Friuli Trail Guide – the forgotten paradise in the Julian Alps

Fancy an adventure by bike? In the far north-east of Italy, surrounded by the rugged Carnic and Julian Alps, we’ve unearthed a real treasure trove of some of the best trails in the world.

Friuli is located near the university town of Udine. The region borders Carinthia in Austria to the north and Slovenia to the east. The mountains are over 2,000 metres (6,500 ft) high, while the deeply incised valleys lie at 400 to 1,000 metres (1,300 to 3,280 ft). This often results in considerable altitude changes for MTB Tours. The rugged mountain regions are little developed for tourism, but offer a surprising variety of trails. These were created by alpine farming, cross-border smuggling and the course of the front during the First World War.

Getting there:
Travelling to Tolmezzo by public transport is difficult and involves changing trains several times. The region can be reached by car from Munich via Salzburg and Villach on the A10 and A2 motorways in around four-and-a-half hours.

Best time to travel:
Due to the damming effect of the Carnic and Julian Alps, rainfall in the region is above average. The first snow falls at high altitudes from November. Due to the southern orientation and relatively low altitude of the mountains, this thaws again quite quickly in spring, which is why good biking conditions often prevail as early as May.

Accommodation:
There are many small guesthouses, B&Bs and hotels in the region, but no accommodation specialising in MTB holidays. However, the helpful people of Friuli will usually find somewhere to safely store your bikes. We can recommend the Hotel Al Benvenuto in Tolmezzo ( albenvenuto.it/en ), the Grand Hotel Gortani in Arta Terme ( gortani.it/?lang=en ) and the Casa Ortis in Paluzza, whose owner Silvio is a biker himself ( guias-viajes.com/italy/paluzza/casa-ortis ). "By bikers for bikers" is also the Bondi Gemona in Gemona ( bnb-bondigemona.ch - in German ).

Guiding:
Friuli isn’t geared towards tourism in general. What makes the region attractive for many has the disadvantage that there are hardly any cable cars and no shuttle services. The owners of B & B Bondi Gemona, Eugen and Gabriella Haubensak, guide not only their guests but also others through the region on request: haubensak.tg@bluewin.ch.

You can find more inspiration for your biking holiday in our printed story about the Firaul in Mountainbike issue 03/2023: shop.motorpresse.de/zeitschriften/sport-freizeit/mountainbike/einzelhefte/print/mountainbike-3-2023.html (in German). There's even more cycling at bike-x.de (in German).