From the European Bike Week at Lake Faaker See to Slovenia on the Vršič Pass
If you want to do a little mountain tour as part of the European Bike Week to get used to it, I can recommend the tour from Lake Faak to Slovenia, to the Vršič Trenta mountain pass. It's a nice tour over the Wurzen Pass, it goes over to Slovenia and up to an altitude of 1620 meters.
There on the slope there is a small restaurant where you can get snacks, drinks and coffee. You can also enjoy a wonderful view of the Slovenian mountains. Anyone who wants to spend four hours in good weather will have fun on the tour.
But let's start at Lake Faak.
The start is at Harley Village Faaker See.
The European Bike Week at Faaker See, from here the tour to Slovenia begins. Most of the time, gas stations in Austria are in high demand.
From Villach, it's about 20 kilometers to the next petrol gas station in Slovenia. If you haven't completely drained your tank yet, you should avoid the crowds in Villach and fill up in Slovenia.
The drive to Berg-Kaffee is about 70 kilometers, so it's not too big, but despite the short route, it's a very nice tour that also includes beautiful mountain curves.
From Trenta to the top of the pass, there are 50 curves with an incline of 14%. If you are traveling with an AIR-Drive chassis, you should not set the Harley too low.
Turn towards Wurzenpass
Here, shortly after Villach, turn left behind the Shell gas station and up towards the Wurzenpass. A gradient of 18% is really mountainous for someone coming from the flatlands, and road traffic is limited.
There are a few nice curves on this route, mainly Harleys come towards you here, the Wurzenpass has only been a secondary route for a few years.
The curves shouldn't be a challenge for any somewhat experienced biker, whose bike has a little more pressure in its tank has a clear advantage, accelerate nicely out of the curve with torque, that's fun.
Wurzenpass – photo break at the T-34 tank
After all, you are 1073 meters above the sea floor, at least you feel like you are high on the mountain.
The old Russian T-34 tank is up here, the tank was placed here in 2009, it is reminiscent of the defensive position that was at this point in 1963 during the Cold War, the tank is now a popular photo motif.
Photo gallery from the Slovenia tour
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Petrol gas station
It's about 20 kilometers from Villach to here, it's not as crowded here as it is around the European Bike Week, of course the further you get from the event, the more it gets lost.
Many Harley bikers come here who have driven over the Wurzen Pass to start their day tours towards Italy or Slovenia. There are great routes everywhere on the left and right of the roads and the area is simply beautiful to look at.
The Petrol gas station is right on the main road, a few kilometers in the other direction you are already in Italy, but now you go to the Slovenian mountain to have a coffee.
Food – Brunarica Kosobrin
We got stuck here on the way back, from the road you can see a small hut with a smoking chimney.
Here you get the traditional Soljanka soup and a really great fresh homemade bread, which we were more than thrilled about.
In this hut there is a large pot over the fire where the soup is prepared. Apparently bikers often drive up here, the Harley-Davidson flag was hoisted on the street and the kettle was full of soup.
The mountain calls for a coffee break – Tičarjev dom
At an altitude of 1,620 meters, you can drink coffee here, there is a very nice view and there is also a platform on the slope for the photo session.
After about 70 kilometers from Lake Faak, you will find a beautiful destination in the mountains, great curves lead up the mountain and back down again, the road is ok, if you have a lowered custom bike, you should pay attention to dips in the curves Watch out for the road.
At times there is a photographer who takes photos of every biker in a higher curve; you can order the photo at the finish line.
Of course, many Harley riders already know this meeting point, there is a lot of activity here, especially when the weather is good. There are other locations when you drive up the mountain, but the view up here is one of the most beautiful.
In a good four hours the relaxed tour with a lunch break is history again, but it was nice, there were lots of bikes to see and I was able to photograph one or two people on their Harleys again, but just take a look for yourself in the photo gallery from the Slovenia tour.
Text and image credits: Copyright Wolf
This is the tour map, if you click on the red positions you will get further information about the location. So you can easily follow the tour. The box at the top right gives you a full view of the map.
