The Map

This map shows placemarks for every geo-tagged picture I took along the way. Click on the placemarks to see the pictures...

Final surprise

It would not be a complete vacation if there weren't the usual ÖBB (Austrian Federal Railways) annoyances: Instead of a relaxed change of trains, we had to get off in Leoben, because the train had to wait for a late train from Salzburg - the one we wanted to avoid because we did not want to try the probably impossible to get the compulsory bicycle reservation for that train in Italy. Fortunately, except for the shock of the inexpected, it was possible to take our bikes on that train without arguing with the conductor - and with a bit of luck we should arrive in Graz shortly, earlier than with the planned train from Bruck.

The return: From Lignano to Udine - and back home by train

Today's options were

1) to go to Latisana by bike, wait for a train to Monfalcone, go on the train for a few minutes, wait for 45 minutes, go on another train for less than half an hour, wait for 15 more minutes in Udine, and take the train back home.

2) to go to Udine by bike and take the train back home.

We wanted to go for option 1, but arrived in Latisana 3 hours too early. So we made reservations for the train from Udine to Bruck an der Mur, had a few Spritz (with and without Aperol), and at 2pm, after the worst at noon was gone, took our bikes for 40 more kilometers to Udine, with the wind heading in our direction.

Today's hard facts:
Distance: 59.9 km
Avg speed: 18.1 km/h
Trip time: 3:19 hr (5.5 hr total)
Altitude: 138 m (Udine)
Route: Lignano - Latisana - Pocenia - Torsa - Mortegliano - Udine

In Udine, we had 1 hour time to get refreshed and a final Italian Espresso. Right now we are on the train to Bruck an der Mur. We had a soup and beer in the dining car, and should have enough time in Bruck to buy tickets and change trains for the last 35 min leg to Graz. The plan is to just drop our luggage at home, and head right to the Parkhouse to meet friends and celebrate our return from a wonderful vacation.

5 days in Lignano

After 430.6 km of cycling, it was time to switch to relaxing mode. At the evening of our arrival we had pizza and ice cream. We woke up late next morning and spent the day on the beach, had Spritz Aperol for sunset on the Terazza Mare, and beer & burgers for dinner.

On our 2nd day, after getting up late again, we took our bikes to explore Lignano. We found a few nice spots on our exploration and found out about a tour through the lagoon for our 4th day. It was hot as hell, so we spent the afternoon at the hotel reading. In the evening we took our bikes again to go to a place called La Paella for a Spanish dinner, which was excellent but very expensive.

Day #3 was hardcore beach day. We spent 13.30 Euro for two deck chairs and a sunshade - that's the classic way to enjoy the beach in Lignano!

On the 4th day, following Günther Tischler's recommendation, we took the boat to Marano and the lagoon. We wanted to eat some good fish in Marano (the town is famous for that), but unfortunately we were there at Siesta time, and the boat left too early. Well, next time. The next stop was Isola di Santa Andrea, a 5 km long island which is a barrier between the sea and the lagoon. On the southern beach we found beautiful shells. Souvenirs! Later we found out that the island is the ideal place for kite surfing. At night, we had cocktails at the Terazza Mare.

Now we were really relaxed, and it was time to get back to some action! For the next day, we had an appointment at 10 with Gianni, our extremely competent windsurfing teacher. He managed to teach us the basics in less than 2 hours! We finished the lesson with the ability to steer, jibe and tack - everything we need for basic windsurfing. After that, we decided that we had deserved a beer on the beach - and some time for tanning. The dinner at Croce del Sud was expensive again, but decent. Since this was our last evening, we did some final strolling in the pedestrian area, and also took the tourist train, which is actually meant for kids (like us) :-).

From Cividale to The Sea (Aug. 22)

Today's hard facts:
Distance: 65.5 km
Avg speed: 18.7 km/h
Trip time: 3:30 hr (5.5 hr total)
Route: Cividale del Friuli - Manzano - Percoto - Santa Maria La Longa - Gonars - Porpetto - San Giórgio di Nogaro - Muzzana del Turgnano - Precenicco - Pertegada - Lignano

We have reached the sea! We spent the morning at the medieval festival in Cividale, had Frico and red Galice vino for lunch, and took a walk through the medieval town.

At 1 pm we started today's trip, with the wind heading in our direction. It was a quick ride, with hot temperatures, so the break in Gonars with a drink was really necessary. It got better soon, with clouds covering the sun, but the wind was also diminishing. As we got closer to the sea, there was more and more traffic of people heading towards their vacation destination, making our ride a bit unpleasant. We thought about staying one more night away from the sea, but decided against it. We were motivated to go on, trying to get there before everybody else and thus being able to find a less expensive place to stay.

We arrived at the tourist information in Lignano a few minutes after 6 pm, and were able to get a room with shared bathroom within our budget. After a 4 km ride we got there, right in the center of Lignano Sabbiadoro. The room at Hotel Splendid turned out to be perfect, with balcony with sight to the pedestrian area, a clean bathrom right across the corridor, and 100 m distance to the beach. Plus a locked spot for our bicycles.

From Bovec to Cividale (Aug. 21)

Today's hard facts:
Distance: 64.4 km
Avg speed: 16.2 km/h
Trip time: 3:59 hr (total: 7 hr)
Altitude: 135 m (Cividale)
Route: Bovec - Soca valley to Kobarid - Natisone valley to Cividale

Soca Rafting facts:
Distance: 8 km
From: Srpenica
To: Trnovo

We are now past the Alps, and today's trip led us from a high mountain region at the upper Soca river to the widening Natisone valley, with mountains turning into hills and vineyards.

The rest of today's report was written by Andrea. Thanks! I really was not in the mood, after the quest for a place to stay:

Today we had an adventureous day. At 8:30 we went for breakfast: first course was a coffee and a cheese cake, second course was a radler beer with the idea to get some braveness for the following rafting tour at the Soča river. We started at 10 and it was very, let's say nice, for a first trip on wild water. It was fun, we had some half wild parts in between and even went for a swim. In spring there should be four times more water in the river - maybe we should repeat the rafting then :-)

We came back to the base at 12:45, went to our apartment to get our stuff and went with the bikes a few kilometers closer towards the sea. On our way we stopped for an unique kind of trout, which only lives in the Soca river and you really have to eat it, if you are a tourist like we are.

The end of our glorious day was planned in Cividale del Friuli, a quite famous medieval town in Italy. Well, exactly today is a medieval fest in town, therefore the search for an affordable place to stay turned out to be a hard challenge. We went around and through the city, I asked at some places for a room and they all were fully booked except one 3star hotel, where the staff seemed to be unfriendly and it was too expensive in our opinion. After full 3 hours of desperate searching and a rage attack of mine caused by my tremendous sleepyness and exhaustment, we are staying at this 3star hotel in the city center tonight.

From Faak am See to Bovec (Aug. 20)

Today's hard facts:
Distance: 69.5 km
Avg speed: 14.7 km/h
Altitude: 1156 m (Predil pass), 480 m (Bovec)
Trip time: 4:44 hr (9:45 hr total)
Route: Faak am See - Arnoldstein - Tarvisio - Cave del Predil - Predil Pass - Bovec

Today was an exciting day, and Andrea is now also known as The Incredible Machine. Why? Read on.

The leg to Tarvisio was straightforward. But in Tarvisio, trying out the new bike paths along old railroad routes was too tempting, and we went along the one to Kranjska Gora too far to get on the road to the Predil pass. Anyway, this 5 km detour did not hurt, and we had to stop often on the rest of the trip to enjoy the scenery: torrents, high mountains and green forests, all perfectly mixed together. Not to forget the old industrial buildings of Cave del Predil, and the magnificent Lago del Predil, where we made a stop to cool down a bit before the final ascent to the pass. And now comes the reason for Andrea's new nick name: When I went up the Predil pass with Günther Tischler about 10 years ago, he said that I ride my bike up like a machine. I did the same today, but Andrea followed me closely, breathing and moving in silent mode. Simply incredible.

We made a long late lunch break on the pass, eating Jota z Klobaso and Mešano Meso na Žaru. Then, on the way down to Bovec, there was even more scenery to enjoy: villages with the impressive Mangart mountain in the background, fortresses from the time of the Napoleonean wars, and an impressive canyon of the Koritnica river near Kluže.

In Bovec, the first thing we did was making a reservation for a Rafting tour on the Soca river tomorrow. Then we found an affordable place to stay, thanks to the professional help of the local tourist information center. Instead of dinner, we had 4 balls of ice cream. Yummy.

From Viktring to Faak am See (Aug. 19)

Today's hard facts:
Distance: 44.1 km
Avg speed: 15.2 km/h
Altitude: 555 m (Faaker See)
Route: Viktring - Reifnitz - Velden - Rosegg - St. Martin - Bogenfeld - Egg am See - Faak am See

We had a great breakfast at Gästehaus Pack. This summer we have much more wasps than usual, so we could not enjoy it outside unfortunately.

Today, again, was a short trip. We enjoyed the scenery along the south bank of the Wörthersee, and decided that Reifnitz and Schiefling would both be candidates for a longer visit. We had the first break at the Weißes Rössl in Schiefling, a very nice place with pier and sailboats. Next break was in Velden where we had Villacher beer. Without looking at the map, we followed the signs to the Faaker See lake, which turned out to be a mistake The first time I looked at the map was 500 m after a left turn would have saved us two ascents and 1 km. We did not go back, and maybe the exhausting 2nd ascent was the reason why Andrea rather wanted to stay at the Faaker See instead of going to Tarvisio. To be honest, the real reason was that the Faaker See was the last lake on our way to the sea, and Andrea just wanted to enjoy that.

So we spent the afternoon on the beach (the same beach where I was 20 years ago on school sports week). Anyway, the afternoon was relaxing and Andrea found us a perfect place to stay: the Piber farm, for 17.50 Euro per person with breakfast. And it is the best place on our trip so far.

One more thing worth mentioning: the dinner at the Kärntnerhof, which was most enjoyable except for the fact that Andrea did not get a kid's ice cream cup. Reason: only kids are entitled to get that. Strange.

From Völkermarkt to Viktring (Aug. 18)

Today's hard facts:
Distance: 44.1 km
Avg speed: 17.1 km/h
Trip time: 2:35 hr (8.5 hr total)
Altitude: 450 m (Viktring)
Route: Völkermarkt - Niederdorf - Ebenthal - Strandbad Klagenfurt - Viktring

Today was only a short trip, but there was a lot to see and to do. First of all, we had to sleep a bit longer, and we did some shopping in Völkermarkt. After a straight ride on route B 70, we met Lucia, Andrea's former neighbor in Graz, in Ebenthal. She joined us for a bike ride to the Wörthersee lake. We had a great time visiting Minimundus (on the picture) and relaxing at the lake.

While sitting on the beach, we used my mobile internet to find a place to stay nearby. Gästehaus Pack in Viktring, more expensive than our former places, but worth it. We had dinner at Restaurant Koschat in Viktring, a 5 min bike ride away from Pack.

From Muta to Völkermarkt (Aug. 17)

Today's hard facts:
Distance: 61 km
Avg speed: 14.1 km/h
Trip time: 4:21 hr (total 7 hr)
Altitude: 460 m (Völkermarkt)
Route: Muta - Trbonje - Dravograd - Lavamünd - Neuhaus - St. Luzia - Untermitteldorf - Ruden - Kleindiex - Lippendorf - Völkermarkt

We had an incredible breakfast at Pri Izodorju (the owner and his wife were very friendly, which is worth noting because they have closed on Mondays). Today we followed the Drau bike path, which turned out to be not the best idea. The scenery is great sometimes, but the price are lots of extra ascents and kilometers.

After some beautiful hop fields and a few kilometers, I realized that I was stuck in my left pedal binding. The reason was a lost screw. We were able to fix the problem temporarily, and bought a new screw in Lavamünd, in a bike store with a clerk that did not really want to sell Andrea new pedals and shoes with a binding because he was on lunch break. I hope Andrea will have more luck tomorrow.

But there also was a cool thing about Lavamünd: The Lavant river meets the Drau river there, and the brown water of the Lavant and the green water of the Drau do not mix for a long distance - like the Rio Negro and the Rio Solimoes in Brasil (but more impressive, as Andrea says).

The day was hot and humid, but the Drau bike path had a highlight for us to make up for that: the suspension bridge across the Feistritz near St. Luzia, followed by the Jauntal railroad bridge. Both extremely high and narrow!

Unfortunately, the rest of today's trip brought us not much more than corn fields. From Ruden to Völkermarkt, the road distance is 12 km. On the bike path, we had to go 16.5 km. So we decided to take more roads and less bike trails for the rest of our trip - we want to get somewhere and not waste our energy on detours through corn fields.

In Völkermarkt, we were lucky to find an affordable place to stay (Gasthof Isaak) - and the dinner at the Gasthof zum Goldenen Ochsen was exactly what we needed to make us happy.

From Graz to Muta (Aug. 16)

Today's hard facts:
Distance: 82 km
Avg speed: 16.4 km/h
Trip time: 5:00 hr ride, 9 hr total
Altitude: 350 m (Graz), 650 m (Radpass), 380 m (Muta)
Route: Graz - Unterpremstätten - Wundschuh - Weitendorf - Flüssing - Preding - Waldschach - Gleinstätten - Wies - Eibiswald - Radlpass - Radlje ob Dravi - Muta

Still in Graz, we had to make first repairs and adjustments at our bikes, but nothing serious. And fortunately there were no other issues with our gear during the rest of the day.

Today was the perfect day for cycling, because the ventilation made the high temperaures (33ºC) bearable, except for the leg between Gleinstätten to Wies, where the wind was heading in the same direction as us, with the same speed. The only relief here was a break under a tall oak tree next to a corn field. Also worth noting: lunch and swimming break at the Waldschacher Teich, a place where I had spent two vacations in my late teenager days.

Other breaks were at a café in Wies and a Gostilna (diner) 3 km after the Radlpass.

On the ascent to the Radlpass we had half an hour of rain, which was not a big deal with the new waterproof bags and our rain coats.

We found the cosy Gostišce pri Izodorju to stay for the night right outside the village of Muta, after we had decided that we do not want to spend 35 Euro per person for a night in the heavily advertized Gostilna pri Lipa east of Muta.

Right across the Drau river, in Vuzenica, there was a fest of the local fire brigade, where we had dinner and ice cream.

Cycling from Graz to the Adriatic Sea

This is the first trip I will be reporting about in English. Andrea and I are about to leave for a two week vacation at the Sea.

The picture shows our luggage, except for a small daybag.

The challenge this time will be to get there: 350 kilometers by bicycle. The route will be from Graz southwest to the Radlpass, then along the Drau bike path to Villach, on to Tarvisio and up to the Predil pass. Then through the Soca valley to Kobarid, on to Cividale del Friuli, and from there to some nice place at the Sea. Either in Italy, or Slovenia, or Croatia. At least that is the plan.