Even in the most populated countries it is possible to get a map out and find a sector to go visit that has hardly any roads and is mainly green.. In Slovenia this is not difficult to do at all, but if you really want to go off  grid then a stunning little mini region called Brkini is the next Big thing..

We absolutely expect this secret little mini region to be tipped real soon by Lonely Planet as one of Europes top secret destinations to explore, so we are giving you advance notice and heads up now!

The uberbeautiful Vipava wine valley has already been heavily tipped by Lonely Planet, we think the Teran Kras and Gorica Hills, (BRDA) mini regions should be next and then Brkini must be a sure fire bet for a mention as soon as visitors actually start finding it!!

Vipava, Teran Kras and Brda are 3 of Slovenia's 7 wine regions and Brkini is covered in apple & plum trees.. with ALL four being easily accessible for daytrips from the Lodge!

You can be certain you are in the Brkini at this point!

The Brkini has a protected and unique Plum Brandy called Slivoka and if one genius ever decided to make cider here from just some of all these apples, then this would be like an extra honorary Slovenian wine region!

Slovenia has a lot of places with comedy names and many others that English speakers have close to zero chance of ever pronouncing, so we should be grateful for a region we can actually say and let's face it.. it oes sound a lot like Bikini!

Pretend you are feeling cold and say Brrrrrr at the start, then complete the "kini" bit of bikini and you will get Brkini.. job done.

Breaking News.. In a region absolutely stuffed with juicy apple trees we could not understand why nobody had thought to make cider here too?!

Well, we have now found and tasted some Brkini Cider.. it is delicious.. in fact the producers went to Somerset in the UK to learn how to make it proper like, but of course this Slovenian vintage is made from apples so far away from any kind of interference or pollution that you cannot even get in sleepy Somerset, so expect the taste to be extra special!

So now we can officially claim that Brkini is the Slovenian Cider region and we will certainly stock the cider at the Lodge and encourage guests to go see where the cider is made in the Brkini..especially in spring to see the blossoms!

some Brkini residents having a rest..

So where on Earth is the Brkini?..

This is a really good and fundamental question.. whatever you do, don't ask a local, cos if you canvas 10 people you will almost certainly get 11 different answers for this one!

Ok, so Green Slovenia is so small that visitors do not need to stress too much about the bigger regional names.. for most people it is enought to know Lipizzaner Lodge is located between the mountains and the sea.. in a little more micro detail.. we are on the edge of the Primorska (by the sea) region and Notranska (Green Karst, Lipizzaners, caves, castles and Disappearing Lakes), but we need to go into a little more geography now so you get an idea of exactly how neatly the Brkini is tucked and hidden away in all of this!

So the bits between the Lodge and the 30 min drive to the coast are called Istria with Piran & Koper and then the Teran Kras, with the Skocjan cave and Lipica, (Lipizzaner world HQ).. If you go across a bit from Istria then the whole region from the border up to the Lodge by Nanos mountain & Postojna is called the Green Karst.

UBERMASSIVE Breaking news!! We spent several weekends in March and April totally exploring the Brkini, especially for eating options and we were totally shocked to find LOTS and LOTS of really excellent places to eat.. we even found another Michellin restaurant just 24 mins direct from the Lodge.. this really blew our cotton socks off, I can tell you!! We will update you soon on ALL of this.. how exciting!!

if you like finding unexpected views, then Brkini is for you..

The Green Karst is packed with lots of littler mini regions very different to each other and the Brkini is one of those, tucked away in the left hand corner, flanked by the coast and the Teran Kras, with the 17 Disappearing Lakes of Pivka between Brkini and the Lodge!

If you want to drill down a bit on gurglemaps it is pretty much on the south side of the Reka river, ("River River".. we did say there were lots of comedy names), which runs from Skocjan cave past Prem down to Illisrka Bistrica on the Slovenian border with Croatia.

If you look at a map, then PREM with a beautiful castle is in the far bottom right corner of the Brkini and then Brkini stretches up and left in the shape of a big pair of lips to just before Skocjan cave!

Local Skoromati Brkini people scaring away the Winter at the Postojna carnival in Feb..

But let's not get over excited about these Brkini lines, (hope you enjoyed that joke)! cos the key thing is you are having a great Green adventure, so it REALLY doesn't matter if you are doing this IN Brkini or technically just OUTSIDE Brkini.. and you probably won't know this for sure anyway!!

The key thing, is this part of the world is yet another one of Slovenia's secret little corners, with it's own identity and atmosphere, so different from any other mini region in Slovenia.

typically quiet Brkini village, Skoflje..

Why on Earth would I seek out the Brkini?..

In short, you would come here cos there is nowhere else like the Brkini in the whole of Europe..

You would come here cos there are thousands of people walking like robots around Slovenia's "so called" Top Ten places.. (most of which would certainly struggle to get anywhere near our own secret Green Slovenia Top 30, by the way)!! 

The whole Bikini mini region is itsy bitsy teenie weenie at only 25 by 7km, but if you can plonk yourself on this little green island then you are in for a day of perfect solitude, with rolling hills, stunning stone tracks, little isolated churches and you will have a very good chance of getting to try some local plum brandy into the bargain!

Like we said, Brkini is covered in fruit trees, particularly apples and plums, so the spring blossoms here are totally out of this world and a strong reason to explore in Spring too..

not just apple trees in the Brkini..

The Brkini is a totally unexploited, unexplored corner of Europe for you to randomly hike, bike or drive around. In fact our best advice would be to get a bit lost in the Brkini!

On our most recent trip to the Brkini we were taking a photo you can see on this page of some cows in a field and just as we got back in the car the sky in front of the windscreen went quickly dark with shadow.. it was surreal, we craned our necks to see a massive bird of prey flying off.. probably a buzzard, but who knows.. it was massive!

We can only tell you about this moment in nature, it is up to you to come see it.. but stuff like this happens time and again when we are out exploring in the really green bits of Slovenia and we absolutely love it!

Do NOT expect to find lots of restaurants and road side cafes in the Brkini area.. as far as we know there is only one restaurant serving local delicacies inside Brkini and we will be reporting on that one real soon, cos they only open at weekends..

But DO expect to find remote little tourist farms where you might be able to try some local products such as the plum brandy, juices, jams and dried fruit.

There is another local Brkini delicacy made from plums.. the Plum Gnocchi.. that will fill you up for sure!

just park your car.. and take a hike in the Brkini..

How on Earth do I explore the Brkini?..

You will need a map and even though the villages here are tiny, it would be best to either hike, bike or drive between villages, either on the stunning wiggly roads or going for it on the stone tracks cross country with the help of an app like Komoot maybe..

Brkini is all higgledypiggledy and so are the roads.. they seem to go deliberately in the wrong direction for making your way logically through the mini region!

So there is no really straightforward way of exploring here and that is the best bit about it all!

You will need to find a point to enter the Brkini and then try as hard as possible to stay IN the Brkini!

But lots of larger main roads do skirt the edge of the Brkini, so you might even come a bit outside to drive around and back in! Also there are lots of restaurants on these outer roads, including the "Hog Roast road" that runs from Kozina to Croatia on the edge of the Brkini..

A great place to start your Brkini adventures might be Prem Castle, wiggling towards Podgrad then snaking up into the centre of the mini region at Artvize, which is the highest point and exiting near Skoflje and Vremski Britof by the river river.. or Reka Reka!

But we repeat, Brkini is NOT about ticking boxes on a map, it is about wild, free, green exploring.

the highest village in Brkini and quite central, so probably part of your trip..

So a green adventure in the Brkini is for roaming around, there is no Taj Mahal or Eifel tower to go vist, but there are a few secret Brkini places that you might be interested in putting into your Brkini day out..

Prem Castle..

Prem Grad is a very beautiful and underrated castle indeed, standing at the Gateway of the Brkini.

It would be wise to phone ahead to check they are open today, cos they do a lot of school tours, but if you can get one of the lovely ladies in the TIC (tourist info centre) based at the castle to show you around then all the better.

Prem castle is protected by a tower and walls..

There are lots of sprcial little features here, especially a very cheeky statue commisioned by the owner that you absolutely have to find and a grand reception room covered from tip to toe in the signs of the Zodiac.

They have done a grand job too, restoring this pretty castle, with a little shop and a cafe..

Less likely, but possible, is to have a go at the "escape room" in the main tower, but check first if they have done this in English yet, cos if you try the Slovenian version you are never getting out of there!!

the Prem tower is now used for "escape" games.. certainly beats an old warehouse downtown!

The car park is tiny, but let's face it the castle is usually empty too, so drive up into the village and do a donut to get the right angle to turn back into the car park.

Zalesje Secret Partisan Hospital..

There are several secret Partisan hospitals preserved and hidden away in the vast Slovenian forests and there is also one you can go visit in the Brkini!

Coming here to Zalesje would be a really great way to also do a bike or hike in the Brkini with a specific target in mind.

one of the secret hospital buildings to find in the Brkini forest..

We would advise contacting the local TIC (in Illisrka Bistrica) in advance to get a guide to show you around the secret little forest complex.

But you could also make your way to the "forest park" where the 3-4 restored Partisan hospital buildings are and try to find them.

Even if they are "closed" you can still peek inside and get a feel for the incredible secrecy, bravery and the immense human story here in such a beautifully remote forest location..

Either way you need to get to the pretty Brkini village of Ostrozno Brdo, where there is a little Partisan museum and from there meet the guide or make your own way to Zalesje.

the Secret Baby Lipizzaner Farm..

When Lipizzaners are born they are black and turn white in their first few years..

You might have known that the Lipizzaner horse breed was created by the Austrian Emperor over 400 years ago at Lipica, just 20 mins from the Lodge in the Teran Kras.

Young Lipizzaners turned white at the huge Brkini Lipizzaner nursery..

Maybe you will visit the home of the Lipizzaner too, but ONLY guests who are totally interested in these horses will be given the location of a secret farm where young male Lipizzaners are sent to frolic around in the fields together for their early years.. in the Brkini and not so far from Lipica.

There are also two large reservoirs in the Brkini mini region used as lakes by the locals for SUP boarding, swimming and canoeing, so if this is your scene have a search on MOLA and KLIVNIK lakes..

Well folks, you heard it here first.. the amazing Brkini mini region..

Maybe do not try to have too much of a plan for visiting the Brkini, just a suggested Entry and Exit point! It will be so much fun to explore here and get a little lost, even if you pop outside this mini region by mistake for a bit until you have consulted a map and find your way to pop back in!