Adriatic Islands and South Coast to Dubrovnik - Adriatic motorcycle tour

Welcome to Split, our journey starts here, in Croatia's second-largest city. Split (Spalato in Italian) is a great place to see Dalmatian life as it’s really lived. Always buzzing, this exuberant city has just the right balance between tradition and modernity. Step inside Diocletian’s Palace (a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the world’s most impressive Roman monuments) and you’ll see dozens of bars, restaurants and shops thriving amid the atmospheric old walls where Split has been humming along for thousands of years. To top it off, Split has a unique setting. Its dramatic coastal mountains act as the perfect backdrop to the turquoise waters of the Adriatic and help divert attention from the dozens of shabby high-rise apartment blocks that fill its suburbs. It's this thoroughly lived-in aspect of Split that means it will never be a fantasy land like Dubrovnik, but perhaps it's all the better for that. 

In the morning after breakfast, we will be starting our exciting Adriatic journey. Our costal adventure continues further sown south to alongside the coastal route with the view to the southern islands. Our destination today is Dubrovnik! But we have a lot to explore and enjoy along the route. One of the exciting points is in the middle of the route and it takes a ride up the mountain of Sv. Jure (St George), above Makarska. It is the top of Biokovo mountain, a paved road takes us there until we reach the glass bridge with a stunning view to the Adriatic Sea, islands and distant sea horizon (in clear weather even Italian shores are visible too). It’s a breath taking in every sense. Dare to take a walk the glass walk above the cliffs, it’s a true experience of a lifetime and a story to tell (of course, don’t worry, a beer to take afterwards is a must if you need to calm a bit the excitement). Going down off the mountain we will continue along the shore of Adriatic further down to the Neretva valley, famous agricultural area where watermelons, mandarins, strawberries are grown. This part is also famous for its pirates history, and a food like frogs and eel fish. Neretva region was, with Omiš, a great centre of pirates. Especially before 10th century. Venetians have tried for centuries to suppress the famous pirates from Neretva, but they never succeeded. At the peak of its power, in the 12th and 13th century, the Omis Pirates were the scariest and most powerful pirates in the whole Mediterranean Sea.  

The Croatian coast of the Adriatic Sea has had an advantage over the western coast because of its indented coastline. Numerous islands, bays and canals were safer routes to travel than the open sea, and such conditions have enabled the development of piracy. In the Middle Ages town was dangerous pirate stronghold on the east coast. Indented Croatian Adriatic coast favoured the development of piracy due to a number of islands, channels and bays. If we add to that the Cetina River with its monumental canyon and numerous stone cliffs, it is clear why city has become a pirate stronghold.  

After exciting day full of great rides, beautiful coastline and mountain top views, exciting historic areas we will be passing, in the evening we will be reaching one more marvel of the Mediterranean – famous city of Dubrovnik a former Dubrovnik Republic, incredible glorious historic city.   

And here we go! Our island rides are about to begin. Enjoying the morning coffee in Dubrovnik, and we will soon be hopping on our bikes and head first to Pelješac peninsula. Today is a great riding day combined with the Pelješac peninsula vineyards and views. We have planned it not to be too long in mileage but to have a relaxing ride in order to be able to enjoy the authentic places of this beautiful region combined with the visits of some of the amazing local vineries. This peninsula is famous for vineyards and we will be riding miles and miles with the view of green vineyards surrounding us and the views of the sea in an awesome curvy and nice and easy hilly landscape ride. It is a must to stop and taste a bit of wine in some of the most famous vineries. We will take it easy today before reaching Orebić and crossing by ferry to Korčula a birthplace of famous Marco Polo, enjoying the ride across the island of Korčula to Vela Luka. We will spend the night and finally we will be able to reward ourselves and enjoy the evening of this awesome wine region to the fullest.      

Today we will be exploring the beauty of Korčula and Pelješac in the morning before we cross by ferry back to the mainland and have a coastal ride north to the ferry port where we will hop on the ferry to take us to the next jewel of the Adriatic – a famous Hvar island. Hvar is famous for its sunny days (it is the islands with most sunny days all over the year). It is as well a famous party place as well as a yacht port where many of the famous celebrities come to enjoy the beauty of this island. Hvar, a Croatian island in the Adriatic Sea, is best known as a summer resort. Highlights of the port town Hvar include its 13th-century walls, a hilltop fortress and a main square anchored by the Renaissance-era Hvar Cathedral. The stone narrow streets and squares, charming corners with restaurants, walks along the coast. It all makes a truly enjoyable and special experience of this gorgeous island making it complete feeling of enjoying the spirit of the Mediterranean. 

Riding through Hvar inlands we will be taking a ferry to the coast and reaching Makarska where we will again take a ferry and in a short sail we will be on beautiful island of Brač.  It's best known for the white-pebble beach Zlatni Rat (Golden Cape), a favoured windsurfing site outside the resort town of Bol. Supetar, the island's main town, offers a horseshoe-shaped beach and ferries to and from Split. Seaside Pučišća features traditional architecture and an active quarry for the island's famous white limestone. The old Romans have known its quality and used this very stone to build cities, amphitheatres, temples, palaces and graves all over Dalmatia. The high-quality stone enabled building a number of famous constructions in Croatia too. The most significant are the Palace of Diocletian, the Cathedral of St James in Šibenik and the Cathedral of St Lawrence in Trogir which have been under World Heritage (UNESCO) protection. The White House in Washington, the Parliament House in Vienna and Budapest were built from stones originated from island Brač. We will be riding and exploring the beauty of Brač, enjoying the cuisine, rides and leisure time on this island rich cultural and historic heritage that dates back to pre-historic times, unique gastronomy, beautiful beaches and bays, crystal blue sea. We will be crossing the bay by ferry back to Split where we will spend some time to enjoy the beauty of Split, its history, culture and gastronomy. 

It is time to say goodbye to Adriatic, but only for a while as we are sure you will come back to some of our exciting Adriatic motorcycle journeys or just to enjoy your vacation under the shades and swimming in a sheer blue sea, enjoying numerous authentic restaurants and making your perfect holiday escape. See you!