Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
under a blanket of snow, but its surroundings are wonderful to explore at other times as
well. There are endless possibilities for hiking, cycling and mountaineering in Triglav Na-
tional Park, which is right on the town's doorstep to the south, and few travellers will be
unimpressed by a trip over Vršič Pass (1611m), the gateway to the Soča Valley.
CROSSING THE VRŠIČ PASS
Just a couple of kilometres from Kranjska Gora is one of the road-engineering marvels of the 20th century: a
breakneck, Alpine highway that connects Kranjska Gora with Bovec, 50km to the southwest. The trip involves no
fewer than 50 pulse-quickening hairpin turns and dramatic vistas as you cross the Vršič Pass at 1611m.
Commissioned during WWI by Germany and Austria-Hungary in their epic struggle with Italy, much of the
hard labour was done by Russian prisoners of war, and for that reason, the highway is now called the Ruska cesta
(Russian Road).
The road is open from May to October and is easiest to navigate by car or bus (in summer, buses from Kranjska
Gora to Bovec use this road), though it is possible by bike. Though the following are not stops on the bus route,
let the driver know when you board where you want to get off and they will usually oblige.
From Kranjska Gora, the first stop is
Jasna Lake
(Jezero Jasna). It's a beautiful blue glacial lake with white
sand around its rim and the little Pivnica River flowing alongside. Standing guard is a bronze statue of that iras-
cible old goat Zlatorog and a decent
gostišče
(inn with restaurant).
As you zig-zag up to just over 1100m, you come to the
Russian chapel
, erected on the site where more than
400 Russian POWs were buried in an avalanche in March 1916.
The climb then begins in earnest as the road meanders past a couple of huts and corkscrews up the next few
kilometres to
Vršič Pass
(1611m), about 13km from Kranjska Gora. From here, to the west is Mojstrovka
(2366m), to the east Prisojnik/Prisank (2547m), and to the south the valley of the
Soča River
points the way to
Primorska. A hair-raising descent of about 10km ends just short of a monument to
Dr Julius Kugy
(1858-1944),
a pioneer climber and writer whose books eulogise the beauty of the Julian Alps.
From here you can take a side trip along the first part of the
Soča Trail
(Soška Pot) to the source of the Soča
River (Izvir Soče), about 2.5km to the northwest. Fed by an underground lake, the infant river bursts from a dark
cave before dropping 15m to the rocky bed from where it begins its long journey to the Adriatic.
Not long after joining the main road again, you'll pass the entrance to the
Alpinum Juliana
(www2.pms-lj.si;
Trenta; adult/child €3/2; 8.30am-6.30pm May-Sep)
, a botanical garden established in 1926 that showcases
the flora of all of Slovenia's Alps (Julian, Kamnik-Savinja and Karavanke) as well as the Karst.
The elongated mountain village of
Trenta
(elevation 620m) is just south. The lower section,
Spodnja Trenta
(Lower Trenta), is home to the
Triglav National Park Information Centre.
(Dom Trenta; 05-388 93 30;
www.tnp.si
;
Trenta 31; 10am-6pm late Apr-Oct, 10am-2pm mid-Jan-late Apr; )
You'll also find here the
Trenta Museum
(Trentarski Muzej; 05-388 93 30;
www.tnp.si
;
Trenta 31; adult/child €5/3.50;
10am-6pm late Apr-Oct, 10am-2pm mid-Jan-late Apr)
, which focuses on the park's geology and natural history
as well as the Trenta guides and pioneers of Slovenian alpinism.
