Slovenia Bike Tour

The day started out beautifully but luck can change quickly on a bike tour. We woke up to bright sunshine and a beautiful blue sky after several days of off an on rain. We had a packed agenda. The four of us were in the town of Bovec, Slovenia’s capital of outdoor adventure and recreation. This tiny town is perfectly situated between the gorges of rivers running down from the Julian Alps and is full of things to see and do. We already spent two nights here and rode along the Soca valley until a storm cut our ride short. Today we were leaving Bovec and the mountains to head towards the coast. Emily wanted to get one last adventure in before we left and signed herself and Bobby up for ziplining. Natalie and I decided to skip the zip line and to start the day’s ride early instead. The planned route was a longer one than our typical average so we wanted to have plenty of time to get to our destination at a decent hour. As we headed away from the mountains there were many more descents than climbs and we were making excellent time. We passed a few small villages and had lunch in Kobarid, a modest sized town. As we rode the towns were mostly getting smaller but we were still well ahead of Bobby and Emily halfway through the day’s ride. I routed us on the east side of the river to stop in the last large town on our way to our destination which was Nova Gorica on the Italian border. We took a short snack and drink break in Tolmin before carrying on towards the final leg of the ride. After passing another small village and following the road up a small hill we suddenly hit some gravel double track. Not usually a problem; we carried on. A sign warned that the road was rough and only those on “mountain or trekking” bikes should continue. Still fine; we’re riding “trekking” bikes after all. Almost immediately the double track turned to single track and headed down hill. After passing a downed tree the path turned into a complete washout with baseball sized stones as the ground. At this point the path was almost impassible given our bikes and their packed weight. We were almost in a kind of ravine which was luckily dry but the only way out was brutal. The only way to go was pushing the bikes uphill in either direction. Going back through Tolmin and catching the original paved road would probably cost us more than an hour of backtracking and we still had a few hours left to go. It was already the late afternoon so we needed to make the right decision. One of the signs we passed showed a double digit kilometer distance to the next town. If we were stuck pushing our bikes that long that could take hours and burn through all our daylight. We decided to chance it and push forward. I was seriously nervous about spending hours in the middle of nowhere but the road started to improve after a few minutes of intense effort. Eventually the elevation evened out and the gravel double track returned. It ended up being only a few kilometers of torture before we were on smooth pavement again making great time. Truthfully we were never actually in any real danger but I think moments like this remind me of how vulnerable we can be when traveling by bike and how some things are just going to be beyond our control. The rest of the ride was fairly uneventful and we got into Nova Gorica right around sunset. Komoot, my routing software of choice, actually has a warning for this particular spot but having ridden it I’m sure most folks can handle it, even if a portion of it is going to be a bit of "type 2" fun.

Day one of riding took us from Slovenia’s attractive capital city, Ljubljana north towards the country's famous mountains. We chose a slightly indirect route to visit some of the nicer small towns along the way. Slovenia has excellent bike infrastructure so getting out of town was easy. Separated bike lanes led to nearly empty country roads alongside farms and train tracks. There was modest elevation gain on day one as the hills mainly stayed in the distance. We passed a few small churches sprinkled around fields of grain. We passed through through the towns of Kranj and Skofja Loka. Both were charming European villages with neat central squares and lots of historic architecture. Skofja Loka in particular had all the hallmarks of a popular destination with a hilltop castle, a picturesque river and lots of quaint old world European homes. Yet both towns seemed to entertain few visitors and not even that many locals were out in the streets when we passed through. It took us most of the day to get to our destination and we rolled into Radljovica just after sunset. We all worked up quite an appetite and the food in the hotel we were staying in was exactly what we needed.

We woke up in charming Radljovica to find the rains had started and the streets were all wet. We expected rain and brought all kinds of gear to hopefully make it manageable since waiting it out was never going to be an option. After breakfast and multiple coffees we finally gathered enough courage to get going. Radljovica happens to be a super short distance from the most famous destination in all of Slovenia, lake Bled with its tiny island church and clifftop castle. Its definitely one of the busiest places we were going to visit so staying just outside made sense. We hadn’t even gotten thoroughly soaked when the rains stopped and the sun poked through the clouds. Bled was definitely as postcard-perfect as described. The lake is actually very small and the banks are lined with a busy footpath plus an endless supply of hotels and restaurants taking advantage of the views. Perhaps because of the weather, of the time of year or just sheer luck it didn’t feel so badly crowded. There are plenty of quiet nooks to take in some nature along the lake and enjoy the experience. After spending some time soaking it in and taking photos we carried on riding because Bled wasn’t our final destination for the day. We took the only main road to the next beautiful mountain lake, Lake Bohinj. There was definitely some traffic on the road including a few buses but it didn’t feel especially dangerous being a windy road along a river with lots of turns keeping traffic at a reasonable speed. Then about halfway to Bohinj we found a brand new cycleway heading roughly parallel to the road so we gladly hopped on that instead. We passed a tiny waterfall and some farmland before arriving in Bohinj to another round of sprinkling. We checked into the first hotel we saw which had a set of lockers to store bikes in, which is not as convenient as inside the room but still nice.

We went out to explore Bohinj in the morning and found the lake shrouded in fog. We rode most of the way to the other end but this one was much bigger and we had plenty more to see so we turned back around. By this time the fog had lifted and the views of the lake were incredible. Bohinj for us was a there-and-back destination because the road getting in doesn’t connect to anything in the direction we were hoping to go. We rode back to Bled along the same bike trail we found earlier. Eager to skip the last few miles on the road we found the corresponding section on the other side but it wasn’t quite open yet. We rode it anyway though there were a few rough sections we probably should have avoided in hindsight. I later heard some flooding delayed the completion of this section but I’d bet it’s done now as there wasn’t much left to complete when we were there. Back in Bled the light was incredible and I couldn’t bear to leave. I encouraged the rest of the group to carry on without me so I could take more photos and footage before catching up further up the road. Emily secured us a lovely small house in the town of Mojstrana. This tiny town is known as one of the gateways into the Julian Alps and the surrounding views were breathtaking.

We had some decisions to make the following day. If we continued along the trajectory we were on we would hit the northeastern corner of the country pretty soon so we needed to decide on the best route for the rest of our trip. We wanted to keep as many options open as possible while also being able to adjust due to weather or whatever other obstacles came our way. We decided to cross the border into Austria, ride a few miles there before crossing into Italy and spending the night in the closest sizable town, namely Tarvisio. We were in a valley so after gorging on a giant meaty feast in Kranjska Gora we slowly climbed over a small ridge into the Austria, passing some old military bunkers and tanks along the way. We grabbed a snack in the town of Arnoldstein before carrying on riding west towards another border. We were hit with some nasty headwinds and the sky was looking rather unfriendly up ahead. Luckily it didn’t storm and we arrived in Tarvisio relatively warm and dry. We ate at a busy pizza place in town and it was excellent even though they make you cut your own pizza in Italy.

Riding out of Tarvisio we would finally get right into the mountains we’ve been circling around so far during the trip. But not before the rain would really make an imprint on our trip. We suited up in rain gear from the get-go and checked out of where we were staying. There were only a few flat miles before our climb back into Slovenia would begin. The rain started almost immediately and we had puddles in our shoes almost immediately. Emily and Bobby were ahead while Natalie and I stopped in a village for lunch as the rains intensified. The town was called Cave del Predil in Italian but also Raibl in German and Rabelj in Slovene. This region changed hands a few times so many towns have different names in all 3 languages. This town was surrounded by giant rocky mountains and was famous for mineral mining which was done out of a huge facility here until 1991. From Cave del Predil we passed a huge waterfall along a dirt path which led us part of the way over the hills. We connected to a paved road and cycled up to the summit of the Predil pass which also serves as the border between Slovenia and Italy. I knew there were some amazing views behind me as I climbed but the views in front of me were out of this world as I started to descend. The Predil pass is right next to the famous mountain, Mangart which is Slovenia’s fourth highest peak at 2679 meters (8,789 feet). The Predil pass is 1156 meters high and definitely requires some effort but the grades were not too steep and the road was well paved. I rode my brakes the whole way down to soak in all the beauty of the mountains and again arrived last but with a lot more photos. After the descent and a little while longer of flat riding I arrived in Bovec where we would spend our night. Not five minutes after I got into town and got off the bike the skies opened up it poured more heavily than I could ever remember seeing in my life. We were lucky to have avoided that deluge on the roads.

Bovec is a tiny town but the main hub for all things related to the mountains and their rivers, gorges, caves, etc. The plan was to spend an extra day here to make enough time for a few adventures. In the morning it was sunny and we decided on a day ride up the Soca valley. The Soca is a beautiful clear river running down from the tall mountains. It carves all sorts of gorges into the rocky terrain and there are options for boating, swimming and tubing. However the weather had dumped so much water that the river was raging and staying out of it would be a much better idea. As our luck would have it an hour or so into our ride the rains returned. The others turned around after lunch but I pressed on for a few more miles before following suit. When I came back the skies cleared up a little bit and the sunset was one of the most magical I've ever seen. The rays of sun traveled through the valley and illuminated the tops of the hills on the opposite side. This was probably the most incredible part of the country and I would recommend it very highly to anyone traveling to Slovenia. The next day we departed the mountains and headed south. We wanted to make enough time during our trip to make it the coast and it looked like that was very much on the cards. It would take two days to get to Piran so we agreed to ride a bit longer the first day since there were fewer points of interest along the way. I already described in the intro how this day went, suffice to say there were lots of highs and a few lows. We had a strong sense of accomplishment and relief when we arrived in Nova Gorica at a decent hour. Our stay was at the main hotel in town which also happened to be a casino.

Unlike the towns we stayed in so far Nova Gorica was largely built after World War Two and wasn’t as picturesque. The city was divided by a post war border but the nearby Italian city of Gorizia was every bit as beautiful as we could have hoped for. After crossing another border we continued to cruise mostly downhill to the coast and the Italian side of the Istrian peninsula. There weren’t really dedicated bike lanes here like in Slovenia but the road wasn’t especially busy. Our destination was Trieste, a large port town with beautiful architecture and spectacular restaurants. We watched the sunset in the harbor before strolling the streets in the early evening. Dinner was at some swanky eatery and it checked all the boxes. We grabbed a quick night cap at a bar near where we were staying and watched two locals have a spirited grappling match in the street before apparently disappearing in the same car. Trieste was definitely interesting enough to spend more time in but alas we had so much more to still see so we packed up and hit the road the following morning.

The riding out of Trieste was terrible. Maybe we chose the roads poorly but it seemed every road was fast and hostile to anyone outside of a vehicle. Luckily it was a relatively short slog until we hit the Parenzana trail. This old rail trail runs from Italy to Croatia along the Istrian coast with awesome views of the Mediterranean. We were stoked to be on a bike path again and the scenery was great despite the overcast sky. The trail passed farmland and a few seaside towns. The first major town back over the Slovenian border was Koper. The trail passes along its outer edge but we decided to detour towards the center for a closer look. The central square had a tall Venetian style tower surrounded by red roofed buildings and narrow medieval alleyways. We stopped for lunch then rode to the boardwalk and reconnected with our trail. The next stretch of the Parenzana heading from Koper to Izola was particularly beautiful. There were several small marinas with boats docked and distant seaside cliffs along the horizon. The trail was very spacious with a pedestrian section near the water and rows of pines on the other side. Luckily we had a fairly short day of riding so we were able to linger in each spot we passed. A short few miles later we arrived into Piran, Slovenia's most famous coastal town.

Piran was an engaging town with lots to explore. Its history was heavily influenced by many different cultures including the Venitians and the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Several places in town are named after Giuseppe Tartini, an influential composer who was born here in 1692 and who still stands in the central square in bronze form holding his violin bow. The population of Piran was almost entirely Italian before the second World War and the subsequent partitions. We toured the remains of the town's defensive wall which is still partially standing and has a bird's eye views of the town and the Mediterranean sea. We climbed the tall tower which is undergoing repairs but the city still hung a painting of what it's supposed to look like on the outside of the scaffolding to keep up appearances. The decision was made to take a rest day because the morning after our arrival was expected to be stormy. We ate lots of seafood. We relaxed. The hope was that the day after would have better weather but it didn't look that way so we put on the rain gear again. We chose a short ride back to Koper to catch the train for our return. The ride through the rain was freezing and much less enjoyable than what we've experienced thus far. We got to town two hours before the train and shivered in our wet clothes at the only open cafe near the station.
We caught the train half way back to the capital to see the famous caves in Postonja. We arrived in town in the early evening and the weather seemed to only get worse. We raced down the hills in town to where we were staying. The next day a small train carried us several kilometers into the mountain and we walked the way back across several levels of the enormous complex. A tour of the cave is usually paired with a visit to a nearby castle carved into an imposing cliff. We pedaled there in the afternoon. It started drizzling again and at this point we were not really in the mood. We thought about riding a few more stations further towards Ljubljana since it was our last day on the road but the weather was miserable and we all agreed to just head to the nearest train station and call it a day. The train stopped one town short of our destination but the rains cleared the few kilometers ride into town wasn't much of a problem.

We had a day left in the country and I was not prepared to let it go to waste. I left most of my gear at the hotel and rode through Tivoli park and out of Ljubljana one last time. We actually rode this way twice, first when we first arrived before heading out on our trip. We visited a small hilltop church in the park just to test our bikes out and get the feel for riding in Slovenia. When we finally rode out towards Bled we didn't overly complicate the ride though I did want to see this one more sight I flagged before the trip started. It was quite a grueling climb to get up there. The road was short but quite steep. Eventually I arrived at the top of a hill with one tiny hilltop church on top of it. The hill it was on could barely fit anything else but this small austere building. There were panoramic views of the nearby villages and dense forests. This small day ride was a kind of microcosm of the whole trip and a fitting way to wrap up. I spent at least an hour filming and taking pictures before cruising back into town. Later on in the day we packed our bikes up into boxes for departure.

Staying in Ljubljana was a nice way to start and end our trip. It's a bustling small city with excellent restaurants and not too many tourists. There is a castle on a hill with great views of the town and the surrounding mountains. The symbol of the city is a dragon and there are several representations around town. Cycling infrastructure was exceptional with separated paths everywhere and drivers were polite and attentive. Overall Slovenia delivered on the promise of being a cycling paradise. The mountains in particular were so spectacular I can't wait to return and see more of them. It seems Slovenia is getting a lot more attention from travelers these days and I can see why.