Kobarid is a quiet little town in a loud history. In October 1917, in what the Italians know as Caporetto, Austro-Hungarian and German troops broke through the Italian lines on the Isonzo front in the twelfth battle of the river, and the retreat that followed became a byword for catastrophe in Italy. Ernest Hemingway used it as the backdrop for A Farewell to Arms. For two and a half years before that the valley had been a front line, with thousands of men dying in the mountains above, and the town now holds one of the most thoughtful war museums in Europe, which was named European Museum of the Year in 1993.
A hill above the town carries the Italian ossuary, a circular church in pale stone that holds the bones of more than seven thousand soldiers, and it is a sombre and impressive place. A walk up to it takes ten minutes and gives a view of the whole valley. Down by the river, the Napoleon Bridge, a stone arch over a deep emerald gorge, is a gentler sight, and a short walk takes you to the Kozjak waterfall, which drops into a rocky basin. The Soča itself, one of the most vivid rivers in Europe, runs the colour of glass-green jade, with marble trout in the pools.
The riding in the Soča valley is wonderful. The road from Kobarid up to Bovec is a mix of rolling curves and faster stretches, with the river shining below and the limestone peaks of the Julian Alps above. Surfaces are generally excellent, though in summer the traffic can be heavy with cyclists, campervans and tourists. In winter, ice lingers in the shade of the gorges. Spring brings snowmelt, and the river runs full and loud.
The town has a handful of good restaurants and a bakery, and the local speciality is a walnut-filled pastry called Kobariški štruklji. Fuel is limited, so fill the tank at Tolmin or Bovec. Cividale in Italy is about twenty kilometres west, across the border, and the crossing is open and easy. On a warm evening, with a glass of wine on a terrace and the mountains going pink above the roofs, Kobarid is hard to leave.