ALPS AND ADRIATIC: Croatia + Slovenia

We will meet you at the Ljubljana Airport (Slovenia) at 4 pm and transfer to our hotel in the Karawanke Range of northern Slovenia, near the Austrian border. Our hotel for the first 3 nights is a charming Austrian-style guesthouse on an organic farm, high in the mountains. "Sound of Music" scenery surrounds us on all sides, as do miles and miles of singletrack. Dixi is our local host here and we will dine on fresh food from the farm tonight and prepare for an amazing first day.

Our first day starts off with a short climb, overlooking green fields and spectacular peaks. We'll drop in to some beautiful local forested singletrack for a 2,000-vertical-foot descent to the valley bottom. We'll have homemade soups and goulahsh at a beautiful local inn, next to a 500-year-old church, and then continue with more thrilling riding all afternoon, on trails hand-built by our lead guide Dixi and his son. After riding, we'll return to Dixi's inn for another delicious meal prepared fresh on the farm.

Across the valley from our hotel is a network of gorgeous singletrack, all accessed by chairlifts. We'll give the legs a bit of a break today and ride the lifts up (you can climb if you want the exercise!) and ride singletrack trails down. Tonight we're back at Dixi's for a final night in the Karawanke Range.

This is one of the highlights of the trip: riding underground, in a centuries-old mine! We'll load up the van with our gear, then head to the mine entrance. Our local guide will outfit us with headlamps and take us into the bowels of the earth, along an 8-kilometre long mineshaft. It's an otherwordly experience, and one of the coolest things you'll ever do on a mountain bike! After the ride, we'll sample another local singletrack, stop for lunch, then head to Lake Bled, a spectacular glacial lake in the Julian Alps.

We'll start the day off with a swim in beautiful Lake Bled, then have breakfast by the lake before hopping in the van for the 1-hour drive to Postojna. Postojna sits near the Croatia border, and offers up some great local riding. For those with an subterranean fetish, you'll have the option to go underground again, this time to the renowned Postojna Caves, one of the most impressive cave systems in the world ,with over 20 km of caverns and passageways.

We cross the border into Croatia after breakfast and drive to nearby Mt. Ucka. The Ucka Massif sits several thousand feet above the Adriatic Sea, and from the top we'll have fantastic views of the Italian Alps, the Adriatic and the many islands of the Croatia archipelago. Challenging singletrack trails drop all the way to the valley bottom, where lunch will be waiting for us at one of the local inns. After lunch, we're off on a local wine tour, visiting several local vineyards on our bike before heading to our hotel, a charming 15th-century baron's residence set in the Istrian hills, where the owners make their own whiskey and aren't afraid to share it with us!

After breakfast we'll hop in the van for the 1-hour drive to Rovinj, a beautiful medieval fishing village with narrow cobblestone streets and fantastic Adriatic vistas. We'll spend 3 nights here in a local guest house. After checking in, we'll meet our sailboat and our crew for a relaxing day of sailing on the Adriatic, visiting local islands and beaches along the way.

Today we'll check out some of the local freeride trails built by keen locals. The mountain biking scene is just starting to develop in Istria and locals are busy building trails all over the peninsula. After the morning session we'll end up in Hum, known as the "smallest town in the world." A delicious local lunch awaits us before we head back out for another afternoon of trail fun. We'll finish off with a swim in the Adriatic before returning to our hotel.

Our last day in Croatia brings us another feast of trail riding. Along the way we'll visit Motovun, a beautiful medieval city on top of a hill where we'll enjoy spectacular views of Istria while we eat. In the afternoon we'll visit a local waterfall and sample a few more trails before returning to Rovinj for one last swim and our farewell dinner!

After breakfast our van will take us back to Ljubljana where you can catch your flight home, or stay in this charming city for a few days to extend your vacation. n.b.: if you wish to stay in Rovinj, we can arrange transfers for you and book extra nights in our hotel.