Travel for two

[sapto]

Since the day we helped our friends transform their Renault Movano it was the idea to travel together or more precises to show them why we love to visit Slovenia in the 1st place.

So now we're on the road and so far it worked out. We hope to find a decent parking for us/them

 

[Ozzy Pete]

Have you tried the app Park4night. There’s thousands of places to stay for free or very small amount. Happy travels...

 

[sapto]

Off we go first stop was Innsbruck and then we travelled to the Krimmlfaelle. Wonderful, just not now. Or go in the morning or in the eveningSlept on the camping Hotel Krimmlfaelle and it was not cheap but okay: €34.-.

 

[sapto]

Next stop was Kamp Spîk close to Kranjska Gora. We love the place/view and always try go stop here on our way to Slovenia. We took the road to Italy/Tarvis to avoid the Karawanken Tunnel.

 

[GrumpyGranddad]

Next stop was Kamp Spîk close to Kranjska Gora. We love the place/view and always try go stop here on our way to Slovenia. We took the road to Italy/Tarvis to avoid the Karawanken Tunnel.

Love Kranska Gora. Great cycle path from there to Tarvisio in Italy (mostly on a disused railway line). Detour to Planica ski jump centre worth a look.

 

[Kingfisher]

I’m in Slovenia as well (quite near, at Mojstrana), so following your progress with quite some interest. I haven’t decided where to go tomorrow yet, so I will definitely check up on your thread.

My experience so far: campsites inside the Triglav national park and on the west side of it (Bovec) were all very crowded, difficult to find a place even early afternoon. Did you book ahead for the two vans?

The hiking into the valley from the above mentioned Planica ski jump centre was a good fit for the current heat, with quite a bit of shade and not too steep. There’s a hut with excellent views after about 45 minutes.

 

[sapto]

We stayed 2 nights at Kamp Spîk without booking ahead and found quite good place for our two vans (and I def live the dimension of our California). My wife and our friends went for a couple of "downhill" rides at the skistation and I looked after the kids. Actually it was a bit hard to find a decent place in the shade close to the bottom of the slope. However we crashed at the playground next to a restaurant.

We love to ride from the campt to the village and the path is perfect for our 4 years old to cycle on his own or with a bit support from us.

 

[sapto]

I’m in Slovenia as well (quite near, at Mojstrana), so following your progress with quite some interest. I haven’t decided where to go tomorrow yet, so I will definitely check up on your thread.

My experience so far: campsites inside the Triglav national park and on the west side of it (Bovec) were all very crowded, difficult to find a place even early afternoon. Did you book ahead for the two vans?

The hiking into the valley from the above mentioned Planica ski jump centre was a good fit for the current heat, with quite a bit of shade and not too steep. There’s a hut with excellent views after about 45 minutes.

As we headed south we planned the next stop a head and wrote an email to Vineyard Saksida for one night: I guess we were lucky however we got a place next to each other in sector "C".
Place looked fully booked and pool def was

We again cooked with the Tupike and really admire the built quality!

 

[sapto]

Between Spîka and Saksida we stopped in Ljubljana to do kind of a touristic tour (castle-lunch in the old town and the strolling back).
20 years ago I visited this capital for the first time and I still love it so much! Of course at the moment: Summer season lots of visitors. We knew it we still could show our friends why we love it.

Unfortunately we got a fine for parking in the wrong space. Normally we go next to the Dragon Bridge (Kapitelj) however this time we needed something bigger

 

[sapto]

Piran was our next stop and we camped for the first time at the coast of Slovenia. We went for the Autocamp in Izola (Jadranka). It is situated right next to the sea and popular by the locals. Less than 10 pitches for visitors. Pro we were the only non Slovenian guests.
It is a 10 min walk away from Izola - worth visiting and enjoying an evening.

In the evening we could see some smoke clouds from the close by fires in Italy. Hope everyone is safe (Region Bibione).

 

[sapto]

We had some difficulties to find a parking and although I went to the parking right next to Piran before this time it was harder for me to manouver. So I dropped off my family next to the old castle walls and drove down to Kamp Fisa and found one/our friends parked right at the camp for 4 hours.
We walked around and went for a swim next to Hotel Piran (it looks fancy however no problem to visit in swim shorts, kids, we had a great toast). It is so refreshing! Ate a bite and visited one of my fav shops: Nika's tiny house. She creats some beautiful stickers and art made of driftwood.

 

[sapto]

After Piran our plan was to drive straight back to Camp Bohinj - we startet too late after Piran and the other family had some difficulties around Postonja - 2 much sun maybe. We replanned and suggested to drive to Pivka Jama Camping in the forest.

Pool was wonderful to chill and facilities are okay/good. We stayed here back in 2017 in autumn and then it was kinda spooky - this time it was great! Lots of children and the place it self is great. Nice spots!

 

[sapto]

The next day we started again with the plan to stay in Camp Bohinj or Camp Danica: Arrived at 1 pm and both sites were fully booked - and it was kinda warmer than before so we used the park4night recommandation and stayed next to the trainstation (toilets and vendingmachine).

 

[sapto]

After a very warm night we stood up early and went to Bohinjsko Jezero for a short walk and wonderful swim!

We then decided to drive straight to Lienz (AT) for 2 nights to visit the bikepark! We booked in advanced at Camping Falken (nice facilities situated at the end of the city/only 10 min walk to the centre of town).

 

[kurienp]

@sapto , thank you for taking us along. Loving the short crisp posts and the great pictures. Enjoy! May new places getting added to my list

 

[sapto]

@sapto , thank you for taking us along. Loving the short crisp posts and the great pictures. Enjoy! May new places getting added to my list

Thank you, very kind! I hope you can visit these places soon!

 

[sapto]

We stayed 2 nights and for us it always brings/adds some more relaxed mood than constantly touring and only staying 1 night.
We visited the bike park on Sunday and were surprised how well made it is and how less people were riding on that day.

The view is great, the slopes are rideable for beginners and advanced riders (1 blue line, 3 red lines and a black rooty one).
At the bottom there's a pumptrack for everyone.
After a day riding we hopped into the swimmingpool next to the camping.

 

[sapto]

After Lienz it was time to say goodbye to our friends. All in all it was no problem to travel with a bigger van and a California. However for the next time we plan our adventures in the off season.
Tops were our stay in Kamp Spîk, the wonderful swim in Piran, Bohinj Lake and the combination of bike and camp.
We also again liked the captial of Slovenia and in general the people we met.

 

[sapto]

Our next stop was Soelden im Oetztal/close to Innsbruck/Pitztal/Kuehtai to meet some friend we know from our bike camp in Spring.
The camping in Soelden is situated a 5 min walk to the Cable car and a great pumptrack.

 

[kave]

Nice report. For some reason we always go to Italy, food is our main reason and that is food we buy in the store, not so much restaurants. Might try to convince the lady we should go further east next summer.

 

[sapto]

The bike park is amazing, the whole area is dedicated to riding bikes. And there are quite a few more people with kids/dogs riding mtb or in general more people, camping is good, we had a decent spot (114) with enough space.

The town itself provides more than 5 different bike shops. I had a great experience with the underground one (Intersport Glanzer/next to the Gaislachkogl Gondola) - just in case you need or lose something.
Prices for a ticket are between 23€ and 40€. We started twice at around 11.30 and then it was cheaper.

 

[sapto]

After 3 days of bike and fun we moved on to Camping Gerhardhof (close to Innsbruck) in Wildermieming. We spent some days here last year and our son loved it: A natural pool, some horse riding activities and some decent bicycle paths.
We had the chance to test our Skoti bbq and it was fun! Small and a great addition to our Tupike:

 

[sapto]

I missed to write down our days after Gerhardhof.
We left on Sunday and we all were a bit unhappy: We had 3 nights left and no plan where to go. We wanted to go biking again maybe, enjoy a little bit more sun and warmer temperatures (it was kinda cold at Gerhardhof) and couldn't agree where to go.
In the end we drove to Alpsee Camping in Germany close to Immenstadt (from Gerhardhof - Fernpass - to Allgäu) and were lucky to get a wonderful pitch.
For us Alpsee Camping is kind a special one because we stayed here two weeks after our son was born in spring '18. And besides it is a great location with a pool, close lake and "beach". It is a short bikeride to town.
On Monday our friends (we camped in Soelden together) skipped Kitzbuehl and moved over to Alpsee, they didn't enjoy the camping there and it was great to stay together at this place.

 

[sapto]

Yesterday we had a relaxed drive home

To sum up:

• I can highly recommend these countries (be prepared to enjoy it with other visitors or choose an other season): Germany, Austria and Slovenia. People were nice and the view and landscape is stunning.
• We enjoyed to travel some parts with friends (2+1) although it wasn't always easy to travel with a bigger van there weren't any moments we regretted it joining forces and it was wonderful to show them some of our favorite places. The second part, beginning with biking in Soelden, was awesome. The other couple had a Beach (no kids) and although we knew each other only for a couple of months it was a great match and maybe staying at the same place for more than two nights gave us some extra calmness (is these even a word? Sorry!) - made it more relaxed.
• Travel-wise we booked all the vignettes online for Slovenia and Austria and it was perfect. We only had to cash at Karawankentunnel and Felbertauer (I guess we could book this also in advanced) and again: the Vignettes in Switzerland is compared to these countries not expensive
• My friends with the bigger van had a specific Garmin Camper Navigation System: It looks like a iPad mini and looked great. We worked with the phone and the app Scout GPS and it was also superb.
• If you are into mtb I really liked Lienz (small) and Soelden (huge). In Kranjska Gora I was out, my wife didn't enjoy it as much as the other 2 places.
• Primus Tupike with the gas adapter for campinggaz 907 worked great!
• The Skotti Grill was also a nice addition to our cooking outside setup.
• We cooked also inside: We love the flexibility.
• We once thought about a solar panel to support our batteries, however we were almost every night (except in Pivka Jama) on hook up so no need for us at the moment. And I still find my self looking at the Ecoflow thing.
• Atera DL3 workd perfect for us. We could compare it with the newer version from the friends with a bigger van: The straps are different everything else is still the same.
• Ask for specific camping sites, I forgot to insert the links.

I hope you all had a great time and stayed safe on the road!