Are you wondering which time of the year is the best for mountain biking in Slovenia? Our answer would be in September/October and we can call it "the Fall".
Why? Because of the colours, pleasant temperature, clear sky, endless views, fresh air etc.
Of course you can mountain bike almost the whole year round. Spring is as good as the autumn, summer has some hot days and can be busy. Luckily you can mountain bike in winter, but you have to drive to the Slovenian coast.
This autumn the weather conditions were one of the best and we mountain bike mostly at the mountain part of Slovenia - Škofja Loka, Poljanska dolina which literally means "the valley of fields", Karawanks and Soriška planina Ski resort.
1. Mountain biking at Škofja Loka hills (Poljanska dolina)
Škofja Loka - the most preserved Medieval city in Slovenia - lies at the centre of Slovenia, where the Alps incline towards the sea. The city is worth visiting and It is also a good starting point to explore Škofja Loka hills.
The most popular mountain biking tour takes you from Škofja Loka city centre towards the highest hill Blegoš (1564m) on gravel old military road from world war 2. The route is quite long (45 km) and easy If you use electric mountain bikes, but with no electric support is a challenge for every biker - not in terms of technical difficulty, more in terms of fitness level.
2. Karawanks (Tržic area)
Tržic town lies just underneath the 2nd highest mountain range in Slovenia - Karawanks. With a total length of 120 km, positioned on the border between Slovenia to the south and Austria to the north, Karawanks are ideal for mountain biking. On the Slovenian side of the mountain range, there are officially 41 mountain biking trails for all biking levels. We can guarantee you will be impressed with each one of them.
All the bike tours have the same staring and ending point - Tržic and all of them can be described as:
- The first half of the ascent is going to take you through coniferous forest on a very wide gravel road,
- The second half of the ascent is the most scenic one. You will bike through widely open mountain fields just underneath the Košuta mountain ridge and from time to time you will have to avoid the herd of cows and horses - This is a very unique experience and with an amazing view becomes a "top notch" bike ride.
3. Mountain biking along Rapallo border - "The King tour"
The bridle path takes you all the way from the Selška valley up to the mountains around the Soriška planina ski resort. A hundred years ago it was used to equip Isonzo Front during World War 1. Along the Rapallo border, there reamany of military objects still left that remind us of the past.
Today, the bridle path up to Soriška planina is one of the most beautiful mountain biking trails, the ascent that used to be reserved only for strongest cyclists.
Looks like this bike tour along “rapallo border” is becoming out “classic” mtb tour at the end of every season. It truly is the breathtaking one.
This year we did It with non-electric enduro mountain bikes.
As described and said before, "the Fall" in Slovenia is as beautiful as in any other country, but yet a bit different - On the sunny side of Alps is still quite warm (20ºC average), which means that you can mountain bike even to the highest hills of the Slovenian Alps.
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