A cycling tour of the Balkans: two wheels, three countries, four days
(The Guardian Travel News)

Our writer and his friends recapture their youth and the joy of cycling, with a challenging trip taking in Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina and MontenegroRocking my bike from side to side, I crested the final rise and the landscape opened out before me. A high-altitude meadow freckled with cows rolled down into a shallow bowl surrounded by savagely contorted, parallel slabs of limestone sticking straight up from the earth. Beyond was 2,523-metre Bobotov Kuk, the highest point in Montenegro´s wondrous Unesco-listed Durmitor national park. Behind me were yet more staggering views, across glacial lakes to rows of mountain peaks, deep river gorges and pine forests populated by wild cats, bears and wolves. Continue reading...