A journey between cultures where
the mountains meet the sea

For travelers serious about adventure on two wheels, a journey along the Alpina Mediterranean — one of the world’s most important cycling connectors — is a necessity.

Starting in the province of Udine and the Italian region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia, just south of the point where the Fella River and Tagliamento River merge, the route winds its way through the Alps in Slovenia before diving to Croatia’s Adriatic coast. This association between the mountains and the sea is the route’s most obvious connection; it is, after all, in the name. What cyclists will come to love, however, are all the options the Alpina Mediterranean provides during their epic adventure.

General statistics

Stage	From	To	Distance (km)	Elevation (m)	Paved (%)	Unpaved (%)
01	Venezone (Pušja vas)	Cividale del Friuli (Čedad)	55	280	87	13
02	Cividale del Friuli (Čedad)	Tolmin	46	560	86	14
03	Tolmin	Nova Gorica	41	570	88	12
04	Nova Gorica	Sežana	56	830	74	26
05	Sežana	Ilirska Bistrica	55	900	74	26
06	Ilirska Bistrica	Opatija	46	610	90	10

Among those options is a connection with the famous Ciclovia Alpe-Adria Radweg (Alps to Adriatic Route). The Alpina Mediterranean also overlaps with and acts as a synapse to the new Trans Dinarica Cycle Route, which takes travelers through all eight countries of the Western Balkans: Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Albania, Kosovo, North Macedonia, and Serbia. In doing so, a connection is made between ancient cultures strung across this corridor between Central and Southeastern Europe.

Designed for touring cyclists of all abilities (the route is best ridden with gravel-style bicycles, which are able to handle both asphalt and forest roads with equal ease and is also great for e-bikes), the Alpina Mediterranean provides adventurers, who tend toward authentic experiences, a method to imbibe these regions at human-powered speed while discovering traditions — culinary, musical, and historical — with slow-travel intention.

6

STAGES

299 km

DISTANCE

3.750 m

ELEVATION

83 %

PAVED

17 %

UNPAVED

The Alpina Mediterranean combines quiet asphalt roads, macadam, and forest paths. It is perfect for active travelers who want to engage with new places on two wheels during the day… and enjoy local cuisine, wine, and unique heritage every night. The route provides local travel operators a way to develop tours/ideas around this epic connection between cultures, and thus encourages travelers with a real, responsible, and sustainable way to embrace one of the world’s best regions to ride a bicycle.