CARBON NEUTRAL E-BIKE TRIP

If you like the idea of traveling on 2 wheels through the most beautiful areas of Croatia and you are a nature and ecology lover, you are at the right place.

We will use e-bikes to travel from the small baroque town of Samobor (close to Zagreb) through continental Croatia, accross Velebit Mountain and to the islands exploring the national parks, beautiful nature, villages, towns and archaeological sites. We will be exploring the local culture, tradition and gastronomy of visited areas. Vehicle support will be available to ensure security of travelers. A special emphasis will be put on environment protection through the concept of carbon footprint. Our goal is for the trip to be carbon neutral so we will use simple measures to determine our carbon footprint and balance our emmission by planting trees at the end of the trip.

With all this landscape and content diversity we promise this will be a journey you will never forget!

Our tour starts with pick up in the Croatian capital city Zagreb (airport or city) and drive to the nearby town of Samobor, a real hidden gem of baroque architecture.

We will try out our e-bikes, talk about our upcoming adventure and introduce the concept of carbon neutral bike trips. We will have a welcome dinner together and try the inevitable local desert “kremsnite”.

E-biking from our accommodation in the Mreznica River Valley towards Plitvice Lakes, the oldest national park of Croatia and a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The sequence of 16 turquoise lakes linked together with beautiful waterfalls and travertine pools are really as beautiful as in the photos, even more. The lakes are surrounded by beech and pine forests and are home to extensive wildlife. We will do a short walk in the most attractive parts of the park by the lakes and up to amazing viewpoints where you will be able to admire the complete picture of this amazing natural attraction.

We then continue to the Gacka River Valley where we will visit one of the traditional mills and try a delicious trout meal at the very source of the river.

Today we take a ferry to Pag, one of the biggest islands of the Adriatic. As soon as you arrive it’s like setting foot on the moon. Pag is like something you’d find in a 1950s Italian film, perfect for a broody black-and-white Antonioni set – it’s barren, rocky, and sepia coloured, with vast empty landscapes. Actually, half of the island looks like a desert which is due to the famous wind “bura” that blows from the continent towards the island. The Adriatic is a steely blue around it and, when the sky is stormy, the island is the most dramatic-looking place in the whole of Croatia. Its karstic rock forms a moonscape defined by two mountain ridges, patches of shrubs and a dozen or so villages and hamlets.

We definitely won’t miss biking on the cheese roads and trying the one and only Paski sir (Pag cheese) that is made from sheep milk. It is generally regarded as the most famous of all artisan cheeses made in the country.

Pag is connected to the mainland with a bridge in its southern part so we will use that to cross to the mainland and settle in one of the guesthouses in Zadar area.

This last day of biking is going to be an easy one. We will cycle in Vrana Lake Nature Park that covers the biggest freshwater lake in Croatia with an ornithological reserve (nesting spot for 110 different bird species and stop for many more).  We will take a short  educational tour and experience bird watching.

In the afternoon we will gather to talk about the wonderful journey we had, comment on our carbon footprint and compensate the CO2 that we produced during the tour by planting trees on one of the local homesteads in the continental part of Zadar county.

To celebrate our adventure, we will have a final dinner together before saying goodbye to our fellow travelers.