Meet at the group accommodation in Dubrovnik. A single group transfer from Dubrovnik Airport is provided. Depending on your flight time, you may have the opportunity to do some independent exploration in this famously beautiful city beside the Adriatic. If you are taking your own bike, you should find the time to reassemble it today.

After breakfast at the hotel, we will meet our guide at around 08.30, load our baggage onto the support vehicle and pick up our hire bikes. After checking these out, they will be reloaded onto the support vehicle and we will transfer out of the city, a distance of just 4 or 5 kilometres southwards along the coast road to Dubac. Here, we unload our bikes again and set off inland on a road that climbs away from the coast. After around 4 kilometres of cycling, we reach the border with Bosnia-Herzogovina where we will have to show our passports. The next 20 kilometres are undulating as we approach the town of Trebinje, which we bi-pass to the south. Then, turning right within sight of Trebinje, we begin the climb up into the hilly ranges that separate Bosnia-Herzogovina from Montenegro. We gain around 350 metres of elevation in the next 5 or 6 kilometres and this is followed by a level section on a quiet road which offers us stunning views to the coastal area of southern Croatia. We then climb again up to a high point a little under 900 metres where we reach the border with Montenegro. We will find a suitable place in this area to stop for our picnic lunch, possibly even between the Bosnia-Herzogovina and Montenegro checkposts. Over the course of the next 20 kilometres we descend to Herceg Novi on the Bay of Kotor and then ride right around the bay on a spectacular road squeezed between the sea and the mountains. There are numerous small medieval towns such as Risan and Perast where we can consider stopping for a coffee or cold drink. We reach Kotor, the main town on the bay, after a stunning first day's ride. Overnight at a hotel in the vicinity of Kotor.

High up, to the south-west of the Bay of Kotor, is the mountain massif and national park of Lovcen, one of the most beautiful parts of Montenegro. After breakfast at the hotel, we transfer to the start of our ride, close to the village Njegusi and 900 metres above our hotel. From here, we will ride a clockwise circuit of the national park, following a route that passes between limestone peaks and includes a couple of high points at around 1400 metres elevation before dropping down to Cetinje. This town was once the Montenegran capital and has an unusual mix of brightly painted townhouses and stately mansions which were formerly the embassies of several European states. Cetinje makes the perfect place for a coffee stop before beginning the ride back up to Njegusi. Returning from Cetinje, we will cycle for 40 minutes or so before finding a suitable scenic place to stop for our picnic lunch. We will then continue through a stunning landscape up to the high point of the road. From Cetinje, this involves a total of 750 metres of ascent over 18 kilometres, never too steep and always absorbing. Close to the high point, we drop down to a junction beneath the limestone peak of Jezerski Vrh (1657m) on the top of which is the tomb of Montenegro's greatest hero, Petar Petrovic Njegos. Then, after descending to a junction just above Njegusi, we set off on the superb 900 metre descent to Kotor which in its middle section includes 15 continuous hairpins in the space of 10 kilometres. This exciting mountain road dates back to Austro Hungarian times and there are plenty of places to stop off on the descent for overviews of Kotor Bay. We get back to our hotel in the afternoon and can then spend some time sightseeing in the old part of Kotor. We spend a second night at our hotel in the vicinity of Kotor.

We have a slightly easier day today and should have the opportunity for some free time in the afternoon at the very pleasant coastal town of Cavtat. Cycling directly from the hotel, we follow the coast road along the south side of the innermost part of Kotor Bay. After 15 kilometres of particularly scenic and pan flat cycling, we reach the ferry port of Lepetane and take the 15-minute ferry ride across the narrow entrance to the bay. We then ride along the coast from Kamenari to a roundabout on the outskirts of Herceg Novi (we rode this relatively busy section of road in the other direction on the first day). At the roundabout, we divert onto a minor road that takes us along the seafront for several kilometres, between beach umbrellas and resort hotels. Still cycling beside the protected waters of Kotor Bay, we climb to cross the promontory at the mouth of the bay and here reach the border with Croatia. From here, our ride takes us along the Croatian coast, avoiding the main road and involving quite a lot of up and down and a high point at around 250 metres, as we pass through the quiet agricultural region of Konavle. This is excellent cycling and a favourite area for our local team who are members of the Konavle Cycling Club. Again, we will find a suitable place for our picnic lunch, before continuing our ride to our hotel in Cavtat. Arriving mid afternoon at the latest, we can check in, clean up and enjoy some free time. Go for a dip, or take a stroll along the seafront, with its shops, bars, restaurants and pretty harbour areas. The ice-cream here is legendary. Dinner at a harbour-side restaurant and overnight at our Cavtat hotel.

Our route today takes us back into Bosnia-Herzegovina into a scenic agricultural region that has many traditional villages. To avoid a section of busy road, we start out with a short transfer to the same place that we started from on the first day. Once again, we cycle easily up to the border and cross into Bosnia-Herzegovina, but this time we turn to follow the dismantled railway of the 'Ciro' which has been tarmaced and now provides a great cycle route. This is in effect a narrow single track road, 3 metres wide and well surfaced, with almost no vehicular traffic. We follow this very level track for around 40 kilometres, through the valley of Poljice Popova to Zavala with the impressive limestone mountains of the Dinaric Alps rising above us. This part of Bosnia was a war zone in the early 90's and the area remains quite poor and underpopulated, with signs of the recent hostilities including bullet-pocked buildings and bunkers. Look out for the 'Mines' signs beside the track in some place. We reach Zavala after around 3 hours and this is a good place to take a break and a coffee stop (some of the best coffee of the trip). We then leave the railway track and begin the section which will take us back across the coastal ranges and into Croatia. We will stop off for lunch a short distance above Zavala with good views back down the valley, with its vineyards and orchards. The ride becomes more undulating from here and beyond Ravno we have a 5 kilometre, average 5% climb up to the day's high point at 570 metres. From here, we are faced with an excellent end to the day's ride which takes us through another rural backwater. We recross into Croatia and drop down towards the coast with fantastic views of some of the many offshore islands including Mljet. Crossing the coast road near to Doli, there's a final easy spin to the Bay of Ston with its oyster and mussel farms. Overnight at a hotel in the vicinity of Ston with the opportunity in the late afternoon to do some exploration. Extending to 7 kilometres, the 14th and 15th century fortified walls of Ston are some of the longest in Europe.

Today we get a taste of the special landscape of Croatias's Dalmatian Coast, as we cycle along the Peljesac Peninsula. We follow a mix of quiet backroads and sections of the rather busier 'main' peninsula road, passing through Mediterranean villages and vineyards, with spectacular views of the Adriatic and numerous islands, big and small. This is a great day of cycling and not without its challenges. We climb from the start and gain 250 metres in the first 10 kilometres, then follow the crest of the peninsula, with a super view toward the island of Mljet on our left hand side. Then, after around 30 kilometres, we find ourselves back at sea level at the pretty seaside village of Trstenik and this is a great place to stop for a coffee, before tackling the day's hilliest section. Over the course of the next 15 kilometres, we will climb again to just over 400 metres elevation in 2 stages with a couple of short sections that could be as steep as 10 percent. Sections of this part of the route are particularly spectacular with views ahead to Korcula Island. Cutting inland through a tunnel, we rejoin the main road and have a brilliant descent into the small port town of Orebic, which we reach after around 60 kilometres. This is the perfect place to eat our picnic lunch beside the sea, with the chance of a dip. From here we will take the ferry across to Korcula Island, which takes just 15-minutes, followed by a final 5 or 6 kilometre ride to our hotel in the small coastal town of Lumbarda. Reaching our accommodation by mid afternoon, we have couple of hours to chill out before dinner.

We will try to make reasonably early start today, to allow us some free time at the end of the day when we return to Dubrovnik. This final day of cycling takes us right across Korcula Island from end to end. The roads are good and quiet and we divert onto the most scenic option wherever possible. Heading generally west, we cycle back to the town of Korcula and then up into the centre of the island, gaining around 350 metres of ascent in 10 kilometres once we leave Korcula. Our route takes us via traditional towns, pine forest and farmed areas (vineyards and olive groves) and then down to the island's scenic south coast between Brna and Prizba. We then climb again to the crest of the island and turn west to make the final descent to Vela Luka, which we should reach before midday. We will have some free time here for lunch and a quick look around while the support vehicle driver loads our bikes onto the truck. Then, driving back to the ferry port at Korcula takes less than an hour, followed by the ferry to Orebic and a further 2-hour drive to the hotel in Dubrovnik. If all goes well, we should be back at the hotel in the late afternoon and have a bit of free time before dinner.

Your holiday ends after breakfast. An early morning group transfer to Dubrovnik Airport is provided. Dubrovnik, of course, is a really interesting town and if you wish to spend further time exploring it, we would be happy to book extra nights for you at the group hotel.