Imagine a medieval village perched on top of a beautiful Green hill.. protected by thick walls, a castle and 2 church spires piercing the clear blue sky at either end..

Quietly & majestically watching over the BIGGEST Secret Place in Slovenia.. a long Green Valley, one of the seven Slovenian wine regions..

Well folks, this is Vipava Kriz, medieval hill top village, Vipava Valley, Green Slovenia.. and you need to see it for yourself!!

This is how to imagine the Vipava Green Wine Valley, Baby..

Most visitors to Green Slovenia will not even be lucky enough to even whizz through the Vipava valley and even catch a glance up at this uber stunning Medieval village fortress..

But if you can interrupt your busy charge from Bled to Ljubblyjana to Postojna to Piran, then just pop round the corner at the last Slovenian mountain, Nanos and just half way along this perfect green corridor, look up and don't miss this little medieval village in the Green Skyline..

Great idea to display photos of the old days around the village..

Vipavski Kriz as it is called in Slovenian is just a 27 min drive direct from the Lodge, so better still, use the motorway to whizz there and then dive off into Green paradise and spend a day or half day in the heart of the Vipava Green Wine Valley, with Kriz at the centre of your next Green adventure..

Where is Vipava Kriz?

It's easy to find.. you will see it if you look, just sitting up there on the hill. On the map, it is halfway up the Vipava Valley between Vipava and Nova Gorica..

If you do use the super fast motorway, then get off at the impossibubble to say Ajdovscina junction, which we pronounce to call Adjective and take the much more beautiful country road direction Nova Gorica, turning left at the sign for Vipavski Kriz..

The motorway speeds and slices through the Valley, but look how much Green stuff you miss if you do not leave it and explore..

Alternatively and much more lovely, Lodge guests can choose to do an epic Karst loop to get here, which includes a short hike to a natural Stone window, called the OKNO, with views down into the Vipava Valley 1,000m below! Then do a fab descent into the wine valley, with Kriz as one of your afternoon stops!

Drive up the steep hill to the ample car free Kriz park, tucked under the old town walls and start taking in the amazing views of the valley immediately from there..

Thinking about it, maybe we should have a page called "the best car park views in Green Slovenia", cos this Kriz car park would be in it for sure!

This vast 40km long Green valley only has one town of any size, called Adjective, over there and even this is a tiddler

Now just walk through the huge old stone archway entrance to the village and start exploring what is hidden behind the old walls. 

E Bike there too..

If there is anything above epic in the English language then it would be needed to describe the uber epic E Bike you can do DIRECT from the Lodge over Mt Nanos through the Vipava Valley to Kriz.. oh yes, about 52km, lunch on top of the mountain, ice cream in the valley and a glass of wine and Slovenian Tapas when you get to Kriz.. 

Side street in the summer..

There are quite a few absolutely stunning medieval hill top villages to explore in all directions from the Lodge, some in Slovenia and some in Istria,(Istrija is shared between Slovenia and Croatia)..

They are ALL amazing, unique and different in their own way, so we made sure we also did a Hilltop Village page in our Daytrips section to help you find them!

In medieval times it was a great idea to have your settlement on top of a hill, surrounded by a huge wall with enormous gates and preferably a castle to protect it all and nowadays these hill top villages are absolute gems to explore, try local goodies and enjoy the views..

A really stunning mix of Medieval marvels, sunshine and Yugoslavian concrete..

But bow wow wow, Kriz.. it's location, atmosphere and vistas are as good as any medieval hilltop village you can find around here and that is saying something.. 

Croatian Istrian villages in particular, such as Motovun, Groznjan or Buzet are also amazing, but stuffed with little shops, artist studios, postcards and very probubbly people..

In Kriz, relax.. there is just one café /shop / Tourist Info / Wine bar!    

Slovenian Tapas in the Cafe near the castle..

Indeed we knew all about Kriz even before the wonderful Marjana opened her cafe / wine bar there and we were so grateful she saw the opportunity and has put in so much hard work to help encourage the first shoots of Green tourism in Kriz..

So when you do visit, please do not forget this and support her efforts handsomely on your visit..

If you are looking for nooks & crannies, then Vipava Kriz is the place to come..

What Can I do in Vipava Kriz?

However you get to Kriz, just get here and once in the valley you can hike, bike or E bike around it and some people even paraglide above it!

2 beautiful Vipava churches either end of the hill top village..

The whole Vipava Valley is stuffed with vineyards and cute little villages with amazing names like "Big Frog" and "Little Frog", (if only they were translated for us) and wee churches on tops of hills, but Kriz sits above it all, right in the middle!

The village itself is petite and you could walk around it on the beautifully rennovated pavements in 15 mins.. but you won't!

If there is a name for someone who likes to explore nooks & crannies, then that person would absolutely love it up here, with little side streets, alcoves and secret gardens scattered around the village.

This is a Mediterranean valley and this photo was taken just 1 day after Christmas day..

The Vipava Valley is so fantastic for growing wine, cos in the middle it is almost down at sea level and then both sides rise up to 1,000m plus providing sun drenched terraces at all levels for growing different & unique wine..

Indeed the local and UNIQUE wines like Pinela, Zelen, Barbera, Rebula, Klarnica and more that even we haven't tried yet, prefer to grow higher up on these enormous slopes, with the foreign varities you will be familiar with, preferring the lower ground..

You can see ALL of it from almost every angle and corner of Kriz as you wander around happily snapping photos..

winter view from the back of the village over to the next TERAN wine region on the tops of those hills..

The view from one side is dominated by a Nanos lookalike mountain, Caven, powering up to the clouds and on the opposite side of the valley from the other side of the village, you can see the flowing hills of the very next Slovenian wine region, called TERAN..

The wonderful KRIZ TIC, (Tourist info centre), AKA cafe, AKA wine bar, AKA shoppe, AKA Tapas bar sits next to the little main square and the crumbled castle.

Now this is how a ruined castle should look..

Incredibly, the old castle is split into two.. one side still crumbled castle, other side a junior school with playground..

Hands up now anyone who went to school IN A CASTLE.. This is stuff of Harry Potter!

Inside the castle, that is the kid's playground..

This castle, like so many in Green Slovenia, is screaming out to be renovated and to show off all it's history, but it does not mean for one second that you cannot have a good look around and imagine what it was like to live up here, protected by the great walls..

For now, it will just pose for your photos..

So like we said, there is a small circuit you can do inside the village, but DO NOT make the mistake just to do one circle, cos there are several side streets and corners to go around so think wiggly worm and make sure you cover every inch or cm, depending on while one you use..

Kriz is way too small to get lost, but nevertheless, we recommend you try to lose yourself here..

Deffo look out for the old jail.. Did we hear the cheeky monkey Knight Erazem (whose legend at Predjama castle must surely be made into a tom Cruise film one day) was imprisoned here, or was it just made up.. He was a naughty boy, so might be true!

Also deffo go up the steps to the larger church cos there are some SPECTACULAR & BREATHTAKING views over the wall there of the green valley below..

Nanos 1,313m is the highest mountain at the start of the Vipava valley and Caven, 1,242m here in the middle, by Kriz, is the second highest..

But Kriz is a place you need to find your own magic in.. and there is plenty of it, should you choose to throw your itinerary away and just enjoy yourself wandering around the medieval streets, looking at the cats, sleepy dogs, sun drenched allotments and hastily repaired concrete carbunkles.

There are little signs above big cellar doors for winemakers, almost vertical driveways less than the length of a car, tractors parked behind fences and lots of vines just hanging around..

Oh yes and did we mention the sensational views..

At the other end of the village..

You can get light refreshments, (including our beloved Slovenian Tapas) at the café, more than enough to make it worth stopping here on a larger hike and they stock ALL the unique local wines made in the valley, including Orange wine..

Little maps are available to show a hiking route loop which busts out of Kriz, through the archways and out of the protection of the high walls into the vineyards and some nearby villages.

Fab walk down into the vineyards and view to Mt Nanos, the Lodge is just on the other side of that mountain..

All Year round..

There is never a bad time to go to a Mediterranean hill top village. We invented the term and bang on a lot about Green Slovenia cos it really is so green here and every shade of it too, but the clear blue skies we have seen here in Kriz at all times of year are something else.

If you had imagined or dreamed Green Slovenia becomes White Slovenia in the winter, that is only a third of the story.. Probubbly correct for the Alps, maybe, but less so for Ljubblyjana and NO CHANCE for Vipava and the Mediterranean, but that doesn't stop the locals in Kriz totally decorating their beautiful village with all size of nativities.

The whole village becomes a giant Nativity scene at Xmas..

Donkeys, sheep, camels & the Baby Jesus all make multiple appearances and Christmas time in Kriz is really something to see..

And of course you can get a decent glass of wine here any day of the year..

Xmas nativities scattered all over the old town..

Nobody is forcing you to park at the base of a Croatian hill top village cos it is rammed full up top and then have to walk up the hill to be bombarded with souvenir opportunities and surrounded by others..

Nobody is forcing you to pay extra parking fees at caves and castles you can walk to from the Lodge..

And nobody is forcing you to pay zilch to park in Vipava Kriz, nothing to stroll around above Green paradise, perhaps completely alone.. aside from the odd white cat and smiling local, of course..

This village is perched on a hill, slap bang in the middle of the Vipava valley, protected by a huge wall and a castle..

So Kriz is the rawest and greenest of all the very special Hill top villages you can visit from the Lodge.. It is a gem, it is a treasure and if you want to know what all the fuss about the Vipava Valley is about.....