Slovenia Bike Tour Reviews (page 8)
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★★★★★ Gareth Laws September 16, 2024From Mountain Tops to Ocean Views
· Best of Slovenia: Highlights Across the Country From Bled to Piran
Do this now, before Slovenia is spoilt. Lake Bled our starting point was amazing. Some steady climbs, luckily on e-bikes made the challenges in the early days more comfortable! A mix of accommodation, but one night in most of the places, was ok. We broke the journey with 2 nights in Ljubljana, definitely worth it.
A mix of off road, paved tracks, some roadside cycling ( but the cars were very good to us) grunty uphills and screaming downhills.
The App was easy to use and didn’t chew through the battery too much.
Overall we had a great time. The people are very friendly and welcoming. The hotels varied from top notch to “OK”. The bikes were comfortable and good condition, no problems there. Would recommend if you have some cycling experience.- What was the date of your tour?
- September 2024
- How many tours have you completed?
- 5
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- As expected
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
- Countries included in this tour?
- Slovenia
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★★★★★ Clifford Davis October 1, 2024
Great Intro to Slovenia
· Best of Slovenia: Highlights Across the Country From Bled to Piran
Tour offers everything from the Julian Alps area and Bled to small towns to Ljubljana to coastal Italy and coastal Slovenia at the finishing town of Piran. We added extra days in Bled, Ljubljana and Piran and highly recommend doing so. Most of the cycling is on roads shared with vehicles but drivers were generally aware and used to cyclists. We found the GUIBO navigation app somewhat problematic particularly since we didn’t get access until the morning cycling began. Our bike fitting and familiarization was also included in our first cycling morning so a number of items regarding the cycle computer were not covered.
The tour company was responsive to our requests for transport due to inclement weather.
There are wide variations in the quality of the hotels with some very fine hotels and some less so.
That being said the tour features some gorgeous scenery and spectacular sights. The caves in Postonja and the area surrounding Bled are breathtaking. The people along the way were very helpful and we had no trouble communicating even though we don’t speak Slovenian.
- Countries included in this tour?
- Slovenia
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★★★★★ margaret c 2 months ago
nice trip, beautiful countryside
· Best of Slovenia: Highlights Across the Country From Bled to Piran
beautiful countryside, cycling nice, trip about 3 days too long, some of the places we visited though pleasant had little of interest. the accommodation was 3 star quality all the way apart from perhaps Piran and Bled. the M hotel as mentioned in many previous posts is a disappointment in Ljubljana as it is too far out of town which ruined the evening there.
- What was the date of your tour?
- sept 25
- How many tours have you completed?
- over 10
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- As expected
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
- Countries included in this tour?
- Slovenia
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★★★★★ Carol RALEY September 17, 2023Awesome trip
· Emerald Tour of Slovenia’s Gems
Slovenia is an absolutely beautiful place to visit especially by bike! We spent time in Bled before the trip so we felt like we saw a great deal of the country. Some difficulty withe Guibo and signage was hit and miss. Ebikes functioned well but had some issues with plastic parts falling off (chain guard and rear fender stabilizer ) Nothing critical but just annoying. End of summer tired bikes I suppose. Otherwise great trip!
- Countries included in this tour?
- Slovenia
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★★★★★ Carol RALEY September 22, 2023
Easy to Love Slovenia!
· Emerald Tour of Slovenia’s Gems
We did a self guided Emerald Tour. For the most part directions were good. Went through a bit more road construction than was expected. Guibo was OK. Once you figured it out. We had not used it previously. Good Ebikes with Bosch motors and Shimano shifters. Disc brakes.
Slovenia itself is an absolutely beautiful, friendly and welcoming country! From top to bottom (Bled t0 Piran) It did not disappoint. Tour was well planned and our tour rep had lots of helpful hints about the trip.
We had enough time to do all we wanted and still get some rest time . Good trip!- What was the date of your tour?
- September 23
- How many tours have you completed?
- 7+
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- As expected
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- First-time bike tourists, Solo travelers, Families with teens
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
- Countries included in this tour?
- Slovenia
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★★★★★ AMY COOK May 3, 2024
A lovely tour
· Emerald Tour of Slovenia’s Gems
This tour was lovely, so much beautiful countryside and fascinating historical sites.
It was quite a bit more mountainous than the promotion description lead me to believe and on of the hotels was considerably less nice than the rest. But overall it was a great trip.- What was the date of your tour?
- April 2024
- How many tours have you completed?
- 3
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- Somewhat harder
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- Solo travelers, Families with teens
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
- Countries included in this tour?
- Slovenia
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★★★★★ Joseph Lutkenhaus September 11, 2024
Lovely Slovenia
· Emerald Tour of Slovenia’s Gems
This was a great bike trip and a great way to see Slovenia (the part between Ljubiana and Piran). The ride is mostly (>90%) on roads with only the last part into Piran on a bike path. The first day was flat, the second day was hilly and partly on a gravel road) and the other days were hilly. The roads were generally not too busy but occasionally some of the roads were busy. We bike often at home but would have died if we did not have e-bikes because everyday after the first was hilly. The hotels were great and made charging the bikes easy. The breakfasts were amazing. The stay in the rural area with the wine tasting was great, although a bit expensive. We generally do bike trips in September but had to go in August this year. A dip in the Adriatic in Piran was fantastic.
- What was the date of your tour?
- August 2024
- How many tours have you completed?
- 7
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- Somewhat harder
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- Solo travelers, Families with teens
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
- Countries included in this tour?
- Slovenia
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★★★★★ John Mitchell September 15, 2024
Good trip - great experience
· Emerald Tour of Slovenia’s Gems
Overall a wonderful trip through gorgeous scenery. The routing was excellent, giving us pretty rural scenery and avoiding car traffic. Hotels were generally excellent and continental breakfast buffets were a highlight of our day! We had a fabulous time and this trip has opened up the world of bike touring to us. And made us want to return to Slovenia to explore further.
The route did bring us to a couple of small towns with very little going on, and we would have enjoyed going a little bit further on some days. Maybe it could be better to tweak the route by lengthening a couple of days and building in an extra night and side-trip from Postojna, Muggia or Piran.
The hotels in Muggia and Piran were superb. The hotel in Vrhinka was not great (rooms were noisy from road traffic and bar immediately below; breakfast choice and quality was lowest of the trip).
Our touring bikes were basic, old and in average repair. Tires were under-inflated on receipt, mudguards rattled. All mechanicals worked just fine though. We saw some other Helia bikes on our travels which looked newer and lighter.
Navigation - the Guibo app was OK. The interface is definitely NOT Google Maps. We found it slow and clumsy but it did the job. The arrows on signposts were great in some areas, not in others. The printed material was useful to read to prepare for the day ahead, but the printed map details were too small to be of use.
- What was the date of your tour?
- September 2024
- How many tours have you completed?
- 1
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- As expected
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- First-time bike tourists, Families with teens
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
- Countries included in this tour?
- Slovenia
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★★★★★ Wes Kenney 4 months ago
Beautiful week in Slovenia
· Emerald Tour of Slovenia’s Gems
We had a great time on the Emerald Tour. None of us had been to Slovenia before and were pleasantly surprised by the beauty of the country and friendliness of the Slovenian people. We spent some extra time in Ljubljana and Lake Bled in advance of the tour. Definitely a must. Would highly recommend this trip to those who had not been to Slovenia and those who have and want a different perspective.
- What was the date of your tour?
- July 2025
- How many tours have you completed?
- 3
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- As expected
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- First-time bike tourists, Families with teens
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
- Countries included in this tour?
- Slovenia
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★★★★★ G. Jones 3 months agoquick way to see the highlights
· Compact Ljubljana Bike Tour
Loved biking in Ljubijana. I would have liked this tour to be a bit longer but it's still a good way to see the main highlights. Lots of good places to eat and drink along the river as well and it's far more affordable than most European cities.
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★★★★★ Two Michiganders November 4, 2015Lost in Translation
· Venice to Trieste and Istria
This was our fourth tour with Bike Tours and the first with an Italian outfitter. Maybe that's where the trouble started.
We're not novices to this kind of travel and expect to spend some time lost and wandering--that's okay--to some extent. The directions for this trip were oddly and sometimes poorly translated, and there were occasions that though we'd asked for the English version, the notes were in German. The sticker signage was missing and incorrect at several critical junctures--crossing into Croatia from Slovenia, for instance. I know we weren't the only people who missed it--others at the hotel mentioned the same confusion.
I think that this part of Italy isn't quite as used to cycling (fewer cycle paths) and there were long stretches where we were riding with heavy traffic on 50-70k speed roads. The last day was very hilly (we were aware of this) and included some long slogs through unmarked Croatian campgrounds/resorts which were not mentioned in the directions. Despite the directions, knowing that you needed to be near the sea for most of the trip was helpful.
Navigation being my only caution, this was a lovely and fun trip. The towns and sites along the way were quaint and it was relaxing when we were off the main roads. I appreciated the towns we stayed in, Sagittaria Concordia, Trieste and Piran were especially memorable for the sites and ambiance of each place. The ruins in Aguilia were amazing. The hotels were all excellent, breakfasts hearty and our bags were moved as promised.
I'd recommend this to someone, but with caution regarding navigation.- How many tours have you completed?
- Four
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- As expected
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
- Countries included in this tour?
- Croatia, Italy, Slovenia
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★★★★★ Cycle2017 September 25, 2017
Our Venice to Porec Challenge
· Venice to Trieste and Istria
This tour proved to be more challenging than anticipated, partly due to torrential rains on 2 days and windy conditions most of the week. Concerns included long riding distances with limited facilities between some of the planned stops -e.g. -few restaurants or stores to purchase snacks and more water. The signage didn't always match the tour directions, creating confusion and likely longer rides than planned. The final day -70 km, with 50% uphill is a challenge for casual riders. Casual recreational riders will find some of the days long and some of the terrain challenging. The local provider provided excellent support when we were flooded out of a hotel and unable to ride due to area flooding, and also assisted with transportation for the final transfer when a member of the group was ill, and weather conditions were miserable. Despite this, our group, 3 recreational riders and 1 experienced rider, enjoyed visiting the beautiful cities along the route -when the weather cooperated.
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★★★★★ Morgan Baumann May 18, 2023
Excellent Trails on which to explore a lovely part of Europe
· Venice to Trieste and Istria
Traveling by bike is a wonderful way to enjoy a new place. Our accommodations were Excellent. Our guide, Tony, (with us for the first days), was first rate!- so helpful. A couple of concerns: I would not rate this as a 2 for regular bikes - even with variants, it was a lot of biking and I was disappointed not to arrive in towns sooner. Everyone in our group was similarly disappointed including those on e-bikes. I would have liked a more leisurely pace and instead the days felt rushed. The directions however were my biggest problem. For the most part they were poor. We lost so much time just trying to figure out where to go! Our last stage, into Porec was by far the easiest and so even though the ride itself was more challenging, we arrived in Porec in good time to enjoy the town. This last stage was easier because the red arrows were frequent and well placed all along the route. You only needed to glance at the map and the written directions and then just keep following the arrows. In contrast, on many of the other stages, the arrows were few and far between and often were Not where we needed to make a turn! We spent far too much time studying the map and having to reverse direction to get back on the route. It would also help if the directions noted if we were generally following a set route that was already mapped out by those small brown signs. Those signs were well placed and easy to follow.
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★★★★★ Rudy Paulich September 20, 2023
Italian coast Adventure
· Venice to Trieste and Istria
Study maps and cue sheet as early on as possible for a smooth tour.
I was unable to down load gps files as it said my device was to new.
Files and info should be updated so all can download files and pertinent info on trip. -
★★★★★ Susan Radtke July 1, 2024First time with a company organized bike trip
· Dolomites to Trieste via Lake Bled at the Foot of the Julian Alps
My husband and I have done a fair amount of biking in the U.S. and in Europe and this was the first time we used a company to plan and support the trip. The good: Some of the hotels that were booked were terrific - especially in the more rural places. The navigation app when it worked was really useful and when it didn't work it seemed to be more of an issue with our phones than the app itself. There was confusion over the timing of our bus transfer over a mountain pass and the woman at the help center worked really hard to sort it out. Also, the luggage transfer was always efficient. The not so good: The bikes were pretty beat and heavy. We had to have one replaced. Although the directions said we would have at least one handlebar bag per room, we had none. Also, we understood that we would have a handlebar mount for a phone and would have brought one from home had it been more clear that we would not. The worst thing was our final day biking into Trieste. The route put us on a road that was absolutely harrowing - no shoulder at times, fast moving traffic including busses and trucks. It felt decidedly unsafe and I would never have put cyclists on such a route. So all in all, we had a good time and saw some beautiful country but moving forward we decided we would go back to planning our own trips where we have more control over the quality of the bikes and the route, plus obviously it's cheaper to do the planning yourself.
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★★★★★ Richard Sany August 12, 2024
Nice Scenery
· Dolomites to Trieste via Lake Bled at the Foot of the Julian Alps
We have been on a previous biketours.com offered ride in Austria and had certain expectations. The scenery was great but the navigation maps (especially digital) were lacking. The app for navigation and it was not responsive enough for making correct turns. I downloaded the digital files and tried to load them onto a ride app, Ride With GPS, but the files were so disorganized I had to completely re-trace the route for the 3 of the days we rode. Unlike a previous reviewer, I think the last day route from Gradisca d'Isonzo to Treiste was not that treacherous, probably because we took the more hilly alternate route through the countryside. Not very many cars and the rest were respectful of bikes on the road. I was very glad I had a triple front chain ring though because I was in the lowest gear on many hills (my wife had an ebike and met me at the top of every hill :-) ).
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★★★★★ Tom Jones 5 months ago
Memorable bike tour
· Dolomites to Trieste via Lake Bled at the Foot of the Julian Alps
Just wrapped up a memorable bike tour from the Dolomites to Trieste — and wanted to share a few highlights and lessons learned.
First, a big shoutout to Taylor at BikeTours.com, who was a fantastic Tour Advisor. When our bikes didn’t show up at the first hotel as expected, we gave her a call — and she jumped in right away. Thanks to her help, the bikes arrived in time for us to start riding the next morning without delay.
What I learned:
• Expect the unexpected. Our first day brought heavy rain — and we got soaked. If you’re doing a similar trip, pack good rain gear!
• Bring biking tools. While the bikes were in excellent shape, having a small tool kit (for tightening loose seats or making minor adjustments) came in handy.
• Stay connected. I recommend buying an eSIM for mobile data before the trip. Just don’t forget to turn on data roaming!
• Be prepared for little expenses. Public WCs often cost 1€, so keep some coins handy. And at hotels, you’ll need to pay a local tax (around 3€) — some places only accept cash for that.
• Illness can happen. I haven’t been sick in years, but picked up a cough midway through the trip. I ended up skipping the last day of riding — and that meant a taxi ride to the next hotel, which cost about $100 USD.
• Extra hotel nights aren’t cheap. If you decide to extend your stay somewhere, budget about $200 USD per night, especially if you want breakfast included.The ride itself:
The scenery was absolutely beautiful (except for the rainy day), and the routes between hotels didn’t have too many steep climbs. That said, for me, it was still a challenging ride — definitely pushed my limits, but in a good way.
All in all, a wonderful trip with a few good reminders: plan ahead, be flexible, and enjoy the ride
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★★★★★ TriaT July 10, 2017
Hillier than described
· Best of Slovenia: Highlights Across the Country From Bled to Piran
This was our third family trip booked through Bike Tours Direct. The previous two were in Austria (Danube and Salzburg loop). We have two daughters, age 11 and 13, who are physically fit and mentally strong. This trip, lovely as it was, was too challenging for them. There is some serious climbing required and it should be rated at least a 3. It doesn't necessarily look like much on the profile but with the scale it's very deceptive. After 6 days cycling we needed a rest day so gave in and the bike company helped order a taxi that could take us and the bikes to Lipica. Overall the route took us through some wonderful scenery, starting in the Alps, then the Karst hills, and finally to the Adriatic coast. But most of it was on roads rather than bike paths, often with busy traffic. We're experienced road riders but found the Slovenian drivers to be rather aggressive and none of the roads had shoulders.
We also were a little disappointed in the destinations each night. The trip started in a fantastic place, Lake Bled, and ended in a very different but equally picturesque town, Piran, but too many of the overnights in between were in nondescript towns with little to explore. The distances weren't huge each day so we took our time and ate lunch along the way. Typically we arrived at the hotel around 2pm so had plenty of time to explore the new location but in 3-4 of the locations there was nothing to see, which was a real shame as on a trip like this part of the excitement is getting to the new place each day.
The hotels were of mixed standards. Some were modern, some very old and tired. Air conditioning seemed to be a challenge in all of them, though sorely needed. Wifi was spotty at best. Bathrooms are universally tiny.
We did some but not all of the side trips. It was raining at Lake Ribcev so we didn't do the waterfall or swim in the lake, which was a shame. Indoor Aquapark at the Eco Hotel was a godsend, given the rain that afternoon. Predjama Castle is a must. Also the Postojna caves. The Lipica stud farm was lovely, though the show a little underwhelming.
The food in Slovenia was a pleasant surprise. It's heavily influenced by Italy so every other restaurant offers pizza and pasta, plenty of salads, grilled meat and fish. Local wines were good. And everyone we encountered along the way spoke excellent English.
If you're looking to explore a new country, this is a great way to sample Slovenia. But the infrastructure and culture geared towards cycling just isn't there yet in the same way that it is in countries like Austria, Germany.
There were a few times where the directions didn't match the odometer readings and we had to rely on Google maps for cross reference. If you don't have an international data plan on your phone I highly recommend it. Overall though the directions were pretty good. And Helia, the local bike company, was very appreciative of any suggestions for improvement. SHOW MORE- What was the date of your tour?
- July 2017
- How many tours have you completed?
- 3
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- Much harder
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- Solo travelers, Families with teens
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
- Countries included in this tour?
- Slovenia
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★★★★★ Allen H. September 22, 2023
Tour of Slovenia
· Best of Slovenia: Highlights Across the Country From Bled to Piran
The logistics of the tour was good. Hotels, Routes & baggage transfers went as planned without any issues. However the bikes were terrible. Heavy & not proper gearing for climbing hills. The poor bikes took away from the enjoyment of bike riding. I have done 10+ bike tour in Europe. The worst rental bikes ever. Also the Guibo route app was poor. Ride with GPS is much better.
- What was the date of your tour?
- Sept. 2023
- How many tours have you completed?
- 10 plus
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- As expected
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- First-time bike tourists
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
- Countries included in this tour?
- Slovenia
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★★★★★ David Turner September 24, 2024
Beautiful Scenery, Too Many Busy Roads
· Emerald Tour of Slovenia’s Gems
This was our sixth European cycle trip and the first one that we felt the description of was misleading. The information indicated that 80% of the route was on country roads. To us that means small quiet roads that go through villages with infrequent cars or farm equipment. We found that far too often we were cycling on secondary roads with fast moving cars, trucks and buses and no shoulder. There were several close calls with cars passing us on curves. We expect traffic entering and leaving cities, but this was stressful and unpleasant. The few designated bike lanes and small roads were fine and made for enjoyable cycling.
There was severe weather forecast for the first day of our ride. We, and some other cyclists expressed concern about the weather to the representative that we met prior to the start of the ride. He absolutely downplayed our concerns at our first meeting and also the morning we were to begin when the rain was torrential. Wisely we decided to take the train to a station close to our destination. We still got drenched getting to and from the station. The other four cyclists tried to ride and had to be rescued after 10 km. Luckily some very kind people helped them out.
The Guibo navigation system worked well, however on one cycle day, the route ended 15 km. from our hotel. We had to self navigate the rest of the route. We managed, but there was a bit of stress figuring out the best route with the least amount of traffic. A less experienced group could have found themselves in a difficult situation.
The scenery, the people and the food were all good, but we would not recommend this ride to others. We realize that weather is out of anyone’s control, but we felt our concerns were taken lightly and the advice given was poor.
- What was the date of your tour?
- September 2024
- How many tours have you completed?
- 6
- Do you recommend this tour?
- No
- Countries included in this tour?
- Slovenia
