Leaving the luxurious surroundings of the Schloss Pichlarn Hotel in the beautiful Ennstal Valley, the first day showcases some fine Austrian scenery. It also includes lunch at an impressive former Abbey, three Regularities and two kart circuit Tests. Crossing into Slovenia in the afternoon for a further Regularity, the vistas become even more impressive as we pass through the spectacular Solčava region en route to the first overnight halt at the Brdo Estate, near Kranj.

Day Two highlights more of the Slovenian countryside with the morning’s steeply wooded valleys and lush ‘Alpine’ meadows giving way to more Mediterranean surroundings in the afternoon as we head south towards Croatia. Along the way, there will be some mildly challenging Regularities and a brace of hillclimb Tests. Our home for the night is a luxurious coastal resort close to Rijeka overlooking the scenic Kvarner Gulf.

Our first destination is the UNESCO World Heritage town of Mostar, home to the world famous ‘Stari Most’ (old bridge), which you can see up close as the evening dinner is held in a traditional riverside restaurant close to this iconic landmark.

A later start on Day Five sees a shorter run to Sarajevo, another city that has featured prominently in world history and like Istanbul – the destination of our previous Challenge – is a city where ‘east meets west’. Due to the less developed rural road network in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the competitive elements are more limited but there is still a busy morning of action on the ‘Mostar Loop’ comprising two Regularities, a Test plus a visit to a unique Oldtimer Museum, founded by passionate owner and enthusiast – Zdravko Vidović.

After lunch in the dramatic Neretva Valley, we climb onto the Bjelašnica plateau for a Regularity through upland meadows littered with rocky limestone outcrops before descending to the Bosnian capital and our 5* hotel close to the ‘Old Town’. On the recce, the traffic in to and out of the city was better than expected but some patience might be needed as well as alertness for ‘city driving’…

Another lighter competition day follows on Day Six to round off the first Leg of this Challenge. Heading south and east, a long Regularity provides the morning competition before an interesting drive through the scenic Sutjeska National Park brings us to lunch overlooking a lake close to the border with Montenegro. Crossing into the ‘Land of the Black Mountain’, two tarmac Regularities in quick succession precede our arrival into the dramatic scenery of Kotor Bay.

Descending from the hills, a pleasant short ferry crossing across the ‘straits’ and a short drive brings us to the luxurious Regent Hotel in Porto Montenegro – our home for two nights where you can enjoy some well-deserved 5* luxury. Despite our mid-event ‘non driving’ day being on a Sunday, the cars can also get some R&R at a local workshop, arranged through the generosity of our local motor club contacts.

An early start is needed for Day Eight, as we take in some of the most impressive scenery of the event. Firstly there is the dramatic climb of the ‘Kotor Serpentine’ with its first class vistas and then later in the afternoon, we enjoy a run through the spectacular Durmitor National Park. The competition is not forgotten with some interesting Regularities and hopefully a closed road Test to be tackled before our arrival at a large chalet style hotel in the mountain resort of Kolašin.

The route for the next day proved slightly tricky to organise but we have ended up with a ‘Lap of Podgorica’ (the Montenegrin capital). It is a day of contrast combining rugged limestone hills (and the twisty roads therein) with the flatlands and vineyards of the valley and all rounded off with a crossing into our fifth country – Albania – a land of mystery not visited by many entrants.

On the recce, we were able to witness the development that is now happening here since previous rally visits and once again received a warm welcome. None more so than in Shkodër – a busy but friendly city where we are working with the enthusiastic City Council to provide a special welcome for the event. Our hotel is right in the centre and an evening passeggiata along the pedestrianised main street is recommended.

Like Bosnia, the Albanian rural road network is not that extensive and so the next two days will be more of an ‘adventure drive’. Eschewing the busy valley roads used on many previous classic rallies, we head inland to discover fine scenery, some twisty ‘basic’ tarmac roads and a surprising morning coffee halt.

We purposefully avoid most of Tirana (and its notorious traffic) but get a panoramic view of the capital city from our lunch halt in the hills to the east. Continuing south in the afternoon, we have another Regularity on ‘primitive’ tarmac before arriving in the interesting town of Berat with its ‘1000 windows’. Our hotel near the centre here is somewhat unique and like Shkodër, Berat is a friendly city with a good evening atmosphere.

Day Eleven features just two morning Regularities, the second being a twisty drive on newly surfaced roads through the coastal massif. We then stop for lunch in Sarandë, with a chance to take in fine views across the sea to Corfu from the nearby hilltop castle.

Suitably refreshed, we turn inland to the Greek border and our return to the EU Schengen area which might be slow with the proposed introduction of new biometric checks (although the latest rumours suggest that this may be delayed again until November). Whatever happens, we have a 5* hotel to welcome us in Ioannina…

Our first full day in Greece on Friday sees us climbing to over 1,900m to conquer the country’s highest pass before enjoying lunch in the shadow of the unique Meteora rock formations. The afternoon features a pleasant cross country run on back roads and a brace of final sections in quick succession, prior to our arrival at a rustic resort hotel on the shores of Plastiras Lake.

It is more of the same on Day Thirteen with a long ‘mountainous morning’ preceding a series of easier valley sections in the middle of the day and an afternoon finale on classic Acropolis Rally roads, including some gravel, to reach the coast at Itea. From there, it is a short climb up to ancient Delphi in time to quickly consult the Oracle or enjoy a poolside drink at our spacious hotel.

And so to the final day and variety once again features. A morning hillclimb is followed by a typically Mediterranean coastal run. But, then, within an hour we are in almost Alpine surroundings for morning coffee. These quickly give way to rolling arable fields where we tackle the last short gravel Regularity and some circuit Tests before we enjoy a celebratory lunch in the cellars of a Winery / Wine Museum.