Aylesbury to Croatia and back, 3,100 miles in 11 days

[Scott_rider]

Aylesbury to Croatia and back, 3,100 miles in 11 days.

The bikes were my Honda CBF1000A, two BMW GS1200LC, and a Ducati Multistrada 1260S.

Day 1 Aylesbury to Luxembourg, Esch-sur- Sure – 400 miles
A bit of a ball ache day as we had to put in some proper mileage to get to the good roads. It was 120 miles from Aylesbury to the Folkestone Eurotunnel terminal on the M25 and M20 and then a 280 miles stretch through northern France and industrial Belgium, which isn’t pretty, down to fairy tale Luxembourg.


Day 2 Luxembourg to Germany, Ulm – 300 miles
Into the journey properly now with fast sweeping roads everywhere. Luxembourg City was small and grid-locked but it was well worth seeing although it delayed us by 2 hours. We then got nicked for speeding with a 50 euro fine.


Day 3 Germany to Austria, Lienz -250 miles
Germany was super clean with lovely roads around every corner. We crossed the Rhine somewhere on a ferry. The Austrian town of Lienz was set in an Alpine Valley with the mountains in the background and a great place to spend the evening. Awesome roads and hardly anyone around.



Day 4 Austria to Slovenia, Ljublijana – 275 miles
Slovenia wasn’t what I was expecting. Sure, there were remnants of the old communist era everywhere but also some lovely villages. It reminded me of Italy but without all the manic activity and frenzy. Awesome roads again and Ljublijana, the capital of Slovenia, is very pretty. As were the women! We also rode the Grossglockner high alpine pass.








Day 5 Slovenia to Croatia, Split – 280 miles
We went inland in Croatia and skirted in an out of the Bosnian border. Bosnia was as you’d probably guess, very rural with only the occasional café and hardly any petrol stations. In some of the villages we saw bullet holes in the walls and virtually 50% of the houses are derelict or un-inhabited. The people were very hospitable but it’s not a place I’d rush back to.




Day 6 Split – 0 miles
Split was a mixture of communist tower blocks and an old Roman city, it was a lovely place to visit as it’s very laid back with plenty of things to do and ideal for a mid-tour stop over. I’ll be going back.


Day 7 Croatia to Slovenia, Portoroz – 310 miles
Mile after mile after miles of absolutely fantastic roads along the Dalmatian coast. It really was a superb day’s riding and Croatia doesn’t appear to have been overly commercialised yet which was really nice.





Day 8 Slovenia to Germany, Ettal – 280 miles
In and out of Austria enroute across the picturesque mountains and valleys. My bike broke down in Innsbruck (which I’ve reported elsewhere on the forum) so I completed the rest of the trip in an Astra!




Day 9 Germany to France, Munster – 370 miles
Day 10 France to France, Givet – 225 miles
Day 11 France to UK, Aylesbury – 330 miles

It was a fantastic trip, despite the last 3 days!

[Silverdart]

Outstanding travelogue and pictures. Thanks for sharing!

[Ianrobbo1]

Looks great, did you book the hotels in advance or just turn up ??

[Scott_rider]

Originally Posted by Ianrobbo1

Looks great, did you book the hotels in advance or just turn up ??

We booked in advance so we had a destination and a bed for each night.
That worked well apart from when we got to Ulm in Germany a bit late at 10pm and couldn’t find the hotel! Eventually we stumbled on it, completely knackered (us not the hotel)

[J-man]

Nice travel report 

[Piper]

Great pics and report

[Sunset Rider]

Thank you for the brief succinct report of your trip. It is unfortunate that you could not have completed the trip as you would have hoped and no doubt thoroughly enjoyed.
 
I do enjoy my trips across Europe and last year including Scandinavian, Russia and other Eastern European countries. Unfortunately for me, it has not been possible to make the annual trek which would have mirrored to a large extent your recent trip.
I am now hooping to make this trip possibly in May/June 2019. The info and route you have provided here is very valuable in helping me map out my hopeful next year adventure.

Would it be possible for you to give and average/estimate of your accommodation cost across the different countries especially where you may have been using Air B&B and the likes?

I have never been to Croatia, Slovenia, Austria or Switzerland......so have no idea of accommodation cost at this early stage of planning. I would imagine Switzerland and Austria being much on par with France and Germany....but as for the others...dont know.

[Scott_rider]

Happy to share the accommodation costs and hotels as follows; all prices were for a twin room for 2, except where it says.
 

DAY 1
Gourmet & Relax Hotel De La Sure  4-star hotel
Rue du Pont 1, 9650 Esch-sur-Sūre, Luxembourg
115 Euro

Parking in garage
 
DAY 2
B&B Hotel Ulm
Ehinger Str. 11
89077 Ulm
Germany
77 Euro

Underground car park
 
DAY 3
Hotel Sonne Lienz
Südtiroler Platz 8
9900 Lienz
Austria
4 x single rooms
71 euros each person

Underground garage
 
DAY 4  16th
City Hotel Ljubljana
Dalmatinova Street 15
1000 Ljubljana
Slovenia
146 Euros

Underground garage
 
 
DAY 5&6  17th and 18th
Dioklecijan Hotel & Residence
Kranjčevićeva 45, Split, 21000, Croatia

192 Euro per room per night

Underground car park
 
DAY 7  19th
Remisens Hotel Lucija
Obala 77
6320 Portoro˛
Slovenia
96 Euros
 
DAY 8  20th
Gasthof Blaue Gams
Vogelherdweg 12
Ettal, 82488, Germany
101 Euros

Parking garage
 
DAY 9 21st
Hotel Verte Vallée
10, rue Alfred Hartmann
68140 Munster
France
100 Euros

Safe parking on site with possibility of garage

Day 10 22nd
Hotel Val Saint Hilaire 
7, quai des Fours, Givet, 08600, France

81 euros

Secure parking

Hope that helps 

[kimbo8]

Cheers Scott,

Great update, given me some good ideas for my next trip through the Balkans.