The Alps, Slovenia & Croatia
Last year (2019) I planned out a fly and ride trip to the European Alps. Since I was going to be renting a bike I was faced with the difficulty of how to get my carefully planned route onto an available GPS. I could bring my own Garmin which meant having to buy European maps for a one time trip and also having to wire it into the bikes battery. Or I could rent a unit and worry about getting my routes onto to it and hoping the unit would calculate the same route as my laptop (not always the case with Garmin). Neither sounded appealing to me so I researched phone based apps and, no surprise here, I ended up purchasing Scenic. I could easily mount my phone to the rental bike and have access to my pre-programmed routes. Perfect! In hindsight I should have familiarized myself with it a lot more before I went on the trip as each GPS has its own quirks, but for the most part it worked really well (and I'm hoping my minor complaints are fixed in V2).
Anyway, onto the trip. After much research on forums, YouTube and Google StreetView this is the route I came up with. It would be 3 days recovering from jet lag in Innsbruck, Austria before 11 days on the road.
(the red dashed lines above show where the originally planned route (in red) differs from what we actually did)
I managed to persuade one riding buddy to come with me which helped greatly in splitting the costs of hotels. She did a great job of finding us neat places to stay each night while I was in charge of navigation.
I found packing for a fly and ride trip a bit difficult as everything I take has to fit on a bike I've not seen. With the climate going to change from Mediterranean coastlines to 9000 ft Alpine peaks my riding gear was going to have to be versatile. I also like to make videos and camera gear, mounts, batteries sure take up a lot of space. Anyway, (with a few last minute adjustments) this is what I came up with.
INNSBRUCK, AUSTRIA
July 9th we landed in Innsbruck after flying from Seattle, USA, a 9 hour time difference. We had 3 days to recover from jet lag there before the trip really began. It's a pretty little place and the time passed quickly enough.
This hotel dates back to the 1400's I think, and has such luminaries as Mozart staying there, though to be fair I think he stayed in every hotel in Europe.
Tourist central in Innsbruck is the Golden Roof. We climbed the nearby Clock Tower to get above it all.
I loved walking around the old town and seeing the details on the old buildings.
The town is in a valley is surrounded by mountains, so it was soon time to take a hike upwards.
Thankfully it was mostly funicular trains and cable cars to get up this high. Even so the hiking we did soon meant we had a need for some mountain juice.
Never has beer tasted so good
But the fun and games were soon over and it was time to go riding!
DAY 1 : Innsbruck, Austria to St. Moritz, Switzerland
The first day riding was going to be a short one as I knew it would take time to get the bikes. It would also take in the famous Stelvio Pass which since we were in the area was a must do, but I kind of just wanted to get it out of the way as I figured it would be a bit of circus. Go there, get the t-shirt, but I was really looking forward to the quieter mountain passes.
We were renting the bikes from https://www.edelweissbike.com/en/mieten/, and it all went very well and I would use them again. I did have to pay the full rental price up front (7 months before the trip) which I wasn't happy about but apart from that they were great. Lots of different bikes to choose from and we went with BMW 700GS's as they had enough power for our needs and were on the cheaper end of the scale. What I didn't realize is that the rental shop is a decent distance outside of Innsbruck. What looked like a short distance ended up being a €70 taxi ride. That long ride also gave me enough time to realize I hadn't actually downloaded the Scenic maps onto my phone. 7 months I had to prepare for this and I at no point did I think to download the maps! I managed to get through the day with cell phone coverage and download the maps at the hotel that night.
After an age of filling in paperwork and trying to load our gear on the bikes, we finally hit the road. I was so preoccupied with trying to get our stuff onto the bike and freaking out about not having the maps downloaded I didn't think to take any pictures, but we headed out into a wet Austria morning to explore the Alps 😀
It was only a short hop before we left Austria behind and were in Italy. First interesting scene was a 14th century church tower that was left stranded after they built a dam in the 1950's.
Lake Reschensee, Italy
We had to quickly get accustomed to European bikers who were a lot faster than us passing us in the same lane, not something that happens in America, but it was all good. Then it was on to Stelvio Pass.
The hairpins on Stelvio were probably the steepest and tightest we encountered on the whole trip. Limited visibility round some of the bends made life interesting but thankfully we didn't encounter much traffic at those points.
About half way up the sun even started to shine which meant I could lose the rain jacket for the first time. That instantly meant winter descended and we got blasted with hail.
The weather changed for the worse at the top as a winter squall came in blasted us with strong winds and hail. It had obviously just arrived as vendors were running to secure their goods and tourists in shorts and t-shirts were running for their cars. We weren't sure what the weather was going to do so we hustled out of there without getting the t-shirt, but it didn't take long descending the south side before it got sunny again.
And then we were in Switzerland
And then onto our lodging for the night in St. Moritz. Growing up in the UK I was aware of this being the playground of the rich and famous. It felt odd that little ole me could stay there for the night but in hindsight it was a mistake. While it may no longer be the place it was in the 70's it's still comes with an expensive price tag. Our basic hostel was the worst stay of the trip and wasn't the cheapest. Passing through to see it but staying elsewhere would have been a better choice.
DAY 2 : St. Moritz to Münster-Geschinen, Switzerland
We woke up to another wet morning as we left St. Moritz for our first full day in Switzerland. We headed over the the Abulapass which was quite quite windswept and barren, and down into a little quaint village called Bergün. They certainly like to paint their buildings in interesting ways in this little place.
Continuing on we were soon dropping down in to the village of Andermatt.
We were about to start a large loop that would take in some of the major passes in the area. First up was Sustenpass.
Then it was on to Grimsel Pass which was probably the coldest point of the whole trip.
It's cold up here
It was also covered in clouds which sucked as I had planned a jaunt along a dead end road up there that has amazing views. Nothing to be seen today though so we gave it miss.
So we headed down off the mountain to the valley far below and back in to warm sunshine. Our hotel for the night was a huge hit, Hotel Landhaus. Highly recommended
DAY 3 : Münster, Switzerland to Camerata Cornello, Italy
Our third day on the road was going to be an epic day, both in terms of the sights we would see and the distance we needed to cover. For a change the day started bright and sunny which was a welcome change.
First up was Furka Pass. Looking back I would say this was one of my favorite passes of the whole trip. Fast sweeping bends with amazing views.
About halfway up the pass you can stop and look at the glacier that is the start of the Rhone River.
For about €20 you can even go inside it. This was a pretty cool experience and probably not one you can do for much longer. You won't be surprised to learn the glacier has receded a lot in recent decades and these days they have it covered a huge blanket to try and slow down the melting.
Then it was on to the Tremola, a road that is listed as a national monument in Switzerland. I'm not sure how long it is but maybe 10 miles or so, and most of that is old cobblestones with at least 24 hairpin bends. It's obviously a big draw for the locals as well as there was a huge classic bike rally going on when we got there. This dude really got into the spirit of things.
Old School
Then it was off down all those cobblestone hairpins. Thankfully it was a dry day so no worries about grip levels :O
Then it was time for things to get interesting. I had been worried about navigating the next section as there were three roads that all made their way down the next valley. There was the old road, that we wanted to be on, that hugged the landscape. There was the new road that used bridges to make things a bit straighter, and then there was the newest road that just blasted tunnels through the mountain to make things very straight. On a map however these all criss crossed each other like spaghetti and it wasn't too clear how to make sure we stayed on the correct one.
Sure enough, as soon as we left the Tremola behind I got us onto the wrong road, the interstate/motorway which we did not have a vignette for. The Swiss like to make their fines as steep as their mountains so I wanted to get off this road as soon as I could, but unfortunately we immediately entered a 10 mile tunnel heading north and we wanted to be going south. Doh! When we finally emerged on the other side we were back at Andermatt where we had been the day before. The loop was complete but this was a distraction we didn't need on our longest day. I didn't want to risk going back through the tunnel so it was over the top of the mountain and once more down the Tremola (the hardship!). Unfortunately I managed to get us on the wrong road once more, this time heading west instead of south. We very belatedly managed to get on the correct road and head towards San Bernadino Pass. Because of the delays we didn't stop for many pictures but here is one from near the top.
Then we took a south turn and headed back into Italy via Splügen Pass. This was a very fun road. It felt very remote and desolate but beautiful. Again, as we were running late we didn't stop to take pictures but I'll post links to my videos when I finish this story. That captures it better than my pictures could anyway.
When you head south through the small town of Montesplüga you have the choice of taking the new or the old road. Of course we chose the old road which is a marvel of engineering. It felt like we were rappelling down a mountain as opposed to riding down it. While it's not the most fun to ride (the switchbacks were the tightest on the whole trip) it is something you must see.
We were on the last stretch now and just one mountain pass to go before getting to our lodgings for the night, just north of San Pellegrino (where the bottled water comes from). However the day wasn't done with us yet and I managed to miss our turn and once more were launched into a never ending tunnel that prevented any chance of a U-Turn. We ended up riding alongside Lake Como which is world renowned for its beauty, but not that we could tell as we spent the entire time inside one tunnel after another. By the time we managed to get off that road we stopped for a roadside huddle and decided to take the most direct route to our destination. We were beat by this time but I did recall reading about the road we were about to take being a great one. The guide books don't lie. This was a fantastic road we stumbled across by accident and it made a pleasant change from mountain passes. Again, sorry for no pictures but it's all in the video.
Finally, we got to our destination for the night, the frozen in time village of Camerata Cornello. I think this was on an important trading route at one point but was left high and dry when modern roads were built. It feels like it was stuck in the middle ages. It is a very cool place.
Finally, some pictures!
DAY 4 : Camerata Cornello to Maderno, Italy
Another wet start to the day. Given we had to ride out across the cobblestones of the old town that wasn't what I wanted to see but thankfully we both made it without issues. I had been looking forward to this day as we were leaving the big name passes of the Alps behind and just meandering across the foothills. I felt we would get to see some authentic Italian towns with hopefully some fun roads with little traffic.
The climb up Vivione Pass was pretty neat. Single lane road the whole way with some fantastic views. Didn't see another car or bike the whole way up.
It never failed to amaze me that each and every pass we went over had an inn at the top. I guess it dates back to older days when these things were life savers but how they stay open today is beyond me. Even this pass which was nearly empty had an open Rifugio
Maybe part of the reason the pass had been so empty coming up was that the road was actually closed just the other side of the Rifugio. Somehow I hadn't noticed any road closed signs before so this was a bit of a shock. Thankfully while I was pondering what to do a group of Italians rode up from the other side and made their way around the road barrier. A quick chat with them revealed the road was quite rideable, just a little landslide that had been mostly fixed. No problem on a bike. That was a relief as doubling back would have added a lot of time to our day.
We then started making our way to a couple of passes that were high on my list of places to see, Crocedomini and Maniva. These are high and remote and partly gravel roads, just what I like. While I wouldn't class them as "adventure" roads, the gravel would be sure to keep the traffic down and the views from them looked to be amazing. Unfortunately we ran into another pass closure when we found out Crocedomini was closed. Hoping we could squeeze by like we did with Vivione we made our way almost to the top but a local up there told us it was not passable. Deflated, we headed back down into the valley to start a 90 minute detour that would at least let us tackle Maniva Pass, or at least the gravel portion of it that is sometimes called Anfo Ridge Road.
After that it was a short hop down to the shores of Lake Garda and our hotel for the night.
DAY 5: Maderno to Trieste, Italy
Fifth day on the road and today we would be leaving the Alps behind and heading to the coast. First off though we had to skirt along Lake Garda where the mountains drop straight down into the water. The road threads a narrow path between the water's edge and the mountains, with many tunnels needed in order to make a path through. There was a definite Mediterranean feel to the shore here, even though we were still far from the shore. I loved it here and wished we had to time to linger.
About half way along the west side of the lake there is a road that goes into the mountains. Winston Churchill described this road, Strada della Forra, as the 8th wonder of the world. It truly is magnificent.
After looping round the north end of the lake we started making our way towards the coast on Strada Provenciale 46. This was a wonderful little road, very little traffic and great views along the valley. Also passed through a few tiny little towns that cling to the edge of the mountains here. How anyone makes a living in what seemed like a very isolated place is beyond me.
Then we finally left the mountains behind and headed out towards Venice. After some deliberation we had decided to give this tourist town a miss. I would have loved to have visited it but the thought of being there with a million other tourists was enough to dissuade me.
Getting gas was a daily struggle as every pump seemed to work differently. It was always a relief when that was over with for the day 🙂
Trieste was very much a working town/city for Italians. I don't think it gets much in the way of tourists which was great but it meant food options at 6pm were limited. An entirely forgettable dining experience there but the place itself was pretty cool. At one point it had been an important trading route to the sea from the Balkans and Austria. I doubt it sees much trade that way today but you can tell it was an important place at one time.
It was also my first real experience of Italians and their love of scooters. Man, this place was crawling with them. It was fantastic 🙂
DAY 6 : Trieste, Italy to Zadar, Croatia
I'd heard a lot of about the Dalmatian coastline of Croatia. While the best bits might be further south than we were going, it was supposed to be still plenty good enough. The serpentine coastline also made a pleasant change from the ups and downs (and hairpins) of mountain passes. We had also left the mountain climate behind us and were now getting cooked in the Mediterranean sun. Blue skies and even bluer water was the order of the day now.
It didn't take us too long to reach our destination for the day, which gave us plenty of time to walkabout the old town of Zadar. While it was a complete tourist trap it was still a nice place to hang out.
Old church with remains of Roman pillars in front of it
For a change we had booked an airbnb for tonight instead of a hotel. When we pulled up outside of it it looked a pretty sketchy place and I had a bad feeling about it.
However once inside it turned out to be fantastic. Large space with 2 bedrooms and a great view.
DAY 7 : Zadar to Cres, Croatia
In the original plan day 7 was supposed to be a rest day but somewhere along the way that morphed into two easy days on the bikes. Today was supposed to be a day of island hopping between four different islands with as much time spent on ferries as on the bikes. However we learned there was a 10,000 person rock festival on the first island that had been cut short due to forest fires. We tried to find out if motorbikes could go to the front of the ferry queues and were told they couldn't (they were wrong, turns out you can!). The thought of queuing with 10,000 folks trying to get onto a small ferry wasn't a pleasant one so we changed plans and would just ride north on the coast road we came south on. Not exactly a great hardship.
Before too long we were getting off the mainland via a bridge onto what would have been our third island of the day.
I thought the ferry seemed extremely expensive at 46 Kuna for two bikes. I later looked it up and that came out to around £6/$8. So not too bad 🙂
A short blast across the island of Krk and we were on to our first ferry of the trip to take us to Cres.
Due it being a short day on the bikes we got to our digs reasonably early, so we ditched our gear and went to explore the old town. Like most places in this part of the world it has ancient roots that never quite died, and people have just lived in and adapted their homes over the ages. Very different to life in America.
Our digs for tonight wasn't quite as pretty, as it looked out over a restaurant
So we went exploring again, this time determined to get a swim in the Mediterranean.
DAY 8 : Cres, Croatia to Bled, Slovenia
Another short day on the bikes as we leave Croatia behind and head into Slovenia. I really had no idea what to expect in Slovenia so my mind had filled in the gaps with an impoverished Soviet State ransacked by war. It was a surprise to find verdant green hills with well kept farms and tidy little towns. It actually reminded me of my homeland of southern Scotland in terms of the rolling farmlands with the exception the towns were probably in better condition!
We were making great time and would have reached our destination just after lunch so we made a spur of the moment decision to visit the Postojna Caves after seeing a sign for them. The first iteration of our trip plans had us visiting the Skocjanske Caves which look like something from Lord of the Rings, but we ended up giving them a miss. While they are supposed to be more impressive than Postojna they are more protected and you are not allowed to take photos or videos. Postojna on the other hand has a train running through it to save you walking too much so very different mentality. This spur of the moment decision ended up taking much longer than we anticipated, something like 3 to 4 hours, but it was definitely worth it.
Suitably impressed, we eventually got back on the road and headed towards tourist central of Lake Bled.
While Lake Bled has a reputation for being overrun by tourists, there is a reason for that. It is one of the most beautiful places I've ever been and honestly, there wasn't that many people there and I was there in July.
Our digs for tonight is actually the Old Parish House, which you can see to the left of the church in the above picture. Another great find by Daphne and highly recommended as comfortable, clean and not too pricey.
DAY 9 : Bled, Slovenia to Campitello, Italy
We left the tourist town of Bled behind and started making our way into Triglav National Park. Taking a quiet back road we avoided any traffic and started getting a glimpse of what was to come.
The further we went, the more spectacular the views.
We were making our way over Vršič Pass which is the main route through the park. It has tight cobblestone hairpin corners on the eastern side with a steep climb. Unfortunately we were quickly learning this was a popular destination for locals on a sunny Saturday afternoon and we encountered what was probably the worst traffic of the entire trip. At the very top there was actually a traffic jam as parked cars had made the road very narrow and the traffic couldn't get past each other. As beautiful as it was I was glad to leave it behind and get off the mountain.
We then proceeded along valley floors looking at the towering mountains above us as we made our way towards Mangart, another large mountain that has a dead end road leading to the top. You had to pay to enter and the only destination is the mountain itself so I was hoping for less traffic. Thankfully it wasn't too bad as it seemed everyone got there long before us and were already parked at the top. This was a much better ride than Vršič. More dramatic views where it seemed like you could see forever. Recommend this one if you are in the area.
One of the many tunnels on the climb
We made our way back down and then we were soon back in Italy heading west along valleys that will not feature in any guide books for this area but would be considered outstanding almost anywhere else. Along the way we saw this huge lump of rock which for some reason impressed me. The picture doesn't really give a sense of scale but it was enormous.
Where I can now walk on water!
Local residents of the farm making me feel at home 🙂
Tomorrow, on to the Dolomites!!
DAY 10 : Campitello, Italy to Lienz, Austria
Out of all the wonderful places we got to visit on this trip, today was the day I was most looking forward to.
The Dolomites.
The forecast was for afternoon thunderstorms so we skipped breakfast and hit the road early in an effort to squeeze as much in before the weather turned. Walking out the b'n'b we were greeted by this sight
Before we could go anywhere though, I had to break free of the attentions of the farmhouse cat.
We were doing a large loop of the Dolomites, hitting some of the major passes in the area.
Note the cable car on top of the left most mountain in the above pictures.
The Dolomites were everything I'd hoped for and more. I would gladly have spent another week there as it seemed every road was a motorcyclists dream. Sadly time was marching on and we made our way back into Austria via Passo Stalle. I knew this pass had a timed gate that's only open for 15 minutes out of a hour. As luck would have it we got there about 5 minutes after it closed so we had a 40 minute wait in the rain for the next opening.
Then we were back where it all began, in Austria. This was a sad border crossing as it meant the trip was nearing the end. One more night on the road though and this night we were in Leinz. We had a bit of trouble finding the place as it turned out it was above a tourist trinket shop and the landlord was the shopkeeper. Walking through that shop carrying helmet and bags trying not to send the displays flying was as much an adventure as anything we'd done yet. I was silently cursing Daphne wondering what the hell kind of place she'd booked for us here. Then I got to see the place.
Sadly I didn't take any more pictures of the place but it was huge and very well appointed. Probably the best stay of the trip. Then it was off for a walk around town.
Only one more day to go but it promised to be a good one. Tomorrow we cross over Großglockner.
DAY 11 : Lienz to Innsbruck, Austria
Breakfast options were limited around our accomodation and we chose getting on the road sooner over lingering around. This was a great choice as for the first hour or so it felt we were on the only ones on the road. We were heading north towards Großglockner which we knew to be a tourist attraction so the solitude of this first hour was completely unexpected. For me it was one of those zen like moments where you are at one with the bike and your surroundings and you remember why exactly you spend so much money to do this.
Soon we left the foothills behind and started climbing. And climbing. At 8,400 ft it is Austria's highest road. It is also the 2nd busiest tourist attraction with 270,000 vehicles annually but for now at least, we still had it almost to ourselves. We hung a left along the Glacier Road where we got to see the mountain itself.
I had actually hoped to spend our last night on the road up here. I thought that would have been a fitting way to end the trip, but logistically it didn't work out. Still kind of wish I'd managed that though.
And so ended the trip. No accidents, no crashes, not even a puncture. Plenty of wrong turns but the best moto trip I've done yet by quite some distance. All that was left now was to fly home where we got one last look at the Alps.
