Breathtaking Balkans

Wel­come to Slovenia!

After we pick you up (3:00 p.m. from Hotel Park or 4:00 p.m. from Ljubl­jana Joze Puc­nik Air­port) we’ll trans­fer to our alpine lodge in the Karawanke Range of north­ern Slove­nia, near the Aus­tri­an bor­der, locat­ed approx­i­mate­ly 2.5 hours north-east of Ljubljana.

Our home 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. We’ll dine on fresh food from Dixi’s farm tonight while review­ing what this incred­i­ble week of adven­ture has in store.

We’ll rise and shine to enjoy a home cooked group breakfast.

A net­work of nat­ur­al flowy sin­gle trails for almost every lev­el of rid­ing gives us an oppor­tu­ni­ty to get to know each oth­er, the trails, and the ter­rain and most­ly get a first touch of the rid­ing in the Alps. Because of the vast­ness of the trail net­work, we can adopt the length of our first day of tour to the group needs and wishes.

After rid­ing, we’ll return to our alpine lodge for anoth­er deli­cious meal pre­pared fresh from the farm.

In the morn­ing, we’ll load up the van and start our jour­ney to the south.

The famous ridge rides of the region are now com­bined with a worlds only prop­er under­ground enduro trail in the world. As the trail is marked black to dou­ble black, the group will have a choice to split and one group could go for an eas­i­er under­ground bik­ing or if nec­es­sary walk the hard and tech­ni­cal bits through some colos­sus, epic chambers.

In Roman times, lead ore was exca­vat­ed from these same cham­bers under Mt. Peca. From then until the end of the 19th cen­tu­ry, rough­ly 1,000 kilo­me­ters of tun­nels were hol­lowed out under the mountain. 

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 oth­er­world­ly expe­ri­ence, and one of the coolest things you’ll ever do on a moun­tain bike!

From there, we’ll shut­tle back to our lodge for a hearty dinner. 

In the morn­ing, we’ll load up the van and start our jour­ney to the south. 

Impres­sive moun­tains, attrac­tive val­leys and refresh­ing lakes – South­ern Carinthia (Aus­tria) with its lakes and moun­tains has plen­ty to offer to a moun­tain bik­er. The flag­ship of the region is the MTB ZONE Bikepark Pet­zen with its 11-kilo­me­tre Flow Coun­try Trail. It is one of the longest moun­tain bike fow trails in the world and was recog­nised by the IMBA as the best of its kind in the world. The 5–6‑kilometre long trail called Thriller and EWS offers nat­ur­al ter­rain, rock and a lot of roots.

After lunch we dri­ver to Soča Val­ley. As this is a long dri­ve we will have a cof­fee stop in Slovenia‘s most famous Lake Bled. The most renowned of the Sloven­ian Alpine rivers is the Soča, and many peo­ple con­sid­er it the most beau­ti­ful riv­er in Europe too. Its waters shim­mer in a unique emer­ald col­or. It is known world­wide for the bat­tles of the Ison­zo Front that took place here dur­ing World War I, which was described by Ernest Hemingway. 

Tonight you are free for din­ner on your own — feel free to ask for any recommendations! 

After break­fast at our BnB, we’ll head out for our rid­ing for the day. In the midst of high moun­tains we found some stun­ning sin­gle track trails.

The day will start with van uplift to ex Slove­nia-Italy bor­der. Half way up to our top today. We will be climb­ing up on an old mil­i­tary road. The gra­di­ent is just per­fect. After the stun­ning view to the sur­round­ing high moun­tains, we will descend on an epic wind­ing trail back to the val­ley. Our rid­ing will stop at the lunch time and you will have a free after­noon to rest or to join some unfor­get­table activ­i­ties such as canyon­ing, kayak­ing or rafting.

The longest trail of the week we will start with van uplift to vil­lage on the foothills of Mata­jur mountain. 

After climb­ing to the top of the moun­tain on the bor­der to Italy at an alti­tude of 1642m we will have 12km descend which ends in front of the best ‘’gela­te­ria’’ in the area at an alti­tude of 150m. After well deserved piz­za, gela­to and cof­fee, van will pick us up and we will dri­ve to Dinar­ides For­est plateau to our next lodge.

Please Note: The Mata­jur trail is weath­er dependent.

The famous Sloven­ian vine region of Vipa­va offers us diver­si­ty of scenic moun­tain bike trails. We start the ride from the hotel at the top of Dinar­ides For­est Plateau and head all the way down to the val­ley. Not to lose all the fun we will use the trails of local enthu­si­ast to extend the ride and fin­ish with the lunch in medieval town of Ajdovščina.

After lunch we will vis­it the famous UNESCO Ško­cian Caves, then we’ll hop in the van and cross the bor­der into Croa­t­ia, arriv­ing at the beau­ti­ful hill­top town of Motovun, where we’ll check into our rooms. 

Tonight you are free for din­ner on your own — feel free to ask for any recommendations! 

After break­fast, we’ll trans­fer from our hotel to a town called Grozn­jan. Grozn­jan is a unique, small, Medieval town, known today for its arts and music cul­ture, boast­ing upwards of 20 art galleries.

We’ll gear up and start our ride straight from town. Todays ride will cov­er some of the trails used in the local Enduro and XC races. These immac­u­late trails flow through small trees and the mead­ows of Istria. After rid­ing, we’ll pack up the shut­tle and head out for Lim Fjord, about a 1 hour drive.

We’ll have a well deserved lunch upon arrival in Lim Fjord, before hop­ing in a boat to Rov­inj where we’ll check into our rooms and head out for dinner.

Please Note: The boat ride to Rov­inj is weath­er dependent.

Tonight you are free for din­ner on your own — feel free to ask for any recommendations!

This morn­ing, we’ll enjoy our break­fast in the town of Rovinj. 

For the last day of our Ride, we will bike to the scenic end of the Istri­an Penin­su­la. Kamen­jak Penin­su­la is a nat­ur­al resort, offer­ing scenic sin­gle­track in wild Mediter­ranean nature. While rid­ing, we can take a few stops to dip into fresh Mediter­ranean water, and — for the brave — cliff jump­ing will be pos­si­ble at sev­er­al spots. We’ll stop for lunch in Pre­man­tu­ra. On the way back we will pass the famous Amphithe­atre in Pula

Tonight, we’ll head back to Rov­inj for our final din­ner where we’ll cel­e­brate our week of adventure!

After our final group break­fast, we’ll load up the van and head back to Ljubl­jana Joze Puc­nik Air­port by 2:00 p.m.

High five your new rid­ing pals and say your good­byes until next time. Sob, weep, waaaaa!