Home > Custom Tours > Slovenia wildlife break – a long weekend in nature

ABOUT THE TOUR

Would you like a quick getaway from the city or a natural addition to your holidays? Then our four-day Slovenia Wildlife Break is the tour program for you. We visit some of the best nature areas in southern Slovenia, sleep in a local accommodation where you’ll not be disturbed by traffic noise and eat delicious locally produced food. From the moment we pick you up to the end of the tour, our Slovenia Wildlife Break is fully organised and guided.

In 2019 we offer our Slovenia Wildlife Break as a program for private groups of two to eight participants. We can organise this tour between April and the end of September, depending on the availability of our guides.

This tour program is one of the first which were in early 2019 awarded the Slovenia Unique Experiences label. This label is awarded to high-quality experiences which follow all principles of sustainable tourism. In the evaluation of our tour programme, the committee of the Slovenian Tourism Board among others wrote: “This tour is representing a rare business model of educational tourism, which is taking the forefront the overlooked tourism areas in Notranjska and Slovenia Istria with the high diversity of flora and fauna. … The addition to sustainability is that the applicant is as a social enterprise investing part of the income to the nature conservation project and is creating economic opportunities for local inhabitants.”

ITINERARY

Day 1Arrival; the largest forest in Central Europe and a view of the Intermittent Lake Cerknica

Starting in Postojna, we drive up to the Javorniki mountain range (highest peaks 1200 m a.s.l.). This area is almost entirely forested and on the way, we see a forest reserve with old-growth forest. We hike to the top of a hill, from where we have a fantastic view. Afterwards, we drive down on the other side of the mountain ridge, straight towards Lake Cerknica. This is a unique wetland, in the middle of the Slovenian Karst region and an excellent place for birdwatching. We end our day in the accommodation where you also have dinner.

Day 2The quiet Bloke plateau and Bear-watching

Bloke plateau lies at 750 m. a.s.l., but it doesn’t feel like you are in the mountains. A quiet stream meanders through meadows where extraordinary plants grow. Depending on the season, many wild orchids flower here and we may see rare insectivorous plants as well.

In the evening we go bear-watching! Slovenia is home to about 800 brown bears, and the region where we stay has one of the highest densities of bears in the world. Accompanied by a local game-manager we go to a hide, deep in the forest. Here we wait quietly: mostly bears come just before the sunset. Bears are every day in the surroundings of the hides, but they are untrained wild animals and sometimes they come only after dark. We estimate the chance to see bears at 80%.

Day 3Scents of the Mediterranean

We start out with a hike through the dry karst region, close to the Slovenian coast. Expect butterflies, flowers and sun! Highlights are wild paeonies, irises and orchids, but each plant species has its own, short flowering season. What we see, depends largely on the season …

In the afternoon, we go inland to the Dragonja valley. Here, the tiny stream flows over white rocks. We get a true taste of the Mediterranean with colourful Bee-eaters, Orioles, Hoopoes and Shrikes, while Nightingales sing in the background. We rest in the pleasant shade at a local house, where we get a taste of the local cuisine.

Day 4Departure day

Where we go, depends on you. We take you to your departing airport Ljubljana (Brnik) or Trieste or to the city of Ljubljana or Postojna. If your departure is only planned in the late afternoon, we can extend guiding for half a day (60 € supplement for the whole group).

PRACTICAL INFORMATION

Tour price

The price of this tour is 795,- € per participant.

This price includes 3 nights accommodation, meals, transport in Slovenia, guiding, observation of brown bears, transfer between Ljubljana airport and the accommodation, accident insurance during the tour.

The price does not include: airplane tickets, travel insurance, any private expenses, alcoholic drinks

Depending on the accommodation, there can be a single-room supplement.

Supplements:
single room supplement: 90,- € per person,
demonstration of etheric oil distillation: 20 € per person
additional lunch package on day 4: 15 € per person
extending guiding on day 4: 60,- € per group
rental of rubber boots: 5 € per person per day

Your guides

Your principal guides will be Paul or Jana (both for larger groups), who are licensed local guides and naturalists, living in southern Slovenia. They speak English, Slovenian and Dutch. Sometimes, they are joined by other specialized guides. For instance, in caves, there will be a specialist cave/guide.

Departure & Return Location

Your arrival and departure location will be agreed upon reservation. We can arrange transport from and back to the Airport Ljubljana (Brnik) or Trieste, the city of Ljubljana and Postojna. To travel with public transport, check https://www.ap-ljubljana.si/en/ (buses) or http://www.slo-zeleznice.si/en/ (trains).

Accommodation

For groups, we cooperate with several local accommodations which are comparable with Agritourism or a countryside hotel.

Transport options during the tour

1 – 3 participants: a personal car, the guide is also the driver

4 – 8 participants: a minibus, the guide is also the driver

8 – 15 participants: a small bus with a professional driver

Meals during the tour

We think that tasty, high-quality meals are a very important part of any tour! Where possible we prefer it when we can eat local dishes, based on locally produced ecological products. Often, we include seasonal fruits and other farm products.

Breakfasts often include home-made bread with pršut (Slovenian wind-dried ham), cheese and eggs from local farms, as well as home-made marmalade and Slovenian honey.

Lunch during our tours is often a tasty picnic, which we enjoy in a beautiful, natural area. Such a picknick consists of delicious home-baked bread and a variety of local products depending on the seasons together with home-made juice and Slovenian tea.

Dinner is usually served at the accommodation, but in case you stay at our farmhouse “the Dormouse house” we may drive with you to a local farmhouse and eat there. Have you every tried Slovenian štruklji, which are a delicious kind of dumplings, or ajdove zganci, a buckweed-based food – a Slovene staple from the old times?

We can provide vegetarian meals and of course take any requirements into account which you may have, like allergies and based on religious beliefs. We will ask you about this sometime before the start of the tour. Sometimes, it means that we will have to buy ingredients which are not available locally.

Tour difficulty

Moderately difficult. During this tour, we will hike up to 5 km in a morning or afternoon. We follow unpaved roads and small trails. While we walk slowly and stop many times, the terrain can be difficult, rocky and occasionally steep. However, we will leave the real climbing to others. Please make sure that you have good hiking shoes and sturdy trousers!

In summer, daytime temperatures can rise above 30 oC while spring and autumn can have quick changes in the temperature. Please take a sun-hat and suncream.