Bikepacking Slovenia: The West Loop

• The best time of year for this route is usually late May through early September. Earlier and later risks encountering snow at the higher elevations.
• The ideal bicycle will be a hardtail mtb or a capable gravel bike with 38mm+ tires. A traditional touring bike will sometimes be overwhelmed.
• This route can be done clockwise or counterclockwise but counterclockwise is how it was created.
• A perfect landscape and track for a couple or a group with riders of different experience levels or fitness for bikepacking. Can upscale it by staying in a few hostels instead of camping, or can make it harder by covering more distance. Everyone will be happy.
• Most Slovenians speak excellent English. Adventure sports are very popular, and you will receive advice, encouragement, and help wherever you go.
• Larger towns in Slovenia have well stocked bike shops.
• The tour was originally designed with a hardtail MTB in mind. For most of the route — especially the second half — a gravel bike is a perfectly reasonable and often even better choice. That said, in hillier sections riders will need to read the map carefully and avoid certain singletracks. The sketchiest sections for gravel bikes are flagged in the GPX POIs. In any case, beefier tires (at least 40+ mm with some tread) are strongly recommended to get the most out of the route.
• More than roots or ruts, it’s the steep ascents that tend to catch riders out. A minimum 1:1 gear ratio is highly recommended; otherwise, you’ll need to be both stubborn and very fit to clean all the climbs. Slovenia is a deceptively steep country to ride!
• Mountain biking on unauthorized trails is officially forbidden in Slovenia. While fines on the singletracks used in this route are very unlikely, they are not impossible. Note that this tour is not an official product, so riders participate at their own risk. In any case, always give way to pedestrians on singletracks and ride responsibly and sustainably.

• Wild camping is officially illegal in Slovenia. In practice, we had no trouble finding discreet places to pitch our tents every night of our tour. In fact, locals often encouraged us to do so. Little used dirt and farm roads are abundant. Please #leavenotrace.
• A large portion of the route passes through Triglav National Park and heavily touristic areas (Bled, Kranjska Gora, Bovec, etc.), where rangers are present. Wild camping should be avoided, especially in plain sight. In emergencies, politely asking local landowners usually goes a long way, and many will allow riders to stay on their meadows.
• To keep things friendly for everyone, it’s recommended to make small, random detours from the official route to avoid repeatedly approaching the same locals, as the route continues to grow in popularity.
• Camp as discreetly as possible around the Nadiža river, the Soča river, and Lake Bled since these areas are patrolled by rangers.

• Food is readily available throughout the tour in small and large towns. We usually carried no more than a meal or two. We often ate dinner in town by getting takeout and eating in the center square. We would then bike a half hour out of town to find camping.
• There are abundant water sources on the route. We were usually able to fill our bottles at a public fountain in the villages we passed through. We carried two bottles each and this was sufficient, even in the heat of summer.

Route Alternates

Many riders opt for the easier alternative through the Soča Valley instead of the Kolovrat Ridge. In Kobarid, riders can choose between chasing views, singletrack, and remoteness, or following a more accessible route via Tolmin and rejoining the main route in Solkan. Please refer to the POI information.