Adriatic Tour

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Endless curves and the crystal clear Mediterranean Sea are the highlights on this Adriatic Rollercoaster tour. Starting in Klagenfurt, Austria, at the border to Slovenia, our ride takes us through Slovenia, the Karawanks and the Julian Alps, where we get an idea of what this tour will be like; motorcycling at its best, combined with a Mediterranean flair. Motovun, a beautiful town in Istria, will be our base for the next two days, where we will discover the beautiful Croatian coastline. From Motovun, we head to the northern Balkans to one of the highlights of this tour, the World Heritage Site Plitvice Lakes.

With its amazing lakes and waterfalls, this park alone is worth a visit, as it is located in one of the most impressive motorcycling regions of Europe! On the last two riding days, we’ll make our way back through the mountains of Croatia and Slovenia with countless sweepers, beautiful valleys and breath-taking scenery.

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DAY 1.  Welcome to Austria!

Upon arrival in Klagenfurt, meet at the designated hotel for check-in. Spend your free time relaxing or exploring the City before our safety briefing.

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DAY 2.  Klagenfurt - Motovun (Montona)

Klagenfurt, Austria's southernmost provincial capital, is only a stone's throw from the Slovenian border. After our first morning briefing, we go there, without further ado, ride up to Loiblpass and down the other side, into Slovenia. Coming down, the scenery doesn't change much, only the language on the road signs looks strange and utterly unpronounceable (try this one for a start: "Žvrgolišče" Slovenian for rattlesnake)

We reach the wide valley of the Sava River and cross it, along with the A-2, the busy motorway that connects Slovenia, Croatia, and the Balkans to Germany and northern Europe. Of course, we leave it alone and continue along small, secondary roads until we reach Postojna. This little town is home to one of the largest and most beautiful karst cave systems in the world. This is a tourist hotspot, it can get busy, but we shouldn't miss it. You can ride through it on a little train, how cool is that?

Less than two hours later we reach the border to Croatia, Europe's latest addition to the Schengen zone. One more little coffee break and we are soon to arrive in Motovun, our destination today and home for two nights.

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DAY 3.  Motovun (Montona)

In theory, you could spend this day off your bike and go swimming or hiking, buy gifts, or just hang around the pretty little town of Motovun. But since this is an Extreme tour we wouldn't expect you to spend the day off the bike, we're quite sure you want to ride.

Our rest day ride combines beautiful, twisty roads and beautiful coastal scenery.

It takes us to the islands of Cres and Krk, two of the 1,200 or so islands along the Croatian coast. They are the largest islands in the Adriatic Sea, almost exactly the same in size (405 km²), but very different in shape. Krk counts about 6 1/2 times more inhabitants and receives more tourists by far, mostly due to the proximity to

the coast and the bridge that connects it to the mainland. In order to get to Cres you need a ferry.

That's exactly what we are going to do. After about an hour of riding, we grab the ferry and sail to our first island within 20 minutes. The cozy port of the island's capital, also named Cres, is worth a stop, we have coffee here or even lunch, depending on what time we left in the morning. Then, another ferry ride, this time 25 minutes long, takes us to Krk. Some tiny, twisty roads are waiting for us here as well as another pretty little old town that shares its name with the island, they are both named Krk. In order to leave the island on the other side, we can take the Krk Bridge, built in 1980 and originally named Tito's Bridge.

Once back on the mainland you could ride back to Motovun within an hour and a half, on the motorway, but not if you follow the small, curvy roads we like so much. We find them in the outback, they take us around the city of Rijeka and past (or to, if you'd like to go and see it) the pretty seaside town of Opatija until we reach the Istrian peninsula again. The lovely town of Motovun will welcome you back with open arms and numerous cozy bars and cafés where you can sit, sip some Croatian wine and enjoy that special Mediterranean atmosphere.

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DAY 4.  Motovun (Montona) - Plitvicka Jezera

Today we have to say goodbye to the beautiful coast of Croatia, but not without riding along its most spectacular stretch. The Velebit, a limestone mountain range, rises straight from the sea and creates a dramatic coastline of rugged cliffs and picturesque fishing villages, connected by a stunner of a road. The "Jadranska

Magistrala" follows the Adriatic coast from Slovenia all the way to Montenegro, measures over 1,000 km in length, and is one of the world's most beautiful coastal roads. We follow it from Novi Vinodolski ("New Wine Valley") all the way to Karlobag, where we turn left, into the Velebit mountain range.

Past Gospic we reach Korenica, fill the tanks of our bikes, and ride for another couple of minutes until we arrive in Plitvice National Park.

With more than one million visitors per year, Plitvice is Croatia's most popular national park and the number one tourist attraction in the hinterland.

Fortunately, most visitors come here in July and August whereas we are here during the shoulder season. In winter, the place is empty. In Plitvice, land and lakes interlock in a unique way, there are karstic springs, beautiful waterfalls, crystal-clear ponds, and pristine forest. In Germany, Plitvice became famous in the 1960s after a series of Winnetou movies were filmed here.  We'll be here for two nights so you can get the most out of it.

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DAY 5. Plitvicka Jezera

Today's rest day provides a great opportunity to enjoy the Plitvice Lakes National Park. There are three tours to choose from: go for 2-3 hours, a half day or a full day tour through the park and enjoy its incredible natural phenomena.

You can start with a bus tour to the highest lake, hike down past a few other lakes and take a boat over yet another during your trek, to save time and energy. You can also choose to experience the park on your own. If you don't want to spend the whole day in the National Park, consider the opportunity for a half day ride to

the South or even go to Bosnia to explore the 4th country on the tour.

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DAY 6.  Plitvicka Jezera - Novo mesto

It's our last day in Croatia. We follow route 42 north-west, past Josipdol, and many other small towns and villages that were damaged during the Balkan War of the 1990s. Some of the buildings haven't been repaired yet, even 30 years later you can still see bullet holes in many walls.

As we approach Karlovac the smell of hops and malt lies in the air as Karlovac is not only a city but also a beer brand, Croatia's most popular, and the beer is made in the city, of course. There is a nice pedestrian zone and some cozy cafes and restaurants for us to have lunch in. Take a walk around, this is the last Croatian

town on this tour!

North of Karlovac is the Žumberak range, a nature park that features heavily forested hills and some really twisty roads. We follow one of them all the way to Bregana where we cross the border to Slovenia. Krka river, a tributary to the Sava, will be loosely by our side all the way to Nove mesto ("New town"), our home for the night. The city is over 650 years old and very, very pretty. Don't get here too late

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DAY 7: Novo mesto - Klagenfurt

Slovenia looks very much like the Balkans in the south, but in the north there is hardly any difference to Austria. The mountains are higher, the valleys greener than in the south, the roads just as curvy. Here, we can really put our motorcycles to the test.

We ignore Ljubljana, the capital of the country, cross the Sava and the A-1 motorway and then follow the still largely natural Savinja river upstream towards Austria. The journey takes us through the beautiful river valley, slowly we gain height and after a last coffee stop we finally climb up to the Paulitschsattel, which is the border to Carinthia. From here, weather, time and stamina permitting, we could make a detour to a wonderful mountain lake, which lies south of the border and where we can say a final farewell to Slovenia.

Afterwards we ride down to Bad Eisenkappel, conquer one last small pass and finally approach the big city of Klagenfurt, where our tour ends. Three or even four countries, thousands of curves, wonderful landscapes, it was magical and unforgettable.

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DAY 8.  Airport transfer and check-out

After breakfast, transfer to the airport. Goodbye, and safe travels home!

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IMPORTANT INFORMATION

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MINIMUM NUMBER OF PARTICIPANTS: 6

If the minimum number of participants isn’t reached, the tour may be cancelled or run with a different format.

 

WHAT IS INCLUDED:​

• All overnights (beautiful hotels with a special regional flair) during entire tour

• breakfast every day

• 5 dinners

• motorcycle rental with unlimited mileage

• third party liability insurance for motorcycles

• comprehensive vehicle insurance for motorcycles with deductible according to the booked motorcycle model

• tour information package in English or German including safety tips, details about the hotels, the route and the sights

• English and German speaking tour guide on motorcycle

• Edelweiss Riding Tips

• Optional services

• optional deductible reduction on included motorcycle insurance (Cover All / Cover Plus)

• additional rental options prior or post tour on request and availability

• This group tour is not suitable for people with limited mobility.

 

IS NOT INCLUDED:

• All services not mentioned as included and all items of a personal nature

 

TERMS OF PAYMENT:

• With the registration, at the earliest, however, eleven months before the agreed end of the tour a down payment of EUR 500.00 shall be made.

• The remaining payment shall be paid without any further request 42 days before the journey starts concurrently against delivery of the travel documents.

• In case of procured journeys, the payment conditions of the respective organiser or, respectively, service provider shall apply.

• We expressly reserves the right to cancel the booking for the traveller at his/her own expense if payment deadlines are not complied with.​

CANCELLATION POLICY:
In the event of cancellation by the traveller, the following compensation lump sums shall be laid down:

• until 60 days before the beginning of the journey EUR 200,00

• until 42 days before the beginning of the journey EUR 350,00

• until 31 days before the beginning of the journey 30 %

• from 30 days before the beginning of the journey 100 %

• No-show 100 % from the respective travel price. It is recommended taking out a travel cancellation insurance.

• A one-time rebooking at the latest 60 days before the start of the tour shall be possible free of charge.

• After having realized a rebooking, the cancellation charge amounts to at least EUR 350,00 per person.