Video: Slovenia

 

Bovec and the Soča Valley

To get to Bovec from Kranjska Gora we had two options: 1. Drive the Vrsič Pass, or 2. Take a less congested and easier-to-drive route through Italy called the Passo del Predil. When we'd taken the bus up the Vrsič Pass earlier in the week, we witnessed a broken-down RV causing havoc and bringing the uphill drivers behind him to a standstill with no safe way to pass. No, thanks! We decided to take the Predil Pass. Besides, there were some intriguing stops we could make in Italy along the way, like the Abschnitt Saisera Park in Val Saisera dedicated to preserving battlefield remnants of the Great War.

This open-air museum includes what is left of the Vordere Saisera (literally "Saisera Front") defenseworks built by Austro-Hungarian troops to defend against Italian attacks in this valley. There are several paths leading past trenches, guard posts, and even to a restored tunnel/barracks. An enormous boulder served as the stronghold for the defense line and had gunner posts as well as a wooden barracks behind. 

A tunnel goes all the way through the boulder and has two offshoot side tunnels for machine gun nests. When I was in school I have to say that we didn't really learn as much about World War I as we did about World War II. The circumstances and reasons surrounding WWI were a lot less straightforward and I think for young students it seems to be in the far distant past. But coming to this part of the world, where the front lines and trenches were dug and young men fought hunger, weather, and each other really brings the history much closer into focus for me. I was very glad we stopped here and spent several hours exploring the park and the history.

Tarvisio, Italy is the largest town nearby. When we drove through it on our way to Val Saisera, we could tell something was happening, as we saw a bunch of people walking around in lederhosen and other alpine-themed costumes. So on our way back towards Bovec we parked and walked around. Turns out the entire town was celebrating the annual Alpenfest. The town square was full of food stalls and had quite a festival atmosphere.

The main street had been closed to cars for a traditional craft fair. This was one of the nicest ones we've seen. Most times there are a lot of ticky-tacky souvenir booths, but these were true crafts made by local artisans -- clothing, felted dolls, leather handbags, wooden toys, clocks, jewelry and hats. It made me wish I'd brought a bigger suitcase.

After a wonderful and scenic drive back over the border into Slovenia, we arrived in Bovec. This town is known as being the adventure sport capital of Slovenia. Every afternoon from our balcony we could see the multi-colored parachutes of the skydivers being dropped off at the nearby airfield.

Skydiving was not in the cards for us. Nor was canyoneering or paragliding. But rafting the Soča River did sound fun, so we signed on for a Sunday morning run with a local company called Sport Mix. (Their photographer took the next two photos.)

We had an excellent guide from Chile named Guillermo. He has been guiding on the Soča for seven years and prior to that had been a serious backcountry river guide in Chile, so he knew how to read the rapids and keep us safe. The guides also did a great job of making it fun, too!

On the van ride to the river, our guide had pointed out a few good swimming hole spots so that afternoon we stopped in at one to dip our toes in, literally. The water was freezing without a wetsuit, so dipping a toe was about as far as we got.

On Monday we did a hike along the Great Soča Gorge. It doesn't have quite as much infrastructure as the Vintgar gorge so there wasn't an easy-access wooden walkway. We had to do quite a bit of forest walking (and some backtracking) to get to the prettiest viewpoints.

The water is such a vibrant blue-green due to the ultra-fine karst rock flour that is suspended in the water. These tiny limestone particles catch the sunlight and reflect the blue and green colors. The clarity of the water adds to the effect. I'm not sure photographs can even do it justice.

There used to be a cable car in Bovec that would take you to the top of one of the ski resorts here in the Summer season for views and hiking. Unfortunately the Kanin Cable Car was out of service this year (with no anticipated re-opening date). But luckily we knew there was a similar ski area with hiking trails just back across the border in Italy. So on Tuesday we drove back over the Predil Pass to Sella Nevea and took the "Canin" cable car (Italian spelling, of course!) up to the other side of those same mountains.

But we didn't stop there. From the cable car we could also get on the Prevala funicular which took us to some truly breathtaking scenery. Honestly, I feel like taking the "easy" way just gave me more time to enjoy the views while hiking at the top. Otherwise we would have spent hours hiking up to that point and by then I would've been too tired to appreciate epic scenery like this!

We also managed to catch a glimpse of the mythical zlatorog. Okay, well maybe not a zlatorog but definitely an ibex!

After a truly enjoyable hike, we stopped in at the Rifugio Celso Gilberti (which I mentioned in the food post) and had a truly enjoyable lunch. Funny how a lunchtime hike in Italy has been one of the highlights of our trip to Slovenia!

Wednesday was a busy day. We started super early to get to the entrance to the Mangart Road before the parking filled up. The Mangart Saddle is one of the must-sees in this area but the road has five tunnels and is very narrow -- it barely accommodates two cars to pass each other. Parking is extremely limited and they actually have a "car count" as you go in. Only 90 vehicles are allowed on the Mangart Road at a time. If you arrive after the 90th car well, you'll just have to wait at the bottom of the road until someone comes all the way back down. 

Luckily we were early enough to go right through the gate after paying our 10 euro eco fee. We nabbed one of the last "real" spots in the parking lot, too. Everyone else sort of just parked as best they could along the road. The road used to be a scenic loop that you could drive right up to the saddle and back around. But unfortunately a recent rockslide has closed the last kilometer of the road to cars, so we had to park and walk up the rest of the way. With only 90 cars' worth of people, it was very easy to get away from the crowds. At times it seemed like it was only us and the sheep.

The ledges at the top could give Seceda Ridge in the Dolomites a run for its money. Mount Mangart is the fourth tallest summit in Slovenia at 2679 meters/8790 feet. You can get to the top but would need to be experienced and prepared for the demanding via ferrata route. 

Obviously, I wasn't up to anything like that kind of hiking! But we still were able to hike up onto the saddle to see some incredible views of the Koritnica Valley and all the way to the Fusine Lakes (that we'd biked to while we were in Kranjska Gora (they are behind me to the right in this photo).

It was windy and quite chilly at the top, so after we had our fill of views and sheep we drove back down and stopped at Fort Kluže. There has been a defensive fortress on this spot since the 1400s, and for centuries depending on which empire was in charge of this territory it defended Italy from the Turks coming from the east, or defended Austria from Venice in the west. In the 1790s it suffered a terrible defeat at the hands of Napoleon's advancing army. He burned the fortress to the ground. It was rebuilt and was eventually used as a defensive position against Italy in WWI during the battles on the Isonzo (or Soča) Front. Today it is a museum.

We continued our field trip to learn more about WWI history by driving to the town of Kobarid. This town, also known as Caporetto in Italian, was the site of a terrible battle in 1917 where Italy suffered a major defeat and was forced to retreat. Ernest Hemingway wrote about the battle in A Farewell to Arms. Kobarid town has an excellent WWI Historical Museum that thoroughly documents the horrors of the war from both sides and underscores the tragic consequences to the local people who were living along the Isonzo Front. We learned a lot here.

For our last two days in Bovec, we had some pretty rainy weather. It reminded me of the monsoon storms back home, just a huge downpour with loud thunder and the sky opening up. Just before the deluge came through we did manage a quick visit to Virje Waterfall on Thursday. Since it was just up the road from our apartment, we got there early and had this fairytale crystal pool all to ourselves for a few minutes before other visitors started arriving. A great way to end our stay in Bovec!

Slovenian Food and Drink

Having no real prior knowledge of Slovenian food, we have both been impressed with the variety and flavors of many of the dishes, snacks, and beverages we've been trying while we've been here. Since most of these foods were new to us, I thought I would do a full post just describing some of the items we have tried so far.

Priorities! First up I should talk about the big beer (pivo) culture here in Slovenia. While grape cultivation began here in pre-Roman times, commercial beer brewing got its start much later in the mid-1800s. There are two brands that dominate the market here, Union and Laško. Laško seemed a little more omnipresent and has a nice pale lager that I liked. Kevin preferred the temno (dark) version. The icon on the bottles is the mythical zlatorog, a white-coated alpine ibex with golden horns.

Legend has it that a hunter shot the zlatorog in order to win the heart of a beautiful girl. The drops of blood from the beast blossomed into magical roses, which the zlatorog ate to instantly heal himself. The ibex then went on a rampage, killed the hunter, stomped on the rest of the roses so no one else could pick them, ran away and was never seen again. Except on the labels of the best beer in the country. Next up, we have something "sweet" -- gibanica!

Prekmurska gibanica is a layer pastry with poppy seed, walnut, apple, and raisin fillings. It also has a kind of soft cottage cheese layer that makes it more tangy than other desserts. I put "sweet" in quotes because after spending several weeks here and trying many desserts, we came to the consensus that there generally isn't a lot of sugar in the pastries. They are often more bready and savory than what we consider dessert here in the US. Most of the time we would order dessert and then be a bit disappointed. We kept trying, though! The bled cake was alright, actually.

I think I described it in a previous post as "a puff pastry base with a layer of vanilla cream custard, followed by a layer of whip cream, then it's topped by more pastry and powdered sugar." While it is rich and creamy, it isn't as sweet as it looks and definitely the egg flavors come through in the custard. It is very popular though, and we saw it everywhere even far away from Lake Bled. We got a little bit closer to sweetness with potica.

This is actually something we had tried in America - Kevin's mom is a fan and had us try some. The signature trick of potica is that it has to be rolled up in many layers -- they roll out a heavy yeast dough that is spread with a walnut and honey filling (or other nut-based filling). Then they roll it all up as tight as possible and bake it so that you get a beautiful swirly pattern in each slice. The Slovenian version that we tried was a lot less sweet than the American version, and honestly a little too much walnut flavor for me. We started to realize that Slovenian grandmas really liked the swirly trick, since we saw it repeated in other popular dishes, like štruklji.

Štruklji are a type of dumpling that are a bit more versatile and can be savory or sweet. The dumpling dough is rolled thin, filling is added, and everything is rolled up into a brick-like shape. Then it is steamed, boiled, or baked and served in slices, often with a sauce accompaniment. Probably the most common type is sirovi štruklji which just means "cheese dumpling" -- they use a type of mild cream cheese for the filling. In Ljubljana we found a restaurant that had dozens of types of štruklji on offer - both savory and sweet. Portions were generous, and it made for a heavy meal. We learned to order one portion and share it. Speaking of heavy versus light meals, I should mention the sausages.

Nearly every restaurant we went to had some form of sausage platter. We ordered Kranjska klobasa (Carnolian sausage) several times. It's so special here in Slovenia that it is considered almost a national symbol of the country. The sausages use simple seasonings and high-quality pork and bacon for the filling. It almost always was served as two sausages accompanied by sauerkraut or tasty potatoes and was an easy choice whenever we wanted something that was filling but not necessarily too heavy. I found that it paired well with a Radler Isotonic.

I've used that photo in a previous post describing the excellent charcuterie and žlikrofi dumplings we had in Matkov Kot. But I failed to describe the beverage I was drinking. It's a Union Radler Isotonic. I first saw it on the non-alcoholic section of the drinks menu and was intrigued because I saw so many other people drinking it. I'd never heard the term "radler" but it turns out its a type of shandy that mixes beer and citrus juice or soda to make a low-alcohol drink. Union makes a completely alcohol-free version that tastes like fizzy lemon soda with a fraction of the sugar. It was still sweeter than most of the desserts we tried, though. Sign me up!

I know I already mentioned how Slovenia is the beekeeping leading country in the world per capita. Maybe the reason so many of the desserts are slightly less sweet is because they use honey instead of cane sugar? I don't know for sure. I do know that the apiculture museum in Radovljica specifically had a display of the lectarski gingerbread cookies, which are more honey-flavored than ginger-flavored.

But on to more savory items. This is langoš a kind of fry bread that comes from the part of Slovenia that shares a border with Hungary. The flattened dough is fried in a vat of oil and topped with various toppings. This one had a ricotta-type soft cheese, basil, lots of garlic, and some confit tomatoes. It was the best thing we ate at the odprta kuhna open kitchen market in Ljubljana.

I know I mentioned the savory pork žlikrofi that we had at the odprta kuhna. Here's a close up. We saw this item on many menus - the dumplings are usually filled with something savory and sometimes topped with crunchy pork cracklins. Occasionally we saw a description with a sweeter filling, like pear. Both versions are heavy and filling. 

Speaking of cracklins, at one of the huts Kevin ordered a dish called ajdovi žganci. This is a buckwheat porridge that is made very simply with just buckwheat, water, and salt (the plate on the lower right below). I know those look like walnuts on top, but it was actually pork cracklins. I'll be honest, it was worth ordering...once. The buckwheat is very bland but at least it is a heart-healthy whole grain, however any health benefit is completely canceled out by the fatty pork skin on top. It was worth a try, but we were pretty glad that we'd also ordered mushroom soup and some delicious wild blueberry pie. 

Overall I discovered that mushroom soup was almost always a safe bet if I wanted something that was reasonably healthy and tasted good. Mushrooms are a huge part of Slovenian culture and mushroom foraging (gobarjenje) is a strong tradition. You are legally limited to forage no more than 2 kilograms of wild mushrooms per day. That's like 4.5 pounds of mushrooms per person per day, so no wonder we saw mushroom soup on so many menus!

Stews, soups, and goulashes (golaž in Slovenian) were a staple on restaurant menus. This venison goulash had a savory blueberry sauce. Sounds like a crazy combo, but somehow it worked!

To wash it all down, we tried various kinds of Slovenian wine. I mentioned above that Slovenians have been practicing viticulture since before Roman times. In fact, the world's oldest living productive grapevine is here in Slovenia (although we didn't see it because we didn't go to the town of Maribor). Our favorites were the reds from the Brda region on the western border with Italy, but we also enjoyed tasting the sparkling wines (called penine) from the eastern Posavje wine region.

Grape juice isn't the only thing that gets fermented here. We also saw kieslo mljeko (literally "sour milk") on the menu at many rustic huts. We hesitated but finally broke down and gave it a try once. I was expecting something like Greek yogurt or Icelandic skyr but no -- it really did just have a curdled milk flavor. Truth in advertising, I guess. I was glad we only ordered one bowl to share.

Now I come to a dish that merits an "honorable mention" -- čevapčiči. It's not technically Slovenian but really originally from Bosnia. These are grilled mincemeat sausages with no casing. The sausages are served alongside ajvar (a roasted red pepper relish), chopped onion, and warm flatbread called lepinja. In Bosnia čevapčiči are made with 100% beef, but in Slovenia and Serbia a mixture of beef and pork is used. They are really delicious and I liken the dish to a deconstructed hamburger. The dish to the left of the sausages is a burek - another Bosnian dish that is kind of a spiral bun stuffed with meat (or cheese, potatoes, or spinach). We ordered bureks and čevapčiči several times and were never disappointed.  

And I can't end this post without mentioning an excellent lunch we had at the Rifugio Celso Gilberti in Sella Nevea, Italy (just over the border from Slovenia). Kevin ordered a blueberry tagliatelle and I had a savory pear ravioli dish. Both dishes were perfectly prepared - savory fresh pasta with a touch of sweetness from the fruit. 

Those were our mains, not desserts. But the dessert list was just as inventive. I played it safe and ordered an apple strudel but Kevin went all-in and ordered the hay-flavored panna cotta. Yes, you read that right -- hay, as in "hay is for horses" not "hey -- are you sure you want to order that?". But honestly it was delicious and we would make a beeline for this rifugio if we're ever anywhere near here again. Nobody cooks like the Italians, that's for sure, and this was a very memorable meal! 

Kranjska Gora, Slovenia

We couldn't check into our apartment in Kranjska Gora until later in the afternoon, so we booked a morning tour of Vintgar Gorge. This is a very popular attraction in the area, and its proximity to Lake Bled means that it can book up so it's a good idea to make a reservation in advance. The Radovna River has cut a steep one-mile gorge that culminates in an impressively loud waterfall, Šum Falls. The word šum literally means "noise" and I would say that is an accurate name.

The walls of Vintgar Gorge are between 150 and 330 feet high and it is very narrow in places. The river rapids combined with the sheer walls of the canyon meant that this gorge was mostly inaccessible until the 1890s when the first wooden walkways were installed. It has been a popular tourist stop ever since. Due to frequent rockfalls, all visitors are required to wear a helmet.

So we have now driven up around Triglav National Park to the town of Kranjska Gora, on the park's northern side. Kranjska Gora is a charming ski town and our apartment is in a great location, walkable to the small chairlift, a great bike path, cafes, restaurants, and everything in town.

Our apartment building is on the southwest edge of town just beneath Mount Rušica with a great view towards the Martuljek mountains. In the photo below, it's the brown wood-paneled building just above the two people on the walking path. 

A twenty minute walk from our apartment is the beautiful and popular summer spot of Lake Jasna. It's actually two connected lakes -- there is a peninsula that cuts almost all the way across providing more shoreline for a beach. These two lakes are artificial, and even combined they are much smaller than Lake Bohinj and Lake Bled but it's still a very popular cooling-off spot. The shores are lined with vacation homes, cafes, restaurants, and a majestic bronze statue of an ibex.

There are about half a dozen bike rental shops within a stone's throw of our apartment. We discovered that there is a car-free bike trail that goes all the way from here to Italy, so on Saturday we got "back on the horse" so to speak and gave e-biking another try. Be impressed by my photography skills -- I managed to snap a few photos with my phone and not fall off of my bike!

It was such a pleasant day for a ride. The bike path is a converted abandoned railway line and runs past some of the prettiest scenery.

After a few kilometers, we locked up the bikes and took a walk in the forested Zelenci Nature Reserve. Zelen means "green" in Slovenian and there is a jewel-toned emerald green lake right in the heart of the reserve. The ground is marshy here and they have installed wooden walkways and an observation tower.

We didn't linger too long at the nature reserve and hopped back on the bikes to head to the border. Saying "we biked all the way from Slovenia to Italy" sounds much more impressive than "we rode about 4 easy, flat miles to the border", doesn't it?

It was actually a longer bike ride, around 7 miles, to get all the way to the Mangart Lakes (aka Laghi di Fusine -- in this part of the world most places have 2 or 3 names in different languages). The lower lake is Lago di Fusine Inferiore and it was like an emerald mirror reflecting the the sky and surrounding landscape.

At the upper lake (Lago di Fusine Superiore) we were hoping to get great views of the Mangart massif towering above. Mount Mangart is the fourth tallest peak in Slovenia and is usually visible from this part of Italy. Unfortunately some low-hanging mist obscured the mountaintops from view. 

On Sunday we got an early start and headed to the next town over Gozd Martuljek (try saying that ten times fast, I dare you). Gozd Martuljek is nestled at the foot of the Martuljek mountain group. In my opinion, this town has the most jaw-dropping mountain panorama I've ever seen - I actually gasped out loud the first time I saw it as we rounded a corner while driving. The perfect pyramid in the center is Špik.

After taking in the majestic view we continued on to the trail that leads through town to the Martuljški falls. The lower of the two waterfalls was absolutely beautiful (the upper falls trail was closed according to a sign we translated at the trailhead -- thank you, Google Translate!). We continued past the waterfall up some tight switchbacks and along a frighteningly narrow cliffside trail before re-joining a wide forest road towards the Jasenje Alpine Meadow. That stretch getting up to the forest road was probably the scariest part of any hike of this trip and I wouldn't recommend it. I was very worried about how on earth I was going to get back down without losing my footing and plummeting to my death.

Once we got to the forest road we realized that there were a lot of other folks hiking up from wherever the road originated -- people of all ages, families, older couples. So I guess we could have taken a less treacherous path if we'd only known better. We assumed everyone must be headed for the popular Brunarica Pri Ingotu mountain hut that opened for brunch/lunch around 10am. We had planned on stopping there too after our hike but at this point I was concerned it would be too crowded. But I needn't have worried -- as we continued on through the woods toward the hut we heard people singing. Of course -- Sunday church! All those people found parking down in town and hiked for an hour to attend mass at a forest shrine known as the Chapel of Mary of the Snows. People were spilling out and around the tiny wooden structure. We would have stopped to listen but the service was already well in progress (and in Slovenian), so we instead continued reverently on through the woods.

On Monday we visited the Planica Nordic Center. If you are into extreme sports, this is the place for you! For your wintertime adrenaline rush, it has huge hills for ski jumping and something even more extreme called ski flying. Fearless athletes speed down these massive hills and launch themselves into the air, jumping for distances over 250 meters/820 feet. In 2025, the world record jump/flight was set here at 835 feet/254.5 meters by Domen Prevc (a Slovenian, of course). In the summertime, you can ride down the world's steepest zipline which follows the skijump hill and sounds absolutely terrifying (judging from the blood-curdling screams we could hear whenever someone was foolhardy enough to give it a try).

If the summer heat is getting to you, you can also head to the Center's indoor cross-country ski facility. It's basically a parking garage coated in man-made snow, but it offers a welcome blast of icy air if you crack open the door. 

We were underdressed for indoor skiing and too risk-averse for ziplining, so we opted to spend the morning doing a peaceful hike from the trailhead at Planica Nordic Center. The 2 mile walk to Planinski Dom Tamar mountain hut was easy and scenic. Plus there was a fantastic hut/restaurant at the end.

On Tuesday we headed over to the town of Mojstrana to check out the Slovenian Alpine Museum. We also took the free shuttle bus to the dramatic Peričnik Waterfall.

The waterfall cascades like a curtain over a rock overhang. Just a short hike lets you walk right behind the wall of water.

Yesterday we did our most challenging hike yet -- the hike to Slemenova Špica in Triglav National Park. This hike begins just off a road called the Vršič Pass, a high mountain pass that was constructed by Russian prisoners of war during WWI. It's one of the most scenic stretches of road in Slovenia but also very congested with tourist traffic in the summertime. The Slovenian authorities have set up a free bus route over the pass to alleviate parking issues and traffic. We caught an early bus and were very glad we did as we rode past full parking lot after full parking lot. The bus dropped us off right at the trailhead, too.

This was an incredibly challenging hike for me since I am partway through rehabbing a torn meniscus in my knee. While it was beautiful with amazing views, it was also very steep (a 10% grade climbing 600 feet in just the first half mile). Overall it was a 1500 foot elevation gain for a 3.5 mile hike -- a lot of up and down. I look happy in this photo because we were still on our way up and hadn't yet started the descent.

For Kevin, it was by far his favorite hike. The whole way we had had spectacular views of the peaks in this part of Triglav National Park.

I was so exhausted from yesterday's climb that for today's activity we took the easy option and rode the chairlift here in town to the top of Vitranc mountain. Stunning views without any work!

This area around Kranjska Gora has been our favorite part of Slovenia by far. It has easy access to great hiking in Triglav National Park, lots of restaurants and things to do, and beautiful sunsets too! We had a truly idyllic time here and would gladly return someday!