GALLERY












ROUTES
Along the trail around Tinjan
LENGTH
43 km
Ascent
540 m
Descent
540 m
paved
93 %
unpaved
7 %
TRAIL TYPE
local
DIFFICULTY
medium
ACTIVITY
GRAVEL

Description
Excellent views of the Trieste and Koper Gulf with hinterland
Start on the cycling route of Health and Friendship, Parenzana, from the parking lot on the railway station in Koper. This cycling route runs parallel to the highway by the Škocjan Inlet Nature Reserve towards Bertoki. At the end of the route, turn left, passing the entrance to the Škocjan Inlet Nature Reserve, and continue towards the roundabout. Then you turn right on a viaduct that crosses the railway. Continue cycling straight ahead across the second roundabout up to the main road towards Ankaran. Here you turn left and continue through Ankaran up to Debeli rtič. The road descends in an arch towards the seaside and, along the narrow part, a paved road splits off and steeply climbs through the vineyards on Barižoni. At the turning in the middle of the sheer slope, turn left on the plateau (the road is closed for traffic) and continue along the paved road on the left side, then almost horizontally, along the macadam along the forest border to the houses in Barižoni. An information board invites you to visit the grove Resslov gaj, then turn left and after a slight ascent, you reach the road on the ridge of Muggia hills by the church of Saint Birgid of Kildare (or Birgid). Turn right towards Hrvatini, passing the church and cemetery, in order to reach the next crossroad, where you continue slightly ascending passing Božiči and Fajti up the crossroads for Elerji/Elarji. Then you turn right downwards to the village and steeply ascend to the service road by the expressway Trieste / Trst-Koper. At this point, you may decide to shorten the way, namely in direction for Bertoki up to Koper. Further on, the path descends towards the highway (D-8), where you cross the cycling route D-8 and descend towards the bridge to the right, over the bridge and turn right again towards Trieste / Trieste. Behind the casino and the petrol station at the former crossing point on the Italian side, leave the main road and turn right on the parallel old route till the roundabout. At the second exit (industrial zone) turn right to Osp Valley and past the commercial facilities continuing to the end of paved road, where the information board “Traversata Muggesana” stands. A rut full of holes brings you in the forest, passing interesting lakes almost horizontally by the hill past two split-offs, where you stay on your right, up to the fork in thr road with a barrier. Here you turn left on the small bridge and drive for 100 metres up to the right, where you turn right on the former border crossing point Osp and return to Slovenia. You reach the village of Osp on the road with the famous climbing walls with the spring of the river. Continue along the valley upwards and 200 metres after the village centre turn left towards the collapse doline Mišja peč. Then the rut starts to ascend towards Stara Gabrovica (turn left upwards at the chapel in Stara Gabrovica) and leads underneath the mighty viaduct, which is more than 100 metres high viaduct, till reaching the Church of Saint Nicholas and left upwards to the main road. Then you descend towards the lower part of Črni Kal, cross the main road and go down through Krnica to Rižana, then you turn right across the village along the main road through Cepki till the 500-metre-away crossroads. Here you turn left on a small bridge over the railway track and, right, by the houses between the track and the river, where you reach the picturesque part of Rižana with dykes. A short stone passage follows the river. Then you cross the bridge and arrive in the courtyard of the wine cellar Bordon. Continue in the right direction till the concrete factory, where you turn left and afterwards immediately right through a narrow asphalt road over Mikoti and, on macadam, towards the bridgehead of Parenzana (D-8). There you turn left till a larger bridge over Rižana and continue by turning left till the highway, where you turn right towards Sermin. At the end of a bridge, you cross the bridge over highway and return towards the Koper train station, where you started your journey.



Along the land of refošk / refosco wine
LENGTH
41 km
Ascent
860 m
Descent
860 m
paved
100 %
unpaved
0 %
TRAIL TYPE
local
DIFFICULTY
medium
ACTIVITY
road

Description
Typical architecture of Istrian villages, plantations of olives and grapevine
Rugged terrain of the Slovenian Istria, marvellous views of the Koper Gulf and its hinterland, Sloveni-an Istria hills, and when the weather is sunny, also of the wreath of mountains from the Julian Alps across the Carnic Alps up to Dolomites. A possibility of organizing a trip in two parts with the use of connection line Kavaliči-Marezige.
Start at the parking place on the railway station in Koper along the cycling route below the highway, across the local paths with a traffic light and straight forward up the hill between the cemetery and wine cellar Vinakoper. There, turn left on the top of the hill Škocjanski grič and slightly descend to-wards the main road. Turn right, an at the next crossroads, go straight forwards along a tarmac road for about 300 metres, and join the main road, which you leave after another 300 metres, right behind the school and inn on the right. Climb gradually over a hill and take the next turning on the left (the signpost Bonini), go slightly down and then steeply up to Bonina. From there, make a sharp turning on the left on a panoramic crest and continue between the houses till reaching the main road under the church of Saint Anton. Here you turn right, up towards the village with a store and an inn, and turn right after 300 metres behind the church of Saint Anton, towards the next crossroads in Kavaliči*. In case you want to reduce the trail to half, or leave out one of the most difficult part along a hilly ter-rain, you can continue straight ahead towards Marezige. However, the main trail turns left in the direc-tion of Lopar. A short descent is followed by a lower gradual climb, which brings you to the ethnolog-ical collection “the Bardinc house”, worth visiting. From here, the path continues to climb till the cross-roads with a mighty oak, from where a wide view opens in all directions. Turn left towards Popetre (signpost Gračišče) and down to Trsek, situated along a steep slope above the upper stram of the Dragonja River. From here an even steeper descend follows the stream Dernarnik and a climb to-wards Truške. Pass the former school on Kortina and continue another 200 metres till reaching the crossroads (chapel, inn). Even though the road descends towards Merezige, turn left, and, among the wine vineyards surrounded by stone walls, go down in a sort of saddle, and from there climb gradual-ly to a long, almost horizontal mountain ridge, passing the sharp turning with the reminder of the American parachutist Charles R. Dogherty and ahead, by the natural sculpture in the form of a “sheep” towards Boršt. Here you turn right and down to the crossroads for Glem and then right again, down a very steep slope towards the bottom of the valley and over the bridge of Rokava. There is another short and quite steep climb towards the crossroads (saddle) – straight ahead for Babiči and right for Marezige, the heart of the Land of Refošk wine. Her you can rest and enjoy the view. All the difficult ascents are already behind you and there is only the return to Koper waiting for us. Cycle to the church of St. Cross, turn left by the school and down to Montinjan and ahead to Vanganel, where a steep descent ends. Here you turn right, pass the inn and go straight ahead to the school with the monument to fallen soldiers, where you turn left and continue along the valley towards Škocjan. Go down the hill near the wine cellar Vinakoper, go down the highway and return to the train station, the starting point of our vagrancy.



Along the trail of truffles and asparagi
LENGTH
35 km
Ascent
780 m
Descent
780 m
paved
63 %
unpaved
37 %
TRAIL TYPE
local
DIFFICULTY
medium
ACTIVITY
mountain biking

Description
A tour, suitable for cyclists with a lot of stamina
Among its ups and downs the tour reveals beautiful Istrian villages of the Karst edge. All villages have a typical Istrian architecture with a note of nostalgia and show you how in the old days people were able to do beautiful “artwork” of stone. Full of beauty and attractions are perfect for lovers of nature and stone.
And if you are at the right time in the right place, you can pick some more delicacies for home (asparagi).
Start your tour in Gračišče, then go towards Butari, Sirči, Belvedur, Topolovec, Abitanti, Gradin, Pregara, Pisari, Sočerga and back to Gračišče.
Points of interest along the route:
Church of St. Cyricus, Sočerga
Abitanti
Church of St. Mary of Carmel Pregara



Along the Dragonja River
LENGTH
62 km
Ascent
740 m
Descent
740 m
paved
89 %
unpaved
11 %
TRAIL TYPE
local
DIFFICULTY
difficult
ACTIVITY
GRAVEL

Description
Interesting cycling tours through the picturesque nature
All routes begin in the architecturally interesting town of Piran, which provides an excellent starting point for all tours in our Istria. On the extremely dynamic terrain you can see a lot of natural and archi-tectural attractions. This is the right choice for cyclists who want fresh air, dynamic terrain with rises and descends.
From Piran the road leads us along the coast, past Bernardin, Portorož, Lucija (where you turn into a campsite), through the Jernej channel, between the salt pans and the main road (on the gravel road), all the way to Sečovlje, Dragonja (where instead of turning left – towards Saint Peter – turn right towards the valley of the river Dragonja), where we continue on the path of the famous valley surro-unded by unspoiled nature and gravel road, when it ends, turn towards Babiči and continue in the direction Pomjan, Šmarje, Gažon, Šared, Korte (where it begins to descend), Sečovlje and back to Piran.



