Slovenia Bikepacking
Slovenia Gravel Bikepacking: Lakes, Mountains & Alpine Passes
This 7-day bikepacking adventure explores Slovenia's most iconic landscapes on a specially curated mixed-terrain route. Riders journey from the famous Lake Bled to the turquoise waters of the Soča River, crossing the country's highest mountain pass—Vršič Pass—and into the shadows of distinctive limestone karst peaks of the Julian Alps around Lake Bohinj.
Most days offer two distance options, each with a SITW guide. Riders choose their own style—joining the group, riding with a guide, or setting their own pace. Either way, evenings bring everyone together for group dinners, lakeside sunsets, and that signature Sisters in the Wild magic. It's going to be a blast.
Highlights
✔ Two route options every day means it’s great for a range of riders
✔ Swim in Lake Bled and Lake Bohinj
✔ Option for whitewater rafting
✔ Ride Slovenia’s most famous mountain pass
✔ Dorm rooms on some nights keeps prices accessible
✔ Room upgrades available for more privacy
View Dates & Book
How Booking Works
£300 Deposit
Secures your spot at booking
We Confirm
We let you know the trip is running
Balance Due
60 days before the trip start
Tip: pay with bank details to avoid card processing fees.
Optional Add-Ons
Bikepacking Bags
£25
Karoo Nav Device
£10
Luggage Transfer
£100
All add-ons can be selected at booking or added later.
Please note: this trip requires a minimum number of riders to run. We recommend not booking flights until we've confirmed — your deposit is fully refundable until then. You'll see a Guaranteed badge next to any dates we've already confirmed to run.
Still Have Questions?
Ask us anything about the trip, or register your interest for future dates.
Reviews
Itinerary
Meeting Point: Lesce, near Lake Bled
End Point: Lesce
Riders carry either all their gear bikepacking-style or just the essentials, hopping between hostels and traditional mountain huts on and off the stunning Juliana Bike Trail, a highlight of the Slovenia MTB Route. The route includes carefully chosen detours and options that keep the trip accessible to a range of gravel riding abilities while showcasing favorite local spots. Expect roughly half the riding on gravel trails and half on quiet scenic roads and cycleways that twist and turn through the alpine landscape.
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Meet at our hostel in Lesce (1A Adventure Hostel, Lesce) from 2pm, and get your bike ready for an evening shakedown ride.
After introductions, we’ll ride as a group on a 15km-ish loop from the hostel, getting our bodies into the groove and making sure our bikes are all set for the adventure ahead.
Back at the hostel, we’ll share dinner and talk more about the week and what’s ahead.
For anyone arriving on the late Saturday evening flights from London, check in at the hostel when you arrive and we’ll meet you at breakfast!
Breakfast: Not included
Ride options: 15km (everyone). 70% gravel.
Accommodation: Hostel (private dormitory). Adventure 1A Hostel, Lesce.
Room upgrade available? Yes
Dinner: Included. At hostel or local restaurant
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Today we load up our bikes to take on the trail! We’re heading towards a traditional Slovenian mountain hut in the hills before Kranska Gora.
There’s one route for everyone today, as we pass by Lake Bled, picking up supplies for lunch, before heading into the foreseted hills and climbing to our home for the night. There’s the chance to stop in the way to visit Soteska Vintgar, the beautiful gorge outside of Lake Blaed, and Slap Pericnik, reached by a short hike, before we climb to our mountain hut home for the evening.;
Breakfast: Included, hostel breakfast
Ride options: 50km/950m
Accommodation: Mountain Hut (Dormitory)
Room upgrade available? Yes
Dinner: Included. Mountain Hut.
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Our big day!
After breakfast at our hut, we’re on the road bound for our high point of the week - 1611m Vrsic Pass, the highest pass in Slovenia. It’s one route for everybody today, and for some it’ll feel like a big one! But with an early start and a steady gradient you can find your pace. Choose to take the tarmac or gravel way up the pass, and at the top you’ll be rewarded with a chance to grab a mountain hut lunch. We’ll follow the river for miles (with chances for a dip) before arriving to the town of Bovec for our night in a hostel in the fun river town.
Breakfast: Included, mountain hut breakfast
Route Option: 70km/1200m climbing (everyone). Approx 25% gravel, 25% cyclepath, 50% road.
Accommodation: Mountain Hut (Dormitory)
Dinner: Not included - we’ll reserve a table at a local place.
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We’re back to two riding options today, with a HIGHLY RECOMMENDED chance to squeeze in a white water rafting trip on the iconic Soča River before our ride, or to take an easy morning relaxing in Bovec. Our shorter route will set off after lunch, following the river for much of the day, following gravel tracks and skirting the villages of scenic Bovec and Kobarid. The mountains and river always feel close by. Our destination tonight is a lovely small hostel in the town of Tolmin, a fun place to go hit up a local bar and celebrate your ride!
If you’re still craving climbs and enjoy some technical descending, our longer route will take you through the hills up to the wild feeling Mt Stol, for an epic gravel descent.
Breakfast: Included
Route Option: 50km/350m climbing, or 70km/1220m climbing (approx 50% gravel/50% road)
Accommodation: Hostel (private dormitory)
Room upgrade available? Yes
Dinner: Not included. You choose! Cook al fresco at hostel, or hit up a local restaurant. We’ll share some recommndations.
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Today we head to the iconic Lake Bohinj! There’s a lot of miles and climbing ahead, but with the chance to hop on a local train to cut out distance and climbing, there’s options for everyone, and hell ↑ a downhill reward!
Our hostel tonight is right on the lake - there’s no better location or view from our dining room. From bed to lake time in under 2 minutes? Winner.
Breakfast: Included
Route Option: Today is mostly tarmac, with some fun gravel and cycle path sections. Ride all the way and you’ll cover a beasty 72km/1600m! But there are lot’s options to skip distance and elevation by taking the scenic trail A great day to see how you feel!
Accommodation: Hostel (private dormitory)
Room upgrade available? Yes
Dinner: Included (at hostel)
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We pack up for the final time and head back to our starting hostel in Lesce, with plenty of miles in our legs and stories to tell. The shorter ride is stunning, using a brand new cycle path that follows the river most of the way to Lake Bled. Our long route will take us high into the Potluca plains on a beautiful gravel climb. The scenery opens up as we ride through shepherds villages that feel centuries old. It’s a fun descent back down to Lake Bled, where we join with the shorter route for a last swim and ride back to the hostel.
Back at the hostel, we’ll have time to relax and pack up bikes before a final dinner together at a local restaurant. Hoorah! We made it.
Breakfast: Included, hostel breakfast
Route Option: 48km/540m (40% gravel) climbing or 70km/1210m (60% gravel)
Accommodation: Hostel (dormitory). Adventure 1A Hostel, Lesce.
Room upgrade available? Yes
Dinner: Not Included. We’ll book a local restaurant for a last nights dinner together, pay for what you eat.
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One last breakfast together at the hostel and we’ll say goodbye! Taxis for the airport can be arranged with the hostel, or take a trip into Ljubliana. There’s an easy bus from the hostel.
Breakfast: Included, hostel breakfast
Route Option: No riding today.
Accommodation: Not included
Dinner: Not included.
What’s Included?
Included ✓
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Our trip will be hosted by our British Cycling and First Aid qualified Sisters in the Wild guides who between them have a tonne of experience of riding, travelling, living and working in Slovenia.
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6 nights simple accommodation included
5 nights hostel (mix of private dormitory & private twin/triple rooms)
1 nights mountain hut (dormitory)
Room upgrades to twin or private rooms are available on most night (limited availability)
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Bikepacking bags and navigation devices can be added to you booking, and we’ll have them ready for you on day one.
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Each participant will be provided with a specially curated collection of routes and route briefings via Komoot, and a free map bundle to access/navigate them.
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Meals listed as included in the itinerary.
Not Included ✗
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Lunch and snacks are not included. We’ll make sure you know where you can pick up food on the ride.
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Riders can bring their own bike choose bike hire as an add-on.
Riders should carry simple tools/spare for their bike in case of bike issues. Our guide team can help you use them!
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Flights, transfers and all travel to our start/end point in Lesce is not included. We’ll share info to help you book your travel plans.
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Travel Insurance that allows multi day cycling as an activty, and covers medical emergenc, repatriation, cancellation and public liability is mandatory for all SITW trips and is not included.
Slovenia is in the EU and Schengen zone, and most travellers do not require a visa. If you require a visa to travel, this will not be included.
Accommodation & Food
Accommodation
We'll be moving between accommodation throughout the trip, and will return back to our starting hostel on the last day.
Our accommodation for this trip is simple hostels, mountain huts and guesthouses that we’ve chosen for their locations and accessibility, with room configurations depending on what rom package you’ve booked.
For those on a dorm room basis, some nights you may be sharing with just one other, whilst others it may be up to 8. We’ll all be in shared dorm rooms on our mountain hut night!
Food
Breakfast can be quite a simple but filling continental affair, with muesli, yoghurt, fruit, and bread. Eggs are available on a couple of days, but if you’re carving protein you may wish to supplement. For lunch, bakeries are king with hot local burek and pastries, though most days we’ll also have access to supermarkets to pick up supplies for a packed lunch.
We choose places for dinner that are able to cater to vegan and gluten free, though serious celiac and other allergies may be more of a challenge. Please email us before booking if you have serious allergies.
Gluten free and vegan produce is quite readily available in the supermarkets we pass on most days.
About The Riding
With a shorter and longer option most days, we’ve rated this trip an overall 3/5 (shorter routes using public transport shuttle options) to 4/5 (longer routes). This is a mixed terrain route that overall is about 50% off-road on the longer route option, with a little more tarmac overall on the shorter route options. There’s one big 70km day for everyone.
Challenge Level
Terrain
Expect everything from super smooth tarmac roads, separated cycleways, smooth gravel tracks, and some steeper/more technical riding on the longer routes. The riding on the shorter routes is generally relatively smooth, and we fully embrace walking any parts of the route that feel a little out of your comfort zone! Expect some more challenging terrain on the longer routes, with some days having longer gravel climbs and chunkier descents that require a good level of off-road handling skill.
Climbing
Climbing presents the biggest challenge on this trip! We minimise this on the short routes, with options to skip climbs in favour of valley rides or scenic train journeys. However there are a couple of unavoidable significant climbs on D2 (450m) and D3 (1200m). These will be a challenge for some riders, but the sense of achievement is incredible! There is a potential option to skip this D3 climb with public transport.
Our long routes come with more elevation, with an average of 1500m on most days. The climbs are a mix of tarmac and gravel.
See our daily itinerary for daily statistics.
Daily Distances
Average daily distances are between 40km-50km for the shorter route, and around 70km for our longer route. There is one big day for everyone (D3) when we push over iconic Vrscic Pass.
There is an option to ride just 15km on D5, and enjoy a restful afternoon by Lake Bohinj!
Remoteness & Weather
Whilst the scenery is stunning and you’ll often be alone on the road or trails, this route has well spaced opportunities to hit a cafe or bar on most days, and most of the route is accessible by vehicles. Slovenia is mountainous, and thunderstorms can roll in quickly and present a hazard, especially on mountain passes. It’s therefore important to pack for all weathers. Our guide team will monitor the weather and make itinerary adjustments as needed. Our long route on D4 is more exposed and remote, with an exposed high pass, which we only recommend for experienced riders in stable weather.
Support Style
Our SITW Bikepacking trips aim to strike the perfect balance of freedom and support. Riders are free to ride the routes at their own pace or with the guide and group. Regardless, our team will be out on the routes to support and cheerlead.
Guiding
There will be two ride options on most days (5 out of 7) and a SITW guide will ride each of the route options, moving back and forth amongst the group. Our guides are qualified first aiders and experienced mechanics and can help troubleshoot issues on the trail. Riders should be equipped with their own navigation and not rely on following a guide for directions. Each participant will be provided with a specially curated collection of routes and route briefings via Komoot, to enable self supported navigation.
Support
In addition to the bike based guides, this trip has a support vehicle to assist the group in case of issues (mechanicals, injury etc). This should not be viewed as a shuttle option, however, our team know the public transport options in the area well, and can advise when it’s possible to skip sections. The team SITW team will likely switch between bikes and vehicle.
Bikes & Bike Hire
Bike hire is not included as standard in this trip, and riders are welcome to bring their own bike or hire locally. There’ll be space to rebuild the bikes at our starting hostel, and we can arrange storage of bike boxes whilst on the trip.
Recommended Bike
A gravel bike with minimum 38mm tyres, and a good amount of grip, or a hardtail MTB are both good choices for this trip. If you are newer to off-road riding, a hardtail can be good for building confidence on the off-road sections, though may feel slower on the tarmac sections. Experienced riders who will ride the long routes may welcome thicker tyres for the rougher descent on D4.
Bike Hire
Life Bike have a range of Hardtail MTB and Gravel Bikes available to rent, and are within walking distance of our start/end hostel.
https://www.lifebike.biz/rent-a-bike/
Please book directly from Life Bike.
Read our Complete Guide To Bikes On Sisters in the Wild Adventures for tips on travelling with your bike, recommended spares, and more.
FAQs
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Please do not book your flights until we have confirmed the minimum trip number has been reached.
Ljubljana Airport is the closest airport to our start/end point, and about 20 minute drive. Our start hostel can arrange transfers for you, or a taxi costs about 40E.
Direct flights from the UK to Ljubljana (EasyJet, BA, WizzAir) are available from London, Manchester and Edinburgh.
Other useful airports are Zagreb (Croatia- Ryanair flights from Manchester and other airports, with a 3hr Flixbus from the Airport to Ljubljana. From here, it’s an hour or so on bus/train to our start point.), Trieste, Venice Treviso. Rome2Rio is a good website for looking into bus transfers.
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Taxis are readily available at Ljubljana Airport and cost in the region of 30 - 40 euros. Our night one hostel can arrange airport transfers for you, and we recommend this option. Give them a call or email to arrange - we’ll share details in your Trip Info guide.
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Our start/end hostel is a 5 minute walk from Lesce train station which is well serve by trains from Ljubljana, Slovenia’s capital.
Slovenia has good rules for taking bikes on trains (https://potniski2024.sz.si/en/useful-information/take-your-bike-on-the-train/) but please check the rules for trains passing through other countries.
Ljubljana is also well served by Flixbus buses from neighbouring countries, and some have allowances for bikes. Check the specifics of each bus.
For participants driving to the trip, parking at the hostel is possible but very limited. We recommend calling in advance to try to book a spot. On street parking is available within walking distance.
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Life Bike offer a range of Hardtail MTB and Gravel Bikes available to rent, and are within walking distance of our start/end hostel.
https://www.lifebike.biz/rent-a-bike/
Please book directly with Life Bike.
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We’ll have a max group size of 20, minimum group size of 10 to run.
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We will try our best to accommodate dietary restrictions for meals that we prepare, and will pass on to the mountain huts for meals they prepare. Unfortunately it may not always be possible for them to accommodate due to their limited ingredients and menus. We’ll try to work with you to find solutions. You can let us know any dietary requirements at time of booking. If you have serious allergies, please email us before booking on hello@sistersinthewild.com.
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In order to make the most of the riding on offer, we’d suggest that you are comfortable riding 30+ miles in a day in reasonably hilly terrain, for a few days on the run. Most days we will have ride options that are much less than this, but there is one 70km day with 1600m that will need to be ridden by everyone. Riding a loaded bike takes a little more effort, so we’d recommend trying some practice rides of 30 miles + with some weight/luggage on your bike.
There is no pressure to ride fast! Days are long, and you are free to start as early as you want. A little bit of prior experience of riding off road is recommended.
Feel free to drop us an email hello@sistersinthewild.com if you have any questions on this.
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Yes, you can book directly with our starting hostel if you wish to stay earlier/later. We recommend doing this soon as summer fills up quickly.
If you need to arrive late, that’s also fine, and the shakedown ride can be skipped. Ideally we’d have you join in time for the rider briefing on the evening of Day 1, but we can fill you in.
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Summers in Slovenia tend to be hot, with slightly cooler temperatures in the shoulder months of June & September. Our previous trips at this time of year have seen temperatures mostly in the 20’s. There is always a chance of hotter and cooler temperatures and rain, particularly on our higher mountain pass days, with potential for thunderstorms in the mountains. We suggest packing for all weather, and will share a detailed packing list.
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We’’ll share a detailed packing list as part of the Trip Joining Info.
If you choose to ride bikepacking-style you'll need to carry all your stuff or the week - so packing light is a good shout! Though you'll need to balance this with making sure you're equipped for changeable weather and supporting yourself out on the rides.
No camping gear is required for this trip, and we can lend you bikepacking bags and navigation device if you need them. These can be booked as Add Ons to your trip.
Bike Stuff
The basics
Off-road bike and Helmet
Navigation device (available to loan from us)
Bike lights (just in case!) and headtorch (optional)
A secure bike lock for overnight (can be stored in support van)
Lightweight lock for the rides
Capacity to carry at least 1.5 litres of water.
Bikepacking bags (available to loan from us)
If you plan to borrow bags, please bring a small rucksack (10-1 litres) to supplement if needed.
A small collapsable rucksack/bumbag or tote bag can be useful for carrying stuff off the bike
Basic first aid kit for your rides
Cup/spork/bowl
Bike tools/spares to carry
Spare tube and patches
Small pump
Tubeless plugs/spare sealant if running tubeless tyres
Multitool with what you need for your bike e.g. allen keys, chain breaker
Chain quick link (these are specific for your bike)
Spare derailleur hanger (specific to your bike.) This website can help you
find the one you need for your bike
Brake pads (specific for your bike)
Small amount of chain oil
A few zip ties/bits of duct tape & electrical tape wrapped around your
pump are always useful!
Personal Stuff
Travel insurance that covers off-road cycle touring/theft
Passport
Any personal medication needed
Mini toiletries (travel toothpaste, toothbrush etc)
Battery pack/cables to keep phone and nav device charged
Cash/card
Earplugs....just in case!
Lightweight towel for swims
Sun cream/SPF lipbalm
Electrolytes (optional but recommended)
Clothing
Clothing is a great place to slim down your packing list and get ruthless! However, this should be balanced with keeping safe and warm and dry if we have poor weather. Generally we could expect some very hot and sunny days, with the possibility of rain/thunderstorms.
Consider how you can double up uses of clothes for day/evening/sleeping, and embrace a bit of dirtbag spirit!
There's a chance to do laundry on day 5, and sinks available on every other night. Showers are available everyday.
Cycling clothes
We recommend 2 sets that you can wash/swap through the
week, plus a warm layer set.
Comfy shorts and quick dry t-shirts or cycling top
Shoes. We recommend only using clip in shoes/pedals if
you’re already confident in off-road riding.
Waterproof jacket
Waterproof trousers (optional)
Extra layers in case of poor weather, especially on
downhills e.g. leggings, long gloves, mid layer,
windbreaker
Cycling gloves (optional)
Glasses (optional but recommended - downhill bugs and
gravel dust)
Socks
Cycling cap/hat to keep the sun off your face
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No worries! We have a library of bikepacking gear we can loan you for the trip. These can be added to your booking for a small fee.
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Slovenia is in the EU Schengen zone, and most travellers do not require a visa. Please check the specific requirements for your country.
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Slovenia is an open and welcoming destination for LGBTQI+ travellers
Slovenia was the first post-communist country to have legalised same-sex marriage, and anti-discrimination laws regarding sexual orientation and gender identity have existed nationwide since 2016.
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Bike boxes/bags can be left at the start of the trip, and we will meet them again at the end.
Additional large luggage that can’t be stored in your bike box can be stored at the hostel for 10 euros.
