Compare Friuli Venezia Giulia and Slovenia Cycling Tour by Tourissimo vs Malta, Keystone of Mediterranean History by Road Scholar

Day 1: Grado - Aquileia

Meals: Lunch and Dinner

Accommodation: Hotel Villa Bernt

Terrain: Flat

Ride: 13 mi or 22 km

A private shuttle will take you to our hotel on an island-village on the Adriatic. Grado is Friuli’s lagoon city, a town with 1600 years of history, which can still be experienced by strolling the calli (streets) of the ancient city center. Grado was the first port of entry for ships headed upstream to nearby Aquileia, a powerful Roman city on the river Natisone.

After some lunch and presentations, we ride inland to Aquileia. The colony was founded in 180BC and served as a strategic frontier fortress at the northeast corner of Transpadane (on the far side of the Po river) Italy.

Back at the hotel, you will receive an overview of the tour program followed by dinner.

Day 2: Collio Hills

Meals: Breakfast and Dinner

Accommodation: La Subida

Terrain: Rolling

Ride: 30 mi or 48 km

After fine tuning our bikes some more, we ride along the Natisone river and we reach Gorizia for a short visit and some lunch. Once a favorite spot of the Hapsburg nobility, since 1947 Gorizia has been split in two, with Nova Gorica developing on the other side of the Italian–Slovenian border. We are in the dramatic Carso area with its limestone formations, grottoes, and underground rivers. La Subida is a charming country hotel and the hospitality of the Sirk family is legendary. Tonight, we will have dinner at l'Osteria, which is part of the La Subida Estate. La Subida is a place that makes our guests feel at home and relaxed. It's unique.

Day 3: Cividale Loop

Meals: Breakfast and Lunch

Accommodation: La Subida

Terrain: Hilly

Ride: 28 mi or 45 km

Today's ride leads us northward to Cividale del Friuli (UNESCO site). We will be pedaling through the Collio and Colli Orientali del Friuli wine area for about 30 mls of easy and rolling terrain. Cividale del Friuli will be our lunch stop and then we will head back to La Subida from a different road. Before reaching the hotel, we will stop at a local winery for lunch and wine tasting. The family-owned Grillo winery is in the center of the Schioppettino wine production (very rare and hard to find anywhere else in Italy). Relax back at La Subida before dinner.

Day 4: Bovec

Meals: Breakfast and Dinner

Accommodation:  Hotel Alp

Terrain: Rolling Hills

Ride: 46 mi or 74 km (shorter option available)

Today's ride takes us out of Friuli, heading northeast to the border of Slovenia. We will notice the landscape changing as we ride through the lowest mountain pass of the Alps, a long, easy smooth climb that takes us to the former border between Italy and Slovenia. Entering Slovenia we will find ourselves in a lush, green landscape with the typical vegetation of a mountain region, with rivers, waterfalls, and forests. Silence and very few cars make this and the next rides heavenly. Our lunch stop is in Caporetto/Kobarid and we have planned a visit to the WWI museum, a small but very complete and interesting house where the people from Caporetto have collected pictures and objects through which they tell the history of WWI as it was lived by the soldiers and civilians in that valley where we bike during our tour. In the afternoon we cruise to Bovec following the Soča river valley. You'll have time to explore Bovec on your own ant to enjoy a cold beer while watching the sunset behind the high mountains that surround the valley where Bovec is nestled. A short walk to the center of Bovec and we will find our dinner table ready at a local Gostilna, a simple, typical ‘trattoria’ style restaurant where we can enjoy our Slovenian meal.

Day 5: Bovec

Meals: Breakfast and Dinner

Accommodation: Hotel Alp

Terrain: Rolling Hills

Ride: 23 mi or 37 km

Bovec is known as the adventure capital of Slovenia, and we have a full day here to rest and enjoy a wide range of outdoor activities: kayaking, rafting, canoeing, paragliding, mountain biking, hiking and more. Kayaking in the emerald waters of the Soca River while immersed in the landscape of high peaks, forest and waterfalls is an unforgettable experience not to be missed. For those who like hiking there are some interesting trails with historical traces of WWI and WWII just outside of Bovec, with a war cemetery, two old forts and some bunkers and tunnels dating back to the Napoleon era and WWI. A bike ride will also be available if you want to explore the countryside up to the edge of Triglav National Park, in a remote little valley where only sheep and cows are witnesses to our slow-paced ride through paradise. Dinner is on your own.

Day 6: Fusine Lake to Bled

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner

Accommodation: Hotel Astoria Bled

Terrain: Rolling Hills

Ride: 37 mi or 59 km

Today we’ll go across the Alps to reach Tarvisio, a town on the border where Italy, Austria and Slovenia meet. A bus will shuttle us and our bikes over a mountain pass and down to the enchanting Fusine lakes where an easy and flat bike path starts. We’ll follow the bike path along the valley, once again immersed in a beautiful forest and with mountains all around us. Past the town of Kranjska Gora we’ll leave the main path and enter a secondary valley, now riding on an unpaved (but smooth) bike path.  This valley, the Radovna Valley, is the most beautiful, magical and enchanting place of the whole tour. Streams, small waterfalls, tall trees, water mills, a few old farmhouses and some cows are what we will see during the almost 10km of riding in this heavenly valley. Once we leave the valley we will be very close to Bled and if time and weather permit we can take a detour to admire the Vintgar Gorge, a canyon carved by the Vintgar River. A boardwalk runs along the gorge and from there we can view waterfalls and rapids.

Bled is our final destination today. We’ll bike along the lakeshore to reach Hotel Astoria in the center of Bled. Dinner will be at a castle overlooking Lake Bled. If time allows it, you can visit the interesting museum inside the Bled Castle. 

Day 7: Ljubljana

Meals: Breakfast and Dinner

Accommodation: Allegro Garni Hotel

Ride:  None

Today we’ll transfer by private bus (about 1 hr) to Ljubljana. Upon arriving, you will have a guided visit of the town center of this UNESCO-recognized gem. You will have some free time in the afternoon to explore on your own and to do some shopping. We will enjoy our final dinner at one of the finest restaurants in town.

Day 8: Ljubljana

Meals: Breakfast

Terrain: Departure

Ride: None

After breakfast, we’ll provide a transfer to the Ljubljana airport.

Day 1
In Transit to Program
In Flight

Day 2
Arrive, Check-in, Orientation, Welcome Dinner
Sliema D Victoria Hotel
Afternoon: Arrive to Malta International Airport (MLA). Look for program staff holding the Road Scholar sign in the arrivals hall. (Participants enrolled on "program-only" basis should consult special instructions.) Transfer to the hotel will take about 20 minutes. Check in and settle into rooms. Exact time (6:00 PM or 6:30 PM depending on arrivals) will be advised for "Welcome" gathering and distribution of materials, general information about the hotel facilities and procedures, answers to any immediate questions. NOTE: Itineraries are subject to variation for local conditions not always known far in advance. All indicated features will be included, but may be re-ordered. The exact schedule for each program is supplied at the "Welcome" gathering on the day of arrival.

Dinner: Hotel Dining Room. Tables will be assigned for our group. Buffet menu consists of multiple choices for starter, main course and dessert. Procedures will be more fully explained on site. The food in Malta is mostly continental with a British character. There is also Italian influence resulting in a variety of pasta dishes, and fresh seafood prepared in Mediterranean fashion -- with lemon, for example, or with tomato, garlic, capers. Beef, chicken, veal and the local specialty - rabbit, are generally served in sauces, with potato and vegetables on the side. Be sure to try the crusty Maltese bread and a soft goat cheese from Gozo.

Evening: The balance of the evening is at your leisure.

Day 3
Language, "Malta Experience", St. Anton Gardens
Sliema B,L Victoria Hotel
Breakfast: Hotel Dining Room. Please fill our tables as you arrive since coffee and tea service may be delayed until a table is full. Breakfast buffet usually includes both cooked (eggs, sausage, bacon) and cold items such as yogurt, cereal, breads, cold-cuts, cheese.

Morning: In the hotel lecture room, Road Scholars will meet staff and introduce each other, go over any late changes or questions regarding the program. Group Leader will provide an informative introduction to the Maltese Language - Although English is a national language, this lecture will include the historic origins of the exotic native tongue. With roots that may go back to ancient Aramaic, Maltese is the only Semitic language written from left to right in the Roman alphabet. Then transfer by motor coach to Valletta for "Malta Experience" audio/visual presentation that organizes the many layers of Malta's history in a polished format. Continue with a visit to the stately St. Anton Gardens, attached to the President's residence.

Lunch: Continue to an area restaurant for typical national dish of rabbit stewed in wine and garlic. (Alternative dishes will be available.)

Afternoon: The afternoon is at leisure to rest and refresh.

Dinner: Dinner on your own. Many restaurants and cafes are within easy walking distance of the hotel. A list of suggestions will be provided.

Evening: At leisure for personal activities

Day 4
Prehistoric Cultures of Malta/Blue Grotto/Caravaggio
Sliema B,L,D Victoria Hotel
Activity note: Optional boat trip requires walking a short but steep hill to and from the water. Non-opting participants can wait at an area cafe or shop the small craft vendors.

Breakfast: Hotel Dining Room

Morning: Hotel Lecture Room: Lecture: Prehistoric Cultures of Malta - Even though this miniature island has made various other significant contributions to world heritage, there is no doubt that nothing rivals its megalithic temples. Built in the period 3600 - 2500 B.C. by a small community enjoying an extraordinary cultural efflorescence in almost complete isolation, these buildings constitute architectural feats of the highest order. They show an internal evolution in form (from the simple to the more complex,) size of stone blocks used (from small to gigantic,) and in the artistic furnishings with increasingly greater refinement and sophistication. Then we will board the coach to visit several sites of Neolithic (New Stone Age) Temple monuments. Moderate walking on gravelly surfaces and some standing under open skies.

Lunch: Lunch at a casual area restaurant

Afternoon: Free time in the area of the restaurant at Wied Zurrieq near the Blue Grotto to enjoy natural scenery. Those who wish may board 8-passenger motored boats (cost included) to view geological layering of limestone that is so important to Malta's 6,000 year history of building. Return to hotel. NOTE: Malta's prehistoric Hal Saflieni Hypogeum has reopened after conservation renovations by UNESCO. Ten people per hour are allowed to enter. We will secure entry tickets for the group in advance and it will be included sometime during the course of your program.

Dinner: Hotel Dining Room

Evening: Hotel Lecture Room: Lecture: The Painter Caravaggio in Malta - One of the most important and influential painters of the period, Michaelangelo Merisi de Caravaggio led a colorful life that included both masterpieces and captivity in Malta. His story is adventure and the work he left in Malta includes two priceless treasures painted during his time as a Knight of the Order of St. John.

Day 5
Valletta, "a city built by gentlemen for gentlemen"
Sliema B,L Victoria Hotel
Activity note: Moderate walking on paved but hilly streets in an historic area. Participants who opt to skip will be provided with a place to sit until the group recollects. Many cafes and shops in the area.

Breakfast: Hotel Dining Room

Morning: Motorcoach transfer to the capital city of Valletta, built by European Knights after the Great Siege of 1565. This baroque jewel is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, with wonderful historic structures adapted for reuse for government administration, shops and businesses. Visits to Upper Barrakka Gardens and panoramic view of historic Grand Harbour and the "Three Cities" area beyond; then the National Museum of Archaeology collection of incomparable artifacts of the "Temple Period" as well as a new display of Phoenician material.

Lunch: Lunch in an area restaurant

Afternoon: Continued Field Trip in the city includes breath-taking St. John's co-Cathedral, the Caravaggio paintings in the cathedral museum. Walking and some steps for entry. Return to hotel.

Dinner: Dinner on your own to sample local restaurants

Evening: Evening at your leisure, perhaps to take in a performance on your own.

Day 6
The Knights/Free time/Gozo Rummy
Sliema B,D Victoria Hotel
Breakfast: Hotel Dining Room

Morning: Hotel lecture room: Lecture: "The Hospitaller Order of St. John and the Siege of 1565" - The advent of the Order in Malta led to a radical transformation in the role of the island from an ill-defended barren island to the impregnable headquarters of the crusading order. Their initial establishment was in the port of Birgu in the "Three Cities" area, headquarters of the Siege of 1565, after which the city was named Vittoriosa (“the victorious.”) Return by coach to the city of Valletta and visit the Grand Master's Palace. Walking, some steps to upper floors.

Lunch: Lunch on your own in Valletta at any of many cafe's and restaurants.

Afternoon: Time is provided to explore Valletta on your own. Scheduled pick-up will return participants to the hotel. Lecture: "Malta and the Mediterranean World in the Middle Ages" Medieval Malta will be analyzed within the framework of Medieval Europe. Particular emphasis will be given to the role of Malta from the Norman conquest of Southern Italy and Sicily to the development of the Aragonese Empire."

Dinner: Hotel Dining Room

Evening: Instruction in a lively themed card game will be provided, with several tables set up for play. NOTE: The rules for this game were created by participants in one of the first Road Scholar groups to Malta: "Seven cards for the seven years Calypso kept Ulysses captive in a cave on Gozo."

Day 7
The Enchanting Sister Island of Gozo
Sliema B,L Victoria Hotel
Activity note: Walking and standing under open skies. Some unavoidable steps in the Citadel. Ferries have an elevator to passenger lounge. Visit to Citadel requires walking up a steep hill; an alternative place to wait will be provided for those who prefer not to climb.

Breakfast: Hotel Dining Room. Early breakfast probably will include only cold items -- not cooked.

Morning: Early departure by motorcoach and along the scenic northern coast of the island to the ferry pier for crossing to the smaller sister island of Gozo. Greener and more rural that Malta, Gozo has a charming character all its own. 20-minute crossing by stabilized car ferry with passenger lounge and deck seating will pass the tiny island of Comino. Gozo filed trip visits include Ggantija Temples, acknowledged to be the oldest freestanding buildings on earth.

Lunch: Lunch at an area restaurant in Gozo

Afternoon: Continued field trip in the village surrounding the walled hilltop citadel, where in olden days the local farmers used to retreat to sleep for protection from pirate slavers. (If time permits, participants who wish to make the steep climb up to the hilltop and inside the Citadel will be given a chance to do so.) The day also includes an excursion to the Dwejra area of fossilized shell and natural formations. Return to Malta and hotel in the late afternoon.

Dinner: Dinner on your own

Day 8
Three Cities - Cottonera/Grand Harbour
Sliema B,L,D Victoria Hotel
Activity note: Considerable walking, up to two miles during the course of the day, on paved but hilly streets in an historic area. Participants who opt to skip will be provided with a place to sit until the group recollects.

Breakfast: Hotel Dining Room

Morning: Hotel lecture room: Lecture: Cottonera - A Regional Experience - Discussion on the lifestyles and social values of ordinary urban and peasant folk at the time of the Knights in Malta, and an intimate portrait of the politics of a working man’s community. Transfer by motorcoach to the "Three Cities" or Cottonera area. Exploration continues with a walking presentation through the streets of Birgu and near historic Fort St. Angelo. Visit the Maritime Museum: A fascinating collection of boats, models and paraphernalia representing the maritime history of this area on Grand Harbour. The old grain storage buildings of the Knights are part of the property.

Lunch: Typical worker's lunch at a casual local sports club.

Afternoon: A friendly volunteer game of Bacci, with instruction on the Maltese style of play. Then walk to the harborside and board motorized 8-passenger boats of the traditional style. Cruise some of the creeks and inlets of the Grand Harbor that has played such a role in Malta's long history. Housing at various times Phoenician Galleons, Roman vessels, warships of the crusading Knights and much of the British Fleet, the harbor now sees Mediterranean cruise liners, film star Yachts, and frequently ships of the U.S. sixth fleet. Return by coach to the hotel.

Dinner: Hotel Dining Room

Evening: Hotel lecture room: Lecture: Malta Under the British - Malta under British rule was a different story than that of the brief French colonization which immediately preceded. This lecture puts the colonization of Malta into perspective with that of other colonies, from the 1800’s through to 1960’s.

Day 9
Hypogeum, Marsaxlokk Fishing Village, Economy
Sliema B,L,D Victoria Hotel
Activity note: One flight climb up spiral staircase is required at Hypogeum, railing provided

Breakfast: Hotel Dining Room

Morning: Visit one of the world's most extraordinary UNESCO World Heritage Sites this morning: Malta's prehistoric Hal Saflieni Hypogeum mortuary temple. Since only 10 people per hour are allowed to enter this sensitive site, the group will be subdivided for scheduled entries. Balance of the morning is free for personal pursuits. Details will be explained at orientation.

Lunch: Lunch at the hotel

Afternoon: An excursion includes the charming fishing harbour of Marsaxlokk with its colorful array of iconic Maltese boats. Return to hotel and time to freshen up. Hotel lecture room: Lecture: The Maltese Economy: Its Strengths and Vulnerability - The interaction of geographical and economic conditions, production, spatial distribution and wealth consumption of Malta as a small state in the central Mediterranean, will be viewed particularly in relation to its strengths and vulnerability as an island.

Dinner: Transfer to an area restaurant to share a pasta dinner with invited guests from the Maltese community. This mix of contemporaries from various walks of life often sparks lively conversation. Evening return to hotel.

Day 10
Mdina/Rabat, Limestone Heritage, Environment
Sliema B,D Victoria Hotel
Activity note: Moderate walking on paved fairly level streets in an historic area.

Breakfast: Hotel Dining Room

Morning: Motorcoach to the ancient capital of Mdina. Sometimes known as the "silent city" for its unique hushed quality of quiet dignity, Mdina is a living museum with families still occupying its ancestral mansions. Walking presentation in this medieval walled city will include the bastions, city gates and the cathedral. Moderate walking with places to rest. Free time is allotted for exploring Mdina and the vicinity on your own. As an option, if desired, you may choose to join your Group Leader for a guided walk outside the city gates into nearby Rabat to visit 4th century Christian catacombs, passing by the Grotto of St. Paul where the apostle is believed to have lived for three months after shipwreck on Malta. (About one mile of additional walking and unavoidable steps are required.) A meeting place and time will be set for continuing Field Trip.

Lunch: Lunch on your own

Afternoon: Learn about Malta's remarkable 7,000 year tradition of building with stone at the Limestone Heritage Museum. A private workshop lets you discover for yourself the nature of the soft globergerina limestone as you carve a small piece to take home. Optional walking, steps. On return to the hotel, learn about The Natural Maltese Environment - An introduction to the natural resources of Malta with historical evaluation providing the listener with an understanding of their diversity and beauty, as well as problematic (environmental) issues relating to Malta and Gozo.

Dinner: Hotel Dining Room

Evening: On your own, perhaps to stroll the seaside promenade or take in an optional performance at the Manoel Theatre in Valletta

Day 11
World War Two
Sliema B,D Victoria Hotel
Activity note: Fortress may require some steps and a long slope for entry.

Breakfast: Hotel Dining Room

Morning: Hotel Lecture Room: Lecture: Malta's Strategic Role in World War II - Britain's concept of Malta as a strategic fortress colony led to a situation where the axis forces were particularly concerned to conquer the island, especially as it served as a base for the conquest of North Africa. Transfer by coach to historic Fort Rinella, a British defensive installation with a 100-ton gun guarding Grand Harbour. Return to hotel. Moderate walking.

Lunch: Lunch is on your own.

Afternoon: The afternoon is free for personal pursuits or to organize packing.

Dinner: Transfer to an atmospheric local restaurant for Gala Dinner and group celebration of our time together. Evening return to hotel.

Day 12
Program Concludes
In Flight B
Breakfast: Hotel Dining Room

Morning: Departure transfers to airport. NOTE: Consult Travel Coordinator -- Overnight in Europe may be required on return to North America.