Thanks to Covid 19, exploring our own backyards has become the best & safest option for travel. I’ve explored many parts of Slovenia: Soca Valley, Kranjska Gora, Kranj, Kamnik, Maribor, Ptuj, & more, but never explored eastern Slovenia, by bike.
I was heading to the NE corner of Slovenia using the train. I wanted to bike a part of Slovenia that I’ve never been too. While riding the train to Maribor, I got a message from my accountasnt/advocate that she got me an appointment for my residency this Friday. I contemplated just getting back on the train and heading back to Ljubljana. I still had 3 days to do something?
Thanks to the pandemic, travelling outside Slovenia takes more risk & more work than I’m willing to give. I’ve opted for the staycation, vacationing close to home. So this summer, by using my bike, the bus, train or prevoz (ride sharing), I’m searching out Slovenian’s hidden treasures. If you adopt a combination of these travel methods, then the real adventures begin. Plus your helping protect the planet for current & future generations.
The camping season in Slovenia is getting off to a slow start, so now is a good time to go, before the crowds. I’ve been going to NATURAVANTURA CAMPGROUND for 5 years. From Ljubljana it’s about 60 km bike ride, with a climb over the Kamnik Alps.
I’ve been home almost 3 weeks, it was a fiasco trying to escape Italy after it was officially “closed.” I had planned a 2 month tour of the Balkans and Italy, but Covid 19 squashed those plans. I was able to bike tour 3 cities in Italy, still killed it and lived to tell.
I typed in “what to see in Italy?”, Alberobello stood out as a must visit.
No nature left in Europe? You need to get out more often. North East Poland, sometimes thought of as the “forgotten” Poland, is natural and wild. NE Poland borders Lithuania, Belarus & Ukraine.
Continue readingFinally found a window of free-time😃. I haven’t bike toured since Czech, last year! I wanted to ride Budapest to Belgrade, but the weather was too hot for me. So I chose Climate friendly Poland with average summer temperatures of 20-25.
I grabbed the train in Ljubljana to Vienna, arriving at 22, I stayed the night in Vienna.
I’ve been to Vienna a couple times, so I tried to catch the early train to GdaÅ„sk the next morning. Booked!, so I booked an evening Flix bus & 50€ cheaper!
Continue reading
My friend Miguel from Tavira, is from Porto. He and many others have said “you must visit Porto.” So I found a “super hostel” just steps from the train station, THE BEST GUEST HOSTEL.
Everyone there was super helpful and friendly, the rooms were spotlessly clean & included breakfast!, 16 euro. I found a friendly & informative bicycle rental company, BICLAS & TRICLAS
and off I go.
I biked in the Czech Republic a couple years ago and thought it had some of the best signed & nearly carfree bicycle touring. I tried to go this summer (2018), but there was too much stuff going on. After volunteering at the Botanical Garden, I checked the weather in Prague, sunny for at least a week. I was on the train the next day heading north to Prague with my bike.
Continue reading
My good friend David (aka Chops) visited for 3 weeks from America. We rented a car, loaded up the bikes and explored the hidden Gems of Slovenia, while visiting friends.
We started in Tolmin and stayed at Camp Vili, Little did I know this would turn into the Ping Pong Tour Championship of Slovenia.
Continue reading
