My big road trip from England to Montenegro

Possible routes for a road trip from England to Montenegro

Research hat on, I started with looking up routes on google maps (that took all of 2 minutes!).  I then found what advice I could online on some travel forums.

I honed it down to 3 possible routes from UK via Calais to Montenegro, as suggested by Google maps.  Google maps randomly suggests a few different routes at different times to be honest but there were 2 main contenders, which seemed to be mentioned most on the travel forums, plus a third came up – which I eventually decided on.

All 3 routes go through France, Germany, Austria and Slovenia, but at different points.  But they all eventually end up on the same coastal road down Croatia and into Montenegro via the border crossing just after Dubrovnik (Debeli Brijeg).  There is another smaller border crossing from Croatia to Montenegro a bit more inland at Njivice, but google maps directs routes via the main one at Debeli Brijeg.

Routes 1 (blue) & 2 (grey) are shown on the map below.

Route 1

From Calais, briefly head up through France to its northern border, then into Belgium and across into Germany (past Frankfurt), then Austria (past Graz), and briefly across the top right-hand corner of Slovenia (past Maribor), into Croatia (past Zagreb) and then down into Montenegro.  

Route 2

From Calais, go across the north part of France and into Germany (past Munich – further south than route #1). Then into Austria (past Salzburg), right through the middle of Slovenia (past Ljlubljana), then down Croatia and into Montenegro. 

Route 3

​Route 3 (in picture above) combines the first 2 routes above.  From Calais, follow route #1-  through North France, then across Belgium and into Germany, where you drop down to pick up the second route #2 and go through Austria (past Salzburg), down through the middle of Slovenia (past Ljubljana), into Croatia and ending up in Montenegro.

Why I chose route 3 for the road trip from England to Montenegro

I was initially leaning towards route #1 as it seemed the most mentioned route on travel forums but in the end, I settled on route #3 for the outbound drive to Montenegro and route #1 for the return journey home.  Here’s why;

1.  Route #3 takes you close to Lake Bled and past Ljubljana in Slovenia. I’ve always wanted to visit Slovenia.

2.  The travel forums said that the toll roads in France were expensive. Route #1 and #3 only has a short stretch in France up to the border with Belgium.

3.  Route #3 takes in Zagreb and Graz. I really wanted to visit my old haunt Zagreb (Croatia).  Obviously, that would also involve boring my family rigid with endless tales of my time there in the late 80s.  (Sorry about that, guys.  But don’t say you weren’t warned).  Plus, I don’t know Austria very well and I hear Graz is beautiful.

During the sabbatical my plan was to home-school my 11 year-old daughter.  She starts high school after the summer, so that imposed a return date on me.  So, the return road trip from Montenegro to England was set for the end of August – joining every other man and his dog at this peak summer time, unfortunately. 

So, I thought I would focus the overnight stops coming home on a few inland cities (like Zagreb and Graz) – well away from the popular coastal tourist spots – and maybe even picking up a nice hotel at a good price at the same time.  It made sense therefore to opt for route #1 for the return trip. But that is about as far as I got with the planning for that.

Travel slow & enjoy the ride

So on to my itinerary for the road trip.  It allowed for 12 days travel with some longer stays in a few places in Slovenia and Croatia.  You can see the anticipated travel time each day (based on google maps) in brackets below.  As you can see there is more focussed driving for the first few days and then it slows down to allow for a more relaxed, meandering pace.

As I’ve mentioned, you can of course do the road trip from England to Montenegro a lot quicker.  At the beginning Mr MG seemed to be intent on attacking the trip, as if it was some Olympic iron-man challenge.   Once the testosterone-charged ambitions had calmed down a little, I managed to paint a picture of a much more enjoyable road trip, with some highlights along the way – a few fun things to look forward to. (Which mainly involved food items for me.  Frankfurter hot dogs, Belgium buns.  You get the idea). But he finally got on board once we managed to incorporate a visit to the castle in Werfen, Austria where his favourite film Where Eagles Dare was filmed.  He returned the favour by spotting an overnight venue in a tiny home made out of a shipping container, nestled in the countryside just outside Wertheim, Germany. 

Not to be left out, my daughter requested a croissant for breakfast in France.  (She’s easily pleased).

I didn’t get as far as booking the overnight stays in Ljubljana and Croatia by the time it all had to be cancelled anyway.  3 nights were planned here primarily, so Mr MG could stay put with wifi for a couple of days to do some remote working.  But I had my eye on a little place that I hadn’t visited before called Omis, which is between Split and Makarska. It looked an idyllic place to relax in for a few days.

The itinerary for my big road trip from England to Montenegro

To finish off here is the actual itinerary that I had planned.  The links take you through to my chosen overnight accommodation en route, which I hope to be able to rebook in time.  

Day 1 – Yorkshire, England to Dunkirk, France via Eurotunnel (6 hrs)

Day 2 – Dunkirk via Belgium to Wertheim, Germany (6 hr 10 mins)

Day 3 – Wertheim to Werfen, Austria (4 hr 50 mins)

Day 4 – Werfen to Lake Bled, Slovenia – 2 nights (2 hr) 

Day 6 – Lake Bled to Ljubljana, Slovenia -3 nights (45 mins)

Day 9 – Ljubljana to Croatia (not decided, but probably half-way down somewhere near Makarska) – 3 nights (5 hr)

Day 12 – Croatia to Kotor, Montenegro (4 hr)

So, there you have it.  My road trip from England to Montenegro.

Planned, but sadly cancelled. Or shall we say, postponed. 

But certainly not forgotten!