C1: INNOVATIVE SPA DESTINATION
Application summary:
The new Slovenia Green Wellness Route cycling route is a 16-day cycling plan that connects the best Slovenian spas and destinations with the Slovenia Green label holders. The route was created by the Slovenian Tourist Board, the Slovenian Spas Association, the Slovenia Green Association, participating destinations and GoodPlace.
A cycling route with stops for relaxation and pampering leads you to the Slovenian natural health and spa resorts of central and Pannonian Slovenia. It combines Slovenian natural spas, local gastronomic offer, cycling through the beautiful natural environment and sustainable hospitality. The end result is an itinerary that easily guides cyclists from one place to another and helps them explore this beautiful country in a different way. With the help of a route plan, an individual can make the trip on his own, but there is also the possibility of booking the tour with a local tourist agency.
The Slovenia Green Wellness Route, which is actually a loop, begins in Slovenia’s capital, Ljubljana. The path then pedals north toward Kamnik before heading east to Maribor and then the country’s Pannonian Region corner before heading south across the Drava and Sava Rivers. Some 16 days later — if one decides to cycle its entirety, the loop eventually curls back to the Slovenian capital. Riders can choose to do all or portions of the route while also utilizing the nation’s convenient train system.
The route averages about 40 kilometres of moderate cycling per day on mixed surfaces with more than two-thirds of the trail paved.
Along the way, the trail’s stages pass through Slovenia Green-certified destinations, where travellers will experience jaw-dropping landscapes and safe cycling for all skill levels, from veterans looking for new challenges to beginners, who are rediscovering the joy of using their own power to fuel an incredible holiday. But, as always, the real star of this tour of Slovenia is the Slovenian people, who share their lives and country with travelers of all kinds.
To make sure you don’t get completely lost, you can check out the route map, which includes places to sleep, where to satisfy your taste buds and regain lost calories, and which sights are worth a detour from the main route. You will find detailed daily descriptions, a map, and a complete navigational package with about 500 sights along the way.
Here we provide some technical information and figures about the route:.
- Number of stages: 16
- Average stage length: 40km
- Total length: 680km
- Lowest elevation: 140m
- Highest elevation: 940m
- Total ascents and descents: 6.700m
- Attractions along the route: 500
The route has already remarkable international press coverage as articles were published in The Lonely Planet, The Guardian and Wanderlust. Here are the articles:
The Guardian: Five of the best sustainable holidays across Europe
1. Project description:
The Slovenia Green Wellness Route connects 11 destinations that all have a natural Thermal Spa resort. The destinations are: Rogaška Slatina, Dobrna, Laško, Zreče, Moravske Toplice, Podčetrtek, Ptuj, Šmarješke Toplice, Dolenjske Toplice, Čatež and Radenci.
2. Originality:
You use a bicycle to travel from one Spa destination to the other. All destinations also bear a Slovenia Green lable.
3. Impact and benefits
This innovative Spa Programme is ataractic completely new target groups of travellers, namely the large cyclic population.
4. Sustainability
The SGWR is a route that connects green-certified destinations, and Slovenia’s incredible thermal water destinations. The SGWR has in common that it is exploring green destinations and visiting green service providers in the most sustainable way – by bike.
Additional supporting material:
https://espainnovationawards.eu/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/Slovenia_Green_Wellness_Route.pdf
Contact:
Slovenian Spas Association
ssnz@ssnz.si
+38651446888
Teharska 40, Celje, Slovenia
www.slovenia-spa.si