Slovenia

Inexpensive Adventure Travel

By Roger Lebovitz

The Slovenes call their piece of Europe’s biggest mountain range the Sunny Side of the Alps. The Julian Alps region in northwestern Slovenia combines alpine grandeur with a rich mountain culture where the Slavic and German cultural worlds meet. My wife and I spent a week in September hiking in the Bohinj lake area, interspersing day hikes with overnight excursions to the high mountain huts and casual scenic walks between villages with rugged alpine scrambles.

Much of this region is in Triglav National Park, the country’s only national park, named after the country’s highest peak (9,450 feet), the reputed home of early Slav deities. Armed with a topographical map of the park pubished by the Alpine Association of Slovenia, we planned a variety of hikes with Triglav itself as the final destination.

September in the Julian Alps offers a combination of inexpensive accommodations and good weather. We stayed in rooms in local farm houses. Signs announcing sobe rooms zimmer are ubiquitous in the villages around Bohinj lake. You can simply knock on doors or check at the tourist agencies. Doubles cost around $20. A little Slovenian will go a long way, especially hvala (thanks), prosim (please, or you’re welcome) and ima prosto sobe? (do you have a room available?). When we hiked to the high alpine huts, we augmented this basic vocabulary with phrases such as eno pivo, prosim (one beer, please).

During the medieval period, traders from Italy would come to fairs held in the vicinity of St. John the Baptist church in Ribcev Laz on the eastern shore of the Bohinj lake to barter wine and fruits for iron ore and livestock. Although the iron mines gradually gave out, the church still stands, its oldest portion dating back to the 15th century. Colorful frescoes from the 15th and 16th centuries adorn the inside walls. From the shores of the lake itself, a simple two-arched white stone bridge perfectly frames the bell tower, suggesting a leitmotif for this mountain region. Soft church bells ring out each evening, the sound reaching across the lake towards the high hills.

Dozens of day hikes can be made from the villages on the lake into the surrounding mountains. One day we rode the cable car from the tiny settlement of Ukanc at the western end of the lake. The steep ride took us 3,000 feet to the base of the Vogel ski area from which we proceeded on foot to higher ridges to look for chamois, numerous in this area. We also found rusted barbed wire strewn along the highest sections of the path, a reminder that these mountains witnessed fierce fighting between Austria and Italy during World War I. Not far to the west, Ernest Hemingway was wounded in action as an ambulance driver for the Italian army. Many of his impressions of the mountains are contained in A Farewell to Arms.

Overnight mountain hut accommodations are numerous and hospitable in the Bohinj region; the hiker can enjoy warm and clean sheets, running water, hot meals, and a full bar. Reservations are a good idea in the summer and on fall weekends. Most huts now have cellular phones. A bed goes for between $12 and $20.

We reached the Triglav Seven Lakes hut after a five-hour hike from Bohinj lake, following a zig-zag path up the Komarca cliffs that mark the western edge of the Bohinj valley.

The hut, a three-story wooden building near the shore of one of the lakes, was staffed not by youth but by matronly women dressed in kitchen smocks. After a meal of jota, a meaty cabbage stew, crusty bread, and beer, followed by shots of slivovka, a hiking club from Ljubljana broke out in song. Others joined in, and while the exact meaning of the words eluded us, the song was clearly about the immense enjoyment of coming to the mountains. The Alpine Association of Slovenia has over 90,000 members in a country with a population of only two million.

No visas are required for U.S. citizens for stays up to 90 days. The cheapest way to reach Slovenia from the U.S. is to fly to a central European city such as Munich or Vienna and take a train (about six hours) to Ljubljana. We flew to Munich from Montreal for $510 each roundtrip, then took a EuroCity train through Austria for about $60 one way. A bus from Ljubljana to Bohinj costs about $7 one way. A dozen or so buses a day make the 90-minute trip from the central bus station, conveniently located next to the main train station.

The Turist Biro in Ribcev Laz (011-386-064-723-370) or the Alpinum Agency (011-386-64-723-441) can arrange stays in private rooms. Accommodations range from rooms with separate showers to apartments with cooking facilities. Doubles cost around $20 a night with breakfast. The rooms are spacious, clean, and usually include a balcony with geraniums and a breathtaking view.

August and September are probably the best months for hiking, although possibilities exist any time between June and the first part of October. The higher alpine huts are generally open from the end of June until the end of September.

ROGER LEBOVITZ is a freelance writer and translator who lives near the shores of Lake Champlain in Vermont.