CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
The recorded total and the leg detail need reconciliation. Inspect the leg notes before using this record for timing or navigation. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
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A 302 km round trip from Pula - roughly 4 h 34 in the saddle. The stops in between: Episcopal Complex of the Euphrasian Basili, Škocjan Caves, back through Škocjan Caves and back through Episcopal Complex of the Euphrasian Basili. It crosses from Croatia into Slovenia - carry ID and check vignette or toll rules. A steady touring day rather than a sprint.
Expect company on a summer weekend. Early is better than fast. For 59 km this is Croatia Istrian Hill Town Route, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it.
Pula's amphitheatre is the first thing you see and the last thing you forget. Built in the first century AD, in the reign of Vespasian, it stands on the edge of the harbour with its outer wall almost entirely intact, three storeys of arches rising above the water, and it is one of the six largest Roman arenas still standing. Gladiators once fought here before a crowd of thousands, and today the arena hosts concerts and a film festival, with the bay glittering through the arches behind the stage.
Read the complete Pula write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Pula is where the day begins. Next is Episcopal Complex of the Euphrasian Basili.
Poreč sits on a little limestone peninsula on the western coast of Istria, and the old town still follows the grid the Romans laid down, with the Decumanus running straight down the middle. The Euphrasian Basilica is tucked a few lanes from the main street, behind a quiet atrium, and it is easy to walk past if you are looking for something grand from the outside. Inside is the reason it earned its UNESCO listing: a sixth-century church, built under Bishop Euphrasius, that kept its Byzantine mosaics through a millennium and a half of earthquakes, Venetian rule and tourism.
Read the complete Episcopal Complex of the Euphrasian Basili write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Episcopal Complex of the Euphrasian Basili comes up 35 km in.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Episcopal Complex of the Euphrasian Basili write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
70 km in you reach Episcopal Complex of the Euphrasian Basili. Next is Škocjan Caves.
Underneath the sleepy stone villages of the Slovenian Karst, a river called the Reka plunges into the earth and carves one of the largest underground canyons known anywhere. The Škocjan Caves, a UNESCO site since 1986, are the reason the word karst became the scientific name for this kind of limestone landscape everywhere in the world. Inside, a narrow footbridge spans the Reka gorge far above the roaring water, the chamber walls disappear into darkness, and the scale is so huge that your mind struggles to accept it is all underground.
Read the complete Škocjan Caves write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Škocjan Caves, about halfway. Next is Škocjan Caves.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Škocjan Caves write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Škocjan Caves sits at 139 km, about halfway. Next is back through Škocjan Caves.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Škocjan Caves write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Škocjan Caves comes up 174 km in. Next is back through Episcopal Complex of the Euphrasian Basili.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Episcopal Complex of the Euphrasian Basili write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
209 km in you reach back through Episcopal Complex of the Euphrasian Basili. Next is back through Episcopal Complex of the Euphrasian Basili.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Episcopal Complex of the Euphrasian Basili write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Episcopal Complex of the Euphrasian Basili, late in the day. Next is Pula.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Pula write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
The route ends here after 302 km.
Pula → Episcopal Complex of the Euphrasian Basili is 60 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Episcopal Complex of the Euphrasian Basili → Škocjan Caves is 79 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through Škocjan Caves → back through Episcopal Complex of the Euphrasian Basili is 79 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through Episcopal Complex of the Euphrasian Basili → Pula is 60 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.