Great Road: Straniger Alm, The Alps

Straniger Alm, or “The Smugglers’ Route” as it is also know as, is a gravel road that connects Austria and Italy.
It’s an easy road, however, the section on the Italian side is quite steep, but the road is sealed.
Check out these related routes
Great roads ridden
There a few routes that I have ridden over the last years, that I found was really cool. I'd like to share them with you. I hope it will serve as some inspiration for your own trip planning.
Select any country below to check out the Great Roads to ride...
Bosnia & Herzegovina
I honestly think that Bosnia & Herzegovina deserves a lot more attention that it is getting. It has so much to offer. Though it does have a little access to the Adriatic Sea, this is not why you go there.
It has great roads - smooth and good...
Great Ride: 408, Bosnia
The 408 is a gravel road (for the most part), that runs from Drvar in the north, and south east towards Glamoc, where it meets the M15.
It is a smooth, flat road in the wide valley, and carves its way for 48 kilometers. If this won't give you the feeling...
Great Ride: 434a, Bosnia
This is a short route, that is connected to the 433 route , if you are going to Montenegro for the Piva route , or coming from it.
It is a gravel road that takes you across a low mountain, and it has some slopes, not too steep though. The surface is...
Great Ride: Diva Grabovceva
This gravel road you takes you to the Diva Grabovceva statue. It commemorates the legend of a young virgin who refused to marry a nobleman, and was killed for his dishonoring. The from the south is relatively easy gravel, but after the statue, it increase ...
Great Ride: Morine Pass, Bosnia
The 433 Morine is a easy-medium gravel road that takes you over the wonderful Morine pass. Also, there are a couple of interesting Nekropolis sites along the route.
The northern section takes into forest area with a little climb/descent, which makes...
Croatia
Croatia is the, next to Slovenia, the easiest country of the former Yugoslav states, to ride. Pretty much everybody speaks English, there's a lot of tourism (particular along the Adriatic Sea), and it's an EU country. It goes south along the Adriatic...
Great Road: Frozen Partisans, Croatia
This short gravel route will take you through a nice forest on easy gravel and to monuments of the Frozen Partisans.
They commemorate 26 partisans who froze to death at this location during World War II.
The road is nice, easy, and smooth gravel, and...
Great Road: Velebit North, Croatia
The Velebit North route takes you through some of the northern part of the Velebit National Park. There are two sections, north, and south. While the South section is gravel, this one is paved. It is split into two as they can be ridden independently. T...
Great Road: Velebit South, Croatia
The Velebit South route takes you through some of the southern part of the Velebit National Park. There are two sections, north, and south. While the North section is paved, this one is gravel. It is split into two as they can be ridden independently. I...
Montenegro
Montenegro, a former Yugoslav region, is really spectacular. In particular Durmitor National Park. It has both mountains and beaches.
I find myself coming back again and again.
Papers
Roads
Safety
Comm
Papers
Passport: Yes
Yes. Montenegro...
Great ride: Durmitor, Montenegro
The Durmitor route takes you through the Durmitor National Park between Lake Piva, and the town Zabljak.
It is a great continuation to (or from) the Piva route.
If you are coming from Lake Piva, it is easy to miss the turn, as it kind of turns into...
Great ride: Piva, Montenegro
The Piva route (road E762)is short, but worth a detour, if you're aren't already planning on coming from, or going into, awesome Bosnia & Herzegovina.
The smoothly paved road runs along the river, and the lake, and is a bit elevated from the...
Romania
Romania is a great country to visit. It has tonne of cultural sights, a lot of interesting history. And the roads are generally in good condition, however, riding backroad adventures, you will get the occasional terrible roads with big potholes. So take...
Great ride: 106, Romania
There is a number of road 106's, this route is 106N, 106P, and 105G. It is a nice road that goes from the center for Transalpina to near Sibiu, or near the north entry to Transfagarasan . The road is generally relatively simple without steep sections....
Great ride: 66A, Romania
The 66A is part of the route that connects the town Baile Hercule with Petrosani. From Baile Hercule, the route starts on the 67D, which is paved. At a point, the 67D splits into 66A, that continues towards Vulcan, and Petrosani. From that point, it is...
Great ride: Bicaz Gorge, Romania
The Bicaz Gorge route (on road 12C) is a nicely paved road that takes you through a narrow gorge with steep cliffs on the side and a river next to the road. It is a very nice route, and heavily visited, so you should expect it to be a little crowded....
Great ride: Danube Iron Gates, Romania
The Danube is the second longest river in Europe, after the Volga. It forms the border to Serbia, and Bulgaria. The Iron Gates is a gorge on the river, where road 57 sits along the shores providing a great scenery. It is smooth asphalt, and there are ...
Great ride: Tabla Butii, Romania
Tabla Butii is a mountain pass that has an ancient trade route, that can be ridden. It runs on top of rounded mountains with little vegetation to both sides. Once you're on top, that is. The road is gravel. At times it is dirt (particular on the north...
Great ride: Transalpina, Romania
Transalpina is probably one of the most popular routes in Romania, next to Transfagarasan.
Transalpina is a couple of roads, the 7A, and the 67C. They intersect, forming a "+" (Transalpina Center), where 7A runs east/west and 67C runs north/south.
The...
Great ride: Transfagarasan, Romania
Transfăgărășan, the 7C, is without a doubt the most popular road in Romania. Made famous by Top Gear. In there can be a lot of people there too.
At the summit, the north side is connected to the south side through a tunnel. Which does not open before Jul...
The Alps
The Alps. Probably the most ridden area of Europe. There are plenty of sources for great scenic rides out there on the internet, and as I haven't really focused on the Alps on my previous rides, I will focus on a couple that I have found out of the ordinary....
Ukraine
Ukraine is a huge country with a lot of great sights to see. Fortunately, a lot of them are concentrated in the western part. There are some disturbances in the Eastern part as well as Crimea, but there are lot of information on that elsewhere, so I'm...
Great Road: Arabat Spit, Ukraine
This narrow strip of sand connects the eastern part of Crimea with mainland Ukriane.
It is a flat, road - actually if is most of the times, multiple parallel roads. And the fun part is to navigate which road to take. They will all take you the same way,...
Great Road: Rakhiv Pass, Ukraine
The Rakhiv Pass road is a nice gravel road that offers exceptional view over the town Rakhiv. By the way, Rakhiv is a fine place to stay the night. The road is gravel, with occasional patches of broken asphalt. But is a relatively easy surface. I have...
Looking for adventures?
If you love motorcycle trips, but want to ride backroads to less traveled places, this is the place for you. Get inspired by the ride reports , great roads ridden , the YouTube channel - or how about joining me on the next ride ?
YouTube
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Moldova
Backroad Motorcycle Adventure to Ukraine and Moldova via Czech Republic, Slovakia, Romania, Serbia, Bosnia, Croatia, Slovenia, 16 days, 6000 km.
2017: Balkan with my mother
In 2014, I took my mother on a motorcycle trip to Balkan. Read the background story here .
The trip
The day of our departure had finally arrived. My mother had been staying with us a few days prior, so we got up early to ride to the first stop...
Balkan 2021
Another trip to Balkan. Some familiar places that I have come to enjoy a lot, and a lot of new roads and sights to see.
I'm not going to go in too much details with a day-to-day plan as it changes too much once we're riding, but these are the highlights....
British Isles
The trip around the British Isles is a 3-week trip, counter clockwise into England, Scotland, Northern Ireland, Ireland, and Wales. As I haven't been to the United Kingdom and Ireland, the research is based 100% on others' experience.
Photos by Peter...
You Found Me!
I am super excited that you scanned the sticker. It means that you have been to a place that I also stopped by at one of my Backroad Motorcycle Adventures. How cool is that?
It would be even cooler if you'd leave a reply below saying where you found...