You certainly wouldn't take the time to drive to the half deserted village of Robidisce, (Blackberry) just because it is Slovenia's most westerly village!

But if you knew how remote and beautiful this place was and that we told you the whole village was one big living museum and that you could see another of Napolean's army's wonderful bridge constructions on the way along a most stunning river drive.. might you be a little more interested now?!

If we throw in a nice warm river swim and some time by the Soca river as well, we are sure we've got your attention!

This day trip is all about the drive there.. it's a driving day out with lots of little stops along the way. You have plenty of choices where to visit and eat and we will tell you about those options, but the focus of this trip is to see the amazing bridge and visit this secluded little village with some surprises in store.

To have any hope of finding Raspberry village on the map, try to find the stunning Alpine town of Kobarid on the Soca river and then look left..

Blackberry is the more than a little dot on the border with Italy. It's a real adventure to get here from Kobarid along tight, curvy country roads. Blackberry is actually the end of the road and there are very few people living in this remote corner of Green Slovenia, but it means you are very unlikely to meet much traffic along the way!

This is pretty handy to know when you are crawling around scary corners with blind bends and then all of a sudden you are going down and down to the warm river Nadiza, which is the one to follow to get you on the right track to the village.

Over the years the older people have died off and the younger people have left for jobs so you arrive at what can only be described as a green ghost village. There is a little car park and a nice visitors board, which will initially confuse you until you start walking around and exploring that is! House after house is deserted, but outside every house is a sign with at least one photo of the person who lived in that house and very often other info about what they did for a living.. So the village starts to come alive around you and you want to explore more and more! 

You can go into some of the houses and there is a little village shop / hall with more fascinating info, photos and stories for you to enjoy.

There was a rumour before lockdown that the BBC would film a new BBC series where another deserted Slovenian village, (this time a bit further south in the Gorica hills) is transformed into a TV social experiment, then we would say visiting Blackberry is a must to get some perspective and see what a real half deserted Slovenian village is like!

Robidisce is not deserted and there are several houses still occupied by friendly smiling villagers and a small tourist farm that serves excellent food & drink, so even though you are going to the middle of nowhere, you will not be in the middle of nowhere!

We also wandered out of the village into the green suburbs and had absolutely no clue if we were in Italy or Slovenia still! We really enjoyed wandering around this renovated village reading the signs and being surrounded by so much green nature and we can only recommend that if you want to leave the crowds at Bled behind then you take a day to come find Blackberry village!

And what about that stunning bridge! If anything, it is a good indication that you are getting very close to Blackberry and you could visit the bridge on the way there or way back. There is a very little, but newly built car park just before the bridge, (Most in Slovene) and then you have to walk up the road a bit and follow a path down to the river and the bridge. Wow, it's a beauty! There are lots of Napoleon bridges around Slovenia to find, as his army were very efficient in crossing Slovenia on their way to Russia.

This is a very pretty bridge and one that will demand a lot from your memory card. Slovenia is currently being invaded again by the French as many are finding that little old Slovenia is the perfect place for a quiet adventure in green nature, but what a bonus for French people to be able to identify with some of the huge history here. French Lodge guests are also pretty much flabbergasted when we inform them that the last French king is also buried in a tomb in a pretty little church.. guess where.. in Green Slovenia of course, in Nova Gorica, 40 mins from the Lodge!

Anyway, we should warn you that the road from Kobarid is very beautiful, but a little tricky in places, so take it easy.. you are on holiday anyway! If you don't eat in Blackberry, then Kobarid has nice little restaurants and outside the town direction Blackberry, there is even a Michelin star chef if you book enough in advance for.

From Kobarid, you pretty much follow the Nadiza river, which is a freak of mother nature being a warm river in the Alps. There are really great places to stop off and have a dip all along this river and the water is often above 20 degrees. It's such a great tip, we did a whole secret place to visit article on the Nadiza if you want to read more!

For Lodge guests, its perfectly possible drive up to this pretty little corner of Slovenia and visit Blackberry, the bridge and have a dip in the warm river. What's more you could also maybe visit the stunning Kozjak waterfall, spend time by the Soca river, certainly have a coffee in Kanal along the way and possibly have a meal or an ice cream on the way home in the stunning Vipava valley.

There is also an amazing museum in Kobarid which will tell you all about the horrific first world war mountain battle with the stunning soca river as the border, or you could pop in to Tolmin on the way to see the amazing Tolmin Gorge.. We did tell you there were a lot of choices!

This day out will be another surprisingly different day on your catalogue of different days in Green Slovenia, so how about visiting Slovenia's most westerly village?! Have a fantastic day!