The last days i had been following the slovenian part of the trans balkan race route, then thought i can’t go through croatia without going to the coast at all. Took a very cool route through the forest to the sea, thought i’d check in on a campsite and spend half a day on the beach. Quickly found out again that i just don’t like it, too many people, most expensive campsite i’ve ever been on (27 €). Immediately looked forward to going up inland again.

So yesterday i cycled the whole day on a stretch of what i believe to be a popular Eurovelo route (EV8 mediterranean route). It’s high season. I have not met a single tourer on it. Incredible. I met one roadie earlier in the day, still down by the coast. I can only assume that people avoid this part due to the climbing and do the island hopping instead? The grades are really fine though, you could also do this part in two days, one climb a day, and have a similar camp both days. You’d need to check your supplies though, i misjudged it and had to descend a fair bit in between to get food and water.

Usually i’m not the biggest fan of ev routes, but this part (from somewhere south of Rijeka, going south) looked promising, riding along the mountain side with views on the croatian islands, and it really delivered. Once you leave the coast, the route was absolutely calm. Kind of strange for such a scenic road. Like i could count the cars i encountered on one hand, one motor bike. Seems like everybody’s here solely for the beaches.

  • @[email protected]English
    2•1 year ago

    Wow, that sounds like a hidden gem. One for my bucket list, thanks! I haven’t been on any EV stretch before, can you tell me why you don’t like them usually?

    • @AchtungDrempelsOPMEnglish
      1•1 year ago

      You probably have been on some ev stretches along the portuguese coast.

      I am probably being too broad with dismissing of ev, like the norway route, some switzerland stuff and others are probably cool. What i think about when i hear ev though are generally the big river routes, rhine, rhone, danube etc. They are just not all that interesting to me, too flat, too many people, too many pensioners on ebikes. Nothing against pensioners and ebikes. Just not what i look for on my tours.

      The really good part on ev8. The road around the top of the second climb, around the 1000m mark, is relatively coarse gravel for some km, everything was ridable with 38mm tires though.

      • @[email protected]English
        1•1 year ago

        now that you’ve shown me the map I can definitely see I have read in some EV routes. Part of EV8 in southern France (road bike), part of the EV1 in Portugal, and part of EV6 in Austria. The latter was really boring, hot and uneventful with the Danube on the left.

        Is wild camping allowed in Croatia, or is it just so empty that it isn’t a problem?

        I agree, nothing against pensioners with E bikes, but they should definitely wear helmets!

        • @AchtungDrempelsOPMEnglish
          2•1 year ago

          No, wild camping is not allowed in croatia.*

          I was camping right next to the gravel road, basically the whole second climb i did not see a single soul other than some people by their house on the way up. But when i set up my tent, a farmer passed by with his tractor, twice, he was just waving at me. Nobody else passed that road this night and morning. There are more secluded spots too, i just didn’t think it was necessary, the farmer was a bit of a surprise tbh.

          *i would have had to continue for like 50 km to the next campsite, or roll all the way back down to the coast which was not an option.