Outdoor Slovenia

It doesn't matter if it's a road trip or MTB – I'm sure I'd never discover some hidden parts of Slovenia if I didn't ride a bike. I can definitely say that for one of the trips I made some days ago ...

»Almost no cars! And the only one that had driven-by has made me feel like we were in the museum!« Primož perfectly summed up the feeling of the day after an hour or two on the bicycle. (By the way: the car he was talking about was a very stylish old-timer.)

We started our half-day trip in Vipava, a nice town in the Vipava Valley in the western Slovenia, well known for its vineyards and wine production and cute old villages as Goče, Vipavski Križ, Šmarje ... on the top of the hills that surround the valley. My perfect viewpoint to see most of Vipava Valley and its surroundings has always been the top of the rock walls that raise nearby Vipava – hanging on the climbing rope after finishing the route and enjoying the view was almost equally enjoyable as climbing itself. Vipava's verticals are one of the biggest Slovenian spots for sport climbing. Lots of routes of different difficulties and lengths. This time I wasn't about to go there to climb. The path that leads to different climbing sectors supposed to be the final cut of this day's journey.

Strong bora embraced us as soon as we got out of the car. Fortunately it was warm enough that the wind wasn't a problem – well, it did try to slow us down occasionally, but we fought well!). Just a couple of minutes after leaving a parking lot we reached a nice field path and we were successfully avoiding the traffic all the way to Razdrto, our return point. This is one more thing I love about Slovenia: somehow you can always escape the traffic roads and find isolated ones. And that's how you get to know the landscapes and villages you'd never visit by car nor by foot.

We were sliding through colorful meadows, passing the herd of sheep, admiring charming but tired old houses we should buy and move here from Ljubljana (when we're older), meeting nice people gardening around their houses; we saw the mint plant just beside the road and the thought of stealing some blushing cherries was really tempting.

It's never just about doings sports; it's mostly about experience.

And it's also about having fun! Although there's one thing that can erase your smile while mountain biking in Slovenia immediately – the fact that our legislation puts all kind of limits for mountain bikers. I'm sharing the situation regarding MTB in Slovenia from the website Let's open the trails: »Existing Slovenian legislation is not in favour of MTB. Legislators and those that decide about laws would like to see cyclists on the roads along with cars and other motorized vehicles. We think that nature trails (single tracks, forest paths, field paths ...) are the essence of mountain biking.«

Though civil initiative for legislative changes is very active and is getting more and more attention. I'm keeping my fingers crossed! 

Back to our trip! I've almost forget to mention Podnanos, a lovely village known as a scene of a very popular Slovenian film Tistega lepega dne (One Fine Day, 1962). I love it! After we reached Razdrto (we had to put some extra effort up hill) we followed the signs for Nanos, a long plateau above us that's just taken its big cloudy hat off. Numerous trails are leading up to Nanos and Razdrto is one of the most popular starting points for reaching the plateau. We left the trail quickly to find the fantastic single track that's sliding the forestry slopes almost all the way back to Vipava. We didn't meet a soul (well, at least we didn't see any), although this is the part of Slovenian El Camino de Santiago with a lovely church of St. Nikolaj.

Lots of biking, some steps on foot (no, thank you, too steep!), and there was a perfect hint for ending the trip bellow the climbing sectors: a nice campsite to relax and chill.

Cheers :-)!

The atmosphere was quite amusing: polite guests behind the chequered table cloths on one side and a bit drunk locals behind the bar on the other. But this is something to respect: although restaurant Muha in Lokev, an attractive village in Karst region is a popular spot for having a good home made meal for lunch or dinner the owners didn't throw the locals out. We had a table just near the bar so we couldn't overheard the deep thoughts coming from a glass of wine to much :-).

This time we started our weekend journey at home – in Ljubljana. We crossed Ljubljana Marshes, the largest marsh in the country stretching below the city. The prehistoric pile dwellings and the oldest wooden wheel in the world are among the most notable archaeological findings from the Ljubljana Marches. Since 2011, the area of pile dwellings near Ig has been protected as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. (There are two more UNESCO sites in Slovenia: The Škocjan Caves and Idrija's mercury mine.)

We were trying to avoid the main roads as much as possible (as usual) so we left the busy road between Ig and Borovnica as quickly as possible. The narrow asphalt road was guiding us through the woods like a snake – left and right and left and right ... (And like a snake that tries to look like an erected Homo sapiens!)


After leaving the woods they embraced us again: colorful meadows! We passed peaceful villages and headed into the woods again – but this time there were no cars, just us. And perhaps a bear somewhere in the vicinity :-)! It was a beautiful ride in solitude to Cerknica, town well known for its annual carnival and a beautiful intermittent lake which is present for the most part of the year. When full, it is the largest lake in the country. 

From Cerknica to Rakov Škocjan, a valley and the oldest landscape park in Slovenia with two natural bridges and a river that runs in depths of the valley.

After leaving Rakov Škocjan we had to leave a dirty road to reach Postojna. The town is known for its world known attraction: Postojna cave. For 140 years, the Postojna Cave, as the only cave in the world, offers a unique ride with a special train, which will take you into the cave, under spectacular underground arches, which are embellished with chandellier look-alike stalactites, through a beautiful subterranean world full of playful limestone sculptures. We have visited the cave couple of times so we passed it and headed to Lokev where we planned to spend the night.


I like this village which was once the longest village in Slovenia. It's cute and it has some things worth visit: restored store from the middle of the 20th century, small but very interesting museum of the World War I in the military tower, well known prosciuto derives from here and here is also well known trattoria Muha (Fly) that has a long family history and great home made food. There is also Vilenica cave in vicinity, one of the most colorful and oldest tourist caves in Slovenia. And Lipica with its elegant lipican horses is also nearby.

We spent the night at Muha, had a nice small talk with the owner and other personal in the evening. We left the next day after really tasty home made breakfast towards Predjama castle nearby Postojna cave, surely the most magnificent castle in Slovenia! We were avoiding busy roads again which is not a big challenge in Slovenia, there are plenty of them, sliding through woods and (again!) beautiful meadows all to Logatec, the town we like to stop for a delicious pizza in one of their restaurants.

Tired ... And my butt is aching a bit. And what about the dark clouds and the wind that is blowing louder and louder? Well, be better get our asses back in the saddle and get home before the storm! We took the main road to Vrhnika and Ljubljana, cycled like there is a matter of life and death and – we did it, we outran the storm :-)!

»Why are you cycling in this weather?« I wasn't sure but the policeman on the Croatia-Slovenia border Nova vas-Draše near Bizeljsko (Slovenia) seemed quite suspicious. Did we look like drug smugglers in a bit unusual outfit? It was gloomy all right and it drizzled a little but – why should we care? Well, the policeman obviously thought we should but then he decided we were just weird. And we were back in Slovenia ...

It's not that we were looking for some more wine regions (and some more superb home made wine – although it's hard to resist when it's being offered!) but Slovenia is a wine region itself so it's quite hard to avoid the vineyards. This time we headed South-east. Oh, and there was another similarity: hilly terrain. But that's also almost impossible to avoid when cycling in Slovenia.


We started a weekend tour in Šentjur, a small town in the vicinity of bigger Celje and headed to Podčetrtek and Olimje. Once a poor region on the edge of Kozjansko park it's nowadays a well know for its modern spa center (Terme Olimia) and cute village Olimje with a picturesque monastery with the herbal garden and old apotheca, for the chocolate fans there's a chocolate house (it's a chocolate paradise or hell!), there's a witch land in the woods, a small private brewery, winery, golf playground, a farm with deer ...


And .. Away we go! (Have you seen the movie? A nice one :-)!) Uphill, into the woods, through the vineyards and fields, just the two of us, almost no cars, here and there a nice hello from the locals. Heading to the boarder with Croatia and hop on the other side to visit Kumrovec, the birth village of a famous (or infamous, depends from the point of view) ex-Yugoslav president Tito. Now it's a well visited ethno village with mostly restored houses. Mostly: on one hand the village seems like a museum but on the other you see old rotten farmer mansions with even more rotten cars in front.

After Kumrovec we took the road back to Slovenia through the deep and nice valley. Bizeljsko castle welcomed us when we returned to our homeland and in a while we reached our tourist farm in the wine region of Bizeljsko. Sure we had to show we were tough enough to get there – why does the day always have to end uphill?

But we got a warm welcome, a glass of home made wine and a private tour with the owner to his »repnica«, a famous sandy underground wine cellar you can find only in this part of Slovenia.


Next day we rushed onto the lonesome roads that slide vineyards. It was beautiful. But one must love serenity and solitude to enjoy. And the meadows ... All the way from Bizeljsko back to Kozjansko (we also passed the famous caste of Podsreda) there were wide green meadows with spring flowers in blossom. If somebody asks when to go there I'll say in the Spring! Although the Autumn must be beautiful with its rich colors too.

It was again one of those weekend you put into your memory to get in the mood when something pisses you off during the week. Superb!

It was the perfect end of the perfect day: sitting with a glass of home made wine above the steep vineyard, looking at the sunset. 

Almost kitchy :-)! We were the only guests on this small tourist farm near Ljutomer, the »capital« of Prlekija, a region in the North-east Slovenia, known for its hilly terrain with lots of vineyards and lonely paths through small towns and villages. 

It was the end of the first day of a weekend cycling road trip. We started our first spring tour in Ptuj, the beautiful Roman town at the river Drava.

»Jesus, have the inhabitants of Ptuj ever heard of cyclists???« I felt like moving in time ... Thailand and Laos years ago. It was obvious who was the boss of the road there: the bigger the more powerful. No way that a truck would wait for a bicycle to pass the junction. And it was quite similar in the beginning of our two-day tour. 

But – let's not exaggerate ... It was just a short shock and that slowly faded away. And a journey started: we were gently sliding through the land full of growing wheat, dancing in the wind, fields with flourishing poppies, vineyards with a promise of a good wine ... Jeruzalem.

Yes, the same name as world known Jerusalem! It was centuries ago when crusaders came here. When they saw the view they were totally astonished. They cried out: »That's a holy place! Just as Jerusalem!« A real belvedere forces you to stop and enjoy the views on the terraces – like the rice ones but only with grapes! And later that evening: what a view after a proper home made dinner and a glass (well, honestly, glasses :-)) of home made wine. And the serenity that is so precious after a working week.

Day two started in a bit gloomy weather but who cared? Through the small valley, vineyards on the left and silent woods on the right, to Haloze, also a well know Slovenian wine region. You could say it doesn't appear special at all: just some vineyards, some woods, some meadows, some villages. Wrong. It is special. The serenity allowed us to hear all the noises of the nature: the birds singing, the wind blowing, the trees whimpering ... And a lot of houses with wine cellars that welcoming you to knock on the door and ask for the goodies. 

We returned to Ptuj just from the right side to enjoy the view on the old caste boasting above the old part of the town. 

It was an up and down ride, lots of nature but also lots of small and bigger castles, some of them integrated with towns and villages some welcoming you from the top of them. 

It was simply: lovely! 

Here it is – my blog :-). It is all about outdoors: mostly cycling (road trips and MTB) and mountain trips. Mostly in Slovenia, country I live in and with lots of fantastic outdoor possibilities. I love to discover the country I live in, especially its less known and beautiful parts. So, I'm doing it as much as possible. And it's not just a free time activity ... Activity tourism is on the rise so it's impossible to overlook the connection. Especially if tourism and travel industry is your other passion. I've been writing about it as a journalist for two decades now and after quitting my job as a full-employed journalist to become a free agent I've been also trying to co-create it; I also work as a tourist expert with the focus on tourism development on destinations. It's the kind of work that forces you to go out. Fortunately :-)!

Well ... Welcome to my blog :-)!

Mateja