Tag Archives: vogar

Best Autumn Hikes in Bohinj

Posted in Adele in Slovenia, Bohinj, Bohinj lake, Hiking, hiking in Slovenia, hiking trails, Julian Alps, Lake Bohinj, lakes in Slovenia, Slovenia, Slovenia blog, The Julian Alps, Triglav, Triglav National Park by

Though summer will always be my favourite time of the year in Slovenia, autumn comes a close second, particularly when it comes to my favourite pastime – hiking. Though I have titled this blog ‘Best Autumn Hikes in Bohinj‘ in truth it’s almost impossible to pick the ‘best’ hikes in an area with so much natural beauty and so many amazing hiking trails. So, below are just a few of my favourite autumn hikes in Bohinj and Triglav National Park.

To the south of Lake Bohinj, the Lower Bohinj mountain range offers wonderful hikes to suit all; shorter linear walks, longer circular walks or hut-to-hut hikes. As the days shorten in autumn, you can also make great use of the Vogel gondola to take you up or down – I prefer the latter, though I’m guessing I’m in the minority when it comes to that!

I love walking along the ridge, or part of it, that runs between Črna Prst, above Bohinjska Bistrica, to Rodica and onwards to the peak of Šija and down the ski slopes to the Vogel ski resort. Below are some of the highlights of my recent hike through the Bareča dolina valley towards Rodica.

The path starts off gently through the forest…

…before reaching the largely abandoned but nevertheless beautiful Suha mountain pasture.

From here its onwards and upwards to the Čez Suho saddle, where, on a fine day, you are richly rewarded with views as far as the eye can see of the surrounding peaks of the Julian Alps and, to the south, towards Slovenia’s Primorska region. You can also see the path(s) ahead and then take your choice. Turn left for Rodica or right towards Vogel.

On reaching the saddle beneath Šija, it’s just a short 15 minutes to the top, before heading down the ski slopes to the heart of the Vogel ski resort. The paths are well marked throughout.

On the way back, I met some very friendly sheep…

And stopped to ring the wishing bell!

.before reaching Vogel, which is, indeed, ‘Like a fairytale’!

In autumn the hugely popular 7 Triglav Lakes Valley is far less crowded so you can enjoy the best of the valley whilst, at times, even feeling like you have it all to yourself!

Without doubt one of my favourite autumn hikes is to Pršivec, a viewpoint on the north side of Lake Bohinj, where in autumn the colours of the surrounding larch trees, combined with the stunning views of the lake and the surrounding peaks, is truly magnificent.

There is often fog lingering above the lake in autumn, and on reaching the viewpoint at Vogar, you get that smug feeling of being, almost, on top of the world!

Lake Bohinj is at its most spectacular when viewed from Pršivec. It almost seems heart-shaped, well, it certainly captures the heart of all who see it!

I hope this has provided at least a few ideas for autumn hikes in Bohinj; there are countless others, too. So, what are you waiting for, it’s all there, ready for the taking – or rather the hiking! Click here for more about what else to do and do in autumn in Bohinj and here for advice on hiking in Bohinj in autumn.

© Adele in Slovenia

Highlights of Triglav National Park!

Posted in Bohinj, Julian Alps, Triglav National Park by

In this blog I’d like to show you some of the highlights of Triglav National Park, including some of my personal favourite parts, which will hopefully provide some ideas and inspiration for those interested in exploring this wonderful part of Slovenia.

Triglav National Park is Slovenia’s only national park and is the heart of the Julian Alps. The park is located in the north-western part of Slovenia and is named after the country’s highest mountain, Mt. Triglav (2,864m). It covers an area of over 83,000 hectares.

On my blog I have always strived to ensure I give readers a personal account of my adventures and experiences in Slovenia, rather than just regurgitating information which is already readily available. Therefore, I’m not ashamed to admit that I’ve never actually been to the top of Triglav, though I’ve been close!

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Unlike in some national parks, there are no official entry and exit points to the park, and no entrance fees to be paid. However, there are some rules by which visitors must abide to protect the flora and fauna of this jewel of nature. For example, wild flowers are not to be picked, no fires may be lit, and camping anywhere within the park, other than in designated campsites, is strictly forbidden.

One among my many favourite parts of Triglav National Park is Krn Lake (1391m) – as seen below, with Mt. Krn (2244m) in the background.

For this trip I started from the car park at the Savica waterfall in Bohinj and walked up to Komna (1520m), onwards past the Koča pod Bogatinom hut to the Vratca saddle then descended to the Dom pri Krnskih jezerih hut (1385m) where I stayed overnight. The next morning I got up (very!) early to hike up Mt. Krn, then returned the same way back to Savica. It makes a long 2nd day but the scenery is so wonderful, and other than the climb up to Krn, its reasonably easy going. If you don’t need to return back to Savica, then you can instead take the path down to the Dom dr. Klemena Juga hut (700m) in the Lepena valley from where you can explore the beautiful Soča valley.

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The picture-postcard pretty Planina pri Jezeru highland is another of my favourites and the options for reaching it are numerous. I like to start from Stara Fužina and walk first to Vogar, from where there are magnificent views over Bohinj lake and the surrounding mountains, then past the Kosijev dom na Vogarju hut (1054m).

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On this hike I continued first towards the Planina pri Jezeru hut (1453m) but then branched off towards Planina Blato (1147m) then to Planina Laz (1560m) – the oldest highland in Slovenia. From Planina Laz a very pleasant almost level route leads to Planina pri Jezeru from where, after a break for some sustenance, I returned to the Vogar highland and back to Stara Fužina. There are, however, also several other alternative routes that I have also taken, such as via Planina Viševnik and onwards to Pršivec (1761m).

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Planina Laz is on part of the Tourist Cheese Route (Turistična sirarna pot). The route leads across the many highlands in the Bohinj area where cheese and other dairy products can be sampled and bought. The route, which is marked with yellow signs, also leads past numerous natural features of interest such as gorges, waterfalls, museums, churches, and archeological sites. The path covers a very wide area so its not possible to walk it in its entirety (at least not in a day), so it’s best to just choose part of it and visit one or two of the highlands and dairies.

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One of the most popular destinations for hiking in Triglav National Park is the Seven Triglav Lakes Valley. It is doable in a day trip, particularly if you drive up the toll road, saving yourself approx. 1.5 hours of hiking, to begin at Planina Blato. However, to have time to fully experience and appreciate the entire length of the valley, it is best to stay at least one night in a mountain hut, such as the Koča pri Triglavskih jezerih (1685m), where you also get a chance to soak up the atmosphere of the surroundings, enjoy some hearty homemade food, and chat to some fellow hikers.

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As you can see, there’s no shortage of routes to choose!

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Wherever you see signs such as this one, you can buy home-produced cheese, sour milk, and other highland treats!

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And you can certainly see exactly where it comes from. There are no food miles here!

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Provided you have a map of the Julian Alps it is very easy to put together an itinerary for day, or multi-day, hikes. Routes are generally well-marked and there are plenty of mountain huts where you can overnight, though in the summer months I’d recommend booking ahead for the most popular huts – you wouldn’t want to hike all that way to find yourself without a bed for the night!

Triglav National Park awaits – time to get exploring!

© AdeleinSlovenia 2016

 

The Bohinj Highlands and the Tourist Cheese Route

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It’s been a fabulous week thanks to the glorious weather. Whilst I’ve never been one for lying on a beach in the sun, I do love being out in the sun hiking and biking. I’ve been out a lot this week as I just want to make the best of every minute of the summer while it lasts. You won’t find me complaining about the heat, especially since living here where the winters can be very long.

A trip that I do at least once a year, is to the many mountain highlands up above Lake Bohinj. It’s quite a long hike but not overly strenuous. I was walking for around 8 hours with only one quick break to eat, but because there’s so much to see it never feels like hard going and is well worth the effort. My route, which started from Stara Fužina in the valley, took in Planina Blato, Planina Laz, Planina Dedno Polje, Planina pri Jezerju, Planina Viševnik and Planina Vogar.

Planina Laz (seen below) is the oldest of the mountain highlands in Slovenia and, in the summer, is still very much and living and working highland where the herdsmen live and produce and sell cheese and sour milk. It is also part of the Tourist Cheese Route (Turistična sirarna pot). The route leads across the many highlands in the Bohinj area where cheese and other dairy products can be sampled and bought. The route, which is marked with yellow signs as seen below, also leads past numerous natural features of interest such as gorges, waterfalls, museums, churches, archeological sites and more. The path covers a very wide area so its not possible to walk it in its entirety (at least not in a day) so it is best to just choose part of it and visit one or two of the highlands and dairies.

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It is also possible to drive up to Planina Blato from Stara Fužina via the toll road so even for those who don’t wish to walk so far, it is still possible to visit some of the highlands and enjoy the fantastic scenery. This picture (below) shows Planina pri Jezeru – these are certainly lucky cows!

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This week I also finally got to meet some of my blog readers face-to-face. It was so nice to know that reading my blog helped them to finally decide to come to Slovenia and to go walking in the Julian Alps and I was more than happy to show them around my home town of Radovlijca. I’m always willing to try and help with advice on planning hiking/biking trips to Slovenia, so don’t hesitate to get in touch!

Last weekend it was the annual Bled Days Festival in Bled. There were numerous events taking place across the weekend including concerts, an air show, a large market, a fireworks display and on Saturday evening candles on the lake. It’s a very popular weekend and Bled was packed but fortunately, since I live only 7kms away, I was able to walk there via the Sava river, so I didn’t have to worry about parking. The highlight of the weekend for me was the air show where acrobatic planes were swooping down low, almost skimming the surface of the lake, before performing dramatic aerial climbs and nose-dives – quite a sight against the backdrop of Bled Castle.

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In Radovljica this week there will be live music in the Old Town Centre on Thursday from 8pm with Nula Kelvina and on Friday at 9pm the open-air cinema on the terrace of the Mansion House will be showing the film Cowboy.