Compare Friuli Venezia Giulia and Slovenia Cycling Tour by Tourissimo vs Highlights of Japan by Insider Journeys

Day 1: Grado - Aquileia

Meals: Lunch and Dinner

Accommodation: Hotel Villa Bernt

Terrain: Flat

Ride: 13 mi or 22 km

A private shuttle will take you to our hotel on an island-village on the Adriatic. Grado is Friuli’s lagoon city, a town with 1600 years of history, which can still be experienced by strolling the calli (streets) of the ancient city center. Grado was the first port of entry for ships headed upstream to nearby Aquileia, a powerful Roman city on the river Natisone.

After some lunch and presentations, we ride inland to Aquileia. The colony was founded in 180BC and served as a strategic frontier fortress at the northeast corner of Transpadane (on the far side of the Po river) Italy.

Back at the hotel, you will receive an overview of the tour program followed by dinner.

Day 2: Collio Hills

Meals: Breakfast and Dinner

Accommodation: La Subida

Terrain: Rolling

Ride: 30 mi or 48 km

After fine tuning our bikes some more, we ride along the Natisone river and we reach Gorizia for a short visit and some lunch. Once a favorite spot of the Hapsburg nobility, since 1947 Gorizia has been split in two, with Nova Gorica developing on the other side of the Italian–Slovenian border. We are in the dramatic Carso area with its limestone formations, grottoes, and underground rivers. La Subida is a charming country hotel and the hospitality of the Sirk family is legendary. Tonight, we will have dinner at l'Osteria, which is part of the La Subida Estate. La Subida is a place that makes our guests feel at home and relaxed. It's unique.

Day 3: Cividale Loop

Meals: Breakfast and Lunch

Accommodation: La Subida

Terrain: Hilly

Ride: 28 mi or 45 km

Today's ride leads us northward to Cividale del Friuli (UNESCO site). We will be pedaling through the Collio and Colli Orientali del Friuli wine area for about 30 mls of easy and rolling terrain. Cividale del Friuli will be our lunch stop and then we will head back to La Subida from a different road. Before reaching the hotel, we will stop at a local winery for lunch and wine tasting. The family-owned Grillo winery is in the center of the Schioppettino wine production (very rare and hard to find anywhere else in Italy). Relax back at La Subida before dinner.

Day 4: Bovec

Meals: Breakfast and Dinner

Accommodation:  Hotel Alp

Terrain: Rolling Hills

Ride: 46 mi or 74 km (shorter option available)

Today's ride takes us out of Friuli, heading northeast to the border of Slovenia. We will notice the landscape changing as we ride through the lowest mountain pass of the Alps, a long, easy smooth climb that takes us to the former border between Italy and Slovenia. Entering Slovenia we will find ourselves in a lush, green landscape with the typical vegetation of a mountain region, with rivers, waterfalls, and forests. Silence and very few cars make this and the next rides heavenly. Our lunch stop is in Caporetto/Kobarid and we have planned a visit to the WWI museum, a small but very complete and interesting house where the people from Caporetto have collected pictures and objects through which they tell the history of WWI as it was lived by the soldiers and civilians in that valley where we bike during our tour. In the afternoon we cruise to Bovec following the Soča river valley. You'll have time to explore Bovec on your own ant to enjoy a cold beer while watching the sunset behind the high mountains that surround the valley where Bovec is nestled. A short walk to the center of Bovec and we will find our dinner table ready at a local Gostilna, a simple, typical ‘trattoria’ style restaurant where we can enjoy our Slovenian meal.

Day 5: Bovec

Meals: Breakfast and Dinner

Accommodation: Hotel Alp

Terrain: Rolling Hills

Ride: 23 mi or 37 km

Bovec is known as the adventure capital of Slovenia, and we have a full day here to rest and enjoy a wide range of outdoor activities: kayaking, rafting, canoeing, paragliding, mountain biking, hiking and more. Kayaking in the emerald waters of the Soca River while immersed in the landscape of high peaks, forest and waterfalls is an unforgettable experience not to be missed. For those who like hiking there are some interesting trails with historical traces of WWI and WWII just outside of Bovec, with a war cemetery, two old forts and some bunkers and tunnels dating back to the Napoleon era and WWI. A bike ride will also be available if you want to explore the countryside up to the edge of Triglav National Park, in a remote little valley where only sheep and cows are witnesses to our slow-paced ride through paradise. Dinner is on your own.

Day 6: Fusine Lake to Bled

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner

Accommodation: Hotel Astoria Bled

Terrain: Rolling Hills

Ride: 37 mi or 59 km

Today we’ll go across the Alps to reach Tarvisio, a town on the border where Italy, Austria and Slovenia meet. A bus will shuttle us and our bikes over a mountain pass and down to the enchanting Fusine lakes where an easy and flat bike path starts. We’ll follow the bike path along the valley, once again immersed in a beautiful forest and with mountains all around us. Past the town of Kranjska Gora we’ll leave the main path and enter a secondary valley, now riding on an unpaved (but smooth) bike path.  This valley, the Radovna Valley, is the most beautiful, magical and enchanting place of the whole tour. Streams, small waterfalls, tall trees, water mills, a few old farmhouses and some cows are what we will see during the almost 10km of riding in this heavenly valley. Once we leave the valley we will be very close to Bled and if time and weather permit we can take a detour to admire the Vintgar Gorge, a canyon carved by the Vintgar River. A boardwalk runs along the gorge and from there we can view waterfalls and rapids.

Bled is our final destination today. We’ll bike along the lakeshore to reach Hotel Astoria in the center of Bled. Dinner will be at a castle overlooking Lake Bled. If time allows it, you can visit the interesting museum inside the Bled Castle. 

Day 7: Ljubljana

Meals: Breakfast and Dinner

Accommodation: Allegro Garni Hotel

Ride:  None

Today we’ll transfer by private bus (about 1 hr) to Ljubljana. Upon arriving, you will have a guided visit of the town center of this UNESCO-recognized gem. You will have some free time in the afternoon to explore on your own and to do some shopping. We will enjoy our final dinner at one of the finest restaurants in town.

Day 8: Ljubljana

Meals: Breakfast

Terrain: Departure

Ride: None

After breakfast, we’ll provide a transfer to the Ljubljana airport.

Day 1 : Tokyo

Tokyo is undoubtedly one of the world's most energetic cities. Check-in to your hotel, meet your fellow travellers and Tour Leader (or local guide), and savour your first taste of Japan's world-famous cuisine. Hotel: Akasaka Excel Hotel Tokyo (or similar)

Day 2 : Tokyo City Tour

Explore Japan's capital city utilising the super-efficient underground rail network. Visit the city's most famous sites including Meiji Jingu shrine and the Imperial Palace followed by a trip to Asakusa, one of Tokyo's liveliest districts, and home to some of the city's best street food and old izakaya and yakitori restaurants. Pick up some souvenirs along Nakamise Dori – a long shopping street which leads to Tokyo's oldest temple – Sensoji Temple. Hotel: Akasaka Excel Hotel Tokyo (or similar)

Day 3 : Mt Fuji

Visit Hakone and see one of the world's most iconic natural sites – Mt Fuji. Explore this famous World Heritage listed natural region taking in waterfalls, Shinto Buddhist shrines and experience a ‘Panoramic Foot Bath'. Stay in a ryokan, a traditional Japanese guesthouse and savour an exquisitely presented home-cooked kaiseki dinner, soak in the onsen and sleep on a futon mattress in an immaculate tatami-floored room. Hotel: Hakone Yumoto (or similar)

Day 4 : Hakone to Takayama

Travel by train to ancient Takayama, home to two of Japan's most famous festivals to see the magnificent wooden floats that are paraded through town during festival time. Stroll along Kami Sannomachi Street enjoying the immaculately-preserved traditional wooden houses. Sample some sake at one of the enticing sake rice wine breweries. Hotel: Best Western Hotel Takayama (or similar)

Day 5 : Takayama

Enjoy a day at leisure exploring charming Takayama town at your own pace. You may choose to stroll around the Teramachi district, which is home to more conventional temples and shrines. Or visit Shirakawago, a World Heritage listed protected village famous for its stunning natural beauty, farmhouses, barns and sheds with steeply pitched thatched roofs designed to withstand the heavy winter snowfall. Hotel: Best Western Hotel Takayama (or similar)

Day 6 : Takayama to Kyoto

Travel to Kyoto, Japan's cultural capital and the setting to more than 1,600 temples and shrines, the principal hub for Geisha, and the home of royal cuisine. Highlights of the day include Geisha spotting in Gion district and exploring the beautifully-preserved traditional buildings along Ponto-cho and Hanami-koji Lane. Hotel: Mitsui Garden Kyoto Shijo (or similar)

Day 7 : Kyoto City Tour

Continue your discoveries of Kyoto on foot visiting some of the city's most cherished and famous sites including Nijo Castle, Golden Pavilion, Japan's most famous rock garden and a temple nestled into the forest-clad side of Higashiyama Hill. Hotel: Mitsui Garden Kyoto Shijo (or similar)

Day 8 : Hiroshima

Take the bullet train to the historic city of Hiroshima, infamously targeted in the world's first atomic bomb attack. A short ferry ride takes you past one of Japan's most iconic sites, the ‘floating' red torii gate near Miyajima Island. Explore central Hiroshima, the Peace Memorial Museum, Peace Memorial Park and A-Bomb Dome. Hotel: Mitsui Garden Kyoto Shijo (or similar)

Day 9 : Kyoto

Spend a free day exploring Kyoto at your own pace. This evening, enjoy a special kaiseki farewell dinner while being entertained by a Maiko. Hotel: Mitsui Garden Kyoto Shijo (or similar)

Day 10 : Kyoto

Transfer by private taxi to Kyoto Station for your onward journey. Tokyo Kyoto 10 Days