Slovakia: Cycling Routes in Liptov Region

Spring is finally here so let’s take the bikes out for a spin, and what better destination than the High Tatra bicycle tours! Our plans for this year’s Easter holiday involved cycling in the mountains and initially, we chose Apuseni Natural Park as a destination but… as you know, not everything you plan out actually happens: Monday, two days before our departure we saw Apuseni had negative degrees, snow and rain…

What? Why? This is the end of April, why did all of this had to happen now, there was plenty of time during winter… pfff… so you can imagine we were pretty upset until, 5 minutes later, we had a great idea: <Check the weather in Slovakia!> <Check the weather in Slovakia!> <Check the weather in Slovakia!> Woohoo: Welcome Sunshine! Slovakia it is then! Long story short this is how we chose Slovakia as our destination and by all means it was the best choice!

Best road to Liptov Region

Tracks between the Small Tatra Range and the West Tatra Range

You can choose from a wide variety of tracks based on your level of difficulty and preference: road / dirt / mix. Our recommendation is to head down to the Tourist Info Center in Liptovský Mikuláš and to buy a cycling map that has all tracks in the area (it is 3 €). The tracks in the area are well marked with different colors and on the map, you will find the total length, difficulty, road type, altitude gain and some information on what objectives can be found close by. Furthermore, you can find some interesting bike parks in the area.

There are many tracks to choose from but out of all of them these are the ones we did and we warmly recommend to you experience as well:

Suggestions, recommendations and things to know

• Best time: As it is with cycling the best time to do it is either spring or autumn, when the temperatures are not so high, nor so low and the day is long.

• Landscape: Mountains, hills, forests – Slovakia has it all and this area in particular is pretty diverse when it comes to landscape. It is a real pleasure to peddle between the Tatra Mountains.

• Safety: I can honestly say that by comparison to Romania, in Slovakia you are safer even on the large / main roads where cars are traveling at high speeds. The situation isn’t as good as it is in Slovenia or Austria but there is nothing to be afraid of, drivers here mostly respect cyclists.

• Road / lane status: The roads are in decent condition and from time to time they also have bicycle lanes. Even if the back country roads have bumps and your ride will not be that smooth the bonus is that there is no dust, only clean fresh air.

• Supplies: Because it is a touristic area you will find shops, markets and restaurant at every corner (especially pizza parlors – because slovakians are big fans of it). The prices are decent / low and the food is really tasty.

Accommodation

You can choose from a vide variety of accommodation options as the area is mainly touristic by nature. Based on preference you can either opt in for staying at a camping or between four walls. Taking in consideration we arrived before the opening of the touristic season and the overnight temperatures were low we decided to sleep at a guesthouse.

We found a nice and cheap accommodation in Liptovsky Trnovec that had a great host – Gazdovsky dvor “U Tlaciarov”. The house has five rooms with private bathroom, a fully equipped common kitchen, a common living room with a fireplace, a long table, pool table, chairs, sofa, etc. The WIFI is for free and you can park the cars in the front yard. In the back, you have a big yard with chairs, tables, sunbeds, a small pond with fish and flowers everywhere. We had a good time and only spent 100 € for the 5 nights we stayed there.

If you prefer campings there is one close by in the same village – Mara Camping (we stayed here one year before). It is a really nice place, clean and it offers a lot of fun options: beach, access to the lake, volleyball field, sky jet, stand up paddle board, kayak, boat tours and much more. The price is decent at about 15.5 € per night for two persons, tent and car. They have small huts for rent and the camping complex is huge, with two restaurants, many pubs and a kids area.

Costs

• Total budget: 270 € (2 persons / 6 days)
• Fuel costs: Timisoara – Liptovsky Trnovec (Slovakia) 80 €
• Hungarian Vignette: 11 € (10 days)
• Accommodation: 109 € (5 nights / 2 people / with touristic tax)
• Food and others: 70 €

The conclusion is that we took the best decision in coming to cycle in Slovakia, everything was great, including the weather and we had a great time. Warm recommendations on choosing this destination for your own adventure!

Check these other close-by destinations:

• Hike to Rysy Peak – High Tatras
• Hike to Slavkovsky Peak – High Tatras
• Hike to Bystra Lavka Circuit – High Tatras

Hope you found the information helpful and accurate, but remember, if you have any questions drop them in a comment below!

Other great adventures