Thermal baths, black pools and water slides: Cycling along Slovenia’s green wellness route

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There are different approaches to a wellness holiday, I realise as I arrive at the Terme Snovik thermal baths. Most people are wearing nice summer clothes and look clean and relaxed.

I arrived after several hours of cycling: sweaty, dirty and looking like I needed a shower rather than a hot tub.

This is my first day on the Slovenia Green Wellness Route, a cycling route launched in 2022 that connects 16 of the country’s natural hot springs.

You can load the route into a map app by selecting the GPX coordinates. Then follow it at your own pace. The recommended stages are about 40 kilometers long and end in a different spa town each day.

Craft beer and crispy burek on the way to Terme Snovik

In Ljubljana, where the route begins, pastel-coloured buildings cluster around a winding river in the shadow of a fairytale castle.

In the distance I can see the silhouette of the country’s mountains. The bike tour begins with a bike path along a busy city street that leads straight towards the mountains.

This leads to a river path that takes me to Kamnik, a small Alpine town that has become Slovenia’s craft. Beer Capital. With five microbreweries for only 13,000 inhabitants, Kamnik is the perfect place to take a breather.

I enjoy a cold IPA and a crispy burek pastry in the main square before I set off again. A short drive later I reach my first destination: Terme Snovik, a sprawling Wellness Center, surrounded by rolling hills.

Slovenia is a small country, but thanks to its mountainous landscape it has 85 hot springs.

Perhaps because there are so many of them, natural spas here are not the exclusive domain of the rich. luxury Seekers. They are casual, family-friendly places with hot tubs next to kiddie pools, surrounded by sun loungers and stands selling hot dogs and beer.

At Therme Snovik, visitors can stay overnight and choose between high-quality apartments or budget apartments. camping stains.

Slovenia’s green cycle paths open up lesser-known places

Luckily I had the chance to relax my muscles in a hot bath, because the next day’s route is very hilly. Everything is downhill in this part of Slovenia. I stop at a supermarket and watch a woman let go of her shopping cart to open the car door. “What a pity,” she says, watching her shopping roll against a fence.

It is a warm day, so I decide to skip the hot springs and set up camp next to a lake in the Coal mining town from Velenje. It is an industrial site – if you swim in the lake, you can see a nearby nuclear power plant and slag heaps from the coal mines.

Slovenia’s green Cycling routes are among the many initiatives designed to attract tourists to this lesser-known part of the country, as is the opening of the beach with several bouncy castles and an event area on the lake shore. And of course the Pippi Longstocking Festival, which takes place every September in Velenje.

Barns on stilts and music cities along the Slovenian Green Wellness Route

In the following days I visit several beautiful SpaHowever, they are by far not the only highlight of the route.

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On the third day cycle through a beautiful gorge next to a very clear stream that drops from one rock pool to the next. It’s a steep climb and I try not to be mad at the Slovenian sixty-year-olds speeding past me (they probably have e-bikes, I tell myself).

Once at the top I am greeted with a series of pretty villagesmany of which have elaborately carved hay barns on stilts known as toplar.

As the days go by, the mountains turn into rolling hills and are covered with vineyards.

I visit Maribor, a pastel-colored city where Music Metal blared from all sides. DJs spin soft electronic beats near riverside restaurants, the strum of acoustic guitars echoes off the cobbled streets, and a graffiti-covered squat that houses artists and musicians is still playing metal as I drink my coffee the next morning.

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I drive along the border between Slovenia and Austriawhere I notice several cyclists in lederhosen-like cycling shorts and I get really jealous. I spend my last evening in the largest thermal baths of all – Terme 3000, so called because they have over 3,000 square meters of swimming area.

Terme 3000: water slides and black water

Outside, Children They scream as they race down half a dozen water slides while their parents relax inside in pools of varying temperatures. I join a dozen other swimmers in one corner and watch the Olympic kayaking competitions on a large screen hanging from a pillar next to the pool.

Terme 3000 is also home to a rare black thermal mineral pool with a temperature of around 37°C. It smells slightly of petrol and was actually discovered over 60 years ago during the search for oil.

The black water is considered natural healing Active ingredient and is said to help with rheumatism, stress and some skin diseases – although you would probably have to stay longer than I did. I could only bear the heat for a few minutes.

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The last morning of my Ride a bike takes me through low hills covered with vineyards and dotted with terracotta-roofed houses to Ptuj, pronounced “P’twee.” I eat an ice cream as I stroll through the pretty town, where elegant Austro-Hungarian-era villas are clustered at the foot of a large stone castle.

Reluctantly, I take the panniers off my bike and get on the train back to Ljubljana. I don’t have time to do the entire loop, which takes 16 days. Maybe I’ll come back next year to do the rest – or to try one of the other Slovenian routes. Green routes.

The Gourmet Route takes you to restaurants, markets and private accommodations to taste the country’s specialties. DelicaciesThe Panorama Route combines hiking and cycling and promises some of the most beautiful views in the country.

Both sound wonderful, although a cycling trip without the opportunity to relax in a spa every evening would undoubtedly be more challenging.

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