Hello, recently i decided to do my first bike tour, currently i've arrived Bratislava. Im not sure wich way to do next, wondering beetwen Balkans or South-West Slovenia maybe Italia? Prefer to do wild camping but also comf with hostels. I heard Balkans are awesome but considering my safety, also prefer not busy roads or cyclepaths, Is it possible to plan Balkans with nice/semi-nice roads surface and relatively safe?
by weldrunner
3 Comments
Ouu, forgot about, My trip started in Poland and i currently driven 800km
Balkans are fine for safety. The crime in most balkan states is no more than in any of the countries you’ve already passed through 🙂
Plus if you go through Italy you will experience pretty much 1 culture and that’s it. Whereas going through balkans you will experience so many different cultures in a short span and eventually end up in Greece which IMO is just Italy but better.
In terms of avoiding traffic? Eh its hard to say really. Croatia has a pretty great cycle network but I can’t speak for the other countries unfortunately…
Safety: car traffic is the only concern. Balkans are quite difficult but absolutely doable and rewarding. The more mountainous area the less quiet roads in my experience. I cycled all Balkans states and definitely Montenegro drivers are the worst: drunk, speeding, passing you by 2cm and a lot of heavy traffic roads. But even there you can enjoy great quiet roads with beautiful landscapes.
Maybe try Slovenia and Croatia for the beginning. both are very nice for cycling.
From Bratislava it is easy to go to Sopron (definitely recommend to see) and than to Slovenia (don’t miss Jerusalem wine region!)
If you decide to go further south you may consider BiH, Albania, Montenegro. Any time you can skip to Italy by ferry, but keep in mind that cycling in Southern Italy is not as pleasant as in Northern Italy.