Slovenia
(most recently, 2008 & 2010)
Biking 2008
Slovenia has a strong biking culture. There were a sea of
commuter bikers in the cities and mountain bike riders in their Lycra outfits
are out in the countryside in numbers in the summer. And the prevalence of bike racks on car
tops reassured us that many of the motorists were also cyclists. Inter and intra-city bike lanes are popping up around the country. When between cities and
you see a "No Bikes" sign on a 2 lane road, look around for an unsigned bikeway
and it will probably be there. We rode an unsigned bike route for miles and
miles after asking a couple of cyclists for one. It paralleled the main road
much of the way and was a mix of farm roads, neighborhood streets, and
purpose-built bike lane. The bug-a-boo is that it was completely unlabeled--you
had to know it was there.
Ask about the
Parezana or narrow gauge RR turned into a multiuse path intended to connect
Trieste with Porec in Croatia. Only the Slovenian segment is completed and we
only used the more coastal part of it but it was a joy. Ask for a map at tourist
info.
Biking 2010
We traveled from Graz, Austria to Liebnitz to cross the
border into Šentija, Slovenia, heading towards
Maribor and encountered Slovenia's bike route #1. We were thrilled at the
prospect of following a signed bike route-briefly. Soon we were 2-to-a-bike
pushing our 100+ lbs loaded bikes up a 15+% grade. Fortunately that was
the last of the long stretches of steep grades on the way to Maribor but it was
also the end of the reliability of the bike route signs.
We did make it to Maribor but not without several short
backtracks as we made wrong turns because of missing signs. We switched to
relying heavily on our Europe-acquired bike route skill of watching for the
backside of bike route signs to spot turns. As on other routes over the years,
there seemed to be more well-place route signs for riders going the other
direction. Any time we were at an intersection, we'd look for the backs of signs
for oncoming riders to confirm the route by determining where the oncoming
riders would be coming from. When in doubt, we followed the little roads
paralleling the freeway but the bike route switched from one side of the freeway
to the other.
At the outskirts of Maribor, we lost the bike route signs
altogether. We don't know if we got off of route #1 or if it wasn't signed that
far. Tourist Info in Maribor knew nothing of this route but did give us a dandy
map of Maribor's bike routes and of the Drau River route, in English. But the
riding was still tough. We weren't able to stay on the route for long after we
left Maribor and were on the busy intercity road. The next day, we headed out
from Ruse and encountered both busy highway traffic and steep climbs. It was
stressful riding where ever we were.
General
Slovenia expects to be on the Euro in 2007. Many of the 30-somethings and
younger speak excellent English, with the older people often speaking German or
Italian. The Ljubljana bookstores have the biggest collection of Lonely Planet
and similar guide books in English that we've seen anywhere. English is often
the second language in public places like on the buses and in museums, which is
handy. It's not a bargain as prices are comparable to its EU neighbors. Lodging
isn't widely available and so you must 'look before you leap' and confirm your
destination town has lodging. Grocery stores close early on Saturday and almost all
are closed on Sunday, so plan your weekend food shopping carefully.
Business Hours: The shops often don't close at lunch but may only be open mornings on weekends
Slovenia's Holidays
Jan 1 & 2 New Years
Feb 8 Day of Culture
Easter Monday
April 27 Insurrection Day (Nazi occupation)
May 1 & 2 Labor Days
June 25 National Day
August 15 Assumption Day (All lodging will be booked)
October 31 Reformation Day
November 1 All Saints' Day
December 25 Christmas
December 26 Independence Day
Lodging in Koper/Capodistria: Hotel Vodisek near the Stadion and 'big box stores' is a solid choice.
