biking vacations

The Alpe Adria Radweg Cycle Route is a 410-kilometer-long bike trail that offers the opportunity for an unforgettable week-long experience.

The route, which starts in Salzburg, the city of Mozart, runs through the Hohe Tauern National Park to Villach and then across the border to Tarvisio. From here it traverses the entire region from north to south, offering a vast compendium of natural, urban, scenic and cultural environments: it begins with the valleys surrounded by the Carnic and Julian Alps, along the decommissioned and reconverted site of an old railway line built at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, descending to the mouth of the Resia Valley, then skirting the Fella and Tagliamento rivers, gliding through the hills to the Friulian Plain and finally reaching the lagoon and the Adriatic Sea at Grado. It is an encyclopedic itinerary, in which the views change rapidly and likewise the cultural spaces, history, traditions and languages change.

It passes through towns of great historical and urbanistic importance such as Venzone, Udine, Palmanova, and Aquileia; through characteristic villages of medieval origin such as Malborghetto, Strassoldo, Colloredo di Monte Albano, and Fontanabona; through mountain resorts such as the Tarvisio area; and through seaside destinations such as Grado.

From a gastronomic point of view, too, this is a tour among great diversity: the flavors and products of the mountains, the unmistakable Friulian traditions, and fish dishes, all of course accompanied by the excellent Friulian wines of the territories through which you pass. A journey definitely... to be savored!

Starting point: former train station in Tarvisio city, reached by turning left along the serpentine that connects Tarvisio alto-via Roma to Tarvisio basso-via Vittorio Veneto.

Directions: take the northern direction, turning your back to the church bell tower, clearly visible from the former train station. Continue for about a kilometer as you leave the town of Tarvisio and go straight on past the fork indicating Fusine Lakes with a right turn. The route winds along a comfortable bicycle path to the central Tarvisio locality, recognizable by several disused buildings once used to handle heavy freight traffic mainly from Eastern Europe and the German-speaking area. Opposite them is the monument to the fallen soldiers of the Napoleonic Wars, a bronze statue towering over the valley. Leaving this section, one continues on a bicycle path and then along the disused former highway to Austria for about a kilometer. After a short climb and crossing over the provincial road and part of the built-up area of Coccau, you descend to the SS Pontebbana to rejoin the Alpe Adria Ciclovia, which leads uninterruptedly to the small village of Arnoldstein (distance from the starting point approx. Km 14). Past Coccau with a few ups and downs you reach the state border with Austria, which is no longer manned. Interesting along this stretch are the former Post Exchange Station, now a restaurant, and the Customs Museum. Passing into Austrian territory, you pass through the settlements of Thoerl and Maglern and continue on to Arnoldstein from where you can ride the Ciclovia again in the direction of Villach.

Starting point: former train station in Tarvisio city, reached by turning left along the serpentine that connects Tarvisio alto-via Roma to Tarvisio basso-via Vittorio Veneto.

Directions: take the northern direction, turning your back to the church bell tower, clearly visible from the former train station. After about a kilometer, leave the built-up area of Tarvisio near the former customs railway station of Tarvisio Centrale, in front of which you can admire the beautiful monument to the fallen soldiers of the Napoleonic wars. Turn right where a sign indicates Laghi di Fusine Km 11. A few meters and you cross an iron bridge that overlooks the Orrido del torrente Slizza, a deep canyon lined with a pleasant path to be made on foot all around the gorge crossed by the river. After the bridge and a slight climb, you leave the bike path for a stretch through the Tarvisian village of Boscoverde: a few houses, the modern train station, the passage under the railroad bridge. Then, after a few hundred meters, the bike path resumes and heads firmly toward the village of Fusine in Valromana (Km. 9 from Tarvisio), with a gentle and very pleasant gradient, amidst woods and scents. Continue to the plain of Fusine where, leaving behind the sign indicating Laghi di Fusine Km. 3 (a stage that absolutely deserves to be done, incomparable scenery) and then turning left over a small bridge, one crosses flowery meadows surrounded by mountains. Before reaching the state border, no longer manned, a stop at the local la Kantina is possible. On the edge of Italian territory a stone memorial dated 1945 Kingdom of Italy. You then cross the state road in the section between the former Italian and Slovenian checkpoints and arrive after a few meters in the farming village of Ratece, from which two hikes for the more trained: to Mount Forno, or Tromeja or Dreilaendereck, the peak of the three border peoples, or the Tamar refuge at the foot of the Jalovec peak. The Alpe Adria Cyclovia then continues seamlessly to Jesenice, continuously and steadily uphill, very comfortable and not at all strenuous, passing through the villages of Kranjska Gora, Godz Martuljek, Mojstrana.