I don’t intend to prearrange much, except the hotel in Montenegro. I’m going out of high season but the weather should still be good and the accomodation shouldn’t be too busy. Part of the adventure is having the time to stop and take in the sights & craic along the way snd not be too dictatorial about the itinerary.
 
Option? That's the purpose of the trip surely 😜😁
I was supposed to get it in this July🙁. Was going to WDW, flights, hotel, bike etc all booked. Was gonna park Mrs P in Misano Adriatico whilst I bimbled around the Italian countryside and went to WDW, the Ferrari factory was one of my planned days out. Bloody Covid 😡
 
The best part about the Ducati factory, was I got to park in their car park being on a Duc, while my pals got turfed out and had to park out on the road 😁

Did the Ferrari factory the day after LeClerc won at Monza in 2019 with the GF who's an F1 fan - and the Lambo factory the same day.
 
I’ve done the Ducati one and would happily do it again but I didn’t get chance to do the Ferrari one last time so that’s an option for sure 👍

The Ferrari museum is huge. I also opted for a tour of Enzo's old house which is now the engine museum. They asked me when I bought the tickets at reception at the museum in Maranello and I didn't realise it was about 20 miles away. :oops: I'd give it a miss knowing that now. It's OK to see if it was at the same location, but not really worth the detour.

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