Introduction

I feel genuinely privileged to be writing about my biking trip in August 2025. It was a journey I truly relished — one adventure after another (sometimes even adventures within adventures…), meeting countless friendly people, feeling positive vibes, enjoying wonderful scenery, and tasting amazing food. Considering the fact that — as usual — this trip was completely unplanned, Providence (or whatever we may call it…) led me on a path I would otherwise have spent weeks researching, studying, and preparing for. On this voyage, I was rewarded with countless breathtaking views of mountains, rivers, lakes (even saltwater ones), small villages, and lively towns and later, during the final part of the trip, with the joy of riding along the sea and bathing on beaches that felt like they belonged only to me. Granted, there were some tough stretches where I even considered giving up and heading home, but, luckily, I pushed on. I also ran into a bit of trouble with my bike, but managed to resolve it.

With this introduction, let me briefly tell you which places I visited — and if you’re up for it, you can read all the details later, day by day. From Vienna, where I live, I took a bus to the Croatian-Bosnian border, from where I biked south through many impressive parts of Bosnia, then crossed twice into western Serbia. Later, I reached Montenegro, where I explored the breathtaking Durmitor National Park. After that came Albania, where I rode along a mountain river, followed by a country I had never been to before: North Macedonia, with its beautiful Lake Ohrid. From there, I returned to Albania and finally crossed into Greece, a country I had visited several times before — but never by bike (though I had once attempted to earlier, only for Providence — again, or whatever we may call it — to decide otherwise).

Greece turned out to be the highlight of the trip. I spent the majority of my time there, riding from the northern border all the way to the southern tip of the mainland, at the edge of the Peloponnese peninsula. Along the way, I visited unforgettable places such as Meteora, Olympia, and even the island of Zakynthos.

For most of my trip, I chose an inland route; only in the last ten days did I reach the sea — and it was absolutely stunning. Speaking of adventures, the return leg of my journey — combining biking, a 36-hour ferry ride, multiple buses, and two trains—took almost 100 hours in total.