Croatia - Part 1
By Deborah - What can you say about Croatia??? It’s very pretty 😍. It was a downhill bike ride from the border patrol which is always a beautiful way to start a country. It was even more downhill to the small coastal town we chose to have lunch -ok that part scared me a little - it was getting into 35 degrees so biking back up after lunch was maybe an occasion I might have sworn about. Cavtat, a little coastal town is pretty stunning and filled with busloads of ‘Brits on Tour’! I have never seen so many people with lemonade ice block coloured legs in my life. So yep sunglasses on. The good news was the brilliant little path along the coast that after a wee steep climb joined back to that ‘main road’. The ‘ main road’ was becoming an entity in our life - something you had to face before you could carry on with the next part of your day. It’s not bikefriendly, there’s no shoulders on the road - so you can’t move anywhere if they’re too close and it’s a lotto draw as to whether the car driver is naughty or nice! So despite absolutely loving the place and the pace (biking mornings, swimming afternoons) we left Croatia after Dubrovnik and headed for Bosnia. So only a few days sweating and swimming in this little piece of heaven ❤️ - . 
Entering Croatia from Montenegro - back into the EU. We used the main road from Igalo (M1) to cross the border because the alternative on the less busy D516 around the peninsula was closed. It’s a busy crossing so expect to wait for a bit.
Biking into the old city of Dubrovnik I felt like a complete alien! A bit dusty from the road and gobsmacked by how beautiful and HUGE it is. And then all the nicely dressed tourists ordering their macchiatos on the terraces.. how to feel like a 5 year old 🤪
The bridge you need to pass when you leave Dubrovnik. Unfortunately another great example why these “Main Road” parts of the Euro Velo 8 route are not great for biking; there is no shoulder on the main road for bikes and interestingly enough the footpath we chose to use instead curves away at the end and simple ends in a 2 meter drop of the pavement. The only way for pedestrians and bikes to continue the journey is to once again climb over the road barrier back onto the road. Honestly I can’t understand how the planners, architects and builders of such a large infrastructure investment in this day and age can have such a an old train track big disregard for pedestrians and cyclists - let alone those people with physical disabilities who are not able to climb car barriers!
Entering Croatia from Montenegro - back into the EU. We used the main road from Igalo (M1) to cross the border because the alternative on the less busy D516 around the peninsula was closed. It’s a busy crossing so expect to wait for a bit.
A modest fishing village with a few multi million dollar visitors 🤪
A free fish spa while I ate lunch. A lady came up to me and this point and said “do you speak English? Why is this water SO clean??” I actually was shocked and didn’t know what to say... what’s she used to? So I said “No I don’t speak English” 🤣
The “gift” flat ride out of Cavtat around the small peninsula after the long downhill to the bay
The fresh water springs leading into the sea - so cold it makes you shudder to swim in! The tree above is 200 years old. Although the scene looks ordinary a lot of time went into making it beautiful
Another escape from the “main road” we had to lift our bikes over a barrier and hoped like hell we wouldn’t encounter some good reason there was a barrier and have to bike back uphill but WOW it was beautiful and completely safe and amazing
The old road leading into Dubrovnik from the south. It’s formally part of the Euro Velo 8 so a shame they didn’t bother to put a gap for bikes in the road barrier of the new road. That’s why we missed the turnoff in the first instance. Glad we back tracked a little when we noticed and lifted our bikes over the barrier. This is an awesome cycle trail.
Probably my favourite photo so far.. haha I’m so not a tourist
Entering Dubrovnik with its sheltered harbours.
The sea walls were used in Game of Thrones but I’ve never watched it so couldn’t see the angles. The city is a major European city - it’s got all the frills and is incredible
The old road leading into Dubrovnik from the south. It’s formally part of the Euro Velo 8 so a shame they didn’t bother to put a gap for bikes in the road barrier of the new road. That’s why we missed the turnoff in the first instance. Glad we back tracked a little when we noticed and lifted our bikes over the barrier. This is an awesome cycle trail.
Probably my favourite photo so far.. haha I’m so not a tourist
Entering Dubrovnik with its sheltered harbours.
The sea walls were used in Game of Thrones but I’ve never watched it so couldn’t see the angles. The city is a major European city - it’s got all the frills and is incredible
Biking into the old city of Dubrovnik I felt like a complete alien! A bit dusty from the road and gobsmacked by how beautiful and HUGE it is. And then all the nicely dressed tourists ordering their macchiatos on the terraces.. how to feel like a 5 year old 🤪
The bridge you need to pass when you leave Dubrovnik. Unfortunately another great example why these “Main Road” parts of the Euro Velo 8 route are not great for biking; there is no shoulder on the main road for bikes and interestingly enough the footpath we chose to use instead curves away at the end and simple ends in a 2 meter drop of the pavement. The only way for pedestrians and bikes to continue the journey is to once again climb over the road barrier back onto the road. Honestly I can’t understand how the planners, architects and builders of such a large infrastructure investment in this day and age can have such a an old train track big disregard for pedestrians and cyclists - let alone those people with physical disabilities who are not able to climb car barriers!
As I said, we decided to leave this main road madness for a little while and head inland on the Ciro cycle track which is based on an old train track that runs from Dubrovnik to Mostar. We will return to the Croatian coast later when we visit Split.
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