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

13.08.2024 - 07:37 / euronews.com

There are different approaches to spa holidays, I realise as I arrive at the hot spring wellness complex of Terme Snovik. Most people are dressed in pretty summer clothes, looking clean and relaxed. 

I have arrived after several hours cycling: sweaty, grimy and looking like I need a hose down rather than a Jacuzzi.

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

You can load the route onto a mapping app by downloading the GPX coordinates. Then, you follow it at your own pace. The recommended stages are around 40 kilometres, ending each day in a different spa town. 

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 see the silhouette of the country’s mountains. The cycle itinerary begins with a bike lane along a busy city road heading straight towards the hills. 

This gives way to a riverside trail that leads me to Kamnik, a small Alpine town that has become Slovenia’s craft beer capital. With five microbreweries for only 13,000 residents, Kamnik is the perfect place to take a breather. 

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

Slovenia is a small country, and yet thanks to its mountainous terrain, it has 85 hot springs. 

Perhaps because there are so many of them, natural spas here aren’t the exclusive domain of wealthy luxury seekers. They are casual, familial places, with Jacuzzis sitting next to kids’ pools, surrounded by sun-loungers and stands selling hot dogs and beer. 

At Terme Snovik, visitors can stay the night and have the choice between high-end apartments, or budget camping spots.

It’s a good thing I had the chance to soak my muscles in a hot bath because the next day’s route has many hills. Everything is on a slope in this part of Slovenia. I stop at a supermarket and watch as a woman lets go of her trolley to open her car door. “How unfortunate,” she says as she watches her shopping roll into a fence. 

It’s a warm day, so I decide to skip the hot springs and set up camp next to a lake in the coal mining town of Velenje. It is an industrial place - as you swim in the lake, you can see a nearby nuclear power station and slag heaps from the coal mines. 

Slovenia’s green cycle routes are amongst various initiatives designed to bring tourists to this lesser-known part of the country, along with the opening of the beach, which has several water inflatables and a lakeside event space. And of course, the Pippi Longstocking festival,