Cycling holidays in Croatia

Cycling in Croatia is rarely heavy-going, although you can certainly expect plenty of ascents. As with any cycling holiday, if you’re not regularly out and about at home then a few practise rides before departure will be very useful. A typical week-long tour might involve five days in the saddle, covering up to 70km. But there’s no rushing around from A to B on these trips – you can pause after a hill climb for a break at the summit to have a drink and enjoy the view, and routes are carefully planned to include leisurely picnic stops, swim breaks or village visits. In Pupnat, on Korcula, for instance, our cycling groups are invited into the home of a local family for breakfast.

Small group cycling holidays in Croatia are fully escorted, and usually have a support van following to look after any punctures or riders wanting a rest and carry a drum of water for refills (reducing the use of plastic bottles). This kind of trip is ideal for those wanting social cycling, but groups are small enough that you will know everyone’s names by the end of day two, and you can stay in independent, locally owned hotels along the way. Having a guide with you means that you can focus on the journey rather than the directions, and gives you a brilliant introduction to Croatian culture.

Whereas small group tours follow set itineraries on set dates, with a tailor made holiday you have a lot more flexibility. In many cases you can also adjust the routes to have more, or less, challenge. These are typically self guided trips, so you will want to be confident of heading out alone. But you will be provided with detailed maps and route notes, as well as a GPS device, and support is just a phone call away.

Our Croatia cycling tours are typically point-to-point, so that you will be staying somewhere different each night, your luggage transferred ahead of you or carried in the support van. That means that you get to see plenty of the region, or regions, that you’re cycling through, and of course it also means that your holiday benefits a range of locally owned businesses.

In Livade, in northern Croatia, for example, our cycling groups can stop in a family-owned truffle shop not just to sample their wares, but also to learn about how they train their dogs to sniff out these valuable fungi. And on the Istrian peninsula, the route notes for our self guided tours make a point of labelling locally run restaurants where you can get a great meal.

An alternative is a coastal cycling holiday, where you are sleeping on a boat, with daily shore excursions by bike. You only need to unpack once, and every day brings a new island or section of the mainland to explore. This kind of trip is particularly popular for families wanting a unique twist on Croatia.

Electric bikes are available to hire on a number of our cycling tours in Croatia. In some cases they will be subject to availability and a small supplement, so do let us know when making an enquiry if you would prefer to go electric.