This is an eclectic collection of images taken during a 15-day, 1,500 mile, guided motorcycle tour across the countries of Slovenia, Slovakia, Austria, Hungary, Poland, and the CZECH Republic, with “rest” days in Budapest, Krakow and Prague.
The images will give you a “feel” for the experience of a guided motorcycle tour in Eastern Europe with Adriatic Moto Tours (AMT). Connie During, Paul Harris, and Dusan Tomsic contributed many of photos that follow. My thanks to them.
With one exception, riders on the tour were Americans: Kent and Connie During, Mark and Amy Arola, Scott and Julie Yerigan, Roger and Susan Vandenberg, Jake and Marsha Jacobson, Michael & Debra Benson, Paul Harris, and Tandy Bozeman. The lone exception was Wayne Talbot, a nutty Australian who kept us in stitches . All were experienced riders and several were veterans of previous AMT outings.
Tandy Bozeman
Lake Almanor CA
August 2016
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GETTING THERE
Managing the Pain
Stuffed in the back of an overnight international flight is a prospect grim enough to limit one’s motorcycling destinations to no further away than the next state over. Air travel these days is pure bottled grief, but if you wanna ride in Europe, you suck it up and suffer to get there.
To avoid the high probability of losing our luggage in a close connection, the four of us in Northern California, Jake, Marsha, Paul and I selected a flight out of Reno with a five hour lay-over in the San Francisco airport (SFO). For the wait for the red-eye United flight to Europe we armed ourselves with the purchase of one-time passes to the United SFO VIP lounge ( $20 for a pair on eBay). Turned out to be a wise decision.
Jake in the United VIP Lounge — Hey, free beer!
The flight gods smiled and we transited Frankfurt without incident to arrive on schedule in Ljubljana, Slovenia two days before the tour start, part of the plan to defend against airline delays/cancellations and allow for jet lag recovery.
Motorcycling gear — Moses passed through the wilderness with less.
Paul Harris and our Ljubljana hotel
LAKE BLED
With a day to burn before the AMT tour, we arranged with a local guide for a day trip to Lake Bled, said to be the most scenic spot in Slovenia. It is.
Paul with Gorazd Majcen of Slovenia Private Tours. Highly recommend him!
We found friends Kent and Connie During at the local eatery. The Durings flew over from California earlier to spend a couple of days at Lake Bled.
LJUBLJANA, SLOVENIA
Adriatic Moto Tours (AMT) is headquartered in Ljubljana, a lively mixture of modern and old world charm at the foot of the Julian Alps.
The morning of the first day of the tour Paul and I walked to town center where a mob of youthful runners was lining up for a Saturday morning run.
Paul and I watched the runners for a while, then wandered off to find some ice cream.
Ljubljana sidewalk
That afternoon we met our AMT guides at the hotel, shuffled paperwork, then taxied off to pick up the bikes and try them out on a short ride through the local countryside before returning to the hotel. First chance to find what switch on the bike does what. Bikes were late models in top condition.
That evening we set out on a walking tour of Ljubljana that ended up at the top of the hill ahead for dinner.
DEPARTING LJUBLJANA, SLOVENIA
Sunday morning the Tour officially started in front of the hotel with our guide, Dusan Tomsic, briefing the day’s route, with planned stops for fuel, coffee and lunch. His henchman Luka Zorz would drive the support van, and each day schlepp our mounds of baggage in and out of lodgings.
We were told that each rider was welcome to ride as part of the group or make his/her own way to the day’s destination independently. All bikes were equipped with a Garmin Zumo 660 GPS with the tour routes already loaded. Most of us elected to just follow Dusan and enjoy the ride and the countryside.
Over the next 15 days of the tour Dusan was to prove to be a laid-back but professional leader, a talented rider in his own right with a wealth of experience leading a group of riders of varying skill levels. Both he and Luka were knowledgeable of local geography and history, and both were enjoyable company and gracious hosts. Nothing seem to fluster them, and a welcome sight at the end of the day was Luka waiting to signal us into hotel parking. Dusan and Luka both possessed a wry sense of humor that made their company just plain fun. Their good spirits, positive attitude, responsiveness to any request, and attention to detail were instrumental in making the 15 days of riding and touring a bucket-list experience.
We left Ljubljana on a brisk clear morning headed toward the Alps and Austria. Unlike the gradual rise of the western slope of the Sierra Nevada range in California, the first thing you notice about the Julian Alps in Slovenia is that they leap right up in your face.
Our first morning’s coffee break, a daily ritual.
Fuel stop and stretch break.
Dusan ordering lunch for our group. We each gave Dusan $50 to cover coffee break expenses for the trip. Lunch and dinner were covered in the tour and you were free order whatever from the menu. So, no hassle of paying individual bills as Dusan handled it all. You were responsible at dinner only for your beer and wine. Good system.
Jake and Marsha acting like newlyweds
Graz, Austria
May flowers
Julie and Scott — coffee break in Austria
Paul and Scott “singing” the Sound of Music — more loud than good
Tihany on Lake Balaton, Hungry
Connie and Kent on the walk to dinner past a paprika storefront.
Obligatory group photo before dinner.
Dinner in Tihany in the courtyard of a lovely old stone building.
