To Slovenia with love

We will meet you at Ljubljana Jože Pučnik Airport and arrange for an environmental transfer to our hotel in Ljublijana. After check-in, we’ll help you get your bike set up and then set off for a short afternoon warm-up ride out into the countryside surrounding Ljubljana.

Back at the hotel, we'll do final adjustments to the bikes, give out the GTP kit and hold a welcome meeting followed by dinner in the hotel.

Today we have two options for you to choose from. A sweet short ride along cycle routes directly to Bled or a little more challenging scenic detour that will find you riding up to the Austrian border on the Zgornje Jezersko climb and where professional riders and teams come to train. A quick recovery stop and then you can enjoy the descent and ride into beautiful Bled.

Now you are in for a real treat, we have discovered the most glamourous and yet as sustainable as possible hotel near the lake. It will bring out the inner child in you, you can enjoy the dreamy pool, spa treatments and savour delicious meals from their own gardens. Enjoy!

After breakfast, we’ll ride around Lake Bled past the Church of Mary the Queen situated in the middle of the lake, past Bled Castle and on towards Zgornje Gorje. From here we will follow the 2020 Slovenia National Championship Time Trial to Pokljuka including steep bits! This short time trial route is 15.7km and Tadej Pogačar won it in 31 minutes and 10 seconds.

Refreshments will be provided after our attempt to maintain a similar pace to the professionals and then we will calmly ride to through forests to Slovenia’s largest natural lake and possibly most beautiful, Bohinjsko jezero.

Now is an opportunity to dive into the crystal waters and enjoy a picnic lunch. Then it is a very pleasant ride back to Bled and our tented treehouse oasis.

We have a long ride ahead of us but not so steep as we wind along the valleys to pretty Tomlin and the gate way to beautiful turquoise blue water gorges. Lunch will be well deserved and then we are following the stupidly picturesque Soča river which flows from the Julian Alps into Italy and the Adriatic Sea. Between Tomlin and Kobarid we’ll ride past meadows and farms with the great ranges looming above us. Following the Soča upstream, we should see increasing numbers of rafters and kayakers on the river and vehicles ladened with the watercraft returning to the Slovenia capital of adventure, Bovec…and where we too will find our hotel.

We hope you had a good night’s sleep because today is going to be HUGE! And no kidding, you REALLY need to ride today! First up we ride from Bovec to the Mangart turn off at 1080m and climb the highest paved road in Slovenia - also considered the most beautiful.

At the Italian border we'll zip down to stunning Lago del Predil for a picnic before following the river valley further down to Tarvisio and then a very gentle ascent back into Slovenia. Next up is Kranjska Gora and onto Vršič Pass, yet another of Slovenia’s beautiful cycle routes – not only is the scenery magnificent, this route also has well-maintained hairpin cobblestones – the Slovenian version of the St Gotthard Tremola! Before an endlessly long and beautiful descent back to Bovec.

We have that sweet combination of Slovenia and Italy again today. From Bovec, we will ride along remote roads to Žaga on the river Soča and then head up to the Italian border and to the high point of 1050m on the flanks of Monte Cochiaze. We can regroup here and then descend to Resiutta to the cycle path to Chuisaforte for a delicious Italian picnic. After lunch we have 17 km and 760m of elevation to reach the ski resort Sella Nevea and then a flat ride to Lago del Predil. Remember that short descent you enjoyed yesterday? Well it's an ascent today to the border into Slovenia and then your reward, a long descent into Bovec.

Remember the long descent from Vršič Pass into Bovec on Day 5? You get to enjoy it again today but in reverse! This time you get to admire the scenery and landscapes as you climb remembering to stop and take the photos you missed on the way down. Then it’s down the cobblestoned hairpins with stupendous mountain backdrops to Kranjska Gora. From here it is a relatively easy ride along the rural roads to pretty Kranj which has a gorge running through the middle of it, and to our hotel nearby.

Sadly, today we bid you farewell. After breakfast, we’ll help you pack up and get you to Ljubljana Airport. Or you may opt to stay and explore more of lovely Slovenia, after all we have only experienced a small corner of this green country.

We hope that this tour of Slovenia was an eye opener – it certainly was for us! Spread the love, your photos - Slovenia and Grand Tours Project have so much more to offer.