The Ciro Trail
Date:2 – 6 June 2025
The Ciro Rail Trail popped up on our radar, following the route taken by an Austro-Hungarian narrow gauge railway in the early 1900s between Dubrovnik and Mostar, with a branch leading off towards Montenegro. It opened up the country to considerable growth and prosperity, but was shut down in 1975, destroying the communities now remembered only by the hundreds of empty, roofless stone houses picturesquely dotting the landscape.
“Perfect,” we said “a flat way out of town.”
Day 1 took us along a Very Busy road for a few kilometres as we detoured to one of Bosnia’s great sights: the Blagaj Tekke, a monastery famous for its dervishes (who still whirl regularly) and for its stunning location – tucked beneath towering cliffs beside the largest karst spring in Europe. It’s surrounded by an extensive TMZ (Tourist Milking Zone), and you have to queue to take the cliché photos you later delete – but it was worth the diversion.
Jill found an interesting way back to the trail that was nothing like the main roads,, more like private driveways really. We crossed the Neretva River to the trail quite coincidentally over the Buna Channel, which should be much more famous. The Buna joins the Neretva by tumbling over the edge of a deep rock channel, forming a long, mind-boggling waterfall. We assumed it must be man-made, but this is limestone country – it’s entirely natural, and apparently unique in the world. That we only found it by accidentally taking a more interesting route earned The Navigator another gold star.
The tar-sealed Ciro Trail follows the old railway path along the river. We stopped for lunch and froze our feet, rode under an enormous motorway viaduct, spotted a New Zealand flag flying proudly and inexplicably, and arrived at Hotel Storia – officially classed as Bike Friendly, and actually equipped with a full workshop. We asked the owner for a menu. “I am the menu,” he said, and offered the local specialty: frogs. We opted for the less typically local trout from the river – three enormous fillets in a creamy, caper-laden sauce. Perfect. The fish must have been the size of a good kingfish.
Day 2 looked like another flat, tar-sealed 60 km with a bit of gravel – easy – so we rode a few kilometres back to visit the 13th-century Počitelj Citadel high above the river. It made a nice warm-up and, apart from a small TMZ by the roadside, it’s quite underplayed. And free. With a quick coffee and a jolt of energy from a chance encounter with the enthusiastic Stanislava Borovac, promoter of Herzegovina Bike Trails, we were ready.
We met a French couple, Guillaume and Mathilde, biking from Greece to Dubrovnik on gravel bikes. While we, on MTBs with wide soft tyres, found the 20 km of gravel (sharp, fist-sized lumps again) hard work, they said it was the most difficult stretch of their entire journey. Ten tunnels, one with a large and active bat colony, added to the fun. There were signs warning of mines – we neglected to take the obligatory photos – and snakes and large green lizards basking on the trail, slithering and skittering away at the first sound of our approach.
We received an effusive welcome at Hotel Zavala. Theo and Anna built it in the wreck of an old railway station in 2015 and now run it as their home – with guests. Theo poured us a glass of something local and lethal to welcome us, and when dinner rolled around we found our new French friends were staying there too, so we had a great night swapping biking tales.
Day 3 was another flat 40 km to Trebinje, with lots of exercise for our pumping arms – one of Jill’s tyres, the only one with a tube, suffered the P-word. This region is part of Republika Srpska, the third political division of this mixed-up country, where the road signs are increasingly in Cyrillic reflecting the region’s desire to be part of Serbia. I feel that there is still a fuse waiting to be lit in the Balkans.
Day 4 took us up and over a 600 m climb from the very attractive Trebinje to the Montenegrin border – followed by a nearly 900 m downhill run to Meljine on the coast, where we’ve decided to pause again because why not. We’ll explore around this bay for a few days, avoiding the cruise ship crowds in Kotor itself, before heading inland again to rejoin the TD route up in the mountains.
Max elevation: 107 m
Min elevation: 6 m
Total climbing: 500 m
Total descent: -559 m
Total time: 05:59:40
Max elevation: 373 m
Min elevation: 3 m
Total climbing: 786 m
Total descent: -524 m
Total time: 09:21:59
Max elevation: 286 m
Min elevation: 261 m
Total climbing: 216 m
Total descent: -219 m
Total time: 04:31:04
Max elevation: 885 m
Min elevation: 1 m
Total climbing: 756 m
Total descent: -1014 m
Total time: 05:42:34
Very interesting post. Loving Hotel Zavala I suspect you’re right about the Balkan fuse.It was ever thus.