One of the most important Slovenian words you need to look out for on those little brown road signs during your Green adventures around Slovenia is IZVIR, which means SPRINGS.. the start of yet another new river..

Whether you actually find the advertised springs or not, you are pretty much guaranteed a new adventure if you go follow one of these signs, maybe by car, bike or foot, depending on the conditions of where you are.

Almost half of Green Slovenia is covered in leaky limestone KARST rock, so the chances are high your newly found Izvir will be a Karst spring and this means huge volumes of underground water have been channelled by millions of years of nature, chiseling the water through permeable rock to bring ALL the local water to one magical spot where it bursts out onto the landscape in spectacularly beautiful fashion!

We came mid autumn and this is the view you will get..

Most of the biggest and better known Karst Caves, Springs & Disappearing Lakes are to be found in the bordering Green Karst & Red Karst South West of Slovenia, right in the Lodge's backyard, but there are very many other pockets of Karst all over Green Slovenia to look out for.

And this means you might get the chance to go visit an unexpected spring or cave on your Green adventures to other parts of Slovenia where you might not have thought had them and if you didn't know what IZVIR or JAMA (cave) means, then you have even less chance of finding one!

The KRUPA river flows off to join the Kolpa river, which forms the border between Slovenia and Croatia..

We surprisingly often get asked by guests, sometimes, as brutally as this.. "Is there anything worth seeing in the east of Slovenia?"!

And once we have picked ourselves up from the floor in ever repeated shock, we can always end up matching their specific interests and family / couple / friends grouping to a whole host of Green adventures to Secret Places to Visit in the east of Slovenia..

ALL of these are very possible from the Lodge in different daytrips, due to our excellent location and the amazing Slovenian motorway & local road system!

Admittedly, many of these secret places in the east tend to be places for a few hours or half a day and so maybe this is another reason they are unknown or get ignored by visitors, but most are heavily undermarketed too, often just in Slovenian, so the trick is to get your logistics right and then you could easily visit several of them in one amazing loop from the Lodge to make the most unexpected day out!

The rolling hills of the Semic wine area in autumn, just down the road from Krupa..

the Krupa Springs..

Well Krupa springs is exactly one of those secret places! It's an absolute beauty of a Karst Spring and by visiting some other Green treasures in the vicinity as part of a longer day trip, you can get a very visual understanding of what the Karst and a Karst spring really look like.

Water travels from all over the hills of a nearby wine region to arrive en masse at the base of the stunning Karst rock cliff and pours out to the surface creating the imaginitively named Krupa river.

As you walk down the hill from the car park this is the exciting Green Scene that meets you..

The water is ice cold, crystal clear and has this sensational blue aqua colour that most people can only dream of having in their rivers at home.

The power of this new river is not to be underestimated either and an old mill house still stands just 100 metres down river where a dam used to corral and harness some of the free power nature offered.

Quaint mill bridge over the diverted wheel water..

The geography of this south eastern corner of Green Slovenia is dominated by the Kolpa River, which forms one of the few actually sensible, clearly visible border lines between Slovenia and Croatia and the Krupa flows for just 2.5km into the Lahinja river which then joins the mighty Kolpa, (which is another one of those warm Slovenian rivers and one where you can do rafting, by the way)..

It is certainly enough to just take your time and witness the beauty of Krupa springs, but there are several local trails you might decide to follow too, one smaller loop following the river and another walking trail leading back to Semič, the biggest little town in the region..

The main longer hike is back through Green paradise to the nearest town of Semic, but you could also do a river loop..

How do I get to Krupa Springs?

It is a simple 90 min motorway drive from the Lodge to Novo Mesto, then half an hour on wiggly country roads to Krupa.

After Novo Mesto, you drive the very pretty, curvy country roads to Semič and then take the road towards Metlika and Gradac, looking carefully for the turn to Krupa just after the little village of Prapot.

There is a very handy little car park in Krupa with a sign to the Izvir, with just a 5 min walk down to the springs.

Handy little car park very close to the Springs..

What other Little Green Nuggets could I combine with Krupa Springs?

There are a lot of nuggets around here to tell you about.. Actually too many!

Most longer daytrips from the Lodge will focus on one or two bigger hooks to visit and then a whole range of other choices on the way there and back that can be explored, depending on how much time you allocate to spend enjoying them, having lunch etc..

But to really experience Green Slovenia is NOT to rush around taking selfies and seeing nothing!

To visit this particular corner of Green Slovenia, it makes sense to use the motorway to make very quick time to Novo Mesto then straight to Krupa to start your adventures and then basically make your way back to the Lodge on country roads, maybe going through the Unesco protected Kocevje Forests to find the very impressive Base 20, which is the only preserved HQ of any Partisan WW2 organisation anywhere in Europe and would be a great contrast with the Krupa springs for the backbone of your day.

The Krupa river, just magical..

This route back would then cover sensational forests, pretty villages and those very wiggly roads and maybe you might stop at the Cerknica Disappearing Lake on the way back as one of many sensational options..

But there are so many other options and it is also worth knowing that just getting to Krupa Springs would skirt you nicely between TWO of Slovenia's Eastern wine regions, so there are wine tasting options on this particular table too..

Once at Novo Mesto you are in the heart of a CVICEK wine region, which is a unique rose like mix of local wines made new and approved by the local wine committee every year..

This is a very typical view of an East Slovenian wine region, with little summer wine cottages on the hills and micro vineyards..

So you might decide to first explore parts of the Novo Mesto area, especially along the stunning bottle Green Kirka river, which loops around Otočec island with a castle on and another island with a whole village and numerous places to swim & kayak, called Chestnut (Kostanjevice)..

But soon out of Novo Mesto you will reach the Metlika far corner of Slovenia in another mini wine region called Bela (White) Carniola, which is covered in stunning white Silver Birch trees and produces Black Metlika wine, amongst others, which is actually red!

So maybe you will decide today to push on just a little bit further past Krupa right to the border to visit wonderful Metlika, with fab little old town, a castle with the best fire brigade museum in Slovenia, plenty of vineyards and of course, those silver birch forests!

You sure know this is a tourist spot if you get a red heart..

In that case you would have time to go see Krupa Springs, but probably not have time to also go find Base 20, so for this scenario it might make sense to come back also with the motorway.

We mentioned Semič and this is pretty much where Cvicek wine production finishes and the influence of White Carnolia begins, so try to have a little drive around some of the hills to see the mini vineyards often owned by local families with a little cotttage sat in the middle of a plot where they go year on year to cultivate, produce and drink their own wine.. Just magnificent, then you will truly visit a Slovenian wine region!

This is a giant Karst Spring and ALL the water in this mini region flows underground to here, then pops up to form the new Krupa river..

Whichever way you decide to involve Krupa Springs in your epic day out we have created a Secret Places to Visit Treasure Map that might help you plan your journey between some of the fantastic Secret Places we have mentioned here.. And many more!

Whatever you do, have a great day out, embrace the mini regions and go see the marvellous Krupa Springs!