Croatia by bike
Croatia by bike
Where the landscape inspires, and the time spent transforms
Croatia is overflowing with contrasting landscapes extremely suitable and attractive for discovering and exploration by bicycle. If you decide to experience this abundance of natural and cultural-historical beauty by bicycle, you cannot go wrong.
The options are endless, and so inviting: from Croatia’s most popular cycling peninsula - Istria, over the forested, fragrant islands of Kvarner and the highland area of Gorski Kotar, the historical roads of the Lika-Karlovac region, over the highest passes and attractive mountains of the Dinaric karst to the dramatically beautiful Dalmatian coast with its islands or from the cereal plains of Slavonia through the green river valleys, over the cultivated hills with the many castles, manor houses and churches of central Croatia to the urban cycling oasis of Zagreb.
However, for years the most popular cyclotourist product of Croatia, by which at once in a moderately dynamic way one can get to know a great part of the Adriatic coast and islands has been multi-day cruising by boat, so-called “island hopping”, in other words from harbour to harbour via the many wonderfully beautiful places, with bikes on a boat and then daytime cycling excursions and swimming in the clean and transparent sea in secluded coves. Alongside the popular cruising, also interesting for cyclotourists are the highly sought-after quality guided or self-organised multiday cycling tours through the national and nature parks or short trips and package tours which are offered by specialised cycling agencies, mainly specialists in an individual destination or region. The destinations are well covered with other services for cyclists: the hire and service of bicycles, e-bikes, equipment and parts shops, transfers, taxis and alike, whilst the accommodation and catering offer in the destinations is extensive and high quality.
Cyclotourism is developing very much via the most important international cycling routes which connect the tourist regions of Croatia with interesting and productively similar places in the neighbourhood and with their own resources are adding to many quality projects.
For years the Mura and Drava cycling route has attracted cyclotourists to multiday rides from the sources to the mouths of these two rivers. They connect Italy, Austria, Slovenia, Hungary and Croatia, and in Croatia there are mouths of the two rivers: the mouth of the Mura into the Drava at the little town of Legrad and the mouth of the Drava into the Danube at the small pilgrimage town of Aljmaš, east of Osijek. The total length of the Mura in Croatia is 67 kilometres, whilst the Drava is 305 kilometres. For now, both routes lead through Međimurje, whilst the Drava route goes further through Podravina and Slavonia all the way to the mouth, where the Danube Cycle Route continues through Erdut, Dalj, Vukovar and Šarengrad to Ilok.
For a cycling experience of the plain of Slavonia and Baranja the perfect choice is the Pannonian Peace Trail from Osijek, through the Kopački Rit Nature Park and Batina in Baranja to Sombor in neighbouring Vojvodina, 75 kilometres long.
The Balaton – Lonjsko Polje international route is a link of cyclotourist-developed neighbouring Hungary, which can contribute greatly to the transport of cyclotourists to continental Croatia and the main state cycling routes through Lonjsko Polje Nature Park further southwest towards the Adriatic Sea.
Croatia has been long recognised for its cyclotourism and via the transnational EuroVelo routes that pass through it, of which there are four EuroVelo (EV) routes: EV13 - the Iron Curtain Trail and the EV6 – the Danube Route of continental Croatia, the EV8 – Mediterranean Route and the EV9 – Baltic – Adriatic of coastal Croatia.