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As sunnier days stretch ahead, outdoor adventures begin to occupy the mind. In this edition of the Travel Guide, we share a cycling guide to the Pedemontana trail and explore the best activities to book in Croatia. Buy the latest issue of National Geographic Traveller (UK) in stores and discover exclusive subscription offers at nationalgeographic.com/ travel


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between a house and its wooden stables, straddling a white line on the ground. On the night of 15 September 1947, following the end of the Second World War and the treaties that retraced the contours of Europe, soldiers armed with paintbrushes split this medieval city in Italy’s north east. Te centre remained part of Italy; the farms and fields, on the eastern outskirts, were given to neighbouring Yugoslavia, and today belong to Slovenia. Te shot was taken in the morning, when the image of the animal over the new perimeter — seeming half defiant, half unsure where it belonged — captured a sentiment locals found hard to put into words. “You can’t speak of a border here,”


A


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says guide Anna Santellani, clad in head-to-toe Lycra, adjusting the saddle of her mountain bike. We’re about to set off on the Pedemontana, a four-stage, 113-mile cycling trail that links Gorizia and the city of Salice. Over two days, we’ll tackle two legs, each about 25 miles, cutting north west across the surrounding Friuli-Venezia Giulia region, spending the night in towns and villages along the way. Our starting point is Gorizia’s centre, not far from the spot where the picture was taken. “Few other places have such a sense of porosity, of continuity. Te divide is something relative.” In the wake of the partition, the


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twin, modernist centre of Nova Gorica (New Gorizia) was founded just across the line in Slovenia. Te two destinations were jointly recognised as the 2025 European Capital of Culture, the first time the title has been shared by two


sk the people of Gorizia what defines their home, and some will show you a photo of a cow, standing


hosts. Walking tours cover the troubled history of the area, taking in sights ranging from fascist-era buildings to a tribute to communist statesman Josip Tito spelled out in stones on a nearby mountain. Te programme of events in 2025 aimed to transcend boundaries, both literally, with ‘smuggling tours’ recreating the experience of 20th-century contrabandists, and figuratively — an exhibition explored the ‘thresholds’ of fashion. In a way, it’s all a fitting welcome to


the Pedemontana. Te trail bridges a geographical frontier, meandering through countryside along the regional Alpine border. As soon as we leave the city, we find ourselves among the gentle hills of the wine- producing Collio region, where vineyards drape the landscape like a patchwork quilt; in the distance, always in view, are the foothills of the Carnic and Julian Alps. If you were to continue to the other end of the trail, you’d reach the Friulian Dolomites Natural Park, part of the Unesco- listed Dolomite Mountains. It’s partly the chance to watch the


scenery unfold like this — play-by- play, slowly but continuously — that’s turned Friuli-Venezia Giulia into a riders’ playground in the past 15 years. On a practical note, it has dedicated infrastructure, like buses and trains fitted with bike racks; on an experiential one, it showcases a variety of landscapes, from languid beaches in the south to the Alpine peaks. In 2024, the Pedemontana won the so-called ‘Cycling Tourism Oscar’, given by the Italian Cycling Federation to paths that encourage a slower form of travel. “Te places you visit leave their


mark, and that’s especially true if you’re in the saddle,” says Anna over her shoulder, cycling just ahead


of me. “If you enter a wood, you feel it with your whole body — in the smells, sounds, on your skin.” Te path is easy on the wheels — partly paved, partly dirt, almost entirely flat — leaving me free to focus on what’s around. We greet a woman foraging for wild hops, then brake to pick mulberries and sour marasca cherries from the roadside. We speed next to a river in full spate, energised by the rain fell incessantly in the spring, and cross a ford that sends splashes up our shins. When we pause at a roadside cafe, we crash a birthday party as a group of locals cheer and toast: “We drink, we drink, we drink!” “Our wines have collected so many


accolades, they’re called ‘super- whites’,” says Anna that evening, sipping a glass of local dry ribolla, in a piazza in Cividale del Friuli at the end of the trail’s first stage. It was the first duchy of the Longobards, a Germanic tribe that ruled most of the Italian peninsula from the sixth to the eighth centuries. Tey’re remembered as harsh and fierce; many Italian words to describe fighting are still derived from their language. Te next day, back in the saddle,


we discover a similar harshness to the landscape. Te trail runs closer to the feet of the mountains, which are mammoth and jagged like rock shards. In 1976, an earthquake of biblical proportions had its epicentre here — so powerful, its ripples were said to have been felt in Rome, over 300 miles south. When the dust settled, the area was in ruins, including the historic 14th-century villages of Gemona, at the end of stage two, and nearby Venzone, where Anna takes me. Locals demanded it be rebuilt


‘where it was, as it was’. Old photos were consulted, the rubble sorted, the


fallen building blocks placed in order and numbered. Te houses were reconstructed piecemeal, with each slab in its rightful place. If original elements were too damaged, they were replaced with slightly different copies; sometimes, a translucent coat was applied to differentiate the authentic from the replica. “Tey wanted to avoid a ‘theme park effect’,” says Anna as we walk the streets. “Everything had come down, but you still feel you’re somewhere real.” Named Most Beautiful Village


in Italy in 2017, a title assigned annually by the National Association of Italian Municipalities, Venzone is so charming you’d never guess its backstory. But there are small hints of its tumultuous past. On the side of the local church, Anna points out a single stone slab that was restored down its middle. Half of it is rough, the work of


stonemasons of old, and half of it is sheer, a modern addition. Half of it something, half of it something else, greater than the sum of its parts.


Tis article first appeared in the September 2025 issue of National Geographic Traveller (UK). nationalgeographic.com/travel


HOW TO DO IT


FunActive Tours has a six-day cycling tour of the Pedemontana from Sacile to Gorizia from €649 (£560) per person, including B&B accommodation, luggage transfers and road assistance. Equipment rental available at an extra cost. This story was created with


the support of Discover Italy and PromoTurismoFVG.


Scenic route


Setting off from Gorizia, the Pedemontana cycling trail in Italy’s north east is a journey across borders, taking in rolling countryside and ancient villages. Words: Angela Locatelli


Te Travel Guide


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