Unpaved Albania & Montenegro

Eight nights almost entirely off tarmac, from Dubrovnik through Montenegro and into the remote Albanian Alps, following the official Adriatic Crest Trail for most of the route. The bikes are BMW adventure machines and some off-road competence is assumed rather than optional.

Trebinje and Niksic open it, then Zabljak by way of Durmitor National Park, where the Tara canyon is the deepest in Europe and the gravel roads climb well above the treeline. Plav follows, then the border into Albania at Shkodra.

Albania is the reason to book. The Alps of Albania National Park in the far north is some of the least travelled mountain country in Europe, reached by narrow gravel roads that connect villages which had almost no road access within living memory. The run on to Kukes crosses the heart of it. The route sticks largely to the official ACT Montenegro and Albania track, which is a properly surveyed long-distance off-road route, and the operator supplements it with local sections of their own.

Edelweiss include a choice of BMW GS or adventure model, eight nights in hotels rather than camps, an experienced off-road guide and a tour book. Flights are separate and the inclusions are not itemised in full on the operator’s page. Prices are per person for 2026. Hotels every night on a route this remote is unusual and is the main thing separating this from a camping expedition. For a rider with gravel experience who wants somewhere genuinely unfamiliar within reach of a short flight, the Balkans are hard to beat and this is a well-judged way to see them.