My Alps and Eastern European wander - July / August 2025
- Thread starter Fluffmeister
- Start date
So day 6 and 7, no bike action, just a couple of chilled out days wandering around Bratislava taking in some of the sights.
Here's my aforementioned pharmacy saviour
And the interior
Various statues and memorials just outside the hotel
Holocaust memorial just around the corner from the hotel.
Slovak national theatre
Memorial plaque to the Steiner family
The famous Man at work sculpture, now on a fridge magnet in the kitchen
View from the "Flying Saucer" restaurant back over the Danube to the city.
Awesome tat............ Shamone!!!!!!
Their blue church
Indeed, I believe they do
So that was mooching around Bratislava, have loads more pics, I should post a couple of food snaps to, as I appear to be a bit light on those, something I'll rectify with the next post.
From here it was a bit more adhoc route planning, I was going to head to Romania, but decided I'd miss out on some of the other stuff I'd planned when pushing west, so headed into Hungary, over to Sopron, then drop south west to Maribor in Slovenia, more to come.
Here's my aforementioned pharmacy saviour
And the interior
Various statues and memorials just outside the hotel
Holocaust memorial just around the corner from the hotel.
Slovak national theatre
Memorial plaque to the Steiner family
The famous Man at work sculpture, now on a fridge magnet in the kitchen
View from the "Flying Saucer" restaurant back over the Danube to the city.
Awesome tat............ Shamone!!!!!!
Their blue church
Indeed, I believe they do
So that was mooching around Bratislava, have loads more pics, I should post a couple of food snaps to, as I appear to be a bit light on those, something I'll rectify with the next post.
From here it was a bit more adhoc route planning, I was going to head to Romania, but decided I'd miss out on some of the other stuff I'd planned when pushing west, so headed into Hungary, over to Sopron, then drop south west to Maribor in Slovenia, more to come.
mair food ken 
Great report Great pictures Great food and Great new friends ! Excellent work.
So, brekkie time at Hotel Devin and I'd worked out a non motorway route to take me South West to Maribor in Slovenia, via Sopron in Hungary, about 182 miles, which was a nice steady day. I've been to places like Balaton before, so just thought I would stay north and Criss cross the border a little.
So got this down me, and a couple of coffee's, loaded up the Stelvio and away
Some of the roads were not quite what you'd have expected, but I did check them out in MRA and Google Streetview first, and a bit of gravel breaks things up a bit
Headed down and crossed the border into Hungary, which was not as welcoming as you'd hope, was a "papers" type moment, but nothing major to stress over.
Headed on to Sopron to check out the Fire Tower
Then dropped into Austria and down into Slovenia towards Maribor and a cheap B&B Hotel, right in the pedestrianised zone, which was fun riding through
Onwards into Maribor, and checked into the B&B hotel, 50 Euro a night, freshly renovated and airconditioned rooms, tight in the heart of the town. Time to have a wander around Maribor and see the sights
Just round the corner from the hotel was an Italian place, that had good reviews so nipped in for a bite to eat, a drink then back and get my head down.
Wandered back through a small memorial park, now that's an impressive 'tache.
Next day was looming, a nice steady 203 miles via Dravograd as I'd been told there was an interesting memorial there on the roadside, Kraniska Gora and over the Vrsic through Kobarid and to Udine in Italy for a night, again in a B&B Chain hotel, but it's clean, air conditioned, comfortable and has bike specific underground parking.
See you back for day 8 on the bike
So got this down me, and a couple of coffee's, loaded up the Stelvio and away
Some of the roads were not quite what you'd have expected, but I did check them out in MRA and Google Streetview first, and a bit of gravel breaks things up a bit
Headed down and crossed the border into Hungary, which was not as welcoming as you'd hope, was a "papers" type moment, but nothing major to stress over.
Headed on to Sopron to check out the Fire Tower
Then dropped into Austria and down into Slovenia towards Maribor and a cheap B&B Hotel, right in the pedestrianised zone, which was fun riding through
Onwards into Maribor, and checked into the B&B hotel, 50 Euro a night, freshly renovated and airconditioned rooms, tight in the heart of the town. Time to have a wander around Maribor and see the sights
Just round the corner from the hotel was an Italian place, that had good reviews so nipped in for a bite to eat, a drink then back and get my head down.
Wandered back through a small memorial park, now that's an impressive 'tache.
Next day was looming, a nice steady 203 miles via Dravograd as I'd been told there was an interesting memorial there on the roadside, Kraniska Gora and over the Vrsic through Kobarid and to Udine in Italy for a night, again in a B&B Chain hotel, but it's clean, air conditioned, comfortable and has bike specific underground parking.
See you back for day 8 on the bike
So breakfast at the B&B Hotel in Maribor was the usual continental effort, more than enough to get you going, and so loaded up the bike, and headed off. Today was a more interesting day on the riding side of things, and it was a hair over 203 miles. A really enjoyable days riding.
I've ridden and done Lake Bled, and Bohinj so was actively looking for something different, and most of the planning was adhoc, and just done the night before, which I guess is easy to do when flying solo.
Here's todays route, and if any of this is of any use to anyone, please use it.
Heading out, came to a hydro electric power station, which was interesting for a pause.
So onwards to Dravograd
And this was the monument my Slovakian friend was telling me about, not quite what I expected, all hail the war chicken!!!!
Borrowed from Google, this is a monument with a small memorial park along the Drava River, in defence of an independent Slovenia in 1991, and in the fight against the occupier, when the residents of Dravograd set up barricades on June 27, 1991 to block a YPA armored column. The TO units forced to surrender and the monument was erected in 1996 in memory of the residents of Dravograd and all TO units and detachments in gratitude for the fact that Slovenians have their independence
Onwards
Scenery is starting to change, heading into the Triglav range.
Parked up on the Vrsic, to time to get the Jetboil out for a quick brew. Bikes still remarkably clean, but that will soon change
Last section dropping down towards Udine, loads of roads like this just lazy sweepers
So, landed in Udine, got the bike parked up and had a quick beer and then went for a wander around the local area, tomorrow I'd be heading out on a 250 mile stint, heading cross country to Berghotel Franzeshohe, and a couple of days playing around the Stelvio area. No motorways and the route takes me through the Dolomites, the Gardena pass and the Jaufenpass and a few other interesting sights along the way.
So onwards to day 9
I've ridden and done Lake Bled, and Bohinj so was actively looking for something different, and most of the planning was adhoc, and just done the night before, which I guess is easy to do when flying solo.
Here's todays route, and if any of this is of any use to anyone, please use it.
Heading out, came to a hydro electric power station, which was interesting for a pause.
So onwards to Dravograd
And this was the monument my Slovakian friend was telling me about, not quite what I expected, all hail the war chicken!!!!
Borrowed from Google, this is a monument with a small memorial park along the Drava River, in defence of an independent Slovenia in 1991, and in the fight against the occupier, when the residents of Dravograd set up barricades on June 27, 1991 to block a YPA armored column. The TO units forced to surrender and the monument was erected in 1996 in memory of the residents of Dravograd and all TO units and detachments in gratitude for the fact that Slovenians have their independence
Onwards
Scenery is starting to change, heading into the Triglav range.
Parked up on the Vrsic, to time to get the Jetboil out for a quick brew. Bikes still remarkably clean, but that will soon change
Last section dropping down towards Udine, loads of roads like this just lazy sweepers
So, landed in Udine, got the bike parked up and had a quick beer and then went for a wander around the local area, tomorrow I'd be heading out on a 250 mile stint, heading cross country to Berghotel Franzeshohe, and a couple of days playing around the Stelvio area. No motorways and the route takes me through the Dolomites, the Gardena pass and the Jaufenpass and a few other interesting sights along the way.
So onwards to day 9
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I'm sure they don't know the cold war is over, sort of, maybeGood stuff.
Yes Hungarian border staff are usually miserable fuckers, but the country give always enjoyed
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Only place I got checked was Hungary, then on the Austrian border heading back in, Austrian military on the inbound crossing.
Cracking write up so far.. a good read. I've not been to Europe on a bike for 8+ years. I need to remedy that in 2026. Write ups like this are food for thought.
How many days was this trip? It does look good, I usually just head for Spain/Portugal once or twice per year, I need to be more adventurous.
What was the rough cost? Hope that's not to personal a question but, it does help to know.
What was the rough cost? Hope that's not to personal a question but, it does help to know.
I will double check and post it up mate. Time wise I was away for 20 days in total, but in there I had some non riding breaks, or non "travel" breaks. I'll come back with some figures though.
Cheers, 20 days would be epic, roll on retirement. My maximum 14 day duration (work limited) really does hold me back, I always end up 'speed touring' where you see a lot, but not for very long!
Of that though, I had a 2 day break in Bratislava off the bike, and I was making an effort to keep the daily mileage down so I had time to go and check out anything interesting along the route and take plenty of pictures. The only time I used a motorway was in Holland / Germany on day 1, and the final stretch I did from Dortmund to Europoort on the final day. That does add to the time, and with a push it could be done in 14 days.
I'm a scumbag contractor, so had gaps in my schedule, money in the bank so legged it, wifey was happy as she works for the NHS and I was out of her hair for almost 3 weeks
Mileage was just over 3500 miles, including from home to Hull and back for the ferry.
Hotels ranged from 45 Euro to 79 Euro a night looking back at the credit card, average hotel cost was 58 euro per night over the trip, I booked direct with B&B Hotels when I was using them, Hotels.com app and AirBnB for others and direct with the Franzeshohe on the Stelvio. Most were booked with breakfast, Franzeshohe I took half board as the food is usually pretty good, and it's in the middle of nowhere really. Happy to dig deeper into that if needed.
Stelvio averaged 53MPG according to a picture I took of the second trip meter that I zeroed on leaving home.
Cheers for that, pretty similar to Spain prices then, which is good, I thought it would be more. I'd also save a large chunk without the Santander ferry, just a days ride to Germany off the tunnel.
Back again
Day 9 taking a meandering cross country route from Udine to Berghotel Franzenshohe, which is just on the East (Trafoi) end of the Stelvio, just over 250 miles where I'm taking a 2 night stop over to explore a bit as I've done Stelvio, Umbrail and Gavia many times before, but there's a lot more to discover if you stray off the beaten track a little. There's also something about taking a Stelvio on the Stelvio
So headed out of Udine nice and early heading north to Osoppo and following the Tagliamento river up and across to Tolmezzo and picking up the Strad regional dolomiti zig-zagging west. Headed then over the Gardena Pass, Sella pass up to Vipitino and over the Giovo / Jaufen pass and onwards towards Merano and to the Hotel.
Here's the route, again, no motorway and I'd tried to take in area's I've not done to frequently in the past.
And some snaperoo's
Spotted this mentalist on the way out of Udine
Scenery is picking up again
Mauria Pass
Following the river up, and another Hydroelectric plant
Scenery just keeps getting better
OK, this was a bluff, I'd just ridden about 150 meters onto the rough
And Check in at the Franzeshohe just in time to unpack, shower and get down for dinner, which is four courses when on half board.
Next couple of days will be chilling out, get the luggage off the bike and have a play over Stelvio and mooch around Lake cancano and the surrounding area's
I'll be back
Day 9 taking a meandering cross country route from Udine to Berghotel Franzenshohe, which is just on the East (Trafoi) end of the Stelvio, just over 250 miles where I'm taking a 2 night stop over to explore a bit as I've done Stelvio, Umbrail and Gavia many times before, but there's a lot more to discover if you stray off the beaten track a little. There's also something about taking a Stelvio on the Stelvio
So headed out of Udine nice and early heading north to Osoppo and following the Tagliamento river up and across to Tolmezzo and picking up the Strad regional dolomiti zig-zagging west. Headed then over the Gardena Pass, Sella pass up to Vipitino and over the Giovo / Jaufen pass and onwards towards Merano and to the Hotel.
Here's the route, again, no motorway and I'd tried to take in area's I've not done to frequently in the past.
And some snaperoo's
Spotted this mentalist on the way out of Udine
Scenery is picking up again
Mauria Pass
Following the river up, and another Hydroelectric plant
Scenery just keeps getting better
OK, this was a bluff, I'd just ridden about 150 meters onto the rough
And Check in at the Franzeshohe just in time to unpack, shower and get down for dinner, which is four courses when on half board.
Next couple of days will be chilling out, get the luggage off the bike and have a play over Stelvio and mooch around Lake cancano and the surrounding area's
I'll be back
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