Aldergas:A short walk before flying home

About this walk

I’ve not been able to visit Slovenia this year because of Coronavirus restrictions, so I thought I would tell you about a short walk I completed in 2019 with my friend Nicole (on the last day of our holiday to the Vipava valley). There are two great thing about this walk: 

Firstly, after just a short, easy climb you will experience fantastic views of plains to the South and the Kamnik-Savinja Alps towards the North. 

 

Secondly, it is it is very close to the Jože Pučnik airport at Brnik, so if you have a late flight (as we did), you can squeeze it in before you fly home. 

View of the Kamnik-Savinja Alps

The trail is called Pod Krošnjami or Under the tree crowns and goes from Church of St Mary of the Annuncition at Adergas to the plateau at Štefanja Gora, where you can visit St Stephens Church and walk amongst attractive alpine meadows towards Zgornja Štefanja Vas. If you have time you can extend the route to Sponja Štefanja Vas. There is also a longer route which starts at Cerklje na Gorenjskem.

The shorter walk (which we did) is around 4.5 miles, takes 2 – 2.5 hours. After an initial short climb, it is level with good paths. The extension is an extra 1.7 miles.

Both routes are available on Viewranger by following the links below:

Adegas to Štefanja Gora Plateau

Sponja Štefanja Vas extension

Getting to Adergas

As the Google map below shows, it is just a 13 minute drive north of the airport, via Šenčur. You drive across the plains towards Češnjevek, then climb steeply into Adergas. There is a large parking area by the Church of St Mary of the Annuncition and Monastery Velesov, both of which dominate this small settlement. There are signs in the parking area showing the walking route. 

Map of route from airport to Aldergas

 

Photo of board by car park showing walking route

Our route

The walking route is well signposted. We went eastward along the main road and then followed the footpath signs along a residential road on the left, which climbs and becomes a track as it enters a forest by a house. 

 

House close to where we took the track into the forest

View of trees as we entered the forest

After a short climb through the forest, we took a track to the left. A little further on we enjoyed some fantastic views of Aldergas and the surrounding plains.

 

View of Aldergas and plains

We climbed further up the track until it opened out onto the plateau close to Pri Mežnarju (a hiking hut and restaurant), with views of St Stephens church ahead.

View of St Stephen's Church

St Stephen's Church

After stopping for some photographs, we walked up to the church, then towards Pri Mežnarju, which looked a nice place to for refreshments and a bite to eat:

 

Kmečki Turizem Pri Mežnarju
Štefanja Gora 28, 4207 Cerklje na Gorenjskem
http://pri-meznarju.si/

 

We then followed the road to Zgornja Štefanja, enjoying the lovely views of the Kamnik-Savinja Alps, with attractive meadows and the traditional Slovenia hay racks in the foreground. Below are some of the pictures I took as I walked:

 

 

On reaching the outskirts of the village, we followed a track to the right, then took the second forest path on the right, which went westerly, then turned south westerly and downwards to meet the track where we had turned left earlier. We then retraced our steps to the start of the walk.

Refreshments

The closest place to Aldergas for refreshments is Cerklje na Gorenjsken. However, as we still has time before our flight, we had lunch at the Gostilina Pr’ Bizjak in Zgornja Bela (near Preddvor), as it had good reviews on Trip Advisor. We weren't dissapointed and it was particularly lovely sitting on the terrace enjoying the gardens.

Gostilna Pr' Bizjak: Zgornja Bela 20, 4205 Preddvor www.gostilnabizjak.si (15 minute drive from Adergas) 

 
We also had a flying visit to the Hotel Alma/Grad Hrib at Preddvor for a coffee, as I wanted to show Nicole this favorite spot of mine. I often go there for a drink or ice cream before flying home. The views of the lake and moutains from the Hotel terrace are spectacular.
 

Hotel Alma: Hrib 4a, Preddvor, www.hotel-alma.si
(10 minute drive from Adergas)

Lake and Mountains at Grad Hrib, Preddvor

Welcome to Love Walking Slovenia

Welcome to my blog. 

Most visitors to Slovenia head for Lake Bled, to enjoy the spectacular alpine region. However, there is much more to this small country, and if you venture further afield you will be treated with some fantastic walks, with beautiful, varied scenery, flora and fauna, but without the crowds and prices associated with more popular destinations.

Through these pages I am hoping to share with you some of the beautiful places I have walked in Slovenia.

When to visit

We have found the spring and autumn an excellent time to visit Slovenia. The weather is usually milder at these times of year. In the summer it can be very hot with thunder storms in the late afternoon. Whilst in winter it is often bitterly cold, with snow and the occasional violent storm.

In the spring you can enjoy an array of wild flowers, but tourist sites and facilities may not open until Easter. In the autumn, you can enjoy the warm, autumnal colours and the abundance of produce. Wine and fruit will be plentiful. There may also be a few festivals in late summer or early autumn.

We have had some excellent weather in April and October, but have also known snow as late as May! So whatever time you visit, be prepared.

Maps 

The KartoGrafija Tourist Maps (Turisticna Karta) 1:75000 / 1:50000 / 1:40000 show cycling, hiking and driving routes. They also have more detailed maps of the mountainous areas.

www.kartografija.si

It is often possible to pick up good maps showing local walks in the tourist offices. These are usually available free of charge.
 

I have used the Viewranger app to plot some of my routes. It has downloadable route guides, outdoor maps, and, for the techies, GPS navigation features. Some features are free and some are available at a small cost. You will be able to access my routes without any charge.

A small word of warning

Slovenia is generally a very safe place to travel. However I would just like to warn you about two creatures you may encounter:

Ticks

Ticks are very common in Slovenia. They carry Lyme Disease and Tick-Borne Encephalitis. Take precautions with a good tick repellent and carry tick removers. If you plan to walk a lot in Eastern Europe consider vaccination.

Snakes

Slovenia has eleven snake species, three of which are venomous. They won't kill you, but you will need medical attention if bitten. Read Total Slovenia News for advice on How to Deal with Snakes in Slovenia.

 

Lets get started...

I am starting with a walking holiday to the Vipava Valley I did in 2019 with a friend. Below you will find a link to a page about the region, where you will find further links to blogs on the three walks we did.

Walking in the Vipava Valley

A view from Nanos, Vipava region

Walking the Vertovec Trail, Vipava region

Otlica Window walk, Vipava region

Coming soon

I have a holiday home in Velika Polana, in the Prekmura region of Slovenia. So I also want to share with you some of the walks I have done in the Prekmura, and surrounding areas. I will be posting these over the coming months for you to enjoy.

Find me on Facebook

You can follow the @lovewalkingslovenia Facebook page to get notified of updates to my blog.

 

The Vertovec Trail - a walk among the vineyards and villages

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. 

Views towards Nanos from Vertovec Trail

Viewranger map of the Vertovec Trail walk

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

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. 

Leaving Ustje at the start of the walk

Dolenje

Green lane clinbing out of Dolenje

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.

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. 

View from Ostri Vrh

View from Ostri Vrh

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. 

Approaching Šmarje

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.

Trnovska Planota

Trnovska Planota

Ancient track  to Vrtovce

Returning to Ustje

Please read my Vipava Valley blog for more information on this region.