The adventure is long finished by now, yet I’m still enchanted — completely head over heels. Zgornje Jezersko, at 890 m, an alpine village in the heart of the beautiful Jezersko municipality in the Kamnik–Savinja Alps, inspires with its magic, authentic culture, friendly people, good food, and fairytale-like charm. The water-rich valley, where horses and sheep roam verdant meadows, creeps into vertical walls of high, rocky peaks, while gentle, low-lying green peaks line the length of the valley.
All you need is two days in Jezersko and you’ll fall in love for life. Stay any longer, and it’s likely you won’t want to leave again.
It seems that winter has its own ways on Mt. Snežnik, Slovenia’s highest non-alpine peak at 1,796 m. Only 28 km from the sea, it receives a comparable amount of precipitation as the Alps, which in combination with strong winds sometimes results in incredible snow sculptures – dwarf pine trees and spruces carved into a finest art display. At first glance, the landscape encapsulated in the clutches of the snow resembles Lapland, yet just a stone’s throw away, you’ll find its beautiful beech forest, for what the 793,9 ha Snežnik-Ždrolce primeval forests got included on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2017. The tall beeches, whose branches become bare of leaves in winter, turn completely white and look delicately gentle set against the blue skies. A truly dreamy winter hike.
Those would be a few of the many reasons why Snežnik might just be the best winter hike in Slovenia.
It’s been a crazy year and an even crazier season, hiking and climbing in the beautiful Slovenian mountains. We’ve hit that dusty, muddy and even snowy trail countless times and have seen anything from the big elusive ibexes, mesmerizing sunrises and sunsets, to the cutest playful marmots. We’ve sweated together on steep slopes, tried to escape big thunderstorms, dipped into the freezing cold Soča river, enjoyed exposed climbs, and listened to relaxing music on our rides to the mountains. Those short moments together truly connected us into unique friendships.
It’s not easy to pick my personal favorite mountain tours of 2024, especially since grading cannot be based solely on the trails and beauty of the views, but also on quite coincidental factors like the weather, hut life, sparks within the groups, food and other well-being factors. All in all, of all incredible hikes and climbs we’ve shared, here are Exploring Slovenia’s five best mountain tours of 2024!
Set in one of Slovenia’s most beautiful locations, on a large alpine plateau called Velika Planina, these comfortable cabins run by Alpine Resorts are only a short hike away from the nearest parking lot or chair lift, and the area offers various hiking options.
As the sun was announcing a new day, coming out shyly from behind the mountains, the old shepherds’ settlement of 64 enchanting oval wooden huts lit up in the most vibrant colors. First, the sun stroked the topmost huts, each inside a cute wooden fence where the cows used to rest after grazing. Then slowly the whole settlement lit up and the first purple spring flowers playfully brightened the freshly green meadows. A glimpse of heaven, I thought.
As the lights on the Christmas tree are twinkling, the snow is glistening from the mountain peaks, and we are eagerly glancing at the sky not to miss the first snowflakes, our hearts fill with love and expectations. Heart-warming childhood memories rush back and we dream of the moments that we could be as free as when we were kids. Many of us have found freedom in the mountains, many in the forest near home, and many in dancing, gardening, traveling and more. Regardless of how busy our lives may be, it’s absolutely essential to keep on searching for those moments of freedom.
Our dear co-adventurers, who like ourselves look for those moments in the mountains, here is a selection of the best pictures from Exploring Slovenia’s hiking and climbing tours in 2023. Enjoy and hopefully we’ll see each other again on the trail!
Here are twenty photos and a story about how we tackled to climb Mangart. Enjoy!
Beautiful and rugged, the Julian Alps have unbelievable charm. Towering mountains, boulders scattered along long scree slopes under unforgiving crumbly limestone walls, streams plunging into sudden gorges. Yet in between all that, you’ll find soft sun-stroked meadows which explode with colorful wild flowers in the summer, enchanting forests and high peaks with hypnotic views. The northwestern Julian Alps might even be the most photogenic corner of the Slovenian mountains, and Mangart, the third highest peak of Slovenia, together with the highest road to its Mangart Saddle at 2,055 meters their very best gems.
As we were driving towards the mountains, the soft morning light, caught in the forested slopes of the Karavanke mountains on the right and the craggy peaks of the Julian Alps on the left, added to the vibrancy of a beautiful autumn day. The contrast between the freshly covered snow-capped peaks and the explosion of colors in the forest lower down was mesmerizing. Anything from virgin white to bright green, red, yellow and orange-brown, all set against a clear blue sky with an occasional streak of fog still lingering in the fresh air. The kind of perfection that can only be seen right after a good long downpour.
The most beautiful view of the Julian Alps from Srednji Vrh , a tiny village located 7 km from Kranjska Gora
To be quite honest, I had been eyeing this peak for years. A moderately demanding day hike in the Julian Alps, whose peak opens up to absolutely stunning views of a lake. Mt. Jerebica is a beautiful hike throughout, but its top will literally blow your mind away as it faces the 1,400-m long and 400-m wide glacial Rabeljsko Jezero (Eng. Lake of Predil) from a thousand meters above. Yet, as much as I devote my life to the mountains, Jerebica has always managed to slip by somehow. A couple of years ago I even attempted to hike it but failed badly due to the lack of preparation. Yes, one wrong turn right at the beginning of the trail can eventually lead you into a maze of wide and deep Karst holes and cracks instead of taking you to the comfortable grass-covered peak with a view of a turquoise lake. However, once I did manage to climb Jerebica – I was not disappointed!
Here’s what you need to know about the hike in the Julian Alps above a beautiful lake.
As the season turns around and we are suddenly faced with high temperatures and lots of hot sun, it’s nice to look back and daydream about the awesome mountain adventures you’ve done in the past months. Due to a colder start of the spring, the nature remained in its snooze mode for a couple of weeks longer this year, but once it finally did wake up, it was freaking insane! I’d never seen so many daffodils in the mountains before, nor had the mid-elevation peaks looked so lush and verdant in early June.
Let’s go through the most memorable mountain hikes in Slovenia (and one awesome climb!) that we explored together this spring.
There’s that special moment in the year when we get to see two seasons overlap. Lively birds singing, trees blossoming and the first flowers announcing the arrival of warmer spring days down in the valleys. However, higher up in the mountains the strong north winds and freezing temperatures still hold a firm hold over the white mountaintops. The best of spring and winter in the great outdoors is right here, it’s just a matter of us grasping it or not.
To that extent I’ve been fortunate to walk endless greening meadows speckled with wild marsh tulips, hike along rolling hills carpeted with purple crocuses, and see the trees coming into leaf along a vibrant small gorge. Over a thousand meters higher, on the other hand, I enjoyed snowshoeing in half a meter of fresh snow up to incredible mountain peaks, while also climbing safely to a white peak with views of both Slovenia and Austria.
Here are five memorable spring hikes in the Slovenian Alps and the hillside close to Ljubljana that I’ve done; some you can do easily with your family and friends, and some are preferably reserved for the more experienced hikers or in company of a certified guide. Either way, enjoy the pictures and the gorgeous first days of spring and the last of winter!
Nestled within the dense forests and framed by the towering peaks of the Julian Alps, the alpine pastures of Pokljuka offer a serene escape with breathtaking vistas. Here’s a glimpse of what we visited today when exploring the pastures. Get tour details: https://www.exploringslovenia.com/tours/alpine-pastures-of-pokljuka/
