Bicycle touring in Slovenia

Cycling in Slovenia on an Avaghon X29

“I’m sorry, but the City Night Line doesn’t stop in Utrecht Central Station tonight. You need to get to Arnhem quickly!”
“Say what?!?”

It sounded so much more convenient: an overnight train to Vienna, Austria and no hassle with packing our bicycles safely for a flight. But our short bicycle adventure near the Alps starts with quite some stress…

We rush to the platform to catch the train to Arnhem, so we can make it in time. The train is packed, but I manage to squeeze us and our loaded rigs inside. Looking at some angry faces, I guess not everyone appreciates my efforts. Well, we have a train to catch! About an hour later we fall down on our beds for the night and we pop a bottle of wine. (You see, for us Dutchies 50 kilometers further is ‘the other side of the country!’) But, all’s well, so let our trip begin!

The next afternoon we arrive in pretty Vienna and we decide to start riding immediately. We leave the busy city behind us and soon we find ourselves on quiet and narrow roads towards Neusiedler See. The landscape is hilly and with one last larger climb we reach the lake and find a campsite to pitch our tent. The office is already closed, so we don’t have a key for the washrooms. I politely follow another woman inside and pretend it’s perfectly normal that I’m stalking her… Elmar isn’t that lucky so he is doomed to take a cold shower on the beach, butt-naked in the moonlight. Isn’t it romantic? 😉
Totally refreshed, we eat our famous pasta-pesto meal and we finish the day with freshly brewed coffee. It’s a great feeling to be on the road again and to sleep in our own little home.

It rained all night, but we soon leave the rain in Austria and ride through sunny Hungary on an actual bicycle route through vineyards. The track sometimes hits a 10+% climb, but is mostly car-free. The blue grapes look ready to pick and turn into nice wines. We pass small villages with names I cannot pronounce and tiny pictoresque churches dot the landscape. Unfortunately dark clouds return and the planned track through the forest has turned into a mudpool, which makes us decide to take the normal road towards the border and into Slovenia. It has been a quick and dirty inspection of Hungary, we leave the rest of the country for another adventure.

As we cycle through Maribor on the Drava River we decide to stay here an extra day and stroll through the streets of this lovely town. With the sun shining again it’s pretty warm, which means: we desperately need some icecream. And what do you know: they sell excellent icecream here! Oh, and did I mention the espresso and cappuccinos? Wow! What else do you need? I fell in love with this country instantly! It’s charming teletubby landscape, cute tiny churches and tourist-free farmroads all add up to a positive experience. All we need is some spectacular mountain scenery and I’m happy. 😉

 

Maribor

Cycling towards Triglav National Park

We do find that a couple of days later as we reach Triglav National Park. Just after Kranj we pick up an offroad bikepacking route and cycle passed Bled into the hills. We start the climb towards Vrsic Pass, no more than 1611 meter high. The total distance from Kransjka Gora to the pass is 11 kilometers and we have a little more than 600 meters to gain. My nerdy brain starts calculating and I figure it’s a nice 5% climb (more or less). WRONG. With the nearly lever first few kilometers, the percentages start to rise and soon we find ourselves puffing up 15+% hairpins… cobblestone hairpins.

Triglav National Park

Triglav National Park is named after the highest peak in Slovenia, which looms over the valley at 2864 meters. The road up to Vrsic Pass is rewarding with the rough tree-less peaks watching over us. After about 24 hairpins we reach the top and enjoy our lunch, while middleaged Germans in Porsches rush by. We follow this old military road down to Trenta through the Soca Valley accompanied by the emerald waters of the Soca River, before we pitch our tent at a campsite. Our short adventure in Slovenia has come to an end, tomorrow we will leave for Italy. Slovenia has pleasantly surprised us and next time we’ll finish the whole bikepacking route!

Vrsis Pass

Related posts

Switzerland – the Alpine MTB Route

Weekend get-away to Malmedy

Off the beaten track near Weert (NL)

18 comments

John en Mariska September 27, 2016 - 20:01
Yep! Mooie trip.. Wij hebben de vrSicpass ook gedaan pffffff. Maar dan zie je wel de mooiste valei van Sovenie..:) goede reis, en take care ( weinig campings.. ) maar daar zullen jullie geen last van hebben..:D
Pa en Ma September 28, 2016 - 06:56
Hoi kinders Weer een mooi verhaal en prachtige foto,s Ff weer genieten.
EMMERS JO September 28, 2016 - 08:28
Dag avonturiers, Waar kan ik informatie vinden over die Bikepacking route in Slovenië? Bestaan er gpx files van? Jullie foto's en verhalen doen me veel goesting krijgen!! Jo
Bicycle Junkies September 28, 2016 - 08:35
Hi Jo! Wij hebben niet de hele loop gedaan (helaas), maar een klein stukje ervan en dat was toch wel het beste stuk van de hele vakantie! Hier vind je meer informatie: http://www.bikepacking.com/routes/bikepacking-slovenia/ Veel plezier.
Jo Emmers September 28, 2016 - 08:43
Dank jullie wel voor de ongeloofelbaar snelle reactie en bijhorende informatie!! Ik hou van bicycle-junkies!! Jo
Bicycle Junkies September 28, 2016 - 08:49
**Bloos** Graag gedaan! ;)
martens September 28, 2016 - 12:51
prachtig guy's
Bill September 28, 2016 - 15:26
Fantastic as always! Let me know the next time you tour, I want to come!
Marjan September 28, 2016 - 17:16
Prachtig!
Cisco n Roadrunner September 28, 2016 - 19:37
Way to go go go! Happy Trails. Cisco
Paul vanPeenen September 28, 2016 - 23:12
Mooi gedaan!
Jan September 29, 2016 - 15:33
Nice post! Slovenia looks beautiful! We must go there some time. Eating pesto and drinking wine sounds familiar :)Any interest in cycling the Baltics next year?
Philip Pessoa October 2, 2016 - 10:45
Beste Junkies, Zag ik het goed dat jullie de Santos (cadeau) hebben ingeruild voor een andere fiets ? Reden ?
Bicycle Junkies October 2, 2016 - 12:30
Hoi Philip, de Santossen staan als 'museumstuk' in de showroom bij Santos. Het is een mooi display met foto's erbij! In de winkel waar wij werken (Bike4travel) verkopen we naast Santos ook Avaghon fietsen, Elmar bouwt ze zelf. Vandaar dat we nu op Avaghon fietsen.
Jo October 2, 2016 - 16:25
Helaba :) Misschien een gekke vraag maar toch... Van horen zeggen heb ik vernomen dat er mogelijk nog landmijnen liggen uit WOI in de buurt van deze route??!! Hebben jullie daar iets over gehoord? Toen ik aan een fietsvriend vertelde dat ik deze route a bikepackend wou doen waarschuwde hij mij hiervoor. Maar hoe zit dat eigenlijk? Ik ben benieuwd of jullie hier iets over vernomen hebben? Zonnige groeten uit Sint-Joris-Weert(België)
Bicycle Junkies October 11, 2016 - 12:20
Nee, daar hebben wij niets over gehoord. Er loopt dus een bikepacking route, waarvan wij maar een klein stukje hebben gefietst, maar we kennen mensen die de hele route hebben gedaan. Ook zij hebben het hier nooit over gehad. Helaas, we kunnen je niet verder helpen. ;) Groetjes!
Jo October 11, 2016 - 12:31
Helaba, Geen enkel probleem hoor
Anonymous February 4, 2017 - 20:58
5
Add Comment