Cycle the Wine Roads of Istria Traveller Reviews

i am a great fan of'slow' cycling holidays which allow you to explore an area by bike (as opposed to powering through it, head down). Istria in Northern Croatia is tailor made for this, and my KE Adventure trip combined easy cycling with beautiful countryside and seriously good food and wine. Our route took us along the coast, inland through rolling countryside, and onto the Parenzana, an old railway line now converted into a bike trail, which was originally built to transport local Istrian foods, wines and olive oils up to Trieste. (Mussolini took up the tracks and put them on a ship to Ethiopia which promptly sank, so now you can use the trail to enjoy those same local products in situ.) We visited a vineyard and olive presses for tastings, and cycled along the Mirna river valley, where the world’s largest truffle was found in 1999. Other highlights of the journey included the medieval hill town of Motovun; Porec,with its World Heritage-listed Byzantine Basilica; the stunning old fishing port of Rovinj; and the Roman amphitheatre in Pula. The quality of the bikes was excellent, the support vehicle was always on hand to provide assistance (and a picnic lunch each day) and our tour guide was very friendly, attentive and well informed. Thanks KE for a great holiday!

I looked at KE Adventure Travel's cycling options thinking they might be a bit too'adventurous' for me. But then I noticed they were offering this new 'moderate' tour 'Cycling the Wine Roads of Istria'. In terms of the cycling, the tour description was bang on, so I was able to enjoy the week without fear of any massive hill climbs ahead! If anything, they underplayed the quality of the hotels (with the exception of one which was disappointing) so we were pleasantly surprised with the accommodation. The bikes were high quality, and apart from a couple of punctures there were no problems. The communication was good - we received all the information in good time, along with a complimentary strong, bright red KE travel bag each, which was easy to spot on the baggage carousel. I hope KE add more moderate cycling trips to their itinerary because I would be very happy to travel with them again.