“Nothing compares to the simple pleasure of riding a bike.”
– John F. Kennedy
Traveling to Slovenia offers an adventure of a lifetime on every single day of your visit. The way nature has designed its landscape makes Slovenia ideal for outdoor activities. If you’re looking for the healthiest, all-inclusive, and greenest way of exploring the sites, sounds, and tastes of this land, you definitely want to join a bike tour.
Slovenia’s terrain is varied. Very varied. From flat country lanes and urban roads to hilly, even mountainous tracks, and everything in between. There’s a bike tour for every location and preference. Easy site-seeing cycling or slightly more demanding up-and-down rural wandering. Calm, less strenuous bike rides or downhill adrenaline runs. Bike tours are tailored to your needs, both mechanically (e-bikes) and humanly (local guides).
A bike tour of Ljubljana’s streets and Slovenia’s biggest marshland
Exploring Ljubljana, Europe’s greenest capital, its streets, parks, and surroundings is best done by taking a bike tour. You get the chance to see the sites, learn something new, and build your stamina. A win-win-win! Like most of the country’s larger urban areas, the capital has a comprehensive network of bike lanes that ensure easy riding, so take the whole family along. It gives you an entirely new perspective of the history, architecture, and people that make up this delightful city.
On the capital’s outskirts lie the Ljubljana Marshes – a natural and anthropological spectacle most worth cycling across. Slovenia’s largest marshland is home to a wide assortment of wildlife, a beautiful gorge, and is bursting with prehistoric history. Biking down the Ljubljana Green Marshes Trail takes you into the heart of nature without needing to venture too far from the buzz of urban life. Fun fact: the oldest wheel and axel dating back to around 3,200 BC were found in the Ljubljana Marshes. If that doesn’t scream tradition, nothing does.
Biking through endless vineyards and along Slovenia’s Adriatic coast
Cycling around the beautiful villages and through miles of gorgeous orchards and vineyards will give you an authentic taste of the Mediterranean. Goriška Brda, also dubbed Slovenia’s Tuscany, presents you with an incredible bike trail. There’s nothing like cycling across the amazing rural wilderness of the bora-swept Karst and treating yourself to a glass of delicious wine at the end of your journey.
Riding your bike on the coast is equally fantastic. The fresh salty air, caressing sun rays, the squawking of seagulls, the picturesque seaside towns… The Coast of Slovenia Trail takes you down the old seaside road from Koper to Izola, all the way to the wonderful Sečovlje Saltworks. Stopping off at Slovenia’s prettiest seaside town of Piran is a romantic cherry on top.
Biking around a magical lake and two emerald alpine jewels
Speaking of romance, falling in love with Slovenia’s wilderness is inevitable. The tour along the Lake Cerknica Trail takes you around one of nature’s exceptionally cool magic tricks. Lake Cerknica is Europe’s largest intermittent lake, meaning it appears and disappears annually. You’ll also cycle through the incredibly picturesque karst valley of Rakov Škocjan, home to natural bridges and the resurgence spot of the lake that reveals its magic act.
Next up on the bike tour menu is the Zelenci Bike Tour. The very name (Zelenci means greenies) says it all. The emerald Fusine Lakes offer one of the most scenic trails in Slovenia. These spectacular glacial lakes are bang in the middle of dense woodland and offer panoramic views of the Julian Alps. There’s a bit of a climb at the end of the route, but the rest of the tour is flat, which allows you to take in every inch of the journey.
A bike tour down Lake Bled’s less travelled paths
Lake Bled – Slovenia’s iconic landmark. Cycling in the town of Bled and around its famous lake usually means slaloming through hordes of tourists, so the Best of Lake Bled Trail was created to help you avoid that hustle. And see some additional cool sites by heading off the beaten path. Don’t worry, the lakeside views and the cliff-based castle are included, but the extra perks of this bike tour are the lesser-known trails and their secret corners in the wider area.
Mountain bike tours in Slovenia’s most idyllic locations
The more adventurous bike tour participants are in for a treat. A colorful collection of off-road trails is ready and waiting. The first is the Pokljuka MTB Trail. A ride across the pristine forested Karst plateau. Not only are Pokljuka’s meadows and Nordic ski trails a fantastic outing in winter, but its dirt tracks also offer a mountain biker a superb run in the very heart of the Triglav National Park, with views of lakes Bled and Bohinj.
On the other side of the Alps is another lovely plateau called Velika Planina. This MTB Tour runs through forests, wide-open pastures with grazing livestock, and past autochthonous alpine huts, where traditional cheese-making is still very much alive. The route along Velika Planina’s terrain is suitable for every type of biker.
Then there’s Kranjska Gora, Slovenia’s most famous alpine sports hub. The Triple Border MTB Trail takes you up to the “three-border” area between Austria, Italy, and Slovenia. An electric mountain bike makes the mountainous terrain doable and the scenic route is jaw-droppingly beautiful. The trail passes the spring of the Sava river and the emerald wonder of Zelenci.
If you thought mountain biking in Slovenia was reserved for the country, think again. Besides the old town and the amazing local marshes, Ljubljana has been blessed with forested hills that can be conquered by bike. The Ljubljana MTB Trail ascends from the city’s center and disappears into the wild. It’s a more demanding route, perfect for thrill-seekers who want to escape the crowds and join them again later for some night-time festivities.
Subterranean mountain biking down underground tunnels
In Slovenia, cycling isn’t a sport that’s only limited to hills, towns, and forests. Thanks to its rich mining history, the incredibly picturesque region of northern Slovenia called Koroška (Carinthia) is as captivating below as it is above.
One such place is the subterranean world of Koroška’s beautiful Mount Peca, which is fascinating to explore, and to do so on a bike is truly an epic experience. You can join a guided cycling tour that will lead you down 5 km of the mountain’s mysterious underground tunnels. The path through these tunnels has an elevation rise of only about 15 m, which means an easy ride awaits. That said, the mine’s former railway has left plenty of potholes to guarantee a bumpy and exciting experience.
All you have to do is hold on, marvel at the underground passages, and enjoy the ride!
And if you want to explore Slovenia by bike on a longer vacation, check out the awesome cycling holidays in Slovenia our partner has prepared.
