{"id":15631,"date":"2026-08-07T08:58:12","date_gmt":"2026-08-07T07:58:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/villas-guide.com\/?p=15631"},"modified":"2026-08-07T13:26:44","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T12:26:44","slug":"cycling-the-parenzana-our-favourite-way-to-see-three-countries-by-bike","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/villas-guide.com\/en\/blog\/cycling-the-parenzana-our-favourite-way-to-see-three-countries-by-bike\/","title":{"rendered":"Cycling the Parenzana: our favourite way to see three countries by bike"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ask anyone in our team for a top activity in Istria and the Parenzana<\/strong> comes up within the first minute.<\/p>\n

There are plenty of bike trails in Istria, but only one that lets you say you cycled through three countries<\/strong> along a route once travelled by steam trains. The Parenzana links Trieste<\/strong> in Italy with Pore\u010d<\/strong> on the Croatian coast, and travels through Slovenian coast in between.<\/p>\n

We covered a detailed overview of the route and practical tips in our first article about the Parenzana<\/strong><\/a>, and here we bring you a few details about its history, the trail and the culture along the way, happy cycling!<\/p>\n

A railway that refused to disappear<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Long before it carried cyclists, the Parenzana carried people, olives, wine, coal, salt, and mail<\/a> <\/strong>from Trieste and Pore\u010d. It was active from 1902 until 1935. When it closed, several of the small stations it passed through were simply left to the weather. Some of those stations, old bridges and tunnels<\/strong><\/a> are still standing today, quietly telling the story of past lives.<\/p>\n

The name itself is a nice piece of trivia: Parenzana comes from Parenzo<\/strong>, the old Italian name for Pore\u010d, the coastal town where the original railway line used to end.<\/p>\n