About the Vertovec Trail Walk
(po Vertovčevih poteh)
This is a 10 mile themed walking trail, where Matija Vertovec, a famous priest, scientific writer, compatriot and teacher, worked and lived. The walk is well signposted (po Vertovčevih poteh) and follows tree lined tracks, through pretty villages and to viewpoints with stunning views of the Nanos plateau and the Vipava Valley. It is described as an easy 4-5 hour walk. The walk is hilly, but much easier than Nanos.The majority of the walk is off road and the variety of wild flowers and flowering fruit trees and shrubs along the route also made this walk very pleasurable.
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| Views towards Nanos from Vertovec Trail |
About our walk
This was the second walk, Nicole and I chose during our trip to the Vipava Valley. After scaling Nanos on the previous day, we wanted a gentler walk among the vineyards and villages of the Vipava valley. We took five and a half hours, which included a short lunch break and a detour up Ostri Vrh to admire the view.
The walk was easy to navigate and there were signboards along the way. However they were not in English and were somewhat challenging for Google Translate. We found a leaflet in English at the tourist office the following day and was disappointed to find we had missed the opportunity to observe fossils en- route. The leaflet also promised home-made produce from farms on the route, although these were not evident in April 2019 when we did the walk. Fortunately, we took a packed lunch. There are also plenty of benches for resting and partaking in our refreshments along the route.
The starting point: Ustje
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| Start of walk |
The walk started by an oak tree just outside Ustje, where there is parking available. Also, a signboard describing the route. We walked away from the village, to Dolenje, where we joined an attractive, steep, green lane that took us to the church of Sv Marjeta. Evidence of fossils can be seen along the route to Sv Martin.
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| Leaving Ustje at the start of the walk |
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| Dolenje |
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| Green lane clinbing out of Dolenje |
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| Sv Marjeta Church |
The
route climbs further to Nabojs, where we had a spectacular view of the
Trnovo Plateau and Nanos. We then meandered through the attractive
villages that make up the Planina region. Then, leaving the road, we joined a
field track which led onto the Trešnik pass, 3090m above sea level.
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| Planina |
Ostri Vrh
At this point, two hours int the walk, there was the short (10 minute) detour from here up Ostri Vrh (422m), (which translates aptly as “sharp peak). It was a brief, steep climb, which was rewarded by spectacular views showing the full extent of the Vipava Valley. This proved to be a highlight of the walk, providing a tranquil moment while we took in the views. We could easily have stayed there for some time.
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| View from Ostri Vrh |
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| View from Ostri Vrh |
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| Descent from Ostri Vrh |
Lunch at Šmarje
The walk then descended through several hamlets, to Jakulini, the birthplace of Matija Vertovec. We then followed the road to Šmarje. Here the walk took us through the old part of the village, which is preserved as a monument, with wooden balconies, projecting roofs, bridges and wells. We stopped at the churchyard, situated at a highpoint and enjoyed our packed lunch whilst admiring the views.
This was the only area where we had a little difficulty navigating. We had to go through several small stone arches, one of which looked like it was being guarded by a big black bear, which fortunately turned out to be an old dog with no teeth. One of the villagers confirmed that we had to follow a track out the back of the village into a vineyard, which then curved back to the main road.
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| Approaching Šmarje |
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| Šmarje |
An ancient track with fabulous views
We followed the road, climbing to Vrtvče, where we were pleased to join an ancient track which slowly descended to Vrtovce, offering fantastic views of the Trnovo (Thorn) Plateau (Trnovska Planota) to our left. From there we returned to our starting point, Uhanje.
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| Trnovska Planota |
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| Trnovska Planota |
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| Ancient track to Vrtovce |
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| Returning to Ustje |
Please read my Vipava Valley blog for more information on this region.
This is a 10 mile themed walking trail, where Matija Vertovec, a famous priest, scientific writer, compatriot and teacher, worked and lived. The walk is well signposted (po Vertovčevih poteh) and follows tree lined tracks, through pretty villages and to viewpoints with stunning views of the Nanos plateau and the Vipava Valley. It is described as an easy 4-5 hour walk. The walk is hilly, but much easier than Nanos.The majority of the walk is off road and the variety of wild flowers and flowering fruit trees and shrubs along the route also made this walk very pleasurable. 
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