My Northern Wish – the story about Garland’s short, but memorable Montenegro cycling adventure
The following story about Garland’s Montenegro cycling adventure is long, probably the longest so far – although it describes the cycling adventure in ‘only’ one of the eight Trans Dinarica countries. But it is interesting because it also describes the complicated logistics before the adventure (he was flying from Canada), and because it is another unique combination of cycling with a friend in the mountains of Montenegro and their partners swimming holiday on the Adriatic coast. Dear reader, we wish you a pleasant read, while Garland, thank you for the funny and informative story. And, of course, welcome back to continue with the next country in the Balkans!
Friends, beautiful nature and good food – a simple recipe for the ultimate adventure.
My Northern Wish
(I wish in May, I wish I might, explore the Balkans on my bike)
A short but memorable Montenegro adventure
Adventure cycling in the Balkans had been on my dream list for a while, after somehow stumbling onto an early email list of an organization called the Trans Dinarica, a group that was planning cycling routes through much of the Western Balkans. It wasn’t even officially a website yet, just an idea taking shape, but the regular emails I received in 2023/24 were very exciting. The challenge was that it was a long way to travel from Canada for a bike ride and the dream seemed like so much wishful thinking …
Swimming for ladies, cycling for gentlemen
Then, by shear coincidence it turned out my wife Kelly and her friend Jenaya had been brainstorming an event for Jenaya’s 50th birthday and, both being very accomplished swimmers, they had landed on an adventure swim holiday in … Montenegro! What?! That can’t be a coincidence, and a quick check of my email confirmed that the Trans Dinarica website was officially up and running, with routes and information of all kinds. Hooray! I begged my wife to tag on to the basic travel itinerary but would make my own plan for adventure while they swim explored the Adriatic (yes, swim vacations like this are a thing).
I also wanted a partner to share the cycling adventure. Hey Trevor, yes you Jenaya’s husband, I’m sending you a website and some GPX files for a place we really need to ride. Interested?
Fast forward to May 2025, almost a year later, and all four of us were landing in Dubrovnik, Croatia. We had one day there together, then everyone crossed into Montenegro for the two separate adventure trips. For Trevor and I, the plan revolved very simply around riding the route recommended by Trans Dinarica that crosses Montenegro from the border of Bosnia to the border of Albania largely following the path of the Tara river, passing through a number of national parks and UNESCO sites along the way. The description and information on the site were breathtaking. Total distance of 230 km and total elevation 6.421 m. We had seven days to get to our start point in Sćepan Polje, adventure ride and site see, and finish in Gusinje. Then make our way back to Cavtat on the coast to meet our spouses. Shouldn’t be a problem, right?
It turns out that the mountainous terrain is similar to that back home in the Rocky Mountains.
The logistics: shipping a bicycle by plane can be challenging
Flights we booked well in advance, taking Westjet from Canada and connecting with Croatia airlines in Paris. Given our double adventure plan we enlisted a travel agent to make sure no details were overlooked, but somehow even with multiple checks and balances we showed up at the Croatia airlines kiosk at Charles de Gaulle airport only to discover we didn’t have a flight. We had a return flight booked, but our flight to Dubrovnik had been changed somewhere along the way (months back), and we had been refunded our money. It had happened under the radar, and no flight had been booked to replace it. Good grief, we hadn’t even started our trip yet! A couple of tense hours later with the help of very kind staff at check-in we were on the flight we needed, bikes and all. Phew.
Bringing bikes on flights is always a bit challenging. I had already paid for one checked bag on all my flights, and I had no luggage other than my packed-up bike and a simple carry-on bag. Whether I paid extra fees on top of the fee already paid depended on the airline and the staff. I was let through once without an extra fee, but otherwise I paid for checked luggage (i.e. my bike) and then once they understood my compact organized bag was a bike, I was asked to pay a second ‘special handling’ or ‘oversized luggage’ fee (ranging from $50 to $100 Canadian dollars), despite my bike being already paid for as checked luggage. I used a Thule round trip bike bag, which is very contained and easy to handle and maneuver, so is not very different from anyone else’s luggage or large suitcase, but airlines have their own guidelines for what are considered oversize bags, and are not very open to discussion around this, so just expect to pay extra bike handling fees.
The ladies stayed by the Adriatic Sea coast and enjoyed swimming.
Keeping it light – we left the camping gear at home
I have considerable experience on multi day adventures on bikes, but this would be the first trip of this style for Trevor. Also, bringing a stove and then finding cooking fuel once we landed was an unknown. We decided to simplify and keep it light and rather than camp and cook I would book local accommodations for the end of each day and we would explore each community and immerse ourselves in culture and food. I took a deep dive into the Trans Dinarica information I had downloaded and spent hours locating possible cost-effective places to stay at each stop. I had to tap into our travel agent again to help contact some of the more obscure spots, as the time difference and actually establishing contact (and paying) for each booking was tricky. But everything fell into place, and our stops ranged from very simple A-frame huts (Eco Selo Durmitor) in Trsa Park Prirode, to quite fancy but affordable boutique hotel Casa di Pino in Žabljak, Durmitor National Park, along with one Vrbo apartment, and a stay at Etno Selo Štavna near the border of Albania. We booked an extra night at Etno Selo Štavna so we could take a day and explore a bit of the Accursed Mountains that make up the Albanian/Dinarica Alps range. Costs ranged from $50 to $195 Canadian, with some of the facilities requiring a small tourist fee when we arrived. Eco Selo Durmitor requested I pay by money order in advance, which was a bit curious and which I eventually managed to sort out after a bit of confusion around banking in the Balkans. Then when we arrived the staff insisted I had been scammed because money order payments are not a thing and I had not paid anyone that they knew, therefore my booking was not valid. Fortunately, the owner arrived at the perfect time and of course we had paid, yes it was all arranged and everything was great! Another phew moment, but it was never totally clear why he had us send him a money order.
A magnificent scene in Durmitor, Montenegro.
An even bigger challenge: finding transportation to a neighboring country
So, with all that arranged, the final piece of the puzzle was getting dropped off at Sćepan Polje (ride start) and then getting back to the coast from Gusinje (ride end), where we would re-group with Kelly and Jenaya. When planning the trip, I had left this to the last, assuming it would not be too difficult to get around the Balkans. I may have been led into a false sense of ease after all my time spent researching on the Trans Dinarica website and reading the stories of various trips and adventures. Buses, trains and transport seemed readily available as needed. Also, I had spent considerable time researching Montenegrin maps and landscape and could see reasonably direct road routes to the start and end of our trip. In reality, buses and trains are not an option, and my initial attempts to find a shuttle turned up quite expensive quotes. Eeek, this could be a game changer. I sent out many emails trying to come up with an option, and very fortunately connected with Luka of Transfers Montenegro, who arranged both our shuttle trips and stored our bike bags. There were strict rules to crossing borders, which made some of my presumed driving routes not possible, and roads take very circuitous pathways given the mountainous terrain. Any parts of Montenegro we didn’t see by bike, we saw during our shuttle tour with our driver Marko, as he zigged and zagged all over the country to get us to our start and return us after. He admitted he had never been to Gusinje before, so our trip provided him some new adventures also.
The Trip proper: each section was unique
Now for the trip, so amazing it’s hard to decide what to write about. Our ride was May 24th to May 30th, springtime in the Balkans. We hit a window of weather that was considered unseasonably cool by local standards. Daytime highs were 15-18 degrees, with nighttime lows of 6-8 degrees. For us, these temperatures seemed reasonable, and very nice for ride days with simple layers. We weren’t camping and let’s be honest, I’m from the Canadian Rockies and it’s June 22 when I am writing this, only 4 weeks since our trip, and it snowed yesterday in the mountains, so a 15-degree daytime high was great for riding.
Each section we rode was unique and very memorable. The ecology had lots of similarities to the Rockies, very familiar seeming alpine scrub and flowers. Bears, wolves, all inhabit the mountain chain, along with wild pigs (never saw one, would have been cool – from a distance). All the sections of river we rode next to were crystal clear and full of fish, and a return visit would definitely include a fly-fishing trip with a local guide.
Both Park Prirode and Durmitor National park were breathtaking. On the high pass just before entering Durmitor we felt a few snow pellets hit us in the face, so we stopped at a small stone hut where a weathered chain-smoking local brewed us a thick Turkish coffee to keep us warm and kick us into high gear. We (ok maybe mostly me) loved the climbs taking us into high mountain terrain, followed by ripping fast descents that had us both shouting with joy. The Durmitor park pass (which we bought from park staff at a viewpoint along the way), also came in handy for visiting Crno jezero (Black lake), a protected glacial lake near Žabljak. The alpine gravel section on the way to Kolašin was a highlight for me (photo below), with slightly more technical riding and taking us past a large stone monastery cemetery, what might have been a medieval stone water storage basin (apparently the name Durmitor is thought to come from the Celtic words “dru mi tore” meaning “water under the stone”), and livestock all spread along this sparse plateau, followed by a hairpin gravel descent down to Kolašin. Very exciting, and Trevor’s jacket ended up being shredded when it was pulled from his seat bag bungie strap into his rear cassette by accident on the descent. Thankfully Trevor stayed upright and was not also shredded. Lesson learned – Secure. Your. Gear.
After a demanding climb, there is a romantic macadam stage towards Kolašin.
We never went hungry. Cevapcici quickly became a favorite, as did Burek. We were also fueled by lots of Turkish coffee.
Finally, of course, the people along the way solidify the experience. Eco Selo Štavna deserves a special mention. It was early season, and we were the only campers staying there. Igor took us in and made sure we were well looked after, welcoming us with Rakija (damn, there was the fuel I could have used for my stove!), stoking up the small fire in our cabin, and feeding us large portions and leftovers. Being right next to the Accursed Alps, we stayed an extra day to hike up one of the nearby mountains and took a nap (ok, two) in the meadow. A haven of peace and tranquility! Which was put to the test the next morning, when we descended the Teflon slick mud road to Gusinje in a downpour. Two large pizzas and beer in Gusinje never tasted so good!
Our shuttle back to Cavtat, Croatia took us past some other major landmarks, such as the Ostrag-Orthodox Monastery carved into the mountain side. And this amazing experience was then wrapped up with two final days with Kelly and Jenaya, sharing great meals and stories, before heading home. All in all, our Montenegro adventure wish was fulfilled and more!
Most Trans Dinarica travelers are happy to choose to carry as little luggage as possible.
Final Note – Essential Gear
As in other posts, we rode gravel/adventure style bikes, with frame, bar and seat bags, and carried all the compact fundamentals needed for a 7-day ride. We did not bring a tent or cooking gear, as we had booked accommodations. We were otherwise self-sufficient each day. For international travellers, there were a few items that were invaluable.
- Along with the standard small repair and patch kit, I brought a compact rechargeable bike pump and a tiny pressure gauge. Re-setting tire pressures after a flight was a cinch, taking mere minutes.
- For communication, I shut off my standard phone plan to avoid excessive roaming charges. Instead, I purchased an international e-sim card from Airalo for $25 Canadian, and turned it on when needed for texting using WhatsApp. There was also wi-fi access at each of our accommodations.
- Credit cards were accepted almost everywhere, however I did carry euros as a couple of my accommodations requested cash payment on arrival, and cash was useful for incidentals.
The Trans Dinarica website and route information packages were invaluable. Our route took us off major highways and high traffic routes, and kept us almost entirely on more remote roads and pathways. I would never have been able to put this route together without their beta. Thanks so much TD.
