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Geography
Roads and traffic
Climate
Terrain
MTB guides
Maps
How to get there?
Accommodation
Food
Water
Car petrol
Danger
Bike service
Geography
Slovenia (Slovenija in Slovenian) is one of the smallest
countries in the world, just half the size of
Switzerland. It is located south of Austria and east of
Italy. It measures 150 km (N-S), 250 km (E-W) and 20.273
km2 in area with population 1.964.036. The capital city
is Ljubljana with 269.824 inhabitants.
Roads and traffic
Slovenia is still building highways. They should be
done in a couple of years. All highways are toll roads.
Besides cash in Slovenian tolars you can pay in Euros and
with credit cards as well. When entering toll stations, avoid ABC
gates, which are for users of prepaid system only! The
speed limits are 50 km/h in the urban areas, 90 km/h
outside, 100 km/h on the motorways and 130 km/h on
highways. Roads can be very busy during rush hours (7-9
a.m. and 3-5 p.m.), especially in and around
Ljubljana.
Climate
Biking season lasts all year long, except in winter at
the time of the snow cover. But even then you can have a
ride at the coast (trails: Dragonja,
Tinjan, Kojnik and Senadole),
where there is no snow and the temperatures can be above
10° C even in January. But the best time to visit
is May to September, when the temperatures are appropriate
and there is little rain - short pants and jersey. There
can be very hot periods in summer as well, with
temperatures above 30° C.
Terrain
Landscape of Slovenia is very diverse. From truly Alpine
north west to totally flat terrain in the north east and
hilly terrain in the middle plus the coast line. You can
hardly find such small peace of land with such diversity.
And of course most of the land is MTB friendly. The
mountains of the Slovenian part of the Alps (Julijske Alpe,
Karavanke and Savinjske Alpe), are not really suitable for
biking though. The terrain is too rocky and steep with
some exceptions. And there are also some restrictions
regarding cycling in the Triglav National Park, which
basically covers the complete area of Julijske Alpe. But
the rest of Slovenia is very much suitable for MTB.
Large proportion of
the land is covered by forests (over 80%).
So you can have plenty of shadow in the hot summer
months. As far as type of trails, there are mostly cart tracks
and macadam roads with some nice singletracks as well.
MTB guides
There are no guides in English but this website to my
knowledge. Some excellent book
guides and some websites
are available in Slovenian though and there is also one Italian
book guide.
Maps
You can buy general maps of larger regions in scale
1:50.000 in almost all bookstores around Slovenia. You can
buy also the Atlas of Slovenia (Atlas Slovenije), which is a book with
complete collection of 1:50.000 topographic maps, covering
the whole country. But if you really want to explore the
land, then you should get Slovenian
national topographic maps (Drzavna topografska karta) in scale
1:25.000. They can be bought at local Geodetic
Administration Offices (Geodetska uprava) in Slovenia and also in specialized
bookstores (e.g. Kod&Kam).
But that is not all, there is also on-line version of the complete scale set of Slovenian
maps (Interactive atlas).
You have to register to use it, otherwise it is free of charge.
How to get
to Slovenia?
-
Italy -
e.g. from Venice (Venezia) via Trieste (200 km)
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Austria -
e.g. from Salzburg via Villach (200 km), from
Wien via Graz (250 km)
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Hungary -
e.g. from Budapest
(500 km)
-
Croatia -
e.g. from Zagreb (50 km)
Accommodation
There are a few campsites available. But you should consider
private rooms as well, since you can get one literally
around every corner. Bigger hotels might be expensive,
especially on the coast. The official Slovenian on-line
guide for tourists:
Official
Travel Guide
Food
The food is as expensive as in the rest of Europe (Western
part).
Water
The tap water is drinkable. There are few
sources along the trails as well.
Car petrol
No worries with petrol. The price is lower than in the
rest of Europe for the time being and it is the same on
all gas stations. You can always use major credit cards.
Danger
There are ticks, which can be infected with Lyme
Boreliosis. So it is wise to use repellent sprays. You
can also see snakes along the way. Some of them are poisonous.
And you can meet bear as well. Crime is not that
frequent as in the west, but pay attention where you
leave your car anyway.
Bike service
LJUBLJANA:
> Bauer,
BTC, Smartinska 152
01/540-2038
> Cerin,
BTC, Smartinska 152
01/585-1738
> Dolinar,
Pod jezom 59,
01/422-8192
> Elan
Bikes, Rozmanova 2,
01/234-3573
> Freestyle,
Bezigrad 11,
01/236-2370
> Fun
Sports, Celovska 280,
01/510-4940
> Veb, Roska 2a and Celovska 62,
01/230-0238
MARIBOR
> Elan Bikes, Lackova 47,
02/614-2871
> Fun Sports, Jezdarska 1,
02/320-5803
> Freestyle, Pohorska 7,
02/614-4600
CELJE
> Mototehna, Levstikova 3,
03/548-2031
NOVO MESTO
> Smole, Sentjernejska 7,
07/337-9800
> Elan Bikes, Ljubljanska 27,
07/393-5994
KRANJ
> Elan Bikes, Gregorciceva 8,
04/201-0962
> Zevnik sport, Ljubljanska 21,
04/236-5777
KOPER
> B.Point, Trubarjeva 6,
05/626-2525
IZOLA
> Ritosa, Kajuhova 28,
05/640-1241
LOGATEC
> Maticic, Trzaska 74,
01/754-1637
> Tandem, Trzaska 87b,
01/754-1030
SLOVENJ GRADEC
> Gorko, Legenska 19,
02/884-3441
BREZICE
> Maraton, Bratov Gerjevic 1a,
07/499-0872
KRSKO
> Gama, Shimano Service Center,
CKZ 135, 07/490-2500
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