If you ever saw a tower more like Rapunzel's fairy tale jail in the sky, then this is surely the one.. 

Ravbar Stolp as it is called locally, means Robber's Tower, but we will stick with Rapunzel's Tower thank you very much and if you are lucky enough to go find it, just 15 mins from the Lodge in pretty Planina, then do not be surprised to see Rapunzel waving enthusiastically from the top window!

The very first time we saw it, well over ten years ago now, we immediately said, oh my God, that is Rapunzel's Tower and we couldn't believe our luck that such a magical tower was just an E Bike ride away from the Lodge.

Hike or bike up into the Karst Forest hills to get the view you might have dreamed about when you imagined how Green Slovenia would look..

Without doubt this is our very favourite tower in the whole of Green Slovenia, which is saying something.. indeed there are so many different and amazing towers in all shapes and sizes here, we just had to do a whole Tower section for them!

But Rapunzel's Tower is just so sugar Daddy cool.. The location could not be better with it's commanding position peeping out above a huge green forest and overlooking the Planina Disappearing Lake!

Can you see Rapunzel waving from one of those windows..

The tower also overlooks the River Unica, part of the magical River of 7 Names which bursts out of the massive Planina Cave and you can easily walk down a fantastic stone track to see the cave mouth and even go inside the cave a bit in just 5 mins from the same Rapunzel Tower car park..

There are 2 possible tours a day for the Planina Cave in the summer, an hour tour every day at 5pm and an Epic 5 hour Rubber boat tour which you have to book ahead and takes you to the very end of the biggest water cave in Green Slovenia.. in a boat.. that you row yourselves.. how about that!

short walk down to the incredible mouth of the Planina Cave, with the Unica River thundering out..

Rapunzel's Tower..

Like most medieval churches, towers and castles in Green Slovenia, the positons for these Medieval marvels will be strategic and spectacular in equal measures..

Ravbar Tower is actually the only remaining part of a castle that perched up here on the hill with such an excellent view over everthing and everybody who might have wanted to try to sneak past in the old days.

If they didn't want you coming in here, you were not coming in..

Martin Krpan..

One Slovenian Legend the tower guards would be looking out for was Martin Krpan, a smuggler and "Robin Hood" character, who was so strong he could carry his horse through the forest to make no sound, to evade capture!

The most famous Martin Krpan legend is when the Austrian Emperor needed some help dealing with the Turkish champion, a beast of a man, who had rocked up to Vienna and wanted a scrap..

The Emperor begged giant Martin Krpan to come to town and he obliged, easily dispatching the other mighty warrior with a swing of his massive axe!

The Emperor offered Martin any riches he wanted as a reward, but Krpan just asked for a few bags of salt, which he loaded onto his horse and off he trotted!

What a Guy!

Can I go up the Tower?

Ever since we opened the Lodge, we have been nothing short of desperate to go up this tower and see the view! 

One of the Lodge team is scared of heights, but that will not stop him climbing up those new stairs to witness what the Medieval soldiers saw all those years ago..

We have watched carefully over the years as the tower's roof has been renovated and then the steps up to the tower, (which were a bit dodgy), were completely replaced and also a proper path created up to the tower.

the new staircase might look a bit ugly, but cannot think of a better way to get into the tower..

Then they went and put a metal staircase around the side of the tower and to be honest, we were not sure about this..

But we have gradually come around to the idea that this is probably the best and safest way to climb up to the top of the tower and see the view, without damaging the tower..

the Unica River, or River of 7 Names, thunders out from the Planina Cave towards Rapunzel's Tower..

The best thing about the staircase of course, is that now Rapunzel can leave whenever she wants to go shopping with Goldilocks!!

So when can we get into the tower, we hear you ask?

Well, just after the metal staircase was completed, they found some historical artifacts in the tower basement, so the opening was delayed, but we are hoping it will be this year.. 

Can you see the road here below the tower.. this is where you can walk down to get to the riverside, just 5 mins..

Some Secret ways to See the Tower..

This tower is so impressive from any angle, but there are a few ways to see it from other secret locations, either below or even high above from the forest cliffs!

From Below..

When you arrive at the tower there is a little car park also for the cave and you might not realise you can either continue driving down that road, or better still, park and walk down and you will get to the stunning Unica river..

Down by the Unica river in summer, turn around and the Tower is high above, behind you..

There is a really terrific view up to the tower from down here and we dare you to shout out, "Rapunzel, let down your hair!"

You could also have a sneaky wild swim here, but be careful, the waterflow can be low in the summer, but when full, the river moves very fast.. there is such a huge amount of water coming out of the Planina Cave along this river that it can fill an entire Disappearing Lake!

this is not a space rocket, this is a medieval tower, baby..

By E Bike..

There is another way to approach the tower and see it in its full majesty from below if you are coming from Planina town direction, maybe on an E Bike returning from going round the Planina Disappearing lake..

Then just after leaving the very small centre, look for a little concrete bridge with a small gap on the left side and a little stone track that leads down to the river..

Just bike along the river for a bit and the full tower will pop into view soon enough for a private viewing!

if you can find this riverside track to bike to the Tower our first view will be this..

From Above..

This is also best done on an E Bike as you can bike up into the thick Karst forest from Haasberg castle on the other side of the Planina lake and find the Unica Crater, which is a massive sinkhole with walls maybe 50m high and the remains of a post WW1 Italian bunker built into the thick rock wall side of it!

Have a bit of an explore there (be very careful) and while biking back down to the other side of Planina through the forest you can come out to an epic viewpoint which looks out high above Rapunzel's tower and Planina Disappearing Lake!

Probably one of the best views in Green Slovenia.. Rapunzel's Tower looking out over the Planina Disappearing Lake..

From up here you will get one of the best possible unexpected views in Green Slovenia, which could easily be on every Slovenian guidebook front cover.. but of course, it is not, so remember how lucky you are to find it and have it all to yourself!!

This is not all, cos you are actually standing on TOP of the huge Karst rock wall directly above the Planina cave, so you can see and hear the thundering Unica river far below too..

Told you it was epic!

Other Stuff to do in Combo with the Tower..

So the key thing to note about Planina and Rapunzel Tower is there is really a lot of other amazing stuff to do around here.. we call this tiny green nugget on the map the Planina Green Hotspot and you would need at least 2 to 3 days to do all the different Green activities we know about here..

It is that good..

Go through this "seret Garden" gate to get down to the Planina Cave mouth.. the gate is always unlocked..

But equally if you did not have so much time and let's face it, sadly, you probubbly will have completely underestimated how many amazing Green adventures you can have in such a tiny country, so you won't have time, then you could just swing by to see the tower and maybe walk down to see the massive Planina cave mouth and the river too..

Whatever you do, do not miss this tower.. it is very special indeed and we hope that by the time you rock up it will also be open to the public, so you can climb up and see the amazing view and maybe have a cuppa with Rapunzel!