Perched between the jagged peaks of the Julian Alps and the Soča Valley, a small settlement of about a thousand carries not only a long history but also incredible landscapes. While Kobarid’s intriguing part of the history, the 1917 Battle of Caporetto, made it actually world renowned with Ernest Hemingway’s A Farewell to Arms, experiencing it in person completely surpasses one’s expectations. It offers a whole pack of outdoor activities, anything from kayaking in the white waters, relaxing on long dusty bike trails, sport climbing, paragliding, to exploring endless trails over small hills and rocky faces of high mountains.
Alps
Colors of the fall around Kranjska Gora: Trupejevo Poldne and Sleme
Larches along the trail sparkle golden in the setting sun, the curvy land turns quiet, and views capture a playground of jagged peaks and endless golden forests underneath. That’s Kranjska Gora right now. If you’re into the great outdoors and would like to enjoy spectacular colors nature has painted so generously this year, then you should definitely take these two hiking trails around Kranjska Gora.
As spectacular as it gets: ballooning over Lake Bled
Most visitors to Bled, Slovenia’s fairytale location, experience the lake and its enchanting little island from a beautiful walk around it, a boat, or the castle. The more adventurous bunch admire the view of the lake underneath the Alps from a small hill Ojstrica. But how many have you seen it from a hot-air balloon? It’s easily one of the most spectacular and exhilarating things you can do in Bled, so if you haven’t tried it yet, you definitely should!
Romantic hike in the heart of Triglav National Park: Vodnik Hut
With the first snowfall this season as early as 13th September I found myself stranded between excitement and annoyance. Not that I don’t like snow, but technically speaking, it was still summer, and that’s when my winter gear is pretty satisfied buried somewhere in the basement. Yet, mountains were calling {like super loud} and I decided to go regardless, only not as high as originally planned. I chose a mountain hut in the midst of Triglav National Park that packs everything. The Vodnik Hut is as romantic as it gets, with a sunny trail curving slowly towards a mountain wonderland, plus with its position at 1,817 m, I knew getting there wouldn’t be a problem even without crampons.
Beautiful Alpine Slovenia in a time-lapse video
I’m proud to announce a short video of spectacular Slovenian Alps. Let me back up. In a nutshell, I’ve been collecting time-lapse videos for the last year and a half while exploring the beautiful Julian Alps and its epic Triglav National Park, Kamnik-Savinja Alps, Karavanke Alps, and Dinaric Alps. Now, I’ve packed my heart and soul into this three-minute video, which combines highlights of my journey on the trail in my home Alps. It’s not been an easy jaunt {oh man, the long waiting at temperatures below freezing and sometimes nasty wind… I get frostbites at the very thought}, but indeed a fulfilling one.
So, here it is, our incredible Alpine Slovenia that manages to stun us on every step of the way. I truly hope you like it!
Don’t be shy to leave a comment, like the video and share it. Thanks! ? Also, if you’re interested in stories from the trail, I’m sure I’ve either written about them here on my Blog, published extensive photo albums on Facebook, or selected the most beautiful photos for Instagram.
Stay tuned for more outdoor adventures! Join seventy thousand Exploring Slovenia fans by liking us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. If you enjoyed this story, sign up for the monthly exploringslovenia.com/blog newsletter. A handful selection of stories from Hiking and Climbing in Slovenia, delivered to your inbox every month.
Instagram photo tips from the Velika Planina InstaMeet
It’s not very often you get the opportunity to hang out with a large group of photographers as good as this pack of Instagrammers. Last weekend, I got a chance to talk with @IgSlovenia, @VisitLjubljana, and @DomagojSever, and learn from the best landscape Instagrammers of the region. Lessons learned? Quite a few actually, but let’s get down to five for now.
Hiking Grintovec, the king of the Kamnik-Savinja Alps
It was early August, so to speak the peak of the mountaineering season for most of the country, and the sun was about to spread its first rays over the sleepy slopes. Besides a few other cars, my husband and I were among the few hikers to go up the highest peak of the Kamnik-Savinja Alps that day, Mount Grintovec.
Boating and exploring unspoiled beaches in the Adriatic
My thoughts still flash back to my recent carefree life jumping from one adventure to another, from dusty trails, small medieval villages, to the big blue sea, dolphins and divine beaches full of wildlife. Remember my spring break holidays on Lošinj and Cres? My family and I returned back to Lošinj in July, a perfect 31-km long green Croatian island in the Mediterranean, to unplug and spend relaxing yet active summer holidays far away from the crowds. This time by boat.
As always, our base was in a small settlement of Nerezine just underneath Televrin, the island’s highest peak, on the eastern side of the island. While I don’t mind the beaches there and our kids tend to insist on staying there with their little pals, we adults prefer wild and natural beaches instead. Therefore, after packing some food, water and beach stuff in the morning, we usually left for daily trips around Lošinj and its neighboring islands of Cres, Ilovik, Susak, Olib, and Silba. Here, I give you our five best boating trips this year.
Up to Triglav over its North Face and down to the Krma Valley
Let us know if you’d love to climb Triglav over Prag Route yourself or combine Mt. Rjavina and Triglav in one tour,
There’s certain allure of climbing Slovenia’s highest mountain, particularly over its grand Triglav North Face, a 3-km wide and 1-km high vertical face with paint blazes marking only a few of about a hundred, mostly alpine routes to Triglav. Our small group of four ventured out there the last weekend in June only to return with incredible stories to tell and even more amazing pictures to show. If I had to caption our trip in three words, it would be sun, thunderstorms and fun.
But before I tell the story, let Chris take us up Triglav over the Prag Route. Thanks Chris and Miha for helping create this amazing video!
https://youtu.be/CWelSdQdSLs
Photographers’ favorite mountain route in the Kamnik-Savinja Alps: Kamniško Sedlo
Somewhere far away from the city bustle, nested among towering mountain peaks, an enchanting green meadow stretches speckled with colorful flowers, and right in the middle of a green patch there is a friendly mountain hut. On its sunny terrace in totally relaxed vibes, a bunch of eager mountaineers share their bold climbing stories over barley porridge called ričet and cold beer while soaking in epic views of the Kamnik-Savinja Alps. That’s Kamniško Sedlo.