Do you fancy a magical mystery tour filled with rocks, forest, cliffs, picture perfect Karst villages & mountains that includes a fantastic hike with spectacular views from 1,000m up over the Vipava Wine valley.. all this just a few KMs from TWO of Slovenia's most visited tourist attractions, the Postojna cave & Predjama castle, but with no admission fees, maybe a few cows or a paraglider floating around for company, but hardly another soul?

And that is just the half of it, cos after all this you drop into one of Green Slovenia's 7 wine regions, the Vipava Valley, where even more Green options open up for sensational food & wine and even more adventures and then just a 20 min drive back home to the Lodge!

the path widens out to cow fields on the way to the huge cliff..

When we suggest this particular Green escapade to our guests, they might give us that disbelieving look we recognise.. Either cos we have already helped them to find day after day of other spectacular daytrips, directly from the Lodge and the list of possible adventures keeps going or maybe cos they just arrived and cannot quite believe how much stuff there really is to do from here..

We know that look well and we also enjoy the big smile we get when guests return to the Lodge in the evening and excitedely recall their day's adventures.. we just love it!

Despite all the Karst rock up here it is also sooooo Green..

Another truly Green Karst Adventure..

So this trip is one of many circles you can do, big, medium & small from the Lodge to explore the adventure playground that is Green Slovenia and this small loop can help you explore, understand and get close & personal with the leaky rocky limestone that covers half of this stunning country and is called KARST.

Massive caves are just one feature of the Karst and you might have even heard of that big one with the train around here, but there are a lot more caves here and better ones too.. 

It is incredibly humbling to arrive here at the Okno..

However this particular trip will have you safely exploring and discovering other Karst features such as forests littered with giant rocks, sheer limestone cliffs, sinkholes and the big showstopper for today will be a giant natural rock window with views down 1,000m into one of the most beautiful valleys in Europe..

The Lodge is perfectly positioned in the sub mediterranean corner of the Green Karst mini region under the last Karst mountain in Slovenia, Nanos, (1,313m), just around the corner from the Vipava Green Wine Valley and touching the Red Karst mini region that sweeps down to the Mediterranean coast or up to the Soca Valley..

You get several stunning vista points over the beautiful Vipava Green Wine Valley..

There are so many possibilities for daytrips and this particular driving loop is perfect for almost anyone, whether you want to hike or just sight see.

There is an easy hike included, but you do not even have to do the walk as there is another viewpoint down to the Vipava valley shortly after the main hike to the OKNO, which is mercifully pronounceabubble in Slovenian and means Window!

Follow the green sign here to the Okno..

Finding the Okno..

You could also do this trip in the reverse direction, starting in the Vipava Valley for the morning and driving up to the OKNO (WINDOW) in the afternoon and beyond.

But most Guests usually drive up past Predjama castle and enter the vast forests above, choosing from two forest road routes up for a unique Karst forest experience.

The bear signals local honey for sale at this house..

The roads are good, the forest is thick & absolutely stunning up here and is littered with numerous sinkholes and white Karst rocks of all shapes and sizes that we lovingly refer to as Dragon's teeth.. both these features are typical of all the Karst regions around the world..

It can take as little as 20 mins before you pop up out of the forest and reach a tarmac main road where you will find a cute little restaurant pub and the hefty remains of a massive Roman fotress that protected and effectively shut off the road from Ljubljana to Rome.

See how this giant Roman fortress completely sealed the road to Rome from Ljubljana..

There is even a little museum behind the pub that explains what a massive and important fortification this was, so already you might choose to have a coffee stop!! 

We also have E Bikes at the Lodge and this pub & fortress is a very popular route for guests to whizz up to and explore the numerous forest tracks around here by bike..

The road now snakes away from Ljubljana, direction Rome, passing through little villages with houses selling honey, (honey is MED in Slovenian), until you soon get the feeling of breaking out of the forest and entering a rocky green hilly region with some steep higher mountains dotting the horizons.

the road opens out from the forest as you head towards the Vipava Valley and the Mediterranean sea..

You are now driving towards the open Vipava valley and the Mediterranean sea and take a turn up a freshly renovated road that has the odd twist and turn going further up into the hills past dotted houses that seem to be competeing against each other to have the best flower displays on their balconies and with more wierd and wonderful rock formations in their gardens.

Your destination and second stop off is the village of OTLICA, where you will park up for the hike to the OKNO window, but first look out for the little parking spaces dotted along this tree lined road.. One has a large info sign making it easy to spot and is home to one of Slovenia's national monuments!

Park up and cross the road to see a wierd and wonderful bunch of white rocks that are smooth on top, with deep,deep splits and fractures all over.

This huge limesone formation on the way to the Okno is known as KARREN and is a protected national Slovenian monument..

You can easily climb up and jump across the fissures to explore and this type of Karst rock formation is called KARREN.

From this protected spot it is so easy to see and imagine how over millions of years the rain & water have eroded the stone and formed these giant vertical cracks in this leaky limestone to form a marvel of nature that might give you a bit of mild deja vue for something like Giant's causeway in Northern Ireland, (different rock & shapes, but another wonder of nature)!

ok, it's not the Giant's causeway in Northern Ireland, but these limestone rocks eroded by water over millions of years are all over the place up here & something not to miss out on seeing up close..

By now you are about 1,000m up and the few villages stretch long, scattered with houses and rocks in the big open green fields with the odd cow wandering around.

At the end of Otlica village there is a pretty little church with recyling bins and a car park and this is where you park up to start the OKNO walk, which will take around an hour to 2 hours there & back, depending on you and is mainly flat, but plenty of bony rock underfoot, so worth having decent shoes..

the car park is next to the cemetary, by the church in the pretty village of Otlica..

The path is well marked by local hiking enthisiasts and you wander off through a small wood, out onto more rocky green cow fields, (so please make sure to close the gates behind you)..

You can make a little detour at the first red gate, turning right and following the path over to a sturdy cliff edge with your first stunning view of the Vipava Valley far below and Mt Caven opposite..

This will be your first majestic viewpoint over the Vipava valley..

Walk back to the main path and out into rocky Karst fields for another amazing view down into the valley and you will also come across a little wooden hut with drinks inside some cooler boxes, where you make a contribution if you take a drink, great idea!

Very handy local pit stop on the way to the window, where you contribute what see fit for the drinks on offer..

You can see the big rock outcrop from which the stone window hangs below directly in front of you and you will come to some trees and another gate out of this rocky cow field..

This is where you will get a sharp intake of breath for the amazing view down the side of a gigantic into the Green valley, but also when you take a look at the stone path ascending about 50m up along the side of this cliff!

the Karst rock cliffs reveal themselves until covered in Green from May..

It looks a lot more scary than it really is, the path is wide and the cliff is not vertical, so there is no chance you could fall and very soon it is all over and the path heads back inland a bit to steady the nerves..

It can be a bit windy here though, so ALWAYS pack an extra light coat or jumper, even in the summer and don't be too scared if the trees are waving around, it is all part of the fun!

If you haven't seen this view, then you haven't seen Green Slovenia..

So do not worry, it is really NOT too scary up here and you are getting very close to the window now..

The Okno is a huge water droplet shaped crack in the rock that is rumoured by locals to have been created by the devil, when he tripped up trying to move the huge Caven mountain and one of his horns smashed into the rock..

Utterly spectacular, a 12m high by 7m wide natural stone window, created by the Devil's horn as he slipped, trying to pick up a mountain..

But you will surely feel this a more heavenly place as you creep carefully down the lovely firm new wooden steps, which takes you almost to the base of this huge natural stone window and gaze directly down into the valley below..

Maybe you will never see anything like this in the rest of your life, so suck in this 12m high, 7m wide rock window and for those of you with nerves of steel and good shoes, it is possible to walk, very carefully, inside the giant window.

The trees stand like sentries on your way down to Hell's gate..

Obviously be very careful with your footing, but the thing that might catch you out are the very sharp gusts of wind you can get from the Vipava Valley below, where cold Alpine air meets warm Mediterranean air and it can get REALLY GUSTY, so please be so careful..

Incredibly, there is another smaller natural stone window below, but this writer will very happily never see it, cos he was very happy holding onto one of the big firm trees at the base of the big window and seeing the view!

Really good wooden steps lead down to the Okno Window..

The Vipava Valley sinks to almost sea level rising up dramatically with big rocky green cliffs on both sides, creating the perfect wine growing conditions at so many different heights..

So the view really is spectacularly deep below as you stand in front of this magical window at the top of a 1,000m high cliff.

a hazy Vipava Valley floor stretches out below..

There is a picnic table at the top of the Window path and the markers lead off further along the cliff towards Sini Vrh for more rocky adventures.

So either prepare for more hiking or follow a small deviation path back towards Otlica, which goes slightly inland away from the cliff, past a tree that looks something out of Game of Thrones to the most remarkable Stone Snail you will ever see!

There are no end of secret places in Green Slovenia that blend perfectly into nature..

We mentioned that another major feature of Karst geology ad visible ALL OVER Slovenia's Karst landscapes are SINKHOLES, called Vracas in Slovene..

Well this must be one of the most fantastic, imaginative things to do with a deep sinkhole we have ever seen!

The Stone Snail is a clever, unique thing to do with a sink hole and a lot of white Karst rocks..

There is a big rock cone at the top of the snail and a curvey stone wall leads down the side of the sinkhole in the shape of a snails shell right to the bottom.

You can walk down to the base, where we could really feel some kinda energy down there, but others might sit and eat there sandwiches to get a different kinda energy!

You can really sense a wierd energy at the base of the stone snail..

Once you are down the bottom you can really appreciate how steep the sides of a sinkhole are and these are created by the water destroying parts of the Karst rock beneath the sinkhole until the land just falls in to creat this perfect Karst feature!

This probably happened millions of years ago, so you are perfectly safe and we have seen other sinkholes used for farming, growing crops, but never a giant stone snail!

The artist noticed the white Karst rocks discarded from building walls at the base of the sinkhole and decided to build the snail, curving up out of the sinkhole raching the large rock conical.. You can even tip toe up the rock snail if you like!

Spring flowers were popping up all over the place..

Our photos on this page show 2 trips to the OKNO, one in summer and one at the very end of winter, start of spring, when it is afab time to come up here and see all the beautiful spring flowers popping up!

We were surprised to see a little gecko darting around the stone cone and really surprised to be able to capture a photo of him too!

Can you see the little Gecko whizzing around the stone cone..

We did mention another terrific vista point and you MUST stop off at the very next village, Predmeja where there is a little car park at the end with a wierd "terminator like" statue of a lady with a giant hole in her middle, maybe inspired by the OKNO..

This is where you are most likely to see maybe dozens of paragliders floating around, not so far above you.. with another great cliff view down into the valley. 

there are other places along this vast cliff where you can admire the view of the valley and maybe see a paraglider floating past!

But it is also worth noting that this stunning viewpoint spot AND the OKNO further back along the cliff are BOTH part of a longer walk you can do along the cliff from up here OR starting far below in the Vipava valley.

There are lots and lots of walks, bike rides and drives available here with the OKNO being a firm favourite and centre point of each one.

Always keep an eye open for a wooden hut parked on top of an enormous rock.. you never know what you will see in Green Slovenia..

Down into the Vipava Valley..

Prepare yourself now to experience the greeness down below of exactly what you were looking at a few minutes ago from the window and also be prepared for the terrain to change dramatically in front of your eyes as you commence an ear popping descent along a very safe, but steep mountain road down into one of Green Slovenia's 7 wine regions..

The thrills and spills continue as you will go through 3 swiss-like mini tunnels blasted into the mountain road as white rocks change into green vines and you quickly reach the main valley town of Ajdovscina, (which we affectionately call Adjective for simplicity) and the rest of your adventures can begin!

This is a short hike, but covers uberstunning Karst rock scenery..

Maybe you will stay the rest of the day in the valley to go elec biking, kayaking or more hiking, maybe visit Vipava Kriz, a beautiful medieval hilltop village, go wine tasting or hang out in the stunning little old town of Vipava with the 7 springs of the Vipava river or go for a dip at the spring of the Hubelj river in nearby Adjective!

There are so many good local restaurants at this end of the 40km long wine valley that we descibe it as the Vipava Valley Restaurant Cluster and did a whole article on that very subject, so your next priority might well be having a mighty fine meal with a glass of one of the UNIQUE wines that are ONLY GROWN here in the valley!

stunning vista up to the ruined castle from Vipava old town in the Vipava Valley..

We hear a lot of gobbledegook about how Ljubblyljana is mooted as a culinary centre, (probably by people not lucky enough to have visited the rest of Green Slovenia) and yes it may well have some decent restaurants.. 

But seriously, think about it.. If you really want to experience the now legendary & sensational Slovenian Cuisine, then you need to be sitting here at a table in the Vipava wine valley or in the Red Karst or in the Brkini or in the Coastal Hinterland or in the Gorica BRDA wine hills, where you can look out the window or out over the terrace to see EXACTLY WHERE your food came from and EXACTLY WHERE the wine you are drinking was grown.

Sprinkle into this equation the very local food knowledge in these mini regions and the passion and love with which they cook & present and maybe now you will realise where you need to go to experience Slovenian Cuisine! 

This trip will pop you into the Vipava Valley, so presents the perfect opportunity to book a table and find out what we are talking about, but most visitors to Green Slovenia will not even step foot in the Vipava Valley and probably haven't even heard of the other mini regions we mention above, where you can also get the best food..

But lucky You!!

what else would you expect to find in the middle of the forest, but a giant stone snail with curly track to walk up & down!

The choices for other things to pop off and do & see even on just this one branch of the Green Slovenian tree are massive. 

It is not difficult or complicated.. Just keep it simple and get a bit of help with your logistics from local people who know and you can have day upon day upon day like this one in a country you had hardly heard about, but which you are unlikely to ever forget.. once you have finally been here!

Have a great hike to the window & beyond..