jscarbary

Very early planning stage for our trip for next September. I am thinking of starting in Trieste and then going to Slovenia then maybe a coastal city in Croatia. We would love to bike ride on this trip. Has anyone ridden in Slovenia? Done any tours? I would love some ideas, thanks!

Travel_Nerd

Other than bike riding, what are your interests? How long do you have for this trip as in nights on the ground? How many people traveling? How will you be moving? Car? Or public transport?

I am not a rider (and I assume you are not referring to motorcycles) but I think bilbo is and maybe has ridden in the region - I hope he chimes in. Slovenia is mountainous so if that is a preference, I'm sure you have options. I imagine there might be tons of blogs and maybe even sample itineraries you can Google for this piece.

I, personally, was underwhelmed with Trieste. Not to say it is not a city with some great qualities, it is. Again, depending on your interests, you may enjoy it more than I did. I admit, though, I had just come from Venice so that may have a lot to do with my impression of it.

If you mean this upcoming September, some parts of the Istrian Peninsula, including Croatia and Slovenia areas, have become very popular. Something to keep in mind if will need to plan for accommodations.

jscarbary

There will be two of us. Thinking of traveling next year, so I have loads of time to get everything figured out.

Trieste is where my husband’s Grandmother is from so that is just for family connection. I am thinking bicycle. Doesn’t have to be a big tour. We rented bikes in Girona last year and did self guided rides. A group ride for a couple days could be fun but it would have to be a fit distance and effort-wise.

Travel_Nerd

I know absolutely zero about biking but did do a Google and lots of options came up, including some tours. So, I think with some research over the next several months you can come up with a great itinerary that fits your needs and interests.

This might be interesting for a starting point: https://www.rollingexistence.com/rou...ian-peninsula/ Happy Planning!

P_M

I have used Exodus Travels for several active tours and they offer a few cycling trips in the places you want to go. The groups are very small, usually no more than 16 people, so you will get to know everyone. I'm more of a hiker, but I have never been disappointed by any trip with Exodus. Please check it out.

mike1728

From Trieste, it’s an easy drive (not sure if you are driving from point to point and then cycling or cycling from Trieste) to some delightful villages in Slovenia (we did Strunjan, Izola, Koper and Piran). For Croatia a must would be Rovinj, an easy drive from Trieste. September is a great time for that area.

jscarbary

Thanks for the info so far. I will look into Exodus. I found one called Helia but the only reviews I could find for them were from years ago. Obviously I have lots of time to look into all of these suggestions and really appreciate all the help😊

KayF

We did a trip of about 10 days, flying into and out of Trieste. If we had more time I would have liked to stay in Trieste but we just picked up a hire car and headed south. Our stays were Piran, Rovinj (our favourite) and Opatija. I remember that we needed to buy a vignette (a ticket) immediately over the border in Slovenia. There was a tiny shop and I was glad I'd read up on costs, types of vignette etc as no English was spoken and that's my only language. Presumably if you have bikes and use the roads, you'll need one each.

portobelloB

We visited Ljubljana, Slovenia, in September last year. Not sure you were considering visiting there but it was a hidden gem and we wished we spent more time there. The main center has a University so many people get around on bikes.
I think it would be easy to rent bikes for a day trip there.

A beautiful coastal town in Croatia is Rovinj and Solit. One of our favorite places in Croatia.

jscarbary

What was the vignette for once you entered Slovenia?

Is English spoken in any of the cities where anyone has visited? I would expect that the larger cities may have English speakers. In the past we had basic phrases for the places that we have visited (France, Spain, Germany, Netherlands) and have been able to sort of guess on signs. I am nervous about this trip choice so far because of the language gap. I can’t even guess how to say Slavic words because of all of the diacritical marks. Will we be able to communicate with locals?

KayF

I just checked to see if it was Croatia, not Slovenia, that has the vignette and Croatia is introducing one this year. So if you're driving, you need one for each country. It may have changed but ours was a small piece of paper you put on your windscreen, to allow you to drive on the roads. A road toll I guess. I seem to remember you only needed it for motorways, not the local roads but we thought it's easier to buy one and then not worry about what road we were travelling on.

I think they are for different time periods, like a week or a year, and different costs depending on type of vehicle, like a car or truck.

We only spoke English and had no trouble at all.

kja

English is widely spoken in Croatia and in Slovenia. That said, it never hurts to learn a few civilities and basics. You might consider trying Pimsleur's Croatian lessons.

palatino82

Two years ago we did a self guided chcling trip from Villach Austria to Trieste - mostly on cycling paths, but the last day Grado to Trieste was more on main road. It was a great trip. We enjoyed Trieste although we only stayed a couple of days.
our first cycling day we stayed overnight in Tarvisio Italy. Just before we arrived we came to s crossroads on the cycle path and one direction pointed to Slovenia.
From Trieste we took Flixbus to ljubljana (sorry cant check spelling at the moment). Did a small group day trip to Lake Bled and a few other spots that was a great day.
I have been eyeing the Istrian peninsula in Croatia which is right next to Trieste.
No definite info for you except the bike trip was through Eurobike. A word of caution - their basic bikes are not good! But it is a lovely area with lots of cool toens in that part of Friuli Venezia Giulia and a lot of cycling paths. Good luck!

jscarbary

Palatino, thanks for the bike info. I have been googling so many different variations of “bike tours Slovenia” to get as many tour providers as I can.

We do plan on learning some basic phrases. Hopefully as we learn them, the pronunciation will become easier (seeing patterns and such).

I should get my travel guide today!

Thanks everyone! I appreciate all of the info!

jscarbary

Is it easy driving in Slovenia? Are the roads well marked?

kja

I found driving in Slovenia to be very easy with well marked roads. I suppose it depends on where, exactly, you go.