Tolmin.. the full monty day out!
It is about time we told you about a fantastic Soca River Adventure day out you could do based entirely in & around Tolmin.. one of the least known Alpine towns along the uberstunning Soca river.. but actually packed with enough secret Green places to visit for 2 spectacular days out.. so you might want to read more below and choose which particular adventures are for you!!
BREAKING NEWS.. Especially in the busier summer months vists to Tolmin Gorge will be restricted to 200 people per hour.. This is great news for the Green traveller and we support this 100%, but if you just turn up at the Gorge, then you might need to wait until you can enter, so we recommend you buy your ticket ONLINE in advance.. better at least the day before.
You can choose your time, here is the LINK TO THE TOLMIN GORGE BOOKING PAGE..
So Tolmin.. one of the few place names in Slovenia that is easy to say and even easier to get to from the Lodge, just 75 mins up through the uberstunning Vipava valley and then follow the most beautiful river in Europe, the Soca, prob stop at Kanal for a coffee or ice cream by the amazing river bridge, then, Bob's your uncle.. next stop is Tolmin!
Tolmin is one of the 4 main stunning little Alpine towns along the Soca river that absolutely MUST be on your hit list for your Green Slovenian adventures.. but probably the one you might have heard the least about!
And we can tell you exactly why..
Bovec and Kobarid are the 2 main Alpine towns towards the top of the Soca river often accessed via long curvy rides over the stunning Vrsic pass from the Bled side of the Julian Alps, so often this will be as far as visitors can get down the river when tackling it from the top end of the map, cos you have to return exactly the same way back in the evening if you are staying in the Bled or Kranska Gora areas..
Tolmin is the next town down river and so tricky to get to from Bled.. but that is not a problem for Lodge guests, who can easily whizz to explore Tolmin, Kobarid and Bovec up river on normal roads, indeed, following the beautiful Soca river most of the way!
Tolmin also prob falls completely off the radar for getting to from Ljubljana or the coast in one day too.. We thought very carefully where to position Lipizzaner Lodge and Tolmin is within very easy reach for guests.. so much so, there is a return loop you could do via Idrija to come home a completely different way to make a quite unbelievably amazing loop!
So why on Earth should I devote a day in my busy Green Slovenian Itinerary to go see Tolmin?
We would put this question another way and ask how you could even consider not seeing Tolmin on your Green Slovenian adventures! It is really that good and we will point out in this article some of the stunning secret places to visit in & around Tolmin and explain how you can combine & fit them into one amazing day!
But there is another reason we wanted to highlight how amazing Tolmin is and that is the effort being made by the local tourist people here to really help you explore around here without a car.. we will mention this later too..
Ok, so first an appetizer.. Name another country in Europe where you could spend a day at a stunning gorge, hike up a mountain trail to a secret cafe, find a secret wooden church built onto the side of a mountain by WW1 Austrian soldiers to commerate their fallen comrades, sail on an eco paddle steamer on a stunning lake with the same aqua blue colour of the Soca river and even have a swim in said lake or river!
There is even more too.. return that other route to the Lodge from Tolmin via Idrija for a secret Partisan hospital hidden in the mountains, a tour in the second biggest Mercury mine in Europe and another chance to swim in another crystal clear river..
So we think the answer to the question is there is NO other country in Europe where you can pack so much green diversity & adventure into one day!
You probubbly already realise though that you just can't do all that is on offer here in one day, so you need to choose which combo works best for you and plan your day out a bit to avoid missing out..
OK, so now the Stuff to see in & around Tolmin.. (Click on the links for much more detail about visiting each amazing Green Secret Place)..
the Tolmin Gorge.. three little words that should be on your list for Green Slovenia..
Many visitors to Slovenia just rock up at the Vintgar Gorge, cos it is close to Bled and is amazing, by the way, but Tolmin is one of the five other gorges we could name that, in our humble opinion, are even better!
You do have to walk a bit even if you just want to see only the gorge, so you do have to be relatively fit as there are lots of stone steps down.. but it is so worth it!
The gorge itself is so incredibly beautiful it actually looks fake, but there is a lot more to explore here along the stunning Tolminka river with further steps up to the Devils' Bridge, Dante's Cave and then the secret forest path up the mountain a bit for amazing views down over Tolmin to find some wonky donkeys and a secret cafe!
So you might need an hour and a half or so for just the gorge or you can spend 3 hours or more including the hike up to Devil's Bridge and the Secret cafe..
Javorca (Maple Tree) Church..
If you could imagine a location to build a wooden church memorial to all the Austrian soldiers who fell in the bloodiest mountain battle of all time, (sadly, here in Slovenia in the WW1 Isonzo Front), then this would be that very place..
So, half way up a mountain, with peaks rising up into the skies and surrounded by Alpine green meadows with the sound of the Tolminka river raging far below, you can find this pretty little wooden church.
It is decked out in all the regional Austrian coats of arms and if you can arrange to get inside then do so.. (you need to ask the local TIC (tourist Info Centre) for the key, unless they explain it is open already)..
The location here is just incredible.. many of you might go tramping on the other side of the Alps near Bled or Kranska Gora, but trust us, up here it absolutely stunning and probably even fewer visitors too.
The Javorca church is easy to find, being at the end of a long side road posted directly from Zatolmin, the next village up from Tolmin on the way to Tolmin Gorge.. but you have to drive along a terrifyingly narrow stone road there, with sharp forest drops down to the Tolminka river, so consider hiking or biking here OR using the fantastic Tolmin courtesy bus from the Tolmin Gorge overspill car park..
The road is only really scary if you meet another car coming the other way, which is pretty unlikely as there is not even a village up there.
The other thing you should know is this road is actually closed in the summer when the shuttle bus whisks you safely up here instead!
TO be clear, simply seeing the location for this church justifies the visit alone, cos it is so beautiful up here and you are accompanied by the sound of the Tolminka river running far, far below, but there are also many walks you could start from here..
Hike to the Tolminka River Spring..
One special hike high on our list is the walk from the Javorca church to the spring of the Tolminka river.. about a 2-3 hour round trip from the Javorca church lower car park.. (or a grassy patch where cars can park depending on defintion of a car park)!
the Most na Soci Lake and Captain Dejan..
So now we know that the Tolminka river has a reachable spring and this waterflow is responsible for carving the Tolmin gorge. But where does this greyish blue crystal clear river go next??
Well, it flows down towards Tolmin and joins the Soca river at another secret place.. one of Slovenia's most secret lakes.. Most na Soci.
Most na Soci, (Bridge over the Soca) is a very pretty little village a few km to the back of Tolmin, direction Idrija where the Tolminka river joins the Soca river and a man made reservoir was created to form one of the most beautiful lakes you never knew about in Green Slovenia!
Put simply, this lake has the same turquoise green Soca water, so it is an absolute picture, especially near the bridge with views back to Tolmin and the Alps..
This lake is also home to the Lady Lucia, an electric paddle steamer that can hold over one hundred guests to tour up and down this Alpine lake beauty!
There are two hour long trips to take, one north up to the Tolminka and one south down the Soca river, where the hilarious and masterful Captain Dejan steers his boat under that beautiful Soca bridge and explores an incredibly secret part of the Soca river that you can otherwise ONLY glimpse from a train!
If you ever wanted to do something in Green Slovenia that you never expected to do, then take a ride with the captain, sit back and enjoy the beauty of this unexpected lake.
Please check Captain Dejan's website for times, we usually phone ahead to make sure they know our guests will be on a particular sailing and yes.. if you can DEFFO DO BOTH TRIPS, NORTH and SOUTH!
Logistics and more little facts about Tolmin..
If you get your timings right, then it is perfectly possible to sail with the Captain, see the church and the gorge.. but maybe you will select two of these and spend the whole day enjoying them?
Families with little kids might do more cruising, determined hikers may go for it to Javorca church and the Tolminka Springs (Izvir)..
This is the most fantastic thing about Green Slovenia.. there is something in nature here for EVERYONE at ALL AGES!
the castle on top of the hill..
It is difficult to miss the imposing hill at the start of Tolmin with incredible views up the Soca river valley to Kobarid and the mounains.
And you won't be surprised to know there is also a crumbled castle up there on the top and a really good forest hike that zig zags up this hill.
Your reward for choosing to conquer this hike is the incredible vista and although the walk up is fairly demanding, there are no drop offs, so not scary and perfectly doable with a bottle of water for company..
Choices, choices, everywhere!
Mediterranean Climate..
As you drive up from the heavily Mediterranean Italian looking Vipava valley and Gorica, joining the river to go up into the Alps, you might expect Tolmin to have a more chilly Alpine climate, but the way the Lower Soca valley works here means Tolmin sits in the Alps, but still has a Mediterranean climate, so surprisingly little snow in the winter and hot dry days in the summer, perfect for jumping into the ice cold Soca for a few seconds to cool off!!
Maybe better to take a swim in the Soca lake though, or find one of the white beaches further up towards the Tolminka, where the water mass has time to warm up a bit in the hot summer months!
Heavy Metal Festival..
The most unlikely place for a heavy metal festival would be in the middle of summer in picture perfect Tolmin, but that is what happens here folks!
However, heavy metal fans are usually the nicest possible festival tourists around and bless them, when we happened to visit Tolmin once during festival time, we saw so many hiking up to the Secret Cafe high above Tolmin gorge under the hot sunshine in their skinny black jeans, black T shirts with mascara pouring down their faces, that we felt a bit sorry for them!
Lodge guests can of course pick and choose which day to go explore Tolmin, but even if it is festival time, this is not an issue for visiting here as the places we are mentioning here are so secret, most first time visitors will not have a clue they are there!
Other Stuff to do and see in combination..
So we do not want to totally overwhelm you now, but if this is your one day to "do" the Tolmin loop, then you need to know that a round trip to or from the Lodge going or coming back via IDRIJA will open up even more sensational possibilities to you..
Click for more details on the Secret Partisan hospital near Cerkno, the Idrija Mercury mine tour or our favourite river to swim in ALL Green Slovenia, the Bela Idrija river for more details AND if your nerves can take all this choice it is ALSO possible to return to the Lodge via Idrija and choose to do an extra very short mountain pass hop to flop into the Vipava valley for a choice of evening meals in one of the Vipava Cluster of restaurants for, quite simply, a stunning, unique day's adventure in Green Slovenia.
Maybe you still think all this is not possible, but Lodge guests do this all the time.. You just need a bit of planning.. It is NOT possible to pick up a guide book and do this day though, you will need some help with the directions and logisitics, which is why, you see, we needed to do this article and get Tolmin onto your radar!
And Finally a special thank you to the TIC in Tolmin and the dedicated tourist people there cos they have done a wonderful job building a car park just outside Tolmin on the way to the Gorge where you can park and EITHER take a bus to the Gorge OR hike ON A NEW PATH a little over a km DIRECTLY to the Gorge..
This is not all.. there is ANOTHER bus in the summer months from the same car park, just outside Tolmin, direction Zatolmin, DIRECTLY to the Javorca church.. how about that for service!
So congratulations to the Tolmin TIC, (Tourist Info Centre) for helping you to ditch the car and introduce a bit more greeness into your green day out in Tolmin!
The lovely people at the Tolmin TIC also asked us to tell you that they have a lovely new office just behind the pizzeria that is left from the main traffic lights as you enter the main town centre and head up towards the KORITA (gorge) and they would be very happy if you dropped in to see them!
And we would be very happy if this article helped you visit yet another completely different, completely stunning "little known" corner of Slovenia.. just another part of the Green jigsaw puzzle that makes this little country the most varied and beautiful in Europe!
French Connection en Slovenie
