Adventure

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!

Exploring Slovenia’s best spring hikes:
Flower hike on Golica
Velika Planina and crocuses
Goli Vrh above Jezersko

Following the weeks of mountaineering in winter conditions, I wanted the past week to be different. Warm, pleasant and colorful. As it happens, our little green country is fortunate to have three different types of climate, and when the first flowers only start to bud in one place, spring is already in full swing in another place. 

Barring some occasional drizzles, late winter was pretty dry not leaving nature as spectacular for wildflowers as usual. But since nature is slowly awakening as the proverbial rainy month has only just started, flower lovers can already see the first spring blooms in a few sites. Here are three beautiful spring hikes in Slovenia, located in three completely different parts of the country, and are known for their flower booms in early spring. I visited all three last week and each is very different, yet wonderful in its uniqueness. Enjoy!

Exploring Slovenia’s best spring hikes:
Stunning Julian Alps
Golica and endless fields of daffodils
Fairytale hike in Karavanke
Velika Planina and crocuses

The mountain in Slovenia that has inadvertently captured my heart is neither Triglav nor any of the country’s other striking high peaks, but a relatively lowly peak whose height would easily betray its beauty. At 1,835 meters, it doesn’t stick out in the 120-km long Karavanke mountains like its neighboring 2,236-m Stol, yet it effortlessly steals the show, thanks to its booming fragrant flowers. The thick aromatic flowery smell fills the air as the light breeze strokes the wild daffodils left and right, and my heart melts at the sight of the early-morning sun cast glorious light on the rolling slopes, softly carpeted with wild daffodils. Yes, Golica truly is a spectacle of nature.