The Taste of Korcula Bike Tour
Offers a unique tasting combination of food and drink stopping at 3 local producers while cycling along quiet country lanes and tracks through the lush mediterranean countryside between Korcula and Lumbarda.
Korcula has around 140km of cycling routes, so we decided to join Korcula Explorer’s Taste of Korcula Bike Tour to learn more about the cycling from Korcula to the picturesque village where our holiday apartments in Lumbarda, The White House, are located.
We met John, our tour guide at the arranged location at 10am on Saturday morning; and found ourselves in a group of 7. Korcula Explorers only take groups upto 8 people to ensure their quality of service and care is maintained. Our bikes and helmets were already waiting for us. John gave us some instructions on riding, gear change and brake use and allowed for a quick circle round to ensure the seats were adjusted to the correct height for maximum comfort, and efficient cycling.
Tour Description
The cycling was perfectly described as moderate on the tour. If you are a seasoned cyclist, you would find it an easy ride; but for the novice and inexperienced like ourselves; in the heat of summer, the description perfectly summed up the difficulty level. It’s a 10km ride, with a few hills, and the tour length is approximately 4.5 hours long due to the stops at the local producers.
The Bike Tour
We set off weaving through Korcula Town, up our first 5-minute hill and across a main road to our first producer. This was a local shop producing a variety of produce from flavoured honey, and gin to candles and herbs. The producer gave a very interesting presentation on the life of bees and we got to see the inside workings of a beehive which had been carefully constructed in the shop.
After the tastings and opportunity to purchase we were on our way to the second local producer.
The ride between took us off road, with fabulous views over the lush Mediterranean countryside with glimpses of the Adriatic beyond.
This was the longest part of the ride and the mostinteresting on rocky, windy tracks; the scenery was just stunning; and there was the odd hill to combat too!
John was a very informative and tentative guide ensuring no one was struggling or got left behind.
Our second producer was just fabulous and we enjoyed a feast.
His wife produces many ornamental garden pots and plant holders which are just delightful (I simply must come back and buy some to put in our orchard!), unfortunately it was not possible buy and ride a bike with them at the time.
We spent a long time here tasting his locally produced honey, olive oil and the wine he produces was just delicious!
Taking care not to over indulge as we had to continue to our final destination in the fishing village of Lumbarda, a further hill and another kilometre or two took us to tapas and local ‘grk’ set on a beautiful terrace at a winery.
Here we learnt about the production of the locally produced, famous ‘Grk’ wine and also the Croatian ‘Plavi Mali’ red wine which is needed in combination as red grapes are needed to fertilise the white grapes!
If you are staying at The White House Lumbarda then this ending is just perfect as the winery is on the doorstep, and a short stroll back to your accommodation to enjoy your purchases on your apartment balcony watching the sunset.
There is a ride organised back to Korcula if you are staying elsewhere.
Summary Of Korcula Explorers Bike Tour
This is an excellent tour if you want to combine some activity, whilst enjoying the taste of Korcula on your holiday.
There was plenty of time to chat and socialise with the holiday makers in the group and it was lovely to gain an insight into the life of islanders.
John, our tour guide for this trip was very helpful and caring to ensure we were all happy with the ride, and also provided us with little nuggets of information on the ride.
We thoroughly recommend this tour and would be delighted to organise it for you when you stay with us.
Please note that as the group sizes are small we strongly advise you book in advance and put it in your Travel Planner so you don’t forget!