Slovenia

Slovenia is a beautiful, strongly hilly to mountainous country. Most roads are quiet to very quiet, some through roads are busy.

The locals are generally friendly. Knowledge of English and German is not a problem in most of the country. The alphabet is the same as with us, place names on the map are easy to read.

People from EU, Canada, Japan and USA don't need a visa. All other people need a Schengen visa to visit this country. You can find more information here https://www.schengenvisainfo.com/tourist-schengen-visa/. The visa is valid for 90 days, and allows you to travel through all Schengen countries.

Slovenia is a safe country to cycle in.

Supermarkets

There is a supermarket in almost all villages, except for the really small mountain villages. Small villages often have a small supermarket, and in larger towns and cities there are also several larger supermarkets. In the mountains often drives a kind of SRV car. The Mercator is by far the most common, especially in the smaller villages. In the cities you will also find a lot of Spar, and Lidl.

On Monday-Saturday most supermarkets are open all day (until 8pm) and on Sunday many are open in the morning (2013). The latter applies in the cities to the supermarkets outside the center on business parks, etc. Those in the center are actually closed.

Restaurants

There are plenty in the cities, in the villages there are sometimes none, but in almost every hamlet you can find a pizzeria or 'gostilna'. Campsites often also have a restaurant with a limited menu.

Restaurants are very cheap. Often it is traditional cuisine, or pizza. You have pizza for 5-9,-. The quality is good: good service, good food and low price. In most restaurants you can get vegetarian dishes.

Best time to cycle

The weather varies greatly, from very nice to downright bad. It is quite hot on the coast in summer. In the mountains, on the other hand, it is a lot cooler. Average over the whole country about 23 degrees in summer. In the evenings, as is normal in an Alpine country, there can often be thunderstorms in the mountains.

Spare parts

The local tire size is 26 inches. Bicycle shops can be found in Ljubliana. The tourist office knows the addresses. You will hardly find any in the villages. In the larger towns and on the larger campsites you have a bicycle rental, so there are undoubtedly repair options there too. A map is available at the tourist information with mountain bike routes, and this also lists the various bicycle repair shops in the various places.

Existing routes

• Cycling is still relatively unknown in Slovenia. There is mainly a lot of mountain biking and racing. At the moment people are busy building bicycle routes. The current cycling routes are very short or mainly aimed at mountain bikers. In the guide of the Central Europe route, some of the existing cycling routes in Slovenia are linked. More information at: http://www.cyclingeurope.nl/
• From Čabar (Croatia), on the border with Slovenia, you can drive 60 km along the border river (Kulpa). Quiet & beautiful!
• From Dravograd, the Drau Cycle Path runs along the Drau/Drava via Maribor towards Ptuj on a quiet road.
• From Tarvisio in Italy via Kranjska Gora to Mojstrana there is a brand new cycle path along the north side of the Julian Alps