New cycling trail connects eight Balkan nations across stunning, untouched landscapes

The Trans Dinarica, a newly launched long-distance cycling trail, is transforming the way travelers explore the Balkans. 

The asphalt soon disappeared as the road gently ascended through the meadows. From a nearby wooden shepherd’s hut in Montenegro, two small dogs dashed toward Joanna Chmara, their tails wagging with excitement, Caliber.Az reports, citing foreign media.

Joanna was tempted to stop and play, but ahead lay a long gravel climb, and she hoped to reach the other side of the Sinjajevina mountain before the storm rolled in. "Go home!" she called to the dogs, worried they might get lost if they followed. But they didn’t listen. With swift, tiny paws, they kept pace beside her, faithfully accompanying her to the pass.

The first thunderclap found Joanna in Tušinja, a quiet Montenegrin village with only a few houses and an Orthodox church atop a hill. Too exhausted to tackle another steep hill, she dismounted and began pushing her bike when she heard a man shouting and waving, beckoning her toward his garden.

"Coffee? Rakija?" he asked, as she leaned her bike against an apple tree and followed him into his home. He spread tomatoes, bread, and cheese across the kitchen table for her and his two workers, who were laying tiles in the next room.

Through the thick haze of cigarette smoke, host and his Balkan workers looked at her with curiosity— a rare sight in this village: a tourist.

Joanna was cycling from Podgorica, Montenegro, to Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, along the Trans Dinarica, a newly launched long-distance cycling route that officially opened in July 2024, linking eight Balkan countries. Spanning 5,500km from Slovenia in the north to Albania in the south, the route winds its way through national parks, UNESCO sites, and remote villages, traversing the Dinaric Alps—one of Europe's most untouched and least explored regions.

The trail takes inspiration from the 2,000km-long Via Dinarica, a well-known long-distance hiking path that debuted in 2010 with the aim of reconnecting people across the borders of this once war-torn area while drawing more tourists to the hidden gems of the Balkans. While coastal resorts in Croatia and Montenegro draw large crowds, the rugged mountains, untamed rivers, and dramatic canyons of the Western Balkans remain largely unknown to most travelers.

By Naila Huseynova