In the event, the border crossing was unmanned and uneventful. In fact we passed through Italy and into Slovenia with no interventions at either border. Eight hours after leaving Switzerland, we arrived at our first destination of Tolmin where we spent a day exploring the beautiful Soça river valley from our highly recommended Airbnb base.
The Soça river is indeed as aquamarine as the tourist brochures show and a particular highlight was whiling away an hour or two at its confluence with the Tolminca river, where an enterprising team have set up a river side bar with an array of beers that rival many craft beer outlets in the UK!
Despite this not being part of our formal Bike Slovenia Green (BSG) trip, Matic, the company’s knowledgeable cycle specialist, had passed on a host of recommendations for things to do in the area, and between Tolmin and Kranjska Gora, where our BSG trip would begin in earnest.
In all, we spend 17 days cycling through Slovenia, starting at the Julian Alps, passing through wine regions and karst country, finishing at the Adriatic. Its impossible to detail everything, so highlights follow….
The cycling
This was, after all, what we came for and it did not disappoint! Whether by design or accident, the route began on a beautiful segregated cycle path, in the valley bottom, bordered by gently rolling fields. It was a great introduction and confidence builder! The first climb of that day was a bit of a shock but once I got into the swing of it, it was ok. Which was a good thing because the next day was our biggie. One kilometre of ascent, the most I had ever done. There’s no denying, this was a hard day. Two points stand out. The first was a shining mirage of gravel on a hairpin bend part way into our first big climb. I knew I needed to stop and rest, but being on a busy steep twisty road made this tricky. When a patch of gravel at the roadside came into view, I knew I could get my head down and make it there. It was hot, dusty and fly ridden, but for those 15 minutes or so of rest, it was the best place on earth! The second happened just moments after Ben had asked if I wanted to stop and take a break at a hotel and cafe en route. I answered no, feeling ok and wanting to get the climb over. Then we rounded a corner to see a road sign announcing gradient of 17%. For the most part, a 5% gradient is about where I am comfortable, 7% is ok for short bursts. I keeled almost immediately, as luck would have it, into the car park of a second hotel. Ben took a rocket fuel coffee, I stuck to plenty of water. It was enough to push us on to the summit.
But the cycling was by no means all gruelling. Highlights included the views on the segment from Lokev to Koper over the bay of Trieste, just stunning vistas of the Adriatic and hills around. Overtaking a couple of ebikes on a downhill section after Pokljuka Plateau was also rather fun! Diving into both Lakes Bled and Bohinj were also highlights after a few hours in the saddle, the latter, more so as it was preceded by the hardest day. Diving into the Adriatic at Piran was not so blissful given the two foot wide mass of jellyfish stretching out from the coast all along the seafront. Whilst they did not sting, it was pretty unpleasant to swim through to get out into open water!
Overall the route was a good mix of challenge and easier sections. Things I had expected to be problematic were ok (spending so long in my bike seat was sorted by a combination of my new bike seat and double cycle shorts!) The back to back days were not as exhausting as I’d expected. Other things cropped up that I hadn’t expected to be a problem (achy right shoulder and calf, probably as that’s the side which took all the pressure when taking a drink or looking at my Garmin for routing). Even getting a puncture on the gravel section of day 15, Smartno to Komen, was no real problem – we had a repair kit with us and Ben got to work straightaway on fixing it! Equally as important, I provided film and photography services, to capture the work in progress.
Having said all that by the final, easier days I was more than ready for some rest!
The hospitality
Whilst the tour was a challenge for us, Visit Good Place, our tour company kept reminding us that this was their cruisiest, easy going tour, with a gourmet angle alongside the cycling. Whilst we were booked for bed and breakfast, most of the hotels and locations were also chosen for their food offer. The hotels were a mix of 3 and 4 star and in an epic reversal of my usual control freakery, we did not know until about 3 weeks before we left exactly where we would be staying. Three places stand out:
Hotel Sunrose Seven in Bohinj set the bar astronomically high when we arrived, tired and broken from our biggest day. The setting made every muscle and bone in my body relax, helped along by tea and cake (beer for Ben). While our room was small, the lounge and garden more than made up for it and the staff treated us like a member of the family from the start. Their wellness area also came into its own the day after our big ride, with complimentary fizz, fruit platter and mint tea. Soooo lovely!
Second best (in a tight race) was Hotel Krasna in Lokev, again for the friendliness of their staff. They really looked after us after we arrived somewhat early and bedraggled after cycling in our one day of rain. Offering to cook an off-menu tomahawk steak for two weary, wet travellers is always going to earn you brownie points. Taking those two travellers down into the wine cellar for a liquor degustation on our second night was just going to confirm our impressions of this place as being deadly serious about delivering great hospitality! It’s a pity there isn’t more to do in the area as two nights is really more than enough to see the sights but for pure relaxation and indulgence, it’s a fantastic option.
Finally, Hisa Spacapan in Komen delivered some of the most innovative, delicious food that we had encountered all trip. Anyone doubting Slovenia’s ability to deliver cutting edge, Michelin quality food needs to eat here.
That makes it seem like the other hotels were not so good, which absolutely isn’t true. Both the Hotel Lipa in Kranjska Gora and Penzion Kaps in Bled delivered good, solid family run hospitality, the former also serving delicious local cuisine.
In fact, the only slightly duff note was Hotel San Martin, interestingly, the place that had stood out as something special from its website and a specialist cycling hotel to boot. There was nothing wrong with the place, per se, but for us, it felt like the emphasis was on group bookings and, as a couple, we felt slightly lost in the mix. The room also felt more like student digs and it felt as though they were trading on the view (admittedly stunning) rather than on comfort (not only did the shower flood the bathroom, water risked pouring into the corridor unless the shower head was angled towards the wall). Smartno itself was a lovely town and we felt we would have been better placed at the smaller Hisa Marica, where we ate fabulous food one of the two evenings.
Smartno was also the location for our wine tasting trip. The area, Goriska Brda, is Slovenia’s wine producing region and we found a vineyard not far from the hotel that would do a private tasting. It was only a mile from the hotel to the vineyard but we had picked the mid afternoon of the hottest day to go, thus, turning up at the swankiest of tasting rooms, dusty, sweaty and gasping! Thankfully, Jasmina, the co-owner, was lovely and welcoming and soon put us at ease. We tasted 10 wines, along with plates of local meat and cheese and bought four to be sent to our hotel in Piran.
The scenery
One of the benefits of cycling over other forms of transport for touring a country is that you get to be up close and personal with your surroundings. This route took in:
Riverside scenery of Tolmin with its aquamarine waters.
Stunning Alpine setting of Kranjska Gora where we felt very at home walking in the mountains.
Lakesides of Bled and Bohinj, the first more developed, the second wilder, but both stunning in their own ways and wonderful for swimming at the end of a long day of cycling.
Wine country of Grska Brda where vineyards stretched as far as the eye could see.
Hilltop heritage villages of Smartno and Stanjel, both beautiful stone settlements with twisting streets and plenty of examples of skilled restoration work.
Karst plateau creating the impressive Skocjan cave network and stunning white cliffs above the bay of Trieste.
Coastal resorts of Koper, Isola, Piran and Portoroz, which are perhaps closer to the shabby end of shabby chic, but still impressive for their faded grandeur, along with the green shoots of regeneration.
Slovenia may be a small country, but it really punches above its weight for the variety of landscapes and attractions on offer!
The trip had a lot to live up to, being 18 months in the waiting, due to the interruption of the the COVID-19 pandemic. The reality more than exceeded our hopes. If you are reasonably fit and enjoy cycling, eating and sightseeing, then we highly recommend this tour!