I'm in Podgorica—can any of you recommend a route to Tirana? I've already cycled the Ciro, the Parenzana, and the Alpe Adria. I still have about 15 days left, and I cover about 120 km a day. Today I rode from Trebinje, and the road to Niksic was a nightmare, as was the rest of the way to Podgorica. I’d prefer a relatively flat route; unfortunately, I didn’t prepare well enough for this trip in terms of my bike’s gearing, but I managed to make it up to the Klobuk border pass, so it’s not that bad.
by Wlo3kij
4 Comments
From Podgorica to Tirana via Shkoder EV road is mostly flat, however expect high traffic sections after Shkoder
I should add that I have a big problem with route planning and calculating elevation gain. I planned the route in Strava, in the Hammerhead Dashboard, and in Komoot as well. And every time, the difference in elevation gain is significant. Today was the same—the route was supposed to be 1,800 meters, which would have been a challenge for me with my luggage, but it turned out to be barely 1,200. Do you have any good planning apps with accurate elevation gain calculations?
When I toured the Balkans last year it wasn’t possible to go direct from Kosovo to Serbia. I went through Montenegro which took me over the Accursed Mountain range, and then into Serbia, so maybe not your thing.
Edit: When I entered Kosovo I was asked if I wanted a stamp in my passport, it’s best to say no as I hear you can’t get into Serbia with one.
u/[Wlo3kij](https://www.reddit.com/user/Wlo3kij/) i’d check locally that you can cycle from Kosovo into Serbia. I couldn’t last year. Without getting too deep into Balkan politics Serbia believes Kosovo is theirs but Kososvo thinks they are a free nation. If you have a Kosovo passport stamp without a matching Serbian stamp you cant cross the border from Kosovo to Serbia. You need to enter Serbia via another country (North Macedonia, or Bulgaria are your best bets)