Here you’ll find a summary of each day. At the end of each entry, you can follow the links to the corresponding trip details and photo gallery entries.
The tour began with the interesting question of how all the luggage would possibly fit on the motorbike. After a few initial hiccups, that problem was finally solved—only to be followed by the next challenge: how do you even get on a fully loaded motorbike?
Once these basic issues were sorted out, it was finally time to hit the road. The weather was perfect—not too hot, a pleasant 20°C, slightly overcast, and most importantly, dry. You couldn't have asked for a better start. The route led from Landshut through many small towns heading northeast. The navigation system kept coming up with interesting new roads to take, although at one point I wasn't entirely sure I’d make it out of the forest again. Thankfully, the GPS knew where it wanted to go, found the way across the Czech border, and so the first leg of the journey ended in Pilsen.
Today began with a short walk towards Republic Square, where St. Bartholomew's Cathedral is located. Around the cathedral, on the four corners of the square, there are three golden fountains and a statue of the Virgin Mary. Through a large wooden door, you enter the interior of the church, whose foundation stone was laid in 1295. The inside of the church is very impressively designed; although the main altar was covered, the side altars were clearly visible.
After a brief tour inside the church, I continued my way past the Great Synagogue toward the main train station. A small tip: it's best to skip the main station unless you really need to go there. While the building itself is quite beautiful, the surrounding area is not particularly appealing.
On the way back to the city center, I happened to pass by the West Bohemian Museum, and on a whim, I decided to go in. Currently, there are three exhibitions running: one in the armory, another on archaeological findings and the history of Pilsen, and finally one on arts and crafts. In the armory, it was fascinating to see the kinds of weapons used in the past, as well as the armor that soldiers once wore. The oldest exhibits dated back to the late 15th century. There was a small spiral staircase leading down to a lower level where you could admire a beautiful wall painting.
The archaeological exhibition had some very impressive items on display—for example, a shield that is around 3,000 years old. In the historical exhibition, I personally found the small section on money particularly interesting. There, both coins and banknotes that were used in Pilsen over the past few centuries were displayed.
To wrap things up, there was a short tour through the arts and crafts exhibition, where you could clearly see how stylistic elements in porcelain and glass production have changed over the centuries.
All in all, it was a highly recommendable museum visit.
Today the journey continued toward Prague, a drive of only about 120 km, so there was no rush in the morning. After everything was somehow squeezed back into the suitcases, it was time to go. It was a beautiful route, passing through many villages and offering great roads for motorcycling. Getting into Prague took quite a while in the end due to heavy traffic—the last 10 km took me nearly half an hour.
The next challenge was parking. Since I’m staying in a hostel right in the middle of the old town, there were no parking spots on-site, so I had to carry my stuff through the old town. The hostel is very simple, but it's acceptable for staying a few days, and you pay about €35 per night for a location right in the heart of things.
A small tip: if you're sleeping in a shared dorm, always pack good earplugs, because your roommates might snore loudly. The day ended with a relaxed dinner with a few acquaintances.
Today was very rainy, so the enthusiasm to go outside wasn’t particularly high. Although it's not possible to completely avoid leaving the hostel, there are some options in Prague where you can stay more or less dry.
First on the agenda was an Underground and Dungeons Tour, where you can explore the old vaults of the city—some of which date back to the 12th century. Many of these old structures have been turned into small exhibitions, for example about medieval torture and execution methods. The whole thing was led by a very kind, older gentleman who had a lot of detailed knowledge about the city and its history.
After that, we headed to the Jewish Quarter, where you can visit several synagogues and exhibitions on Jewish life in Prague from the Middle Ages to the present day. You could either use an audio guide or just walk through and take in the exhibits and information panels at your own pace.
The last stop of the day was a short walk through the Easter market in the heart of the Old Town, where there was, of course, some delicious food to enjoy.
Luckily, it was dry again today, so nothing stood in the way of further sightseeing. After taking care of a few things in the morning (note: if you want to send something, always go to the post office, not DHL—it’ll cost you a fortune), I headed out again around noon.
First, I walked through Prague's Old Town, passing by the town hall with its famous clock. The town hall dates back to 1338, and the clock was first put into operation in its original form in 1410. Over the centuries, it has been repeatedly expanded, damaged, and repaired. There were even several discussions about dismantling the clock and replacing it with a modern version. Ultimately, the clock has existed in its current form since 1957.
Afterward, I crossed the Charles Bridge to reach Malá Strana. The bridge was so crowded that it was hard to move forward—it took a while to get across. The Charles Bridge dates back to 1357, making it the oldest surviving bridge over the Vltava River and one of the oldest stone bridges in Europe. Although built in the 14th century, it only received the name "Charles Bridge" in 1870, in honor of Emperor Charles IV. The 30 statues on either side are all of religious origin and, since 1965, have been gradually replaced by replicas. The originals are then transferred to the National Museum.
Since there wasn’t a cloud in the sky early in the morning, I took the opportunity to head back to the main square in the Old Town to see the astronomical clock, the surrounding sights, and the Charles Bridge in nice weather.
Once everything was packed back onto the motorcycle and I had recovered from the shock of the public underground parking fees (nearly €100 for just under three days), I headed back a bit in the direction of Pilsen to visit Karlštejn Castle. Originally, I had planned to stop there on the way to Prague, but the GPS led me to a road that wasn’t accessible, and since Thursday’s weather didn’t look promising, I decided to push the visit to today. It takes just under an hour from the center of Prague, and it's a great little ride to enjoy the weather on the road.
Upon arriving in Karlštejn, it was a good 15-minute walk uphill to the castle. Thankfully, it was just a bit over 20°C, because the climb is fairly steep in places and definitely gets you sweating. At the top, you get a fantastic view over the town of Karlštejn below and the surrounding hilly landscape.
To tour the castle, you have to join a guided tour. The basic tour costs around €12. There are also special tours, such as full-castle tours or one focused on the chapel, but those are significantly more expensive.
During the tour, you can walk through the original rooms of Emperor Charles IV. Some exhibits from the 14th century are still preserved in their original state, while others have been replaced with replicas (like the Bohemian crown) or entirely different items (such as the throne, which actually dates from the 19th century and comes from France).
Originally built in 1348 by Emperor Charles IV as a summer residence—though he only stayed there five times during his reign—the castle was later used to store the Bohemian crown jewels and is now one of the most visited castles in the Czech Republic.
Since I was very tired from the long drive from Prague to Budweis, but still didn’t go to bed earlier, I spontaneously decided to stay one more day in České Budějovice (Budweis), look around a bit, and then start out toward Austria well-rested tomorrow.
Budweis is a charming little town that seems to be surrounded by forests. You can see this especially well if you climb the Black Tower (built between 1547 and 1577) next to St. Nicholas Cathedral. The climb is quite interesting — you have to conquer 225 steps, some of which are extremely narrow and steep. As exhausting as the climb was, the descent was just as unpleasant, since you really have to watch your step to avoid missing a stair or hitting your head on the low ceiling beams. In the end, it’s well worth the effort: at nearly 45 meters high, you get a 360° view of the city and can see all the way to its edges. During the climb through the tower, you can also admire its seven bells, the largest of which, named Bumerin, dates back to 1723 and weighs an impressive 3,429 kg, with a diameter of 1.81 m and a height of 1.47 m. The other bells are much smaller and lighter.
Today was purely a travel day, as the route was quite long—just over 250 km—and took a while. Since parking was free in Budweis until 8 a.m. due to yesterday’s holiday, I left early to avoid having to pay. Most stores didn’t open until around 7:30, so I set off without breakfast and made up for it after about 45 minutes of driving in a small town called Kaplice. There's a nice town square there, with a mini-supermarket right on it, and you can park for free for half an hour.
After that, I continued toward Linz, where I stopped for a small lunch. Since I didn’t have much time—there were still a few more hours to Salzburg—I only had time for a quick stroll across Linz’s main square, but didn’t visit anything.
The weather, which had started out cold at 10°C but sunny, gradually became cloudier the closer I got to Salzburg. So I decided to leave the mountain slopes and tiny villages behind and stick to the main roads to Salzburg. That turned out to be the right choice, as a few raindrops hit me just as I was entering the city. Still, I arrived dry—now let’s see what the weather brings tomorrow.
Although bad weather had been forecast, the morning greeted me with a bright blue sky, so nothing stood in the way of a thorough exploration of Salzburg. First up was the Hohensalzburg Fortress, and even just getting there was an adventure in itself. Since I was staying at a guesthouse on the far side of the Mönchsberg, I had to cross it to reach the fortress. In addition to a tunnel for regular road traffic, there's a pedestrian tunnel through the mountain, though its entrances and exits are a bit hidden. On the other side, you emerge right in the Old Town, just a few hundred meters from the funicular railway that takes you straight up to the fortress.
The all-inclusive ticket for the fortress (18€) covers the ride up and down on the funicular, as well as access to all exhibitions, museums, and parts of the fortress. Once at the top, you're treated to a spectacular view of the entire city, with snow still visible on the mountains. The fortress features a panoramic tour, an exhibition in the armory, exclusive access to the princely chambers, museums about life in the fortress, and an exhibition on the Rainer Regiment of the Austro-Hungarian army.
Construction of Hohensalzburg Fortress began in 1077, and nearly every Archbishop of Salzburg expanded or modified it up through the 17th century. Originally built as a defensive stronghold—and quite a successful one, as it was never taken—it later served as a refuge for Salzburg's archbishops, a prison, and barracks, before eventually being opened up for tourism. In fact, it continued to serve as a fire alarm center into the early 20th century, as it provided better services for spotting and locating fires than early telephone systems.
The Archbishops of Salzburg mainly used the fortress as a symbol of power or a place of refuge during danger. For one of them, Wolf Dietrich von Raitenau, however, the fortress became far less pleasant—he spent the last five years of his life imprisoned there by his successor.
Today, Hohensalzburg Fortress is the most visited attraction in Austria outside of Vienna, drawing over a million visitors each year.
Continuing my tour of Salzburg, I passed the Franciscan Church and University Square, then visited Mozart’s birthplace, and finally crossed one of the bridges over the Salzach River. On the other side lies Mirabell Palace, a 17th-century complex built by the Archbishop at the time for his mistress (possibly even his secret wife). After that Archbishop was imprisoned and his mistress/wife and their 15 children were evicted from the palace, it was used by successive archbishops as a residence.
Today, the palace is used by the city administration as office space, so guided tours aren't available. However, visitors can still explore the impressive gardens and the so-called "Dwarf Garden" (Zwergerlgarten). The Dwarf Garden is a small, enclosed section of the palace grounds that you reach via a small bridge. It originally featured 28 dwarf statues, but these were auctioned off in the early 19th century when such garden decorations fell out of fashion. Over a hundred years later, efforts were made to buy them back, but not all could be recovered.
For the first time since the beginning of the trip, I had some bad luck and had to ride in the rain. Of all things, it had to be the route from Salzburg to Friesach—one I’d really been looking forward to for a long time because of all the amazing twisty roads. But up to Radstadt, the ride was fairly uneventful. The rain wasn’t too bad, so it was still manageable to ride, though I had to take the curves a bit more cautiously.
After Radstadt, things got more interesting, as the road led up to Obertauern. When I reached the top, it was still lightly raining, the temperature had dropped to 2°C, and a light drizzle hung in the air—at least it wasn’t snowing. As soon as I left Obertauern and started descending, the temperature improved, but the rain continued, which was a real shame. I couldn’t enjoy those amazing curves the way I would’ve liked to.
At the end of the day, I had to stay focused, since the guesthouse I had chosen was at nearly 1,000 meters altitude. That meant a 400-meter elevation gain over just 4 kilometers—a real challenge in the rain and on poor road conditions.
Since the rain didn’t let up, I decided to take a rest day. I rode down into the village once to pick up some groceries and fill up the bike for the next day, but otherwise I spent the very wet and cold day at the guesthouse and took advantage of the sauna.
The weather had improved a little compared to the last few days. When I set off, I could even catch a glimpse of blue sky. Unfortunately, it didn’t last long, and I was back riding in the rain. Since the ride to Graz took just about an hour and a half, I arrived far too early and decided to go grab lunch first. While waiting for the food and browsing online for local sights, I found out that Schloss Eggenberg was only about a kilometer away—and that, by chance, it was reopening today after renovations, with free entry.
Schloss Eggenberg is the largest Baroque palace in Styria, originally built in the 15th century, and expanded and remodeled over the centuries. The Eggenberg family held significant influence within the Holy Roman Empire, having received the right to mint coins from Emperor Frederick III—which they thoroughly exploited.
To make the coin minting profitable, they repeatedly issued lower-quality coins with reduced silver content over time. Since many other mints did the same, the currency steadily lost value until the emperor eventually ordered all counterfeit money to be collected and exchanged it at a rate of just 13 silver thalers for every 100 counterfeit thalers—a loss in value of about 87%.
Before all that counterfeit money was rounded up, however, the Eggenbergs used it to buy up large amounts of land and estates, which made them incredibly wealthy. Despite these fraudulent activities—during which the head of the family even fled to Venice with his fortune—the family managed to maintain a highly respected and influential position at the imperial court for many decades.
Finally, the bad weather had stopped and the sun came out again. I was already getting pretty warm while packing the motorcycle — it felt like about 20°C. Luckily, I had decided to wear a long sweater under my motorcycle jacket after all, because just 20 minutes after setting off, as soon as I hit the first bit of shade, it got quite chilly and the bike's display showed only 9°C. But that didn't dampen my spirits — with dry roads, it was finally possible to really enjoy the curves again.
Today was all about sightseeing in Vienna. First up, of course, were the classics like St. Stephen's Cathedral — unfortunately, it was not accessible. I couldn’t find out why, but there was quite a bit of police presence at the entrance.
Instead, I headed to St. Peter’s Church, which in its current form dates back to the 18th century. Allegedly, Charlemagne founded the earlier church that once stood there, although there’s no proof of that. The previous church is documented as far back as 1137 and burned down in 1661.
Next stop was the Hofburg with the Spanish Riding School. I decided against a tour, as the tickets were a bit beyond my budget. However, the Sisi Museum is on the schedule for tomorrow. Instead, I made a quick detour to St. Michael’s Church, right across from the Hofburg, built in the early 13th century. This church was used as a filming location for the "Sisi" movies, since at the time of filming St. Stephen’s Cathedral was still under renovation following a fire in 1945.
To wrap up the first day, I visited the Prater, where I relaxed a bit in the greenery before walking back to St. Stephen’s Cathedral and taking the train back to my accommodation.
Day two in Vienna began with a visit to the Sisi Museum, where you can see not only Empress Elisabeth’s original living quarters in the Hofburg, but also many of her personal belongings — including some of her dresses, replicas of her jewelry, and a reproduction of her private train car, which she used to travel all over Europe.
Afterward, I went to Belvedere Palace, which today houses an art gallery. Since I wasn’t particularly interested in the exhibition and time was getting a bit tight, I just took a walk through the palace’s large park. Unfortunately, the garden wasn’t as beautiful as those of some other palaces — some of the plants looked a bit unhealthy.
After lunch, I headed to Schönbrunn Palace, which is a bit outside the city. The palace dates back to the 17th century but was severely damaged during the Second Turkish Siege. It wasn’t until the reign of Maria Theresa in the 18th century that the palace was completed in its current form. While the Hofburg focuses mainly on Sisi, Schönbrunn is definitely the place to learn about Maria Theresa’s life. Most of the publicly accessible rooms date back to her era, many of them decorated with portraits of her and her family or personally designed by her. One room in particular was decorated by the entire ruling family of the time with drawings that look surprisingly professional.
The day ended with a visit to the k.u.k. Hofzuckerbäckerei for the Apple Strudel Show, where you can watch how the Gerstner company has been making apple strudel for over 300 years. Naturally, you also get to try it.
The day wrapped up with a walk through the palace gardens, which were beautifully laid out with tall hedges, hidden fountains, and plenty of shady spots to sit. If you walk from the palace straight through the central garden path, you arrive at the Gloriette — a decorative structure on a hill opposite the palace.
Today I continued on to Bratislava, a journey of less than 100 km. The weather was great, though quite warm at around 27°C.
Bratislava is quite a divided city. On one side of the Danube, high-rise buildings and prefabricated concrete apartment blocks dominate—mainly residential areas with little to no charm. But as soon as you cross the Danube and arrive in the Old Town, you're immediately catapulted back a few hundred years in time. From the Old Town, you can reach all the important sights in Bratislava on foot: the castle, the presidential palace, or the old town hall. Many small alleys and old houses surround the area.
The climb to the castle is fairly short but still quite steep in parts. You can choose whether to take some stairs or the longer route without them. Once at the top, you have a fantastic view over Bratislava—best seen from the Crown Tower of the castle, where you get a 360° panoramic view. The castle dates back to the 10th century in its earliest form and was last renovated under Empress Maria Theresa. Today, it houses the Historical Museum.
The biggest challenge in the city is definitely walking without tripping somewhere, as the cobblestone pavement is extremely uneven. Sometimes a stone sticks out by a centimeter, or there’s a larger hole in the street. The stairs also require caution, as they are not standardized. Some steps are spaced far apart, while others are extremely narrow. So, you really have to watch your step. Nevertheless, it’s a beautiful city to explore, and while you're at it, you should definitely visit the Kormuth pastry shop. There, you sit surrounded by antiques, under a painted ceiling, and are served excellent cakes on antique dishes. There is a minimum order of €13 per person, but it's absolutely worth it.
The ride from Bratislava toward Banska Bystrica began with the interesting question of where exactly I was supposed to go, since my accommodation didn’t have an address recognized by the GPS. The problem was that the road to the hotel has no name and therefore can't be found. So I navigated to Banska Bystrica, and from there, Google Maps was able to get me to the final destination. The last few kilometers were about as exciting to drive as the roads in Friesach, since they were in terrible condition and basically consisted of a series of joined-together potholes.
The hotel itself is quite nice—it even has a pool, a wellness area, and a gym. The only downside is the beds, which are anything but comfortable. You can hardly call the mattresses "mattresses"; it feels like sleeping on a wooden bench with just a sleeping mat underneath.
Unfortunately, today the cold that’s been chasing me for about a week finally caught up with me. Because of that, and the very mixed weather, I spent the day at the hotel. Hopefully, things will be better tomorrow.
The weather didn’t offer much today—it kept alternating between sun and rain, and it was quite windy on top of that. I took advantage of a short break in the rain to unscrew the front fairing of the motorcycle so I could finally do something that had been on my to-do list for a while: attach a small tool bag underneath it.
After that, I made a quick detour to the local observation tower to check out the surroundings while the sun was still shining.
Climbing the tower was pretty exciting because you could really feel the wind, and the structure was vibrating slightly. Definitely not an activity for anyone with fears—especially not a fear of heights. Still, it was worth it; the view was truly fantastic.
After the past two days had been mostly dry, occasionally sunny, and only slightly worse at times, of course it started raining during the night. That meant heading to Budapest in the rain. Luckily, it wasn’t pouring too heavily, but it was still annoying, and at times, wind was added into the mix. I waited out the worst of the rain in a restaurant, then continued on toward the Hungarian border.
Upon arriving in Budapest, I was thrilled to discover that I had made a mistake when booking the accommodation in a hurry the day before—I had reserved for the wrong month. So I had to quickly find something else, which in the end turned out to be a bit of luck in disguise: for just 5 euros more per night, I got my own apartment right in the center of Budapest. If you ignore the cost of parking, it was a fortunate outcome to an unfortunate mistake.
The weather was quite bad—it rained continuously, so I didn’t head out until later in the afternoon, once it finally stopped. Since I had already lost part of the day, I stayed on my side of the Danube and first visited St. Stephen’s Basilica. Unfortunately, you have to buy a ticket to go inside, so I only admired it from the outside.
Next, I headed to the Parliament building. I had planned to take a tour, but tickets were sold out until the middle of next week, so that didn’t work out either. Nevertheless, the building is still very impressive from the outside. Instead, I explored the surrounding area a bit, visited a park with a Soviet war memorial, and admired the beautiful architecture.
The second day in Budapest thankfully began dry, so I set off toward the Great Market Hall. I vaguely remembered it from my last visit to Budapest, but I definitely wanted to take another look inside. Built at the end of the 19th century, it was the city’s most important trading hub until the 1930s. Even today, it's still in full operation, offering mainly fruit, vegetables, meat, and delicacies, as well as food stalls and souvenirs.
Then I crossed the Liberty Bridge to the other side of the Danube. There, I followed the riverbank up to the Fisherman’s Bastion—a monument built on the site of the medieval fish market. Although the building looks older in style, it is just a bit over 100 years old. Today, it serves as a viewing platform. However, the best spots with the best view of the Parliament building on the opposite bank are unfortunately within the restaurants there, so they aren’t freely accessible.
On the way back, I continued along the riverbank and crossed the Margaret Bridge to pass by the Parliament again. Since it had started raining again by then, I skipped visiting Margaret Island.
Even though the weather wasn’t nice, at least the rain had stopped overnight, and I was able to leave Budapest without rain gear.
The ride toward Lake Balaton was fairly uneventful, but the hotel arrival made up for it — everything was locked up, and no one was to be found. After a phone call, it took more than 30 minutes for someone to show up, but the upside is that tonight I have the entire hotel to myself.
After a week of rain, the sky was finally blue again this morning. Even though it didn’t last all day, it was still a welcome change from the past few days.
With this rather unusual route (Hungary – Slovenia – Croatia – Slovenia), I arrived in Ptuj today—a stopover on my way to Ljubljana. For the first time since the tour began, I had to pump up the tires, and soon it’ll be time for a fresh batch of motor oil.
Despite many clouds in the sky when I woke up, the sun came out by the time I set off and stayed out—apart from a few very dark clouds toward the end of the tour. From the mountaintops, you could enjoy a fantastic view down into the valleys, and of course, the sunshine made the scenery even more spectacular.
At five hours, the route to Ljubljana was a bit longer than usual today. But during a break in Trbovlje, I struck up a conversation with a few people—one of them lives in Germany and immediately connected me by phone with a friend who also lives there. All in all, it was quite an entertaining break.
Ljubljana is a very beautiful and, above all, very green city. Even in the middle of it all, one feels overwhelmed by buildings and people. The Ljubljanica River, which flows directly through the city center, rounds out the overall picture nicely.
The first stop was the castle. As much as I enjoy visiting castles, hiking uphill will probably never be my hobby. The castle originally dates back to the 15th century, although most of the buildings were constructed later. At the end of the 19th century, there was talk of demolishing the castle, but that idea was ultimately abandoned. Instead, it was temporarily turned into a prison.
There had already been prison cells at the castle in earlier years, which were particularly unpleasant as they were merely holes in the ground with no roof, offering no protection from the weather. The nobles imprisoned there at least had enclosed rooms. One of the most well-known prisoners was a robber knight named Erasmus, who was the only one to successfully escape. Afterwards, the emperor laid siege to Erasmus's own castle, where he had holed up, and bombarded it. Ironically, he was struck by a cannonball while on the toilet.
There’s quite a lot to see at the castle: there's an audio tour, the Museum of Slovenian History, an exhibition on Slovenian puppet theater, and an installation featuring four masters of Impressionism (Rihard Jakopič, Ivan Grohar, Matija Jama, and Matej Sternen).
Today it was time to top up the oil for the first time — so off to the workshop, buy some oil. Of course, once again they only had bottles with more than you actually need, and then fill it up. Now I have to somehow find room in my luggage for a half-full bottle of oil for the time being.
At midday, I went into the city again, but unfortunately the weather wasn't as nice today and it started to rain. So it was just a short visit to Ljubljana before heading back to the hostel.
This morning, while packing up the motorcycle, I noticed that the car parked next to me also had a license plate from Freising. After striking up a conversation with the owner — he's only in Slovenia for a few days, as he's originally from there — we ended up grabbing a quick coffee/tea together and chatted for a bit.
After that, I set off toward Croatia, with Zagreb as the destination for the day. I rode through quite a few mountain roads again at first, and later the route followed along a river. Things got interesting once I arrived in Zagreb, since many of the streets — even major ones — are one-way, so it took a bit to get my bearings. The hostel is right in a pedestrian zone, but fortunately, I was still able to ride the motorcycle in, and to my delight, they even had a parking spot right at the door. Best of all, it’s only a few hundred meters to the city center.
Today was an exploration day in Zagreb. At first, I walked in the wrong direction and was more than disappointed with what I saw—just rather dirty and run-down buildings, with construction sites in between.
Fortunately, I eventually ended up going the right way and found Ban Jelačić Square, named after a commander of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy who is considered a Croatian national hero. In celebration of Pride Month, flags were hoisted there.
Unfortunately, the Zagreb Cathedral is currently closed due to construction work and is mostly covered, so only the entrance gate is visible. Around the area, there are many older, narrow streets full of restaurants, and you can also visit one or two markets. The flower stalls were particularly beautiful.
In the evening, I then dealt with the issue of the broken tracker on my motorcycle. According to its last known location, my motorcycle had broken down about 25 km west of here. Taking it apart was quite a fiddly job—I was worried I might damage some cables and unsure if I’d be able to put everything back together well enough for the motorcycle to start again.
In the end, there was good news and bad news. The good news: the motorcycle still runs. The bad news: the tracker still doesn’t work. I'm currently waiting to hear back from the manufacturer's support team—let’s see when (or if) it starts working again.
The night ended at 6:15 a.m. when the police suddenly showed up at the dormitory door looking for a few people. By the end of the operation, four roommates had become just one — the others were taken away by the police. Definitely an interesting way to start the day.
Once everything had calmed down, my remaining roommate, Christian from Colombia, and I had a chat and decided to spend the day together. After breakfast, we wandered through Zagreb again and visited the National Theatre, the Stone Gate, and St. Mark's Church. We also made a detour to the beautiful botanical garden. After lunch, the plan was to head to Medvedgrad Castle, but unfortunately, we realized too late that it closes at 3 p.m.
After saying goodbye, I decided to go up to the castle anyway, even if it could only be viewed from the outside. The path up was quite the adventure — the last few hundred meters were made of very old cobblestones in poor condition and were steeply uphill. The entrance gate only became visible fairly late, so I had to roll a few meters backward down the hill because it was too steep and slippery on the cobblestones to turn around.
The ride began with a very strange truck driver who kept honking at me and wildly changing lanes while tailgating me very closely. I have no idea what his problem was, but eventually, I managed to get rid of him in heavier traffic.
For the first time since the beginning of the trip, I entered a country outside the EU, which meant my passport was used for the first time. The Bosnian border officials were very friendly, and everything went smoothly. Just past the border, I wanted to take a break and stopped briefly at a gas station. To my not-so-great delight, I discovered that apparently smoking indoors is allowed everywhere in Bosnia—a sensation I hadn't experienced in a long time. What was especially strange was that I could pay for my snack with a card, but not the drink, and since I had just crossed the border, I hadn't exchanged any currency yet. The lady at the counter didn't speak any English either, but somehow we managed to communicate, and she was very kind and let me have the drink on the house.
The ride to Sarajevo was a complete balancing act in terms of weather. I was on the edge of heavy rain showers all day—I could even see them not far off. Still, I was very lucky and stayed dry, except for about 20 seconds of light drops. I managed to outrun the real rain.
The temperature varied a lot throughout the day—from 6°C to 20°C—and up on the mountain, I once again got quite close to the snow line. Just before the steep descent behind Galica, there was another strange situation: two men in expensive sports cars with license plates from the Arab Emirates were crawling up the mountain at a snail’s pace. At first, I thought they were going slow because of the sheep by the roadside, but they didn’t speed up afterward either.
The mountain descent was both spectacular and nerve-racking. The road was partly dirty, in poor condition, rarely had guardrails, and dropped steeply for hundreds of meters right next to the edge. But the view made it all worthwhile.
In Sarajevo itself, it took forever to get through the main street. Once I managed that, things got interesting again: the old part of Sarajevo consists of lots of small alleys that are quite steep and with limited visibility. I noticed the same thing later while shopping—people definitely drive way too fast for roads like these. The funniest thing, though, are the crosswalks at irregular intervals across these tiny streets, even though there are no sidewalks and everyone’s walking on the road anyway.
Walking through Sarajevo’s old town feels like wandering through a labyrinth of small, old houses. The area is heavily influenced by the Ottoman era — there’s a mosque on nearly every street corner, and many of the buildings date back to the time when the Ottomans were in Sarajevo. It’s also a great place to eat. I paid just under €7 for a plate with 10 ćevapčići, half a flatbread, and a mountain of raw onions (luckily, everyone eats that here), including a drink — more than enough to not need anything else for the rest of the day.
I met a nice man who was born and raised in Germany but has been living in Sarajevo for the past 10 years. He gave me a little city tour. We first went to a café on the 10th floor (probably the tallest building in the area), which offered a great view over the city. Afterwards, we passed the Eternal Flame, a war memorial, then visited the Cathedral of the Nativity of the Theotokos and the Sacred Heart Cathedral, and finally went to the site commemorating the assassination in Sarajevo that marked the beginning of World War I.
I spent the morning looking for a gas station to fill up in advance for tomorrow's drive. Since arriving in Bosnia, I feel like I’ve seen more car washes than supermarkets—and twice as many gas stations. But of course, the moment you're actually looking for one, none can be found. So I drove a bit and ended up in the newer part of Sarajevo, which consists either of Soviet-era apartment blocks, some of which are quite run-down, or modern glass high-rises.
From the Yellow Bastion, an old fortification from the 18th century, you get a great view over the entire city. Unfortunately, the weather wasn't very good today and it was very cloudy, but at least it stayed dry for most of the day. It only started raining heavily in the afternoon. After visiting the Yellow Bastion, I went back to the old town to get something to eat and check out the shops. That’s also how I ended up at the Gazi Husrev-beg bezistan, the oldest covered market (built in 1555) in Sarajevo. Nowadays, it mainly sells souvenirs and jewelry.
On the way back to my accommodation, I nearly collided with a taxi that came speeding toward me in one of those tiny alleys and also failed to yield the right of way. Luckily, I was going very slowly and managed to brake, but since I was in the middle of a curve and also tried to swerve, I couldn’t keep the motorcycle upright and it tipped over. There’s nothing quite like the joy of lifting 250 kg off the street while an old taxi driver looks at you disapprovingly and doesn’t even consider backing up. He would have only needed to reverse about 5 meters to clear the street again, but that was apparently unacceptable, so I had to roll back 25 meters downhill so we could finally pass each other.
At first, I thought the motorcycle was leaking fluid somewhere, but thankfully that turned out not to be the case. Aside from a few bruises, I wasn’t hurt.
Today I took a detour via Mostar to Split, heading back to Croatia. The road to Mostar was incredibly beautiful — for a long time it ran along the water, first by a lake and then following the Neretva River all the way to Mostar. Together with the rugged cliffs on both sides of the river, the scenery was absolutely breathtaking. At a certain point, I had to stop pulling over every five minutes to take pictures, or I would never have made it.
Mostar is famous for its old bridge, built in 1566 by an Ottoman architect. It connects the Muslim-influenced eastern part of the city with the Catholic-influenced western part. In 1993, it was destroyed by Croatian troops during the Bosnian War. Reconstruction began in 1995, and the bridge was reopened in 2004.
After a brief walk through the old town, I grabbed a quick lunch and continued on my way, because the detour to Mostar, although only about 30 km, ended up adding nearly two extra hours to my travel time.
On the way from Mostar to Split, it became clear that I was getting closer to the sea. It was noticeably warmer, and the vegetation increasingly took on a Mediterranean feel. Just like on the way to Sarajevo, I had to outrun bad weather again — fortunately, I only caught a few drops this time. Tomorrow, though, it’s supposed to rain nearly all day.
Unfortunately, my plans to visit Split were pretty much ruined by very heavy rain. It poured almost the entire day, making it impossible to go outside and see anything. It wasn’t until around 6 p.m. that the sun finally came out, so I had to hurry before the next rain arrived and managed a short walk through Split.
Split is a very charming city with a lot of Roman architecture. It's especially fun to wander through the small, narrow alleys without a fixed route, just to see where you end up. Even if you climb tiny staircases, you’ll find some beautiful corner of the city. I especially liked the passage beneath Diocletian’s Palace, which dates from the late 3rd or early 4th century. The palace was built for the Roman emperor Diocletian, and after his abdication in 305 AD, he actually lived there. Of course, you can also just stroll along the waterfront promenade and enjoy an ice cream.
The drive to Dubrovnik started with the question of whether the weather would hold up until I got there. It was dry in the morning, but the sky was still filled with dark clouds, and there wasn’t a patch of blue to be seen anywhere.
The first few kilometers led through the city, then further inland until I finally reached the sea. Despite the overcast sky, it was a great view. During the first break, it was unfortunately quite dark with no sun in sight, but the view of a small bay was still fantastic.
Roughly halfway along the route, it suddenly started to drizzle, so I pulled over along with a few other motorcyclists from Austria to put on rain gear. Naturally, the moment I set off again, the rain stopped and the blue sky appeared along with plenty of sunshine. So I had to stop again and take the rain gear off. But better that than lots of rain.
Later, I made a quick stop at a roadside stand and chatted with two motorcyclists from Leipzig and Paderborn before continuing on to Dubrovnik. Originally, the plan was to head into the city that evening, but it was already quite late and I was really hungry, so I postponed the sightseeing to the next day before continuing the journey.
One of the highlights along the route—besides the consistently stunning views of the sea—was crossing the Pelješac Bridge, which created a land connection between southern Dalmatia and Dubrovnik with the rest of Croatia. Without this bridge, you would either have to take a ferry or drive through Bosnia and Herzegovina.
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