2023 Croatia Tour – Adriatic As It Used To Be

Trip Dates: Mon, 18 Sep 2023 – Wed, 4 Oct 2023
Participants: Maureen Angen, Ted Angen, Anna Brettell, Sandy Brodie, Barb Brousseau, Barbara Hall, Tom Hughes, Nancy Luitwieler, Jean Macdonald, Monna-Leigh McElveny, Robb Polloway, Eamonn Ryan, Rhonda Ryan, Dianne Schneidmiller, Gene Schneidmiller, Jacob VanDerHeide, Colleen VanDerHeide, Ed Weymouth

From the mainland to the islands and back again, from seaside villages to hilltop towns and wonderful walled cities, from vineyards and olive groves to national parks — this Croatia Tour never ceased to amaze. Over 17 days, with 18 enthusiastic participants, our local guide Alen Augustine, his nephew and able bodied helper Luka, we traversed more than 800 kilometres and climbed in excess of 9000 meters.

We started in northern Croatia spending 3 days riding and two nights on the Istrian Peninsula, crossing over to the islands of Cres, Rab and Pag for days 3-7, and back onto the mainland for 2 nights in Zadar. After a day off in Zadar we rode to Skradin, in the heart of the territory highly impacted by the Croatian War of Independence (1991-95) and dominated by the beautiful Krka National Park. Day 11 was spent cycling a 55km tour with over 700m elevation gain that gave us a good introduction to the gorges and waterways of the park. Then it was on across the mainland to the city of Split and its famous Diocletian Palace. From Split we were back on a ferry to the Island of Korcula and a night in Vela Luca. The following day saw us across the island and onto another ferry to the Peljesac Peninsula and the town of Orebic. Our final day of riding took us from Orebic to the absolutely stunning walled town of Ston and a final dinner and night in the nearby fishing village of Mali Ston, before transferring on the last morning to the famous walled city of Dubrovnik.

The group was very fortunate with the weather. We faced only one brief few hours of rain that came in an incredible downpour and fortunately lasted only long enough to stop for a planned lunch. Another weather event anomalous to the Croatian coastline, the strong Northeast Bura (or Bora) Wind, kept us from riding across the island of Rab. But as all the participants agreed, being forced to spend a second night in ancient Rab town at a lovely spa hotel was not much of a hardship. Alen managed this change in our itinerary with finesse and soon we were back on schedule riding across the island of Pag.

This brief recap does very little to convey the fantastic experience of riding with a group of like-minded cyclists the length of a country as naturally beautiful and steeped in history as is Croatia. With Dianne and Gene Schneimiller as our hosts and Alen as our guide, our leaders seamlessly resolved any unexpected issues and concerns. Nods also go to Ed Weymouth who seemed to always be on hand for flat tires (and other repairs) and especially to Eamonn Ryan who created the cues to go with the GPS maps Sitnica Tours had provided, without which we would have struggled to find our way on the many winding backroads we followed.

While the ride days were sometimes long and arduous, the rewards were always worth the effort. The vistas from those long climbs up from a seaside town or into a deep river gorge were spectacular. The swims in the gorgeous turquoise Adriatic at the end of a ride, the guided tours through ancient cities, the camaraderie and new friendships, even the celebration of one participant reaching three quarters of a century — made each day something to treasure.

NOTE:

More information and a daily itinerary can be found on the Tour Description Page CCCTS Website AND on Sitnica Tours Facebook Page