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 southern Slovenia, where we'll check into our mountainside farm house.

One of the trip's most stunning trails today. We head up Nanos Mountain for a grueling but scenic climb to a spectacular lookout over the Postojna Valley. The descent is rocky, fun, and long. We'll stop for lunch by a river, then sample some local wines at a nearby winery. 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. Afterwards, we'll head to the border and cross over into Croatia, checking into our beautiful hilltop hotel in Motovun.

We'll start the morning off with a beautiful ride along a river, stopping at several waterfalls along the way for swimming and -for the brave - cliff jumping. Then it's off to the world's smallest town, Hum, where you can view centuries of Balkan history along Glagolitic Alley. Our afternoon ride is a great one, with lots of scenic viewpoints over the Istrian Peninsula. After our ride we'll hop in the van for a short drive to our seaside apartments in spectacular Rovinj, a beautiful medieval fishing village with narrow cobblestone streets and fantastic Adriatic vistas.

We're off to the southern tip of Istria today to ride the seaside trails of Premantura. We'll stop for lunch at the famous Safari bar, then hop back on the bikes for more coastal riding and swimming.

Our last day in Croatia is a relaxing one as we take the morning to explore the beautiful town of Rovinj, then hop in a boat as we go up the Adriatic coast for a tour of the beautiful Lim Fiord. Our skipper likes to share his local whisky, but beware - it's strong stuff! We'll have lunch at the mouth of the fiord then hop back in the boat for more swimming and a lazy return back to Rovinj.

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.