Cycling route Izola – Piran – tunel Parenzana
Cycling trip guide
Distance
28 km
Time
2:05 h
Elevation
460 m
Difficulty
Difficult
Izola-Piran-Parenzana tunnel cycle route. Start from Izola to Belveder through the Shalet Tunnel, to Dobrava along the cycle road, down to Strunjan past the Strunjan Salt Pans Landscape Park, along the winding road to Piran and back to Izola along the Portorož Coastal Road and the road of the former narrow-gauge railway, the Parenzana. The trip is suitable for well-prepared cyclists. Most of the cycling will be on local roads with a few ups and downs. You can go by mountain bike, trekking bike or road bike.
Cycling tour on Komoot application
To make it easier for you to ride the cycle path, click below on the larger map button. The Komoot app will open where you can see an interactive map and additional information. With your help, the Izola-Piran-tunnel-Parenzana cycle route can become even more interesting. If you are logged in to the app, you can add your pictures and comments. The gpx file allows you to download the route on your navigation device. You must have WIFI or mobile data turned on.
he start of the Izola-Piran-Tunnel Parenzana cycle tour is in Izola from the Ladjedelnica car park. You can find several parking lots in Izola. From the car park, turn right towards the centre of Izola. Drive 500 m to the roundabout by the post office and the bank. There take exit 4 into the alley and continue straight on for 500 m along the main road. Then, in front of the Moby Dick restaurant and pizzeria, turn left and continue along Leninova Street to the main road, passing houses and blocks of flats.
Cross the main road at the pedestrian crossing and follow the road, passing the student housing on the right to the new block of flats to the next main road. Cross the road and continue along the road between the vineyards. After 200 m turn right onto the road, the former route of the Parenzana narrow-gauge railway.
Continue straight along the road, now a popular cycling route, with beautiful views of Isola and the sea. After a good 2 km, you will reach the Šalet Tunnel after a gentle climb. Enter the tunnel and continue on the road on a gentle incline downhill through greenery and fields for 2 km to a sharp short climb. At the end of the climb, turn right onto the local road and follow the winding climb past Dobrava to the main road and the roundabout at Belveder above Izola
Cross straight over the roundabout. Pay attention. Cars are travelling at high speed on this stretch, so really make sure there is no one on the road before you cross. Keep going and turn immediately left on the local road, which leads you across the plateau to the winding descent into Strunjan to the main road. Here you can admire beautiful views of Piran and the Alps. In the valley, take the main road to the left and drive past the bus station and the Strunjan campsite by the salt pans to the Salinera hotel village. From here you start a 4km climb along a winding road past Fiesa, Pacug to settlement Beli Križ ( the White cross).
At Beli Križ, by the Mercator shop, continue right along the main road for 1 km until you see the sign for Fiesa and turn right. Continue straight on to the cemetery and football field in Piran. From here you will continue down the cobbled road towards the town centre.
At the end of the road, turn left down a narrow street to Tarini Square. Here you continue for a few metres and turn left into Partizanska Street, which will lead you to the promenade by the sea, where you continue to the right towards Piranska Punta, where the beautiful Piran Lighthouse stands.
From here, head back past the many restaurants and bars to the town harbour and Tartini Square. In the square, we recommend you take in the sights such as Tartini's House, the Venetian, the Town Hall and gaze up to the heights where the city's cathedral stands.
Continue along the main road past the bus stop and the city gates. From here, follow the car park along the road leading through the Bernardin hotel complex. From the end of the village, go straight along the cycle road to the former salt warehouses.
Here you turn right along the coastal road to the car park, where you will join the main road and continue your journey to the crossroads in Portorož by the tourist informtion center building, where you will cycle along the cycle road along Portoroz beach and the hotel to the tennis courts.
Continue along the pavement to the roundabout by the Mercator in Lucija, where you will turn left and after 100 m up a steeper hill to the left.
You will be on the Senčna pot Street, which leads you to the tunnel of the Parenzana narrow-gauge railway that connected Trieste and Poreč. Along the way, you will have a very nice view of Portoroz and the bay in some parts.
Before you reach the tunnel, you have to go down a slight incline and immediately turn right. You will see the entrance to the Tunnel. Drive carefully through the tunnel as it is not well lit. In the summer months, it will keep you cool.
After a few minutes' drive through the tunnel, go 1 km down the road to the crossroads in front of the Strunjan campsite. Turn right here and after 200 m, at the end of a slight incline, turn left towards the main road and the roundabout in Strunjan. Before the roundabout, turn right on the local road and continue for 1 km until the next crossroads.
You have now arrived at the crossroads and choose the narrow curved asphalt road. We suggest you take care, as a cyclist or tractor could come at you from the other side quite quickly. Continue along the narrow road to the hunting observation post at the bend by the peach orchard. Continue along the winding road through the valley and up to the local road where you turn right uphill.
After 500 m of quite a steep uphill, turn right onto the cycle road, which will take you through the valley and up a slight incline to Shalet, the narrow-gauge railway tunnel we passed through earlier. From here, head straight down the narrow winding road to Izola. When you reach the main road, take the same road we drove on earlier in the morning in the opposite direction to your starting point.
