Cycle Macedonia & Northern Albania

This was my 9th cycling trip with Exodus and this was one of the best. Cycling through beautiful scenery in Albania and Macedonia with around 8000m of climbing in 6 days was exhilarating. The cycling was hotel to hotel. with the only bus transfers at the start and end of the trip. The accommodation was good and the food was abundant, healthy and tasty.

If you like cycling in the mountains with stunning views and quiet roads you will love this trip. The trip is graded as a 4 and this is accurate as there are some hard climbs on quite a few of the days. The views at the top make them all worth while. For the first few days you are on a ridge high up with the lake below. You then go down to the lakes and cross into Macedonia which is equally as spectacular. The road surfaces are really good for 99% of the time and much better than those we have at home. The traffic is very quiet and so for most of the holiday we had the roads to ourselves. This was our third Exodus holiday and was equally as good as the others we have been on. Albania is a hidden gem and it was so good to go there before the mass tourists arrive. Hotels were all good and actually better than many of the other exodus trips we have been on,

A brilliant week. I have done many grade 3 trips which are very much a holiday with cycling but this grade 5 trip is very much a cycling trip plus a holiday. You will need to be pretty fit or a cyclist to get the best out of this foray into the mountains. Nevertheless you can easily tailor your trip with the odd trip to the broom wagon bus. It will be well worth whatever level of challenge you accept the scenery is stunning beautifully rugged and remote. Cannot fault the accommodation, food or guides Both junid the guide and Tuni the driver did everything they could to make this run smoothly and it did. As usual with exodus trips the group make the difference and I was lucky to hit on a fabulous mix of lovely people.

This trip was a calculated risk - who do you know who’s been to Albania? However, it paid off. It was a great trip, memorable for the fantastic cycling experience, friendly population, superb local cuisine and the skills and helpful nature of the guide and driver/mechanic. The pound in your pocket went a long way too. The challenge rating is accurate - it is tough on some of the hills, especially combined with searing 40+C heat. No one should feel shame in hopping on the bus in those circumstances. We had superb people in our guide (Junid) and driver. Both put heart and soul into making our lives easier and the experience very enjoyable. The bikes were of a great standard and needed to be to tackle the inclines. The route was well designed and took in stunning scenery. The highlight was the Macedonian foray and the UNESCO listed Tuen of Ohrid.

Wow - certainly a challenge, but so worth the sweat of the uphill undulations! Stunning scenery, beautiful lakes and very comfortable accommodation all the way. Go do this trip - it will push you - but it is worth it.

Great trip - challenging but very rewarding.

An excellent trip that lived up tp it’s “challenging” expectation. Well organised and executed all the way. Our Guide Junid and driver Tani could not have done more to make this trip a really great experience. Varying terrain along the way and plenty of climbing to challenge the legs. The heat in August added to the demands of the hills. Local fresh food all the way throughout the trip.

After riding the southern Albania trip last year I had to go for this one. It was a fantastic trip over the mountains with beautiful views every day, the lakes, the mountains, the valleys. It was a bit tough going at times but it was worth the effort. The scenery was quite different to the southern trip. I'm glad I did both. Macedonia was different again. Lots of small farms with their goods on display by the roadside. Ohrid, UNESCO town was very picturesque overlooking lake Ohrid.

I wanted a challenging but fun cycling trip and that’s exactly what I got! Cycling past beautiful scenery, idyllic towns and villages, on largely quiet roads, was absolutely fantastic and not something I could experience at home. The roadside freshwater springs that we used to cool down and refill water bottles was a fairly unique experience for me as well. There was a decent amount of uphill every. single. day. But as the week progressed, it felt as if I were getting a little bit stronger and almost used to climbing. And the thrilling downhills made the grueling uphills worth it! We stayed in what I thought were very nice hotels every night, often with beautiful mountain or lake views! The food was great—it may have been the healthiest I’ve ever eaten on a trip before! :) The hybrid bikes we used were great and made me feel confident and secure on the occasional bits of road that were less than perfect.

If you like cycling in the mountains with stunning views and quiet roads you will love this trip. The trip is graded as a 4 and this is accurate as there are some hard climbs on quite a few of the days. The views at the top make them all worth while. For the first few days you are on a ridge high up with the lake below. You then go down to the lakes and cross into Macedonia which is equally as spectacular. The road surfaces are really good for 99% of the time and much better than those we have at home. The traffic is very quiet and so for most of the holiday we had the roads to ourselves. This was our third Exodus holiday and was equally as good as the others we have been on. Albania is a hidden gem and it was so good to go there before the mass tourists arrive. Hotels were all good and actually better than many of the other exodus trips we have been on,