ROAD BIKE HOLIDAY »VALLEY OF THE GREEN GOLD«
Great road rides & culinary holiday at the bike hotel Grof****. Cycling experience between hops fields and high alpine passes.TOUR INFO
Talking about green gold? Slovenia, and in particular the central Savinjska Valley, is a world-famous hop-growing region. And hops are very important for the production of a perfect beer. And Slovenians are proud of this plant. As well as our fantastic beer. You can taste our beers at the area’s famous beer fountain.
BUT LET’S TALK ABOUT ROAD CYCLING! SERIOUS ROAD CYCLING!
The Savinja Valley has many asphalt roads suitable for road cycling. These routes are scenic and safe, as they are on roads with less traffic. You can choose between less demanding flat routes with many stops to see the many local sights, or more challenging climbs leading to nearby passes and hills and the famous regional parks, which will get your heart rate up with beautiful views of the valley and the surrounding mountains.
Your accommodation: HOTEL GROF (COUNT) **** You will experience a stay in one of the best Slovenian hotels specialising in cycling tourism. The modern structure is called “Grof”. In English “The Count”. Perfect modern accommodation standards and excellent service. It has everything cyclists need – for a wonderful holiday and perfect rides.
BEST DATES: May – October (arrival on request)
BICYCLE TYPE: Road
DIFFICULTY: Medium – Difficult
DAY 1 – ARRIVAL IN SLOVENIA TRANSFER TO THE GROF**** HOTEL
Transfer is possible from Ljubljana or other airports (Graz, Zagreb …) to hotel GROF, where you will stay on your cycling holiday. Welcome beer and snack, accommodation in modern rooms. Meet the staff and guide before being served a delicious dinner. Overnight.
DAY 2 – THE TOUR OF COUNTS OF CELJE
Breakfast at the hotel. Time to prepare for your first ride. We start with a moderate ride. The route is mostly flat, but climbs slightly as we cycle to Lake Žovneško, then past Braslovče and Polzela, Šenek Manor and local roads to Šempeter in the Savinjska Valley. Before arriving in the town, turn left towards Ložnica near Žalec and climb gently under the motorway and through the forest to the Arja vas-Velenje road. The road leads past Velika Pirešice to the top of the hill (a short climb) and then descends to the right towards Lopata and Celje. Follow the signs to Celje, where you cross the Savinja River and continue back to Griž, Prebold, all the way to Grof. Free time for relaxation, massage, before an excellent dinner in the hut. Overnight.
STAGE DATA: 63 km, elevation 420 m, asphalt road
DAY 3 – FRESHNESS OF FORESTS AND MEADOWS – ASCENT TO THE MOUNT GOLTE (WELL KNOWN CYCLING COMPETITION KING’S ASCENT AND RACE FINISH)
Breakfast at the hotel. Start of a difficult day tour… To warm up, we climb over the Lipa Pass on a less-traveled road and then descend into the Zadreška Valley. At Dreta, continue cycling to Lačja vas, where you turn left and follow the forest path leading into the Savinja Valley. Cross a wooden bridge towards Rečica ob Savinji. After a short climb, you descend to Radegunda, where you start the 13-kilometre royal climb with 975 metres of ascent. If you have enough energy, try one of the most beautiful climbs in Slovenia with a view of the Savinja Valley. At the beginning, on the steepest part, we suggest you save your energy, because after a beautiful middle part, the final climb to the Alpine Garden at Golte awaits. Our descent follows the same road as the ascent. To return to the starting point, we pass Mozirje, Letuš and Braslovče. After returning, some free time for rest and refreshment. Dinner at the hotel. Overnight.
STAGE DATA: 75 km, elevation 1750 m, asphalt roads, steep part over 14%
DAY 4 – CYCLE OVER THE MOST BEAUTIFUL PREALPINE PASS
Breakfast at the hotel. Today you will have a slightly more difficult drive over 3 passes. There are three passes on the circular route connecting the Savinja and Gorenjska regions. The first, on the road through the Tuhinj valley, is the Kozjak pass with an altitude of 658 m. The main road leads to the town of Kamnik, which lies under the Kamniško-Savinjske Alps. Follow the fresh river Kamniška Bistrica towards Črna pri Kamniku. The Črnivec Pass awaits us at an altitude of 902 m. A descent between pastures leads us to Gornji Grad. We then continue our journey through the Zadreška valley, Dreta to Šmartno pri Dreti, where we begin our final ascent to the Lipa pass with an altitude of 723 m above sea level. Finally, we descend to Vransko and return to the Grof Hotel. Free time to relax. If you wish, we can go on a short afternoon excursion to Celje. Dinner. Overnight.
STAGE DATA: medium hard, 79 km, 1480 meters in ascents
DAY 5 – FROM THE SAVINJA VALLEY TO THE KARST
Breakfast. Today’s drive will take us to the Karst region, named after special underground formations such as caves and sinkholes. We start our journey on local roads with less traffic in the Savinjska Valley and continue into a real Karst land… The route takes us through Lake Žovneško, Braslovče and Parižlje to Polzela. We pass Andraž near Polzela, where we start to climb up into hilly and karst terrain. We continue to Ponikva near Žalec in the Ponikvo Karst area. We then climb up to Kala, where a beautiful view of the valley awaits us. On the way back, you can stop at Pekel cave, a karst cave with a long history. To get back to Grof, follow the road through Šempeter v Savinjski dolini, the southern part of the valley through Prebold, Grajska vas and Tabor. Return to the hotel. In the afternoon, we suggest a short drive to Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia, and a short walk around the city centre. Dinner at the hotel. Overnight.
STAGE DATA: easy tour, 51 km, 540 vertical meter in ascent
DAY 6 – KING’S STAGE: PAVLIČEVO SEDLO AND JEZERSKO
Breakfast at the hotel. Today we will take you on the royal leg of the entire holiday programme. We will head to Vransko, continue along the Tuhinjska valley to the town of Kamnik in the Alpine region of Gorenjska, continue to Šenturška mountain and the villages of Grad and Visoko, before the long climb to Zgornje Jezersko and Jezerski vrh. Descend into Austria and then climb again to Pavličevo sedlo, the famous pass in the Kamnik Alps. Descent into the beautiful Logarska valley. Later, we continue our cycling trip along the Alpine river Savinja to Solčava, Luče, Ljubno ob Savinji and Radmir. The last part will take us to Šmartno ob Dreti and Lipa, back to Vransko and our hotel. Conclusion. Beer? Oh, yes. Some time for relaxation or a massage. Dinner in the house. Overnight.
STAGE DATA: 155 km, 2600 vertical meter in ascend, heavy stage
DAY 7 – FAREWELL FROM THE VALLEY OF GOLD AND SLOVENIA – TRANSFER TO AIRPORT
Breakfast at the GROF Hotel. Time to say goodbye to our hosts. Organised airport transfers or individual departures.
TOUR IMAGE GALLERY
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PRICE AND SERVICES
TOUR INCLUDES
- Accommodation at the GROF cycling hotel**** on the basis of 6 half-board stays, double room, free wifi
- vehicle and guide assistance for 5 trips
- assistance of a representative of the agency – travel manager
- organization expenses
- small gift for the participants by the organizer
- basic passenger accident insurance
- tourist taxes
- VAT
NOT INCLUDED
Additional transfers, drinks during a diner, individual expenses.
PRICE
- From 740 € / person
NUMBER OF PARTICIPANTS
- min. 6
- max.: 12
WOULD YOU LIKE TO JOIN US?
Send us your wishes, desired date of travel, number of participants, difficulty, preferences … and we will prepare a tour tailored to your wishes and needs.
You will spend some exceptional days with us, expirience beautiful parts of our country.
We will make your vacation unforgettable 🙂