A mountain biking holiday in Slovenia, Austria and Italy

3 countries, 2 wheels, 1 amazing week: Mountain biking holiday in Slovenia with Euan Wilson, H+I Adventures director

I live on a island. Not my own island, but an island nonetheless. So the thought of riding my mountain bike in three different countries on the same mountain bike holiday already fills me with intrigue and excitement; before even thinking about the rest of the delights that a mountain biking holiday in Slovenia, Austria and Italy will offer our intrepid group of mountain bike adventurers!

The flight is on time, the bags arrive and the air is hot when we arrive in Ljubljana at mid-day. We meet our local guide Danijel and the rest of our group, pack the van and head to Bohinj Lake. Upon arrival we get stuck straight into our welcome meeting, have some lunch, build bikes, then head off up onto the Pokljuka plateau for our first ride of the tour: nothing too technical or challenging, but truly a feast for the eyes.

Within 20 minutes of riding the group are getting glimpses of what this adventure is going to deliver… we descend a short section of double track and burst out on to a high Alpine meadow, strewn with chalets, wild flowers and 1.5km-deep valleys – and this is just the warm up ride!

The trail drops us around 700m down to the valley floor and back to the shores of Bohinj Lake and our accommodation for the first two nights. This has been a real crowd-pleaser and everyone is smiling and furiously chatting about what the rest of the week will deliver if this is only day one! We keep quiet and leave everyone guessing. Slovenia is 70% forested, so a lot of the riding here is, well, in the forest, but when you open out onto an Alpine plateau, or ride a slender piece of singletrack that hugs a rugged mountainside, the views will literally take your breath away – not to mention stop you in your tracks and force you to take a picture, or two!

On these high Alpine plateaux we come across a select number of community-led cheese producing farms, so we stop by to enjoy fresh bread, cheese, local meats and a coffee to finish it all off.  All of this at 1600m up a mountain with a 12km descent ahead of us….

As the days progress we feel more-and-more like we’ve been dropped into the set of ‘The Sound of Music’. It is truly incredible how this corner of the Alps is exactly how your mind’s eye imagines it! And it is quiet, not filled to bursting with hikers, but clear, wide open singletrack to be enjoyed….

From high in the Julian Alps we have a number of long descents that deliver us to the valley floors of Slovenia, Austria and Italy during our week of mountain biking through these three countries, and the region better know as ‘the sunny side of the Alps’

Along the way from mountain to coast, we pass through a number a stunning Slovenian and Italian towns, eat some outstanding local cheese and sample a few glasses of local wine on our way to our final destination, the coastal town of Piran and the end of our singletrack adventure in Slovenia, Austria and Italy.

And to finish the week’s adventures we street ride into the Venetian town of Piran on our bikes that have taken us on a mountain biking holiday in Slovenia, Austria and Italy, down thrilling descents, through vineyards and along emerald coloured waters; all the way to the Adriatic coast and seafood washed down by the local white wine…..bliss!

If you like the sound of riding through three countries in one week, join us on our sensational new mountain biking tour in Slovenia – the perfect location for embarking upon a European odyssey mountain biking in Slovenia!