Secret WW2 Printing Press

The secret Idrija WW2 Partisans Printing Press is hidden in the middle of a forest paradise on the side of a mountain and was still publishing daily newspapers at the end of WW2.. this is pretty unique and special.

So this is reason alone to try to find it.. and doing this might well be the trickiest thing you get up to on your Slovenian holiday!

Well we are gonna tell you about 2 ways to go see it.. One is to do a fantastic tour organised from the Idrija Castle museum from BELOW, which is simple and easy to do and the other way is a bit more tricky to approach the Printing Press from ABOVE and is one of those epic Green adventures you might be interested in having a go at!

entrance from below to the secret Printing Press..
entrance from below to the secret Printing Press..

 

We knew the Printing Press was hidden somewhere above Idrija on the same side of the town where the amazing Mercury mine is, so one day we decided to go find it for ourselves.

We spent the morning cruising the Soca lake on Captain Dejan's Paddle Steamer and drove back towards Idrija along a really lovely quiet river road from Most na Soci

Our simple and cunning plan was to turn off the main road about two thirds of the way to Idrija to find an amazing new route to tell you about going directly up to the little village of Vojsko (which is the closest to the printing press).. so we typed "Vojsko" into our car navigation and off the main road we went!

lovely bridge next to road up to Vojsko from the Most na Soci forest route..
lovely bridge next to road up to Vojsko from the Most na Soci forest route..

 

Please don't Drive this route, better to approach the Printing Press from Idrija!

We often advise guests not to be too dependent on google in Green Slovenia as nowhere here is flat except the promenade by the coast in Portoroz and the region near Hungary! Ok, not completely true, but a very good tip and we wish we had taken that advice on this particular adventure!

Luckily we have a 4x4 and we sure needed it as the road went up and up and round and round. It narrowed and turned into a dirt track and then eventually with sweaty palms, we broke the mountain and finally popped out in Vojsko!

So our strong advice is to avoid this route up into the hills, coming off the road from the Most na Soci direction unless you are a professional rally driver or professional adventurer..

it was so beautiful up here, but we were relieved to finally see the sign to Vojsko..
it was so beautiful up here, but we were relieved to finally see the sign to Vojsko..

 

We realised later that we should have gone directly to Idrija on the main road, then to the Mercury mine and taken the mountain road up from there to VOJSKO as the road is still narrow, but safe all the way!

Our little detour is typical of the mistake you can make if you blindly follow a computer map here, but of course the scenery we saw in the forest was very beautiful and looking back it was a real adventure!

It was a big relief to get to Vojsko sitting high above the Unesco protected town of Idrija and with the look of a very small tourist village.

follow that sign at the church for Partisanska etc etc..
follow that sign at the church for Partisanska etc etc..

 

So we will fast forward you to here in Vojsko and explain the "tricky, but amazing" way to find the Printing Press by hiking from ABOVE, cos this was not where the fun stopped.. we then found ourselves trying to following a series of increasingly shrinking signs signs just in Slovene to the Printing Press location..

So we gambled a bit and decided the sign to follow had the word Partisan on. Here it is in Slovene so you can write down the words to follow.. "Partizanska Tiskarna Slovenija".. simples! (the Tiskarna bit must mean "printing press").

Off we drove, up into the countryside, high above Idrija and the roads got narrower and the nightmare of going down a track that was too narrow to get back out of was starting rumble again!

if you get to this blue sign, then bingo! just park here in the grass and walk.. don't believe the 750m jibber jabber!!
if you get to this blue sign, then bingo! just park here in the grass and walk.. don't believe the 750m jibber jabber!!

 

After a lot of twisting a turning, we found a grass track that had at least the look or hope of leading to a car park.. (we had been told by the local tourist office that there was a car park here.. but you should know that sometimes what a Local might describe as a car park is not what you might think of as one.. particularly in your nice shiny rental car)!

And it was really not a car park in any shape or form, our only clue that you could park here was a big minivan on the side of the path in the bushes and cos this one space was taken, it forced us to do a 25 point turn to get back off the grass jungle road and back to the main road, where in sheer frustration, we just parked up on the grass, trying not to block the road!

Hopefully the frustration and determination required to do this green adventure is coming out in this article as you will need a sprinkling of both to find this place.. but is SO worth it.. just read on..

this the start of the hike from above, DO NOT TRY TO DRIVE DOWN HERE..
this the start of the hike from above, DO NOT TRY TO DRIVE DOWN HERE..

 

So Finally..at last.. how to hike to the Secret Printing Press from ABOVE..

So from the "car park" you just follow the track down, fortunately there is only one track. This is not a flip flop destination though, you will need good shoes and at times further down you need to scramble a little bit, but basically you are going down the side of a mountain like a goat. It feels a bit wierd actully as this slope is not exposed at all, so you are still completely surrounded by forest.. very, very beautiful forest..

It should come as no surprise really that the most prolific and successfull secret forest wartime printing press in the world is extremely well hidden in the forest!

It is certainly an adventure to hike carefully down this path with the excitement of finding those hidden wooden buildings somewhere ahead..

tha path starts like a dream forest path..
tha path starts like a dream forest path..

 

From the top of the path it takes up to half an hour to finally get a glimpse of a roof between some trees and then bingo, you are there, next to the small wooden citadel that makes up a secret complex where up to 50 people worked and managed to print all types of news, propoganda and even fake official documents on behalf of the Partisans.

Once you get this far, you will have already decided in advance whether to have booked a local guide to meet you there and if you havent, then you will just look through the windows, imagine and go back.. this time up the path.

this looks scarier than it is, but you sure do get a great hike to the printing press..
this looks scarier than it is, but you sure do get a great hike to the printing press..

 

We STRONGLY advise to get a lovely local person to open the doors for you and explain this amazing story of determination, bravery and good versus evil..

The Second much easier way to get to see this Printing Press is to approach it from the road below, then you can drive here and park in a bigger car park, hiking just 250 metres up.

the sensational view you walked here for..
the sensational view you walked here for..

 

How to book a short tour of the Printing Press in English..

So what you need to do is phone ahead, (better at least the day before) to Damjana at the Idrija Town museum on 00386 (0) 418 701 48 to set up the tour.. You will follow her to the museum car prk in your own car and the tour costs around €5 per person or €17 for a family ticket..

It would be a real shame to ,ake it to the Printing Press and  not to find out more.. we sincerely hope you do and we hope this amazing place gets more visitors from outside Slovenia as a result of this article.. the huts are not big, so the tour does not take too long, but it would be very interesting to see and hear more how this place where you are now standing managed to create over one million pages of paper in the middle of Green paradise!

the side of a mountain, but perfectly screened..
the side of a mountain, but perfectly screened..

 

You have not got anything like this in your country.. it is unique, with the history, stunning secret forest location and the local guerilla warfare knowledge & bravery of the Partisans..

So we think Green Slovenia should be singing from the mountain tops about this place.. but they don't! We are pretty sure after living here for almost a decade now that the main reason for this is that Slovenians have absolutely no idea that YOU, the visitor would find this place amazing.. but this is a WORLD CLASS story in a WORLD CLASS location..

..in the meantime, we hope that over time there will be a few decent signs in English to help us foreigners find the tricky route up top above the Printing Press.. don't hold your breathe for that.. but DO go and find this secret Printing press!

a river slides down the mountain side next to the printing press..
a river slides down the mountain side next to the printing press..

 

We already mentioned that we split our day out between here and the Soca lake, but there are masses and masses of other secret place possibilities for you to choose to combine with here.. You could do an amazing full WW2 in the forest day, by going to nearby Cerkno to visit the uberfantastic Secret Partisan Hospital.. (in our humble opinion, the very best mini museum in Green Slovenia), which is more like a micro museum experience with a hike that you can do without a guide.

The pretty town of Idrija also has more things to do than just there that you could shake a stick at! (fit into a day), with the very special Mercury mine, the biggest wooden water wheel in Europe, the castle museumminers house and is also the centre of the Slovenian Lace industry.. the Bela (White) Idrija river is also a fab place to swim in crystal clear water on a hot day and you could also search for Slovenias shortest river that flows into the Bela.

the printing press complex..
the printing press complex..

 

You might also decide to spend the entire day just hiking here, so park in Idrija near the Mercury mine and walk up the mountain to the Press.. wow this would be another fantastic Green adventure! ..

We really do recommend trying to find the trickier route from above and drive closer like we did..(check the photos and in our gallery below before so you know exactly what signs to look out for and where the path starts) park carefully and then hike down to the Printing Press.. but this is ONLY for people who are reasonably fit and with good walking shoes..

A visit to the Secret Partisan Printing Press is one of those special unique forest experiences you might never have imagined you could get up to in little old Green Slovenia.. but you can!

Email: info@lipizzanerlodge.com

Address: Landol 17, Postojna 6230, Slovenia

Phone: +386 5620 3443
Mobile: +386 40 47 0239 or +386 40 37 8037

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