by InTrieste
Friuli Venezia Giulia is positioning itself as a leading hub for sustainable cycling tourism ahead of hosting one of Europe’s largest bicycle mobility conferences next year, regional officials said during the closing conference of the cross-border CYROS project in Dubrovnik.
Cristina Amirante, the regional councillor for Infrastructure and Territory, announced that Trieste will host the EuroVelo & Cycling Tourism Conference from Sept. 29 to Oct. 1, 2027, describing the event as an opportunity to showcase years of investment in sustainable mobility across the Adriatic-Ionian region.
“The conference will provide an international stage to present the results achieved through projects such as CYROS and Adrioncycletour,” Amirante said, adding that the initiatives demonstrate the region’s commitment to creating interconnected, accessible cycling routes across national borders.
A €2.75 Million Cross-Border Initiative
The CYcle ROute for Sustainable Tourism (CYROS) project began in March 2024 and runs through Dec. 31, 2026. With a total budget of €2.75 million, it is co-financed by the European Union’s Interreg Italy-Croatia program, which contributes €2.2 million, or 80 percent of the funding.
Led by the Friuli Venezia Giulia region, the partnership includes the Italian regions of Puglia, Abruzzo and Marche, Italy’s Institute for Transport and Logistics, and regional authorities from Dubrovnik-Neretva, Primorje-Gorski Kotar and Istria in Croatia.
The project focuses on three priorities: improving connections between trains, buses and ferries for cyclists; digitizing cycling infrastructure through smart services; and promoting slow tourism to encourage travel beyond the traditional summer season.
Linking the Adriatic by Bicycle
Among the project’s most tangible achievements is the Bike & Bus pilot service connecting Trieste and Poreč along the historic Parenzana cycling corridor.
Operating on weekends from June to November 2025 and again from April through early November 2026 — excluding August — the service completed 83 round trips and carried 1,824 passengers, according to regional figures.
CYROS has also produced a standardized digital map of the Adriatic-Ionian cycling route, integrated into a WebGIS platform and a mobile application that allows travelers to plan multimodal journeys. The initiative included 16 regional stakeholder workshops, bilingual training programs and the organization of the General Assembly of Cycling Mobility in Udine.
Officials said the project complements Adrioncycletour, another Interreg initiative led by Friuli Venezia Giulia, with the goal of creating consistent cycling infrastructure and hospitality standards across the Upper Adriatic.
The Dubrovnik conference brought together representatives from Italian and Croatian regional governments, alongside Interreg officials and technical experts working on digital mapping and data collection tools for the expanding cross-border cycling network.
