Introduction

At the end of May in 2025, I had a late start to the biking season, due to multiple reasons - the main one being the weather - and even then, I only had a short week. For a little while, I contemplated which direction I should be heading - should I go north, south, east or west? I had a few options in mind, but I was not sure which one to choose. I wanted to make the most of my limited time and ride through some beautiful landscapes, but I also needed to be back in Budapest for an important business meeting the following week.

The night before starting, I thought of riding towards the north to Prague, but due to weather conditions, the better bet was to heading for the south. On the day of the trip itself, I picked Graz as my starting point, not really knowing where the journey would take me. One option I had in mind was riding south from Graz, then to the east, maybe somewhere in Serbia or Bosnia, finally heading north, ending the ride in Budapest. The other option was to keep riding south, all the way to the Adriatic coast, then take a train back to Hungary. Even during the trip, both options - and even other variants - were on the table, depending how I felt.

Judging from the title of this blog, you might now know that I went for the option taking me to the Adria, the furthest point having been Triest - and then took a train back to Budapest, arriving there in time for the meeting. Following, I will share the details of my journey, including the beautiful landscapes I encountered, the challenges I faced, and the people I met along the way.

This trip was not all too unique - as I was riding, I realized, oh, I have been here before two decades or just a couple of years ago. There was a funny thing: in 2019, I took a train to Graz, starting my ride there, crossed Slovenia, then went through Rijeka in Croatia, followed by Triest in Italy, arriving in Genoa - from where I took a ferry to Corsica. Six years later, on this very trip (as you will read), I again started in Graz - taking a train there - crossed Slovenia, then arrived in Triest via Rijeka. After my business meeting in Budapest, I got back to Vienna, from where I flew to Corsica! So history repeated itself, in a way. I guess I have a thing for Graz, Slovenia, Rijeka, Triest - and then Corsica!

So here comes the story of the couple of days.