We have been planning our vacation since March with the plan to go around Croatia, Montenegro, Albania and Bosnia and Herzegovina by car, which was a total of 3500 km in 15 days. For this purpose, we borrowed a TomTom GO5100 model with an integrated SIM card to give us traffic reports and closures during the trip.
So when I set off on the trip, I already had all the data saved in the navigation. TomTom as a provider of navigation materials (uses e.g. f. Apple, Google) did not have full coverage of countries such as Albania, Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina, but only the main features were displayed, so I bought detailed paper maps on a scale of 1:300 to drive through these countries and I was looking forward to how we would occasionally drive through these countries "wander". To my surprise, two days before leaving, the producer released a new map in version 000, and these landscapes have been fully covered since the end of June. So the night before I left, I added the last favorite points to the navigation, such as accommodation in Mostar, Sarajevo, or a trip through the Durmitor mountains... but certainty is certainty and I also packed paper maps.
The first stop was a campsite near the town of Šibenik. Since I was leaving from Bratislava, the journey was planned to go through Hungary outside of the tolled sections and to continue on the toll roads from the Hungary-Croatia border. Here I discovered that almost all navigation systems on the market lack one functionality. Namely, when you have selected a route through several countries, you cannot define in which country you want to go outside the toll roads and in which it is. The route property is always for the entire route. It can be circumvented as I did, by entering the route from Bratislava to the Hungarian-Croatian highway and then entering the destination directly at the border. Throughout Hungary, the TomTom Traffic online service worked flawlessly and alerted me in advance of work on the roads or delays, and in the event of a longer delay, even suggested a detour that I could use.
When you're going somewhere by car, try to see what's around, especially inland. E.g. 50 km from Šibenik is the Krka National Park with swimming directly under the waterfallsIn Croatia and other following countries, I no longer had these conveniences at my disposal, but I didn't really need to. The trip took place just before the school holidays, so the roads were quite free. After a few days, our next stop was a campsite near the town of Jelsa on the island of Hvar. Here again, the navigation stubbornly sent us to Split and from there by ferry.
After adding up costs and time, it was more advantageous to go a few kilometers further to Drveník and from there by ferry. In other words, the ferry goes more often from here, the voyage itself takes only half an hour and, above all, we paid three times less for the ferry. This island is beautiful, lavender grows at every step and the navigation will recognize it anyway. Yes, she knew all the paths and the one main route across the entire island :) However, they managed to build a new section of the road in the course of the last year, which shortens the travel time between the town of Hvar and Stari Grad, but there was nothing on the maps yet. It didn't matter at all, the navigation is supposed to help and not blindly drive according to it, which proved itself to me later.
We spent a few days on this picturesque island when the crew and I decided to continue on, straight to Montenegro to the bay of Bora Kotorska. The original plan was to take a sightseeing drive and drive around the entire bay, but sometimes even on vacation, time is tight, especially when you still need to find a place to stay. So I wanted a sightseeing drive, and we also directed the navigation to the ferry to save time by about 40 minutes. The way to the ferry was a bit confusing. The navigation sent us through the alleys between family times and the time to get to the ferry was half an hour at 40km, where you couldn't go faster than 20km/h. The navigation was wrong from reality, how can you go through those alleys quickly. Tried turning on offline maps on iPhone (Nokia Here) and they showed exactly the same thing. Finally, the navigation led us to the street where entry was prohibited. I started to improvise and by improvising I got back to the main road which had already led us to the ferry. Even after disembarking from the ferry, the ride was a little different. Imagine that you would go to the city of Kotor, which was about 15 km in Bratislava, along the Danube embankment, where, in addition to buses, pedestrians and bathers in the bay sometimes get in the way :)
Finally, we happily arrived in Kotor, where after a tour of the old town we went to check in. After a previous survey from the house, we decided to stay in the village of Njeguš, which is located directly above Kotor in the Lovčen Mountains. But imagine going from the sea to a height of 1500 meters above sea level in a short stretch. Yes, the switchbacks and the wide path that ours would define max. on one way. And it was a two-way street, on which buses also run. The road itself was built during the Austro-Hungarian era and is the only road to the former capital of Montenegro (Cetinje).
In addition to the steep climb, the road consisted of 180-degree turns that were numbered up to number 25. But the view was worth it. The village of Njeguš itself is famous for having the best prosciutto in the entire Balkans (all ten of us agree with that) and a famous monarch and important figure for Montenegrins comes from there. Something like Lenin for the Russians. He even has a mausoleum built nearby. And not just any. The mausoleum is built on the second highest peak of the Lovčen National Park at an altitude of 1660 meters above sea level. Of course, we couldn't miss it. But we couldn't ask the navigation to recognize this anymore. The road was a combination of forest and asphalt road and the width was often not enough even for one car.
A view of the entire Bora Kotor towards the village of Njeguš
Well, that's why we went to Njeguš. Let's look for Njeguš prosciutto.
Our next steps, or wheels, were directed around the well-known island of Sveti Stefan, the oldest olive tree to the city of Ulcinj, which is the last before the Albanian border. Driving through Albania itself is an experience for everyone. The TomTom navigation here also works flawlessly with its coverage, but in cities you have to concentrate more on the drive itself. An electrified wheelchair in the opposite direction is quite common, domestic cyclists ride as they please, pedestrians are a shame to talk about (suicides) and probably no one teaches the rules here. So the eyes maximally on the stems from each side. Luckily, we only stayed in Albania for a few hours and turned the car inland towards home. Our destination was "Kokoti" :) It's a small village with about 15 houses, but we had to see the sign and take a picture!
Almost everyone knows Sveti Stefan...
A restaurant in a parking lot, or a parking lot in a restaurant?
On the way to Sarajevo (the capital) of Bosnia and Herzegovina, we enjoyed a trip through the Durmitor Mountains while still in Montenegro. After last year's experience as Bosnia and Herzegovina is covered (only the main connecting roads), I was looking forward to how we would not get lost this time. And so it was. TomTom has done a great job here. From a coverage of about 7%, it jumped straight to 95% coverage of this landscape. That's why we immediately found accommodation in the center of Sarajevo and later in Mostar (all up to 10 euro/os/night). There is nothing to write about, you can rely on TomTom navigation even in these countries.
I'm just giving a tip. If you have decided to spend your vacation in Croatia, think twice! Bosnia and Herzegovina itself is beautiful, significantly cheaper and there are not so many tourists (not including Mostar). If you want the sea, move further south and enjoy the sea in Montenegro!
Bora Kotorska The map can't find only Boka Kotorska
Amazing talk! I love this part of Europe and have passed it several times: even with the same car (even the color) and with a TomTom :-).
I use an old TomTom type 730, which still works perfectly (7 years). This reviewed version is the only successor I am considering... .
Thanks!