How a 69-year-old Gabriele solo-cycled across Slovenia. With a folding bike.

At the age of 69, Gabriele undertook an incredible solo cycling tour across Slovenia, spanning around 500 kilometers on her foldable bicycle. This cycling adventure is an excellent demonstration of the use – and adaptation – of the Slovenia Green cycling routes. Even more, it’s proof of what’s possible if there’s enough courage and will, and how Slovenia is a perfect country to be discovered by bicycle.

Gabriele and I met in the Ljubljana hostel Celica.

I met Gabriele Marewski, coming from the United States, completely by chance. She was looking for a way to store her bike after her spring cycling tour of Slovenia and before her planned autumn exploration of the Balkans. “It’s foldable, it won’t take up much space.” Wait, what – you’re planning to ride the Trans Dinarica with a folding bike?! Easy bicycle paths in Slovenia are one thing, but remote gravel roads through the Dinaric Alps are something else. But then later, when she had already changed her plans and decided to use a bigger and more suitable ‘gravel’ bike for the fall, we met at the Celica hostel in Ljubljana, the starting and ending point of her ‘Slovenia Green’ trip, I realized that the spring adventure wasn’t exactly a walk in the park either…

Her cycling journey through Slovenia was a combination of different cycling routes, including three Slovenia Green Routes (Photo: Gabriele Marewski).

Planning the cycling trip with the help of Slovenia Green Cycling Routes

After hiking in Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia, where she was one of the first to hike the Transcaucasian Trail, she was looking for new challenges and came across Slovenia more by chance. “I read an article in Adventure Cyclist magazine about Croatia, which led me to info on Slovenia. When I landed on the Slovenia Green website and found out that Slovenia has lots of bicycle routes and the country supports sustainable tourism, I knew I had to go,” she described the idea of ​​cycling around Slovenia. She liked the Slovenia Green Wellness cycling route, Solčava Panoramic and Gourmet cycling route and so she decided to combine them into her own route, which appeared to be about 500 kilometers long.

Three things are, um, I won’t say unusual, but inspiring. She set out for the first time at the age of 69. Second: she traveled alone. Third: her bike was foldable, the one you could easily carry on a train or plane. “I used a fold-up Bike Friday bicycle. It was perfect as it provided maximum travel flexibility. There were some seriously rainy days where I jumped to my next destination by taking a bus. My bike was easy to toss into the bus luggage bin and fit perfectly. I may go a little slower on a fold-up, but that suits me just fine, as it allows for the opportunity to absorb the landscape, stop often and take lots of photos.”

She traveled past Celje, Ptuj, Maribor, Solčava, Logarska dolina, Kranj, Škofja Loka, Bled, to the Savica waterfall and Vintgar Gorge, Mojstrana, Bovec, Solkan and to the two most famous caves, Škocjan and Postojna Caves. She also wanted to go over the Vršič Pass, but the road was closed in early spring – due to snow.

The Church Of St Primoz and Felician nestled on a hill in Jamnik (Photo: Gabriele Marewski).

Slovenia is very green with endless trees and forests. There is NO litter! Every place I stayed had six bins for recycling and EVERYTHING is recycled.

No garbage and with an excellent vegetarian food offer

It’s nice to see our country through the eyes of a foreign traveler:  “Slovenia is very green with endless trees and forests. There is NO litter! Every place I stayed had six bins for recycling and EVERYTHING is recycled. There are even bins around downtown Ljubljana. I am a vegetarian and eating green can be challenging when traveling – but not here – there was plenty of delicious food. If you go, don’t miss the savory dumplings they call ‘štruklji’! I was also impressed with the large number of well-maintained bicycle routes, and it was easy to download the routes to the Ride With GPS app. On weekends, the routes are full of cycling enthusiasts, and there are more routes under construction. Slovenia definitely lives up to its reputation as “Green Slovenia”.”

She is also impressed by the hospitality of the locals. It happened that while admiring nature, she “forgot” the time and the direction and got lost, after which it started to rain. It was late, she knocked on the door of the house and the man directed her to a nearby hostel. “When I got there, I was dripping wet and had a mechanical problem – the bolts on my bike rack had rattled off. In the rain I had to tie it back as best I could. The friendly hostel manager ignored the large puddles I was creating on his floor, called a local bike shop, and quickly delivered good news saying “No problem, the bike shop will pick you and your bike up in the morning”. Such friendly micro engagements were the norm in Slovenia. As a solo female traveler, I stay in hostels for the comradeship, get to hear good stories and enjoy making new friends. Slovenia was great for this! I loved saying “Dobar Dan!” to everyone I passed on my bike, and I would always get a smile and a reciprocal greeting.”

Our cycling routes are filled with views like these (Photo: Gabriele Marewski).

As she says, cycling around Slovenia was a perfect example of why she likes to travel this way. “I love the unknown. I have no expectations and let my journey unfold via curiosity and appreciation. I’m 70 years old and love the complete freedom that solo travel offers. The results are always better than anything I could ever plan!”

Dear Gabriele, thank you for the inspiring story and good luck on all the journeys ahead. 

You can read more about her adventures on her website.