Slovakia on bicycle: Onroad and Offroad – Best Circuit

The next day we were greeted by a sunny morning and we started on what we think is the most interesting bicycle circuit in the region. After we bought the cycling map of the region we set our eyes on this Onroad and Offroad circuit but because of our enthusiasm we missed the full description and as such we ended up having one surprise after the other all day long.

Distance

46 Km

Total Time

6 h 00 min

Active Time

5 h 00 min

Vertical Relief

+650 / -650 m

Min/Max Altitude

650 – 1000 m

Average Speed

10.6 km/h

Onroad and Offroad circuit

For this track we left our car in the small parking space spotted via Google Maps that is located at the N-W exit of Liptovsky Peter. From here we started to go uphill on side road 2359 while having the white mountain peaks in front of us.

Soon we reached a place we never thought could actually be in our path… an airplane landing strip… on which we “landed” without warning. I presume it was not in use anymore but we had some conflicting thoughts on the possibility of a small airplane landing while we were having a nice time there.

And we continued to climb and climb and climb until the asphalt road turned into gravel, the gravel into dirt and the dirt into a forest road that ended up in a footpath with snow patches. The snow eventually turned into mud and the mud into some wood cutting area where the ground was covered by leaves, branches and splinters… everything that you could wish for 🙂

It’s a good thing we didn’t have touring bikes… This was something we didn’t expect to find on this track but it is worth mentioning that it was clearly stipulated on the map that this was a MTB track, not that we bothered reading this information on a prior date. In any case the experience overall was really nice even if we had to go on and off bike.

After all of this we reached a pleasant open area that offered a nice panorama of the surrounding valley where we stopped to have lunch and to admire the scenery.

Another pleasant surprise we stumbled upon was Horský hotel Orešnica, a small and quiet resort where besides the restaurant and the accommodation facilities you can find two extremely curious ponies, a fluffy and lazy dog that is on top of things and a goat that wanders wherever it feels like it. We stopped here to enjoy a coffee in the company of the ‘furry friends’.

The downhill part of the circuit was on a narrow asphalt road that was winding between pine trees and green fields, extremely pleasant ride!

Before returning to the car we had a short stop at Liptovski Hradok castle. All I can say about it is that it looks good and it most definitely deserves a bit of your time.

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
• Slovakia: Cycling Routes in Liptov Region
• Slovakia: Liptovska Mara Circuit

GPS track

How to get to circuit?

Where to sleep?

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 closeby 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, skyjet, stand up paddle board, kayak, boat tours and many 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 bars and a kids area.

Good 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. You can even attempt it during summer if you wish to include a dip in the lake.
• Landscape: Mostly hills with lush forests.
• Safety: A good part of the circuit is reserved for bicycling and hiking and the section that is on the public road raises no issues.
• Road / lane status: Excellent for MTB: roads, forest roads, footpaths, gravel, dirt… everything you need!
• Supplies: Liptovski Hradok – Liptovski Peter – Jamnik – Podbanske – Liptovska Kokava – these are the town / villages you will pass through.
• Points of interest: Liptovski Hradok Castle, Horský hotel Orešnica – a small resort in the woods.

As this is a touristic region finding someplace to eat is relatively easy. You will find a few diners in all villages along the route so where you plan to stop is a matter of choice.

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

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