From the Ligurian Sea to the Adriatic coastline, which is mainly covered by a rocky, boldly shaped territory, and is well-known for its crystal clear sea water, and hundreds of islands.
We’re about to do some island-and-border-hopping starting off in Dubrovnik, rightfully nicknamed ‘the pearl of the Adriatic’, and probably most famous for its ‘role’ as King’s Landing in Game Of Thrones.
In the spectacular old city, you can revisit the Blackwater Battle, visit the so-called ‘House of the Undying’, and even recreate your own enthralling season finale. We’ll if you’re REALLY into GOT, that is.
But even better, it forms a perfect starting point for the last motorcycle trip in this series, as it takes us for 53 kilometers along the Adriatic coastline, splitting away from the main D8-road, avoiding the rather busy border-crossing near Plocice, and instead spoiling you with magnificent seaside views and ensuring a more enjoyable border-crossing at the desert border post of Njivice.
A short ride later, around the bay of Kotor, the challenging hillclimb from Kotor to Cetinje awaits.
The road kicks off along one of Montenegro's most beautiful bays - Boka Bay - in the colourful city of Kotor.
The Old City of Kotor is a well preserved urbanization typical of the Middle Ages, built between the 12th and 14th century.
But be wary of the fact that this road is not for novices, nor for sissies, as there is little to no room for error.
As motorcycling is all about ‘going where you’re looking’, do yourself a favor and try not to peek over their edge: there’s only a mind boggling vertical drop of hundreds of meters awaiting…
The most seductive part of the road is a merely 8 kilometer long stretch, which consists of 16 hairpin turns, called the Kotor Serpentine.
What’s in a name. The narrow one-lane road, slithers its way up the seaside mountain, offering stunning views over Kotor bay from above.
Be careful though: the road itself is in dreadful condition and requires strong nerves to negotiate it.
After a quick stop in Cetinje, and a short stroll along the P15, you’re up for another bit of border hopping, as the Montenegrin-Serbian border awaits: in Stedim, we’ll leave the P15 and turn west for the M6, which’ll take us all the way across the border towards Serbia at Niksic, splendidly through Bosnia and Herzegovina via Trebinje, and back to Croatia via Ivanica. Instead of heading back to Dubrovnik, we’ve opted to cross the Adriatic via a few short boat rides.
The first one will take us from Prapratno towards Sobra on the Isle of Mljet, an isle that is natural reserve in the northern part, but will surprise you with a wonderful little piece of paradise in the south as well.
Great to enjoy one of the numerous beaches, as well as a ride on the magnificent 120 - which crosses the island from north to south.
As there’s only one road and one port on the island, we’ll return via Sobra to Prapratno, and continue our trip on the adjoining peninsula.
The truly marvellous 414 stretches from Ston to Loviste, and is curlier than your average plate of spirelli - so we guess you won’t mind to retake a bit of this road to get to the ferry in Trpanj.
That one - the last one of the day, we promise! - will carry you over to Ploce, where our last stretch of tarmac heading for Split awaits: the stunning 512 from Ravca to Makarska.
After a ride through some average mountains, you’ll arrive at a right hander and suddenly realise that your not even two kilometers away from the sea, but still at a height of about 800 meters. Needless to say the seaside views from this point on are nothing but ravishing.
Roughly 30 kilometers which will end too soon. So why not make a U-turn and start over?
Download the GPX of our weekend ride on the adriatic coast