From the hustle and bustle of the Adriatic coast and Trieste, through deep forests and high ridges, verdant plains and arid mountains, this route traverses the far Eastern edge of the Alps and the crest of the Balkans.
Through time forgotten villages and ancient woodlands, across high barren plains and productive farmland, millennial old history and the scars of modern warfare, this route weaves it all together into a fascinating tour. It's the first part of a series that will eventually go from Trieste Italy, the Adriatic coast and mountains of the Slovenia, through to Istanbul and the Bosporus, and the Black Sea.
I didn't have the time to ride the whole thing in 2022, partly due to Brexit, and partly as I'd planned it as a gravel bike route and it was much harder than I expected. I'm hoping to finish it off in 2023. Designed for mountain bikes rather than gravel bikes, you could however ride it on a rugged gravel bike, but with big, grippy tyres and plenty of capacity for food and water. When riding off road the tracks and trails are almost continually rough and rugged, so you need to be well prepared for bouncing around all day long, and your bike and equipment need to be strong rather than light. This being a predominantly limestone karst landscape, there's very little standing water, hardly any lakes or rivers, and mostly only well water to be had away from towns and cities. Slovenia and Croatia are modern westernised countries having shrugged off the cloak of communism and embraced capitalism and tourism fully in the last few decades.