SLOW BIKING

If you are dreaming a pleasure cycling holiday, Italy is a perfect destination for slow bike tours, and Grado is absolutely gorgeous to discover by bike. Cyclists will find in the ‘Isola del Sole’, the other name of Grado, as well as in its surroundings, an ideal area to explore by bike. Grado has several cycle paths, but it has become famous among the bike lovers because it is a stage in the roadmap of two important cycling routes: the cycling route of the Upper Adriatic or Adriabike, and the Alpe Adria cycling route, also known with the German name of Alpeadria Radweg.

The Upper Adriatic Cycle Track

The Upper Adriatic is a cycling route of 1000km that starts from the Triglav mount in Slovenia and arrives to the Adriatic Sea.

This route has different difficulty levels range. If the most well-fitted people can take on the cycle path within a single holiday, the advice for beginners is to start with choosing just a part of the Upper Adriatic Track. In fact, this last one can be divided into three tranches of about 350km each, to be cover in not less than a week (50 kilometers a day), in order to make life easier and holiday more enjoyable, with the full pleasure of mixing sport, Middle-European culture and Mediterranean style.

1. Kranjska Gora - Trieste, The Emerald green road (360 km)
   It is the first part of the Upper Adriatic cycling route. In these first 360 km of cycle paths you will cross the heart of the Julian Alps, along the Bovec Valley and Tolmin, the Karst until to Koper, and then reach Trieste.
2. Koper-Venice, The road of the Serenissima: from Istria to the Venetian lagoon (358.2 km)
   In this second part of the Adriabike route, you will ride discovering land, sea, beaches and lagoons. The landscape from Trieste to the Po Delta is characterized by a sequence of lagoons separated by the sea and sandy islands, such as Grado, where you can’t miss a tour in the historical center to admire the antiquities of the Early Christian age and a seafront stroll along the promenade and at least quick stop at the beach.
3. Venice-Ravenna, The road of the Merchants and the Burci (348 km)
   The last part of Adriabike starts from Venice and leads through the ancient trade routes of the river and the lagoon, crosses the Po Delta Park and the most beautiful cities of the upper Adriatic up to Ravenna, the last stage of Upper-Adritic cycling tour.

 

Alpe Adria Cycle Track

Also known as Alpeadria Radweg, this cycle route was born from an Italian-Austrian project, tha had the important goal to connect the Central European cycle paths with the Adriatic Sea: 425km of trail, starting from Salzburg to Grado for a week-long tour.

Starting from the city of Mozart, through the Salzach and Gastein valleys, through Böckstein and Carinthia areas, you will reach Italy. Here the first part of the Alpe Adria cycling route follows the old railway, from Tarvisio it touches Gemona, Udine, Aquileia and finally Grado.

In the last part of the Alpeadria Radweg you ride across the Ardito Desio Park, surrounded by the works of several street artists, and towards the city of Udine. This last one offers a wonderful view on historical monuments, vineyards and lagoon landscapes. Leaving Udine behind, you find Palmanova, Cervignano, Aquileia and then Grado, the eighth stage of the radweg AlpeAdria for a full immersion in nature and history with a lovely sea breeze.

Udine-Grado | Eighth stage of the Alpe Adria Cycle Track

ROUTE INFO

Length: 59 km

Time: 4 h

Maximum altitude: 61 m

Difficulty: low