Croatia & Bosnia: Ćiro Trail to Korčula

We ride a total of 262 km over 6 cycling days. The days are short, averaging 44 kilometres and about 547 metres of climbing, which leaves time off the bike for the towns and sites along the route. From Dubrovnik we head inland into Herzegovina and pick up the Ćiro trail, a former railway line, where it crosses the karst fields of Popovo Polje. The middle of the week climbs through rural country to Stolac and Mostar, then flattens along the green Neretva river before we island-hop by ferry to the Pelješac peninsula and Korčula. Along the way we ride to the medieval stećci tombstones at Stolac and into Mostar, with its Ottoman old town and rebuilt Old Bridge over the Neretva. The hardest day is 55 km with 674 metres of climbing, the ride to Mostar by way of Blagaj.

The trip is fully supported, and your guide's expert knowledge of the area and terrain means that you always know what is coming up in terms of distance and difficulty. This makes a tremendous difference, as does the constant supply of water and refreshments along the way.

Suitability

This tour suits riders with reasonable fitness who are happy riding several days in a row. The days are short, 34 to 55 kilometres, but the ground rolls rather than sits flat: climbing averages 547 metres a day, with the odd short pitch near ten per cent, and the heaviest day is 55 kilometres with 674 metres. Most of the riding is on quiet paved roads, with one day of gentle gravel on the old Ćiro railway. In the months before you travel, plan to ride two or three times a week, with a longer ride at the weekend to build up to back-to-back days. This tour is best for riders who come as much for the towns, food and history as for the ride.

Biking Conditions

We ride mostly on quiet paved roads, rural backroads and secondary roads that carry little traffic. The main stretch off the tarmac is Day 3, around ten kilometres of the old Ćiro railway across Popovo Polje, a former rail bed that keeps the gradient easy and the surface well graded. A few other days include short sections of hard-packed gravel where a country road turns to compacted stone, comfortable on a hybrid or a sturdy bike. Traffic is light for most of the week, busier on the approaches to Mostar and around the coastal ferry ports. While much of the route is on quiet countryside roads with minimal traffic, we will be regularly sharing the roads with other vehicles, including cars, motorbikes, and buses.

We generally ride rain or shine, but we can adjust the planned route based on the guide's discretion or your comfort. It's all part of the adventure! Throughout the ride, the support vehicle is always nearby to offer refuge to any weary cyclists.

Accommodations

We stay in a mix of comfortable hotels and family-run guesthouses, chosen for their setting and their place in each town. At the start and end of the tour we base ourselves in Dubrovnik, and out on the coast we stay on Korčula close to the water. Inland the properties are smaller and more personal: family-run villas in Stolac and Mostar, and one night in a former railway station on the old Ćiro line, now a small hotel in the village of Ravno. Rooms are private and en-suite, with Wi-Fi, and breakfast is included every morning. The rural stays trade a little polish for character and a setting close to the towns and sites we ride to.

Please be aware that some older or more characterful properties may show signs of wear and the service pace can be more relaxed than you might be used to.

For larger groups we may occasionally split the group between nearby properties or substitute a similar hotel if the listed one is not available.

Bikes

Because some people can't imagine going on a trip without their own beloved bicycle, we do not provide them as part of this tour. However, you can hire bikes locally for the price listed in the tour pricing section. We provide high-quality hybrid bikes (Trek FX) or hardtail mountain bikes (Trek Marlin), or similar. E-bikes by Cube or similar are also available. If you bring your own bike, we recommend a hybrid or a hardtail mountain bike, though a gravel bike will also work. Whichever bike you choose, please ensure it is in excellent mechanical order before arrival.

Bike Repairs

Basic spares and tools are carried by the guide and on the support vehicle, though we cannot guarantee having spares for every conceivable problem. Carrying a basic tool kit, a spare tube and a pump while riding is recommended.

Safety

Wearing a helmet is required on all our biking adventures and is non negotiable. If you do not wear a helmet you will not be allowed to cycle. Your tour leader is trained in first aid and emergency rescue, but to a large degree you must be responsible for your own safety while riding. It is therefore compulsory that you take out travel insurance that will cover you for a mountain biking tour.

Guides

You will be led by a local English-speaking guide and if the group is 9 people or more we will add another guide to the tour. All our guides are well informed in the history, culture and religions of the area where you are biking and are skilled at passing that knowledge on to you. Your guide is also medically trained and an experienced cyclist, able to handle most minor repairs en route.

If this is the tour for you here's what you need to do to confirm your place:

FLEXIBLE BOOKING CONDITIONS

CONFIRMING YOUR BOOKING

Just complete our online booking form or send your booking details offline (email or post), and we will confirm your participation. No deposit is needed to confirm your place on a SpiceRoads tour.

You are advised to read our Booking Conditions in full before you make your payment and should you require further clarifications of any of the conditions below, please email us or call our office.

TRIP STATUS

There is a minimum number of participants (usually 2) required to enable the trip to go ahead. Once the minimum number is reached, the trip status will change from 'Available' to 'Guaranteed to Depart'. Once a trip is guaranteed to depart you are free to book your flights and make other travel arrangements. If the trip status is ‘Limited’ will mean we have only a small number of spaces available for booking. If you are unsure about the trip status, please email us or call our office.

BOOKING ONLINE

From the tour page, click the 'Book Now' link. All departures for this tour will appear, just select the date you'd like to travel. For the next steps, you'll need to know the names of the people travelling. If you wish you can also provide extra details such as passport numbers, height (for bike hire), or you can add that later by logging into Manage My Trip (we'll set up an account for you automatically if you don't already have one). Our system will contact you from time to time to fill in the missing information, as it will be required before departure. However, if the trip that you are booking offers a child discount, you will have to fill out the date of birth of each rider (so we can calculate the appropriate discount).

If you are having any problems please send us an email, or give us a call (+66 026 3295) and one of our travel specialists will assist you with your booking.

BOOKING OFFLINE

Just call us or send an email indicating which trip you want to join and we will happily send you a list of questions and process your booking for you.

DEPOSITS AND PAYMENTS

We do not require a deposit or full payment to book a place for you on a tour.

The balance of the tour’s cost (final invoice) will need to be paid 60 days before the departure date with fees for any bicycle rental(s), single supplement(s) and extra hotel nights.

In the case where a booking is made when there are less than 60 days until the tour departure date, the tour’s cost should be paid in full within 72 hours of receiving an invoice from SpiceRoads. Payment can be made by credit card using our online payment gateway or by bank transfer. When making payment online you will need to confirm that you have read these booking conditions during the "checkout" process, which equates to agreeing to the terms of services and stipulations as indicated in this document.

In all cases, tour fees need to be paid “in full” before participation in a tour. No person(s) will be allowed to join a tour without fully settling their invoice and receiving a confirmation number from SpiceRoads.

The exception can be made for last-minute miscellaneous fees that can be paid locally (visas, additional local hotel bookings, etc.) can be settled on the day of arrival.

FULL FLEXIBILITY FOR TOUR CANCELATIONS

If the tour is cancelled or postponed by SpiceRoads because we didn't make the trip numbers and the tour can’t run, we will make a full cash refund (by bank transfer or on your credit card).

If the tour is cancelled for any other reason, including due to Covid related travel restrictions, we will give you a full credit (with no deductions for admin or any other small-print item) to use on any SpiceRoads tour with no time limit. (Exceptions being flights, special permits and other non-refundable items and these will be advised when booking the trip).

Before paying for your tour, you can cancel your booking with no charge and up until 40 days before departure, you can change your booking to another travel date or move your booking onto another SpiceRoads tour with no charges.

If you need to cancel after you have made full payment, please see our cancellation policy.

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