Rimske Toplice to Ljubljana 50 miles (total miles 373)

We had much better weather today, dry but cool and cloudy, so we covered a good distance over a variety of different types of road and track.  We started off back on the east bank of the river Savija where the first five miles or so were pretty tough on really steep farm roads and tracks which went up and down above the river.  The views were good but I was a bit nervous of fifty miles of that sort of terrain.

Fortunately once we reached the river Sava and turned westwards the roads improved, initially along a deserted minor road squashed between the railway and the river.  We came across a really interesting cable bridge which could only take one person at a time while the other wound it across manually, fortunately we didn't need to use it.

A bit further up the valley we had to join a busier road for about ten miles as it passed through a fairly industrial section near Hrastnik.

But we were soon back in minor roads before stopping for lunch at Litija, after which it was quiet farm roads virtually all the way to our camp site on the outskirts of Ljubljana.  

After getting ourselves booked in we jumped on the bus into the centre of town which was spectacularly beautiful with a real buzz in the restaurants along the banks of the river.

Today's route https://www.strava.com/activities/1174208192

Slovenske Konjice to Rimski Toplice 29 wet miles (total miles 323)

We woke up this morning to the sight of pouring rain and soggy washing outside our apartment but we soon got packed up and headed along to the restaurant for breakfast.  When I asked the waiter if it was going to rain all day he didn't hesitate for a second before saying ....."yes!"....he was right!

Our first 4 miles or so were uphill on a fairly busy road but once we reached the top the traffic thinned out and we had a good descent towards Celje.  As we neared the town (city?) centre the traffic was very heavy but there were pretty good cycle lanes into the centre of town where we had a bite to eat and decide where we were heading for that afternoon.

We had originally planned to cycle from Celje to Lublljianja today which would have been about 64 miles, however with our earlier stop yesterday it would have been nearer 80 miles to Lublljianja which didn't seem a great idea in today's weather conditions.  As there didn't seem to be any other campsites or much other accommodation in between we decided to book into the Rimske Terme hotel about another 11 miles down the Savinja river.

We followed the quiet farm roads on the east side of the river through what must have been really spectacular countryside if we could have seen it through the mist and rain.  There was a fair bit of climbing along the way with one particular section which eventually had is both off and pushing the bikes as the gradient got up to about 20%.

When we got to Rimske Toplice we could see that our hotel was perched up on the hill, the signs at the bottom of the access road advising on the use of snow chains also gave us a clue that we still had a bit of climbing to do, however we didn't reckon on the fact that the hotel was actually built into the hill and that the reception was on the 7th floor!

Anyway.....we're now booked in, have had a swim, another excellent mastercheffy dinner and have damp gear strewn all around our room in the hope that it will be drier by the morning.  The receptionist has assured us that the weather will be better tomorrow.

Today's route https://www.strava.com/activities/1172512778

Maribor to Slovenske Konjici 35 miles (total miles 294)

It was an interesting day today.  After a week of following well marked cycle trails, today we had to navigate our own way through lots of quiet farm roads.  Fortunately I had spent quite a few hours at home mapping out a potential route and downloading it onto our cycle computers. This has turned out to be really useful as we could bowl along just following the turn by turn directions with occasional checks on the paper maps.

We had planned to end up at a campsite just outside Celje today, however seven days of biking were starting to take their toll and by the time we reached Slovenske Konjice ( don't ask me how to pronounce it!) fatigue was starting to set in.  The last 12 miles with about 5 miles of climbing didn't seem too attractive.  So over a beer and a pizza we looked up bookings.com and found a cracking apartment in the "Wine Growers Mansion" less than half a mile away.  A quick stop at the spar for a bottle of plonk and some peanuts and we were soon checking into some excellent accommodation with great views over the surrounding vineyards.  The great advantage of booking online, apart from the language barrier, is that the owners don't know that you are a dirty smelly bike tourist until you turn up for your keys so they can't claim to be fully booked.

Even better, the wine growers also had a superb mastercheffy restaurant 200m from the accommodation where we had a slap up meal with the waiter pointing out of the window to the particular vines which our wines had come from.  It was so posh I had to put on my best shirt and even a clean pair of socks!

It turned out to be a really good day, we will have to make some adjustments to the rest of our route but we have a couple of spare days to work wth so we'll just see how far we get tomorrow.

Today's route https://www.strava.com/activities/1171066489

Bad Radkersburg to Maribor 40 miles (total miles 259)

This morning our route took us upstream along the flood plain of the river Mura on good empty roads through loads of  farming hamlets and pretty well surfaced forest tracks.  We met another couple of cycle tourists from Lichtenstein who were intrigued to know how we managed to transport our bikes when flying.  The guy was somewhat distraught when I described our poly bag routine as the thought of any scratches on his bike was obviously a fate worse than death.  His wife, on the other hand, thought it was quite a good idea, I think they are going to have some interesting discussions.

After lunch at Spielfield we turned south heading for the Slovenian Border.  This was a bit weird as we ended up cycling along what must once have been the hard shoulder of the main road into Slovenia. It had masses of parking places and dilapidated shops and hotels which must have catered for heavy traffic before the borders were opened up and bypassed by the new Motorway.

Our route for the first part of the afternoon roughly paralleled the motorway on good quiet country farm roads.  The landscape and agriculture of Slovenia is quite different from that a few miles north in Austria.  It is much hillier and instead of the very intensive arable farming there seems to be a lot more pasture which caused a wee bit of alarm when we came across signs which we guess we're saying beware of the coos.

The last 8 miles or so we're not quite so nice as they came in on fairly busy roads into and through Maribor.  There were however basic cycle lanes all the way to our campsite at the foot of the ski slopes to the south of the city.

It is an excellent wee campsite and the warden was really helpful giving us maps and directions for buses back into the city where we had another great local feast.

That is us finished with Austria for this trip but yet again we have been really impressed with how good their cycling infrastructure is, I'm pretty sure we'll be back.

But tomorrow it's off into Slovenia!

Today's route https://www.strava.com/activities/1169457956

Rauchwart to Bad Radkersburg 60 miles ( total miles 219)

Up bright and early this morning, mainly because the tent was cold and we were needing the loo!

The first nine miles were a gentle wake up with the cycle path following a stream all the way to Gussing where we had an excellent breakfast in the middle of a bustling market.

After Gussing we had a steep climb of about 14% gradient which took us to some lovely empty roads through old oak woods with woodpeckers flying about.  We then descended and had some flat miles to Jennersdorf.

After a mediocre lunch we had a few more miles on the flat than some more fairly steep climbing towards St Anna with hazards such as turkeys on the road and Ostriches (fortunately not on the road!)

We also came across farmers harvesting the pumpkins which seemed to be purely for the seeds as the rest of the pumpkins were left in the fields.

Just a few miles earlier we had seen a couple of women sitting in the fields removing the seeds by hand.

After St Anna it was mainly downhill to the spa town of Bad Radkersburg where we were lucky enough to stumble into the number one restaurant on trip advisor for an excellent dinner.

Tomorrow it's off to Slovenia, yet another country where we can't speak the language!

Today's route https://www.strava.com/activities/1167893413

Koszeg to Rauchwart 31 miles (total miles 159)

It was a fairly dreich start this morning with a cold northerly wind and light rain, however after an excellent breakfast in the old square at Koszeg we set off wth the wind mainly behind us towards Austria once more.

Today's route was fairly routine through undulating farmland, although there were a few short, sharp steep sections.  We passed through a lot of small towns and villages but hardly saw a soul all day.  We're not sure whether this was just because it was Sunday or whether there has been some sort of mass evacuation.

Anyway, a fairly short trip today, the weather has improved and we are now parked up in a nice wee campsite beside the lake at Rauchwart.

Today's route https://www.strava.com/activities/1167893413

Purbach to Koszeg 57 miles (total miles 128)

Great ride today through a variety of countryside, the first 20 miles to Morbisch were pretty flat through fields of sunflowers and vineyards where the harvest is just starting

After Morbisch we moved briefly into Hungary where the use of the countryside changed dramatically from well ordered vineyards to dirt tracks through thick woodland

Quick stop for lunch at Sopron.

Then back into Austria.  After leaving Morbisch the terrain got more undulating but the roads and tracks were really quiet all the way to Koszeg (back in Hungary again) where we seem to be the only tent in the campsite.

Koszeg has a beautiful old town centre although some of the buildings are looking a bit worse for wear.  We arrived at the main square just in time to see a wedding party heading off from the church, very noisily with blue lights flashing and sirens screaming in a fire engine.

Great meal in town, now sitting in an ancient wine cellar scoffing vino at 50p a glass.  Cheers!

Today's route https://www.strava.com/activities/1164447589