Forest
Slovenia has over 60% of its surface covered in trees and some of them are very old, in fact we have some of the oldest, deepest, most untouched forests in Europe.
The only countries in Europe with more forest than Slovenia are Finland and Sweden.. and Finns, in particular, absolutely love coming here to see our varied flora and fauna combined with all those castles, caves, vineyards, mountains, rivers and lakes!
So just dream about it, the only other two more forested countries in Europe than Slovenia are both Nordic, so imagine the different shades of GREEN you will see in the most forested central-south European country, with all three Mediterranean, Continental AND Alpine climates!
The huge variety of natural colours here are where we got the name "Green Slovenia". from.. Once you start getting around from the Lodge, you will quickly move between very different regions and numerous sub regions, so we are pretty sure you will not see so many amazing shades of green in your own country!
There are numerous recommended hiking or biking trails you can do here.. and there are so many walks direct from Lipizzaner Lodge that we even did another entire page on them in Lodge Walks..
The one thing you can be sure about is that you will see forests wherever you go here..
Some guests have gone on a horse drawn carriage adventure with a local horseman through the forest after visiting one of the local castles, others hike up mountains to find secret cafes or go off for a swim by a river hidden on the side of a forested mountain!
It doesn't matter how you get into the forest, the key thing is that you schedule some time to enjoy these amazing canopies during your trip. It's really easy as you will encounter the forest on so many of our recommended day trips.
You might also be interested to know that we still have all types of animals in the forests here.. bears, lynx, wolves, deer, stags and cuddly dormice too. We haven't had any guests eaten yet and the animals won't bother you.. they will smell or hear you coming and disappear, but wow, it is very exciting to think you might catch a glimpse of one!
Indeed the area of forest that spreads from Snow Mountain castle, (Sneznik, 45 mins from the Lodge) to the Croatian border is the ONLY forest left in Europe where the "big three" wild animals.. bear, wolves and lynx.. still roam together..
This same area wild forest that spreads up the foothills of the largest non Alpine mountain in Slovenia, also called Sneznik, 1,796m had the honour of having it's air quality measured as some of the freshest in the entire world! If you think about it, this makes sense..
A more real danger in the forest is getting lost! If you are going bear watching or on some more detailed forest hikes then you MUST take a local guide who knows the terrain..
Even with our limited hiking experience here, we have gotten to know our local forest just like a map in our heads, but even we can go exactly the same secret path in summer and it can look completely different in spring, autumn or winter!
We once got lost in the Malysian jungle and it is so easy to do, once you leave the path.. the same can happen here, particularly in the summer!
There are wonderful forest paths everywhere, through ancient woods, some with lines and lines of beautiful Silver Birch, forests full of Beech trees and more modern day, faster growing Pines and Fir..
But the thing to look out for are the many routes created specifically for logging that look very promising, but don't actually lead anywhere, so you have to be careful you don't wander off along too many wrong turns and forget your way back.
Our advice is it doesn't matter where you explore as long as you REMEMBER THE WAY BACK! This might seem obvious, but as long as you can get back to where you came from, then you will be ok!
We took this advice ourselves once on a cycling trip here to try to find a track through the thick forest that has grown over the old Roman road between the modern main road from Postojna cave to Predjama castle and our little village of Landol..
Well, one of your Lipizzaner Lodge team wears glasses and he foolishly only brought his sunglasses as the late summer light started to fade.. so we pushed on and on, but gave up in enough time before it went dark and made sure we knew the way back to the main road, then cycled up that huge curvy hilly road home.. but safely!
We know enough now about that amazing forest to know we made the right decision!
For those who enjoy an early morning walk we have our own Early Bird Forest walk with our local forester friend. He goes out at 6.45am every morning for a 1.5 hour walk into the forest and he has been showing our guests animal tracks and other signs to spot in the forest. For him it is like reading his morning newspaper!
You will also find a secret viewpoint for Predjama castle and get to climb up the ladder into a forest hunting lodge for a great vista. What a way to start the day.. and you will be back at the Lodge in time for a well earned breakfast!
There are lots of walks you can do on your own.. we can give you directions and off you go! Just 20 minutes away in the forests behind Postojna hides another natural treasure that you probably haven't heard about, Rakov Skocjan.
This is a protected forest area where you can walk for 2 hours or all day on trails and find 2 large natural stone arches created from an enormous prehistoric collapsed cave.
These forests were also home to Slovenia's own Robin Hood, Martin Kirpan, another Slovenian legend about a guy who was so strong he carried his horse through the forest to evade capture when troops got close and might have heard his horse's hooves!
Nobody knows exactly where he roamed, but you can get a pretty good idea exploring just 20 mins from the Lodge at the Planina disappearing lake or by Rapunzels tower, which peeps majestically over the tree line!
Indeed the old Roman road we mentioned comes from Planina and goes right past the Lodge's front door in Landol, before squeezing past Nanos mountain and to Rome.. in later years the massive oak trees in Slovenian forests were transported along this ancient road on the way to build the foundations for Venice..
Secret WW2 Forest Partisan Hospitals..
The huge Slovenian forests were also a big advantage for the Partisans during WW2.. With their local forest knowledge, they were able to fight a guerilla war against the Nazis and have left behind the most wonderful network of some preserved WW2 Secret Forest Hospitals!
The history, human sacrifice and bravery combined with the sensational hidden forest locations mark these secret WW2 forest hospitals as TOTALLY UNIQUE in the world!
What better way to experience the forest than to take a history lesson too and discover one of these amazing hidden hospitals.. we have found several of them, one in the forests of Kamnik, another completely hidden away in the forests near Zalesje and also the only hidden forest Printing Press that was still issuing newspapers at the end of the war and was never discovered, near Idrija.. hopefully our tips will help you find it 80 years later!
All of these special places are hidden in absolutely dense beautiful forest, but if you want to go find them, you can.. the choice is yours!
The most famous secret forest hospital is called Franja, after the lady doctor who founded it high in the hills above Cerkno and we think it is the best micro museum in Slovenia and that is saying something. The story, landscape and bravery of all involved are simply breath taking.
At one stage on the superb marked path to this secret hospital you can look up, straining your neck muscles and see a tiny cave bunker in the side of the cliff, where 2 incredibly brave men had to climb up and man a defensive machine gun post.. they were the first line of defence and their shooting would warn the others to evacuate.. but of course the 2 gunners would not escape.
So if you want to know what happened at this secret hospital and the other ones too, it is just a hike into the forest!
Up in the forests of the Soca valley you can also find chilling remains of the trenches, cemeteries and bunkers of the gruelling WW1 Isonzo front that cost over one million soldier's lives.
The history is just as thick as the forest all around you here in Green Slovenia.. You might only notice how forested ths little green gem of a country is when you actually leave and suddenly miss all the trees.. so we recommend you come prepared to stop, listen, breathe in and out deeply and look around you when you are here and be completely surrounded by forest and Green nature.
Now for some forest fun!
For kids and big kids there are several forest monkey adventure parks.. one is just 10 minutes away from Lipizzaner Lodge, next to the Postojna caves, where kids can monkey around in the tree tops!
We found another fantastic monkey park with tightropes, a ladder jump and zip wires in the stunning Poljane valley.. you could combine this with an E Bike ride up the local Blegos mountain.. what a day in the forest!
But there are lots of them here..
Tree top walk..
We finally found Slovenia's new Tree Top Walk attraction.. not in a thick forest like we had imagined, but on top of a 1,500m high mountain with a great view of lots of forest all around! There are enough high trees here to make your experience authentic and a really great metal worm tube (helter skelter) that you can slide down from the top of the car park like viewing tower.
On top of the same Rogla mountain there is also a very peculiar forest that you absolutely must try to make the time and hike to.. it is amazing!
Yep, you hike all the way through meadows and Pine forests to a huge mountain plateau COVERED in thick dwarf Pine trees.. it is absolutely crazy.. all you can see is this army of miniature trees.. but that is not all.. hidden at intervals between these trees are some magical natural black spooky ponds that you can go see along a network of boardwalks.. just like a Finnish forest, but only 1,500m up here in Green Slovenia!
We really wanted to include this section on forests in the website as they are such an important reason why Slovenia is such a Green destination and will certainly be part of your day out here, but you might not even properly notice it!
We know some very special forest locations spread around Slovenia that are still on our list to explore.. but this is a list as long as an ancient oak branch!!
French Connection en Slovenie
