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First week | 5th day LIPICA & Škocjan & & Adriatico I Jadransko morje The descent towards the & Kozina

Adriatic & - Capodistria & SI Lipica - Škocjan - Portorož PORTOROŽ - PORTOROSE

A slow, gentle ride from the Karst to , HR with a visit to the spectacular Škocjan Caves

ROUTE INFORMATION Starting point: Lipica Arrival: Portorož Length: 61 km Conditions: some stretches of gravel road, mainly on asphalted roads with light mixed traffic Indications: partial (along the cycling path) Inter-modality: train + bike USEFUL ADDRESSES Tourist Office Equile di Lipica Before diving into the blue of the Adriatic, this route concentrates on Lipica 5, 6210 Sežana, tel. +386 05 7391580 the Karst tópoi: grottos, caves, sinkholes, underground rivers, stony [email protected], www.lipica.org territory with little vegetation. Park Škocjanske jame Along the route – a very pleasant downhill ride – you can find one Škocjan 2, 6215 Divača, tel. +386 05 7082110 [email protected], www.park-skocjanske-jame.si of the three Slovenian sites which have been declared world herit- Tourist Office Koper age sites by Unesco, that is Škocjanske jame. This is a complex sys- Titov trg 3, 6000 Koper tem of caverns and galleries covered by stalactites and stalagmites tel. +386 05 6646403, [email protected], www.koper.si Tourist Office Izola shaped by the underground river Reka which, after 40 kilometres Ljubljanska ulica 17, 6310 Izola underground, flows into the near Štivan. tel. +386 05 6401050 You head towards Kozina, on the outer edge of the Karst and from [email protected], www.izola.eu Tourist Office Portorož here you reach Črni Kal with its characteristic leaning bell-tower (the Obala 16, 6320 Portorož, tel. +386 05 6742220 gate of Benko House is also interesting, this is the oldest farmhouse [email protected], www.portoroz.si in ). Tourist Office Then you go down along the Rižano valley, reaching the old Paren- Tartinijev trg 2, 6330 Piran tel. +386 05 6734440, [email protected] zana railway line which at the beginning of the XX century connect- www.portoroz.si ed Trieste to Poreč. This well-equipped and much-used cycling path Railway stations: Divača, Hrpelje-Kozina, Koper – which goes along beside the Škocjanski zatok Nature Reserve – Ferries: the Trieste-Rovinj line is active in July and August 5 times a week with a stop at Piran leads to Koper (Capodistria), Izola (Isola) to finally reach Portorož (Pirano). The number of bikes allowed on board (Portorose). is limited.

16 K r a s C a r s o

LIPICA & Škocjan & & Trieste Adriatico I Jadransko morje & Kozina

& Koper - Capodistria & SI PORTOROŽ - PORTOROSE

HR 1 Koper - Capodistria, seafront 2 Škocjan, Škocjanske jame caves 3 Portorož - Portorose, beach

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TRAVELLERS’ DIARY From the centre of Lipica the itinerary the sediment of the Trieste-Ljubljana then you reach Koper (Capodistria), continues on gravel road until reach- railway line. Further down there is with its wonderful historical town cen- ing Lokev, where we find an imposing the village of Črni Kal, nestled in the tre of obvious Venetian influence. fortified stone tower, erected as a green from where the white church To reach Izola (Isola) you pedal next defence from the Turkish invasions, of St. Valentine stands out. Now the to the sea on a special cycling lane today hosting a great collection of road goes down with wide bends and also reserved for other users. Then arms, uniforms and other military weaves its way into the Rižana river you go through a tunnel and reach objects. You continue, reaching the valley until reaching the old Parenzana Štrungan (Strugnano), the former salt entrance to the Škocjanske Jame Park railway track – narrow gauge and only mine area. A second tunnel allows us – in the town of Divača – you must not one track – which from 1902 connect- to reach Portorož (Portorose), famous miss seeing its magnificent caves, one ed Trieste to Poreč in 123 kilometres. tourist resort in Slovenian Istria – in of the greatest attractions in Slovenia. It went out of use in 1935, a few years the (Pirano) – After the visit carry on pedalling until ago it was transformed into a cycling with its centuries-old spa tradition. The you reach the edge of the plateau, that lane (D8 cycling route) called “Parenza- mud for the spas comes from the salt is Kozina where another cycling path na: road of health and friendship”. Ped- mines in Sečovlje (Sicciole), the nature crosses, the Trieste-Hrpelje (which you alling along this nice route you reach reserve 10 kilometres away from Por- will use partially on the second day of the Škocjanski zatok Nature Reserve, torož (Portorose) in the direction of the the second week), along a stretch of greatest salt mars area in Slovenia, Croatian border.

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