We are interested in visiting Velika planina during our October visit and have a couple of questions.
Are there guided tours offered that start at the site? The ones that I've found start in Ljubljana. We will be staying near Solcava and have a rental car so I would prefer a tour that starts at the site. Also, can someone tell me about when in the fall the cows go down to lower elevations. Thanks!
Posted by
Southeast US
4210 posts
Velika Planina offers tours. It looks like it would probably be a private tour. I am not sure of the cost or if there is a minimum size for the group. https://www.velikaplanina.si/en/groups/guided-tours-around-velika-planina/
Option #2: Irena is great and met me at VP for a tour there and then also took me to see the former site of a Partisan hospital in the area that I was interested in seeing. She is a local -- very friendly, very interesting. I highly recommend her.
http://www.irenagrmek.com/home2/turizem/
Posted by
Southeast US
4210 posts
I couldn't find a date for the Velika Planina cows coming down, but the cows come down from the mountains around Bohinj in mid to late September. I would expect something similar for VP. If there are no cows, there are no shepherds, and you would just be looking at buildings. Much of the fun is being around the cows, the people, the products made on the mountain. I'm not sure it's worth it without cows and people. The VP staff should be able to tell you when the cows typically go down the mountain.
Posted by
OP
4 posts
Thank you for the information, I appreciate it.
While the cows would be a nice bonus, we're more interested in learning about the history and culture of the area so it's not a deal breaker for us. This just seems like one of those places where a guide would make the experience so much better.
Thanks again!
Posted by
7 posts
Did you know you can rent a hut on the Velika Planina? We went through AirBNB, however there is a site specifically for this: https://www.velikaplanina.si/en/accomodation/chalets-on-velika-planina/
It is a bit of work, as you take a gondola and then a ski lift up and you need to bring bottled water for drinking. It looks very unique; we will be there in about a week!
Posted by
OP
4 posts
Thank you, Wendy. I didn't know about the rentals, they look wonderful. I'm going to look into them further but right now the ones I have found are out of our budget range. We plan to hire a guide for our visit there so that makes it extra pricey for us. Maybe I can save some on lodging later in the trip and that would make it doable.