Villach – Gemona del Friuli

With another chilly and bright sunny day we headed out to take a train from Villach to Travisio to skip the uphill climb and to cross over to Italy. Travisio is a ski resort town on the Austria/Italy border. We managed the minor 30 minute train ride without much difficulty other than anxiety. Our tour rep told us it would be a bus ride as the train was out of service, but when we got to the station the train was actually running again. Fortunately we got there early and I was able to ask about the tickets we had been given and was directed to the train platform vs a bus. Anyway we got our bikes on the train and it all worked out.

After disembarking the train we got on the bikes and right onto the cycle path. The views were spectacular. I took a lot of 360 video at the top of the pass and forgot to stop and snap some pics. We were just enjoying the scenery so much we just kept pedaling.

Before long we found ourselves on a downward slope and enjoyed the views eager to see what was around the next bend.

Today’s scenery rivals those from a few days ago when we rode through the Gastein region.

We saw a few places to stop for coffee but they were either too early in our ride, or they were overrun with cyclists. So we kept pedaling.

We stopped for a snack of Austrian sausage sticks and protein bars which we had in our packs and got back riding again.

Between Travisio and the bottom of the valley were countless tunnels that we rode through. I only filmed one of them, but we lost count of how many there were.

Today’s ride was longer than the others on this leg and was a welcome change.

As we continued to ride we passed through Venzone which is a midievil town with stone walls which you can see in the video. We probably would have stopped to toured the city more if we knew how close we were to our hotel. But alas we pedaled on.

We soon arrived at our hotel – Hotel Willy. Not a lot around this place other than a busy train track across the street. The hotel has a high rated restaurant/pizzeria that we had dinner at. So good we forgot to take a photo.

We are nearing the end of our cycling with just two days left. It’s been a whirlwind adventure, and we will be sad to have it come to an end. Yet, we miss being home and our family.


And so ends another great day on the Alpe Adria cycle path.