Cycling in Slovenia: the country of Tour winners

In recent years, Slovenia has truly risen as a popular and highly-regarded cycling destination. Thanks in part to the success of professionals Primoz Roglic and, of course, Tadej Pogacar, Slovenia is on the map. But that’s not all. The country is very diverse, has high mountains, but also has a beautiful coastline, and in terms of gastronomy this country in Central Europe can be considered among the best in the region. We delved deeper into the possibilities for cycling in Slovenia. Here are our tips!

Julian Alps – Julian Alps

The area in the northwest of Slovenia is very popular with cycling enthusiasts. The most famous name in this area is Kranjska Gora, but mainly because of the ski competitions that are held there. The name Bled will also ring a bell for many, because of the beautiful lake (with the much photographed island).

Beautiful round trip on Vršič – Mangart

You can really test your legs here. A nice route is the one from the ski resort Kranjska Gora to the south, where you can immediately start on the beautiful Vršič Pass. At the beginning you swing over the Pišnica River a few times. It’s nice to warm up a bit. That’s also necessary because after a few kilometers the first hairpin bends come up and there are also a few nice gravel sections ahead. It’s like riding up the Gotthard Pass. The climb is 12.4 kilometers in total, with 6.5% of them actually not being under 10%. So really painful.

On top of that, if you're on the gravelfiets, you can take a short detour to the Postarski Dom lodge. The view is amazing and quite rugged. The road is really suitable for the gravelfiets. The road up to the Vrsic pass is very good and actually kind of reminds me of the Dolomites.

To Mangart

From the Vršič Pass it then goes downhill towards Bovec, where you can start the Mangart climb. You drive a bit back and forth because the real climb, a total of 24.7 kilometers long with an average of 6.5%, starts in Bovec. From Log pod Mangartom it’s only 16.5 kilometers with an average of 8.6% to make it even more challenging.

The great advantage of this climb is that the top of the Mangart is a dead end road. That means that the traffic is fairly quiet and you can therefore climb and descend leisurely, insofar as that is possible with the steep slope. When you reach the top, you can take a nice ride around before descending from this highest cycling peak in Slovenia.

Back via Italy

To finally get back to Kranjska Gora, you have to sneak through Italy. Here you won’t get much elevation gain anymore and via the usually quiet Strade Statele 54 you can pedal the final stretch towards the starting point.

Route

I'd rather have more choice

Because the northwest is mainly mountainous, you can also choose another part of the country. The Karst, for example, is very diverse. The Vipava Valley in particular is highly recommended, but you can also follow the Parenzana Cycling Trail a little further south (gravel bikes are a must). This route, with 129 km, is a nice challenge partly on the old railway line. Much of it is unpaved, passing along the coast via Koper and finally to Porec. There are also beautiful routes in the Brda hills, slightly more towards the Julian Alps.

Versatile

Of course, there are also stunning places to discover in the other parts of Slovenia. We’ll delve deeper into these later, because there are plenty of fun routes to be found around Ljubljana, the capital, and in addition to the Julian Alps there are even more fun climbs to discover.

Alternative route

This route can best be done in two days, or you can take a detour through the valley. You’ll get to see the most beautiful sights in this region here!

Enthusiastic?

Have you become completely enthusiastic about cycling in Slovenia? Would you like to learn more about cycling in this beautiful country? Then visit the website of the Traffic Office of Slovenia or keep an eye on the performances of the top riders like Primoz Roglic or Tadej Pogacar.