Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Activities
The
Kontrabantar farmhouse
( 709 22 53; Dolenja Vas 72; per hr €10;
noon-10pm Thu-Sun)
in Dolenja Vas, 2km southwest of Cerknica, has horses, riding les-
sons and riding gear for rent.
The Hotel Rakov Škocjan (
Click here
)
can organise any number of activities from
guided
hiking
(from €20 per person) and
caving
(from €23) to
cycling
and
fly-fishing
in
the surrounding Notranjska Regional Park. It offers packages such as one that includes ac-
commodation, half-board, a bicycle and a trip to Križna Cave for €38 per person per day
in a double room. Ask for the booklet
Rakov Škocjan and the Nature Trail
.
The
Cerknica Mountain Trail
heads southwest from Cerknica to thickly forested Ve-
liki Javornik. From here you can take a side trip of about two hours to the gorge at Rakov
Škocjan. Otherwise the trail skirts the southern shore of Lake Cerknica and carries on
northeast to
Križna Gora
(857m) and its nearby
cave
. It continues northwest to
Slivnica
(1114m), where you will find the Dom na Slivnici (
Click here
)
mountaintop guesthouse.
The next day you walk north-northwest to
Stražišče
(955m) and then south along the
main road for 3km to Cerknica.
Festivals & Events
Pustni Karneval
(
www.cerknica.net/pust
;
late-Feb-early Mar)
Cerknica is famous for its pre-Lenten
carnival called Pustni Karneval, which takes place for four days over the weekend before
Ash Wednesday (late February/early March). Mask-wearing merrymakers parade up and
down while being provoked by upstarts with pitchforks.
RELIGIOUS FESTIVAL
TALES FROM A DARK PROVINCE
Slovenian folk tales are rife with fairies, witches and things that go bump in the night, but among the most com-
mon stories are those describing the derring-do of 'superheroes', whose strong wills and unusual strength enabled
them to overcome evil and conquer their brutish enemies.
Some of the most popular stories revolve around the feats of one Martin Krpan, the hero of the Bloke Plateau in
Notranjska. Krpan's traits and characteristics are familiar: he was an outlaw with a big heart, hunted by the imper-
ial guard for smuggling salt. When he was arrested, Martin Krpan proved his super-human strength to the emperor
in Vienna by picking up and carrying his own horse. (Portrayed in a statue in the centre of Cerknica.)
