A WORD FROM THE EDITORS With a copy of the guide WELCOME to the Alpine-World of Slovenia in your hands the discovering of the Upper-Gorenjsko region with its surroundings and meeting the local people is a child’s play. So do not waste your valuable time during your stay in our country. If you are staying anywhere in the “red” part of Slovenia, the distances to sights are perfect for one-day trips. Read your copy of the tourist guide Welcome and make the right decision for your trip. Find a map of Slovenia at the reception of your hotel or in the tourist office. Then put your best foot forward because adventures are out there for you to grab them. Wherever you are going to – on foot, by bike, with public transport or in your own car – you will always have a great time. The pearls of nature, museums, events and meeting people in the northwestern part of Slovenia close to Austria and Italy will make your short stay here unforgettable. We hope that you will be so impressed by the beauty of the Upper-Gorenjsko region that you will decide to come back in the future or recommend a visit to Slovenia to your friends. We are glad to be your hosts and want you to feel here just like at home. Welcome! The Upper-Gorenjsko region, a part in the north-western Slovenia, is divided into seven municipalities:
Destination of Kranjska Gora, an area that stretches between the villages of Mojstrana and Rate~e, welcomes numerous tourists with its divine winter beauty. And it is not just the skiing offerings that attract those who want to spend their vacation actively. Cross-country skiing, snow-boarders’ park, sledging trails, night sledging offerings, frozen waterfalls complement the experience. The Snow-Kindergarten takes care for the youngest guests while the others may enjoy the entertainment and culinary offerings on and around the skiing grounds. Our extraordinary cuisine is very diverse – it offers a wide range of culinary specialities as well as international dishes. In the nighttime you may either relax in wellness centres or try out the drinks in our pub. For those who search an extra dose of adrenaline rush a casino is opened. Welcome to Kranjska Gora, a sport and fun resort.
Mirjam @erjav, Local tourist organisation Kranjska Gora
- Bled, with its beautiful lake that has an island with a church, a castle on top of a cliff and a parish church below it. - Radovljica, with its old town centre, which is considered to be the most well-preserved medieval urban core in Slovenia. - @irovnica, with its Path of Cultural Heritage that winds its way through villages, some of which are birthplaces of famous Slovenes. - Jesenice, characterised by ironworking, which started as early as the Middle Ages with iron foundries, is now the centre of metallurgy. - Kranjska Gora, surrounded by the high peaks of the Julian Alps, is a tourist resort, the facilities of which holidaymakers can use the whole year round. - Gorje, with the most important natural sight Vintgar, surrounded by ample forests and pastures of Me`akla and Pokljuka. - Bohinj, with the biggest natural lake in Slovenia, lies in the foothills of the majestic peaks of the Triglav mountain range. We hope that this newspaper will help our guests experience the soul of our country, to perceive its beauty and artistic treasures and to get a feel for its inhabitants.
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WELCOME free of charge for foreign guests, Published on: 16 January 2010, Publisher: Specom d.o.o., p. p. 39, 4240 Radovljica, Responsible Editors: Avgust Mencinger, Bojan Rauh, Contributors: Toni Bogo`alec, Janez Dol`an, Klemen Langus, Bo`ena Ronner, Eva Štravs Podlogar, Mojca Vnu~ec Špacapan, Mirjam @erjav, Translated by: Peter Zupan, Tom Smith, Designed by: Specom d.o.o., Information on advertising: 040 202 384, e-mail: bojan.rauh@specom.si, Cover photo: Kranjska Gora (Photo: Archive Local tourist organisation Kranjska Gora).
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KRANJSKA GORA
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KRANJSKA GORA
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EVENTS
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GORJE, BLED
Julian Alps
Beatiful natural sights Near the world-famous tourist centre Bled, only half an hour's walk north-west towards Mt. Triglav peak and the enormous forests of the plateau Pokljuka, lies the village Gorje. More precisely, Gorje is a composition of several romantic villages. Among the numerous beatiful natural sights the best known is Soteska Vintgar (The Vintgar Gorge). It is a 1.600 m long gorge of the river Radovna. Several wooden brid-ges lead the visitors near and over the waterfalls, rapids and pool. Poklju{ka soteska (The Pokljuka Gorge) is a rocky narrow passage, engraved to the steep edge of the Pokljuka Plateau. Some parts are 40 - 50 m deep and
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very narrow, even up to 1 m. Shorter trips are possible to the Napoleon Stone in Radovna, the Radovna War Memorial (the village was burnt down in 1944), the hill St. Katarina near the village Zasip and to the Stone Woman at Poljane. Those who like mountains can make a trip from Gorje, across Rudno polje (Pokljuka) towards the Julian Alps. Individual or organized trips are possible to the highest peak of Slovenia Mt. Triglav (2.864 m). The number of private rooms arranged for guests in Gorje comes to 130. All rooms are nice and confortable. Text: Jo`e Kuralt
development of Slovenes, left the villages below Stol for the world: France Pre{eren, Matija ^op, Franc Sale{ki Fin`gar, Janez Jalen, Anton Jan{a… Together with other cultural monuments their birth houses are a part of the Cultural Heritage Path. You can walk along the Path, cycle or take a horse-drawn carriage. In the mountain and flat world of Ka{arija there are ample opportunities to enjoy hiking, cycling or horse riding. @irovnica is close to the tourist centre of Bled, medieval Radovljica and sports airfield of Lesce. It is 60 km to the capital city of Slovenia, 10 km from the border with Austria (the Karavanke) and 40 km from the border with Italy (Tarvisio).
POKLJUKA, @IROVNICA
Rodine, Smoku~, Doslov~e, Vrba, Breznica, Zabreznica, Selo, @irovnica, Breg, Moste. Ten villages in the arms of Stol, joined in the Municipality of @irovnica, are characterised by rich cultural heritage and natural beauty of the countryside. The area of those villages, the socalled Ka{arija, borders to Austria in the north, to the municipalities of Radovljica and Tr`i~ in the east, to Jesenice in the west and to Bled in the south. In the south the northern mountainous world of the Karavanke and the Kamnik-Savinja Alps changes into the flat part of the country, belonging to “De`ela”. Several men, who played crucial roles in the cultural and national
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POKLJUKA
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BOHINJ
RADOVLJICA The Krpin skiing centre in Begunje Apart from the lively old town of Radovljica, other parts of the municipality are also lively during winter and the first months of spring. The Linhart square invites you with its wintery charm to visit the museums, galleries or to drop by the pubs, which offer you local culinary specialties. On 13th and 14th March you are invited to choral concerts in the Baroque hall in Radovljica Manor. As soon as there is enough snow (natural or artificial) the ski slopes of Krpin and Kamna Gorica are operational. The ski slope of Krpin is also open for night skiing and is very convenient for families with small children, as there is a playground located right next to the slope. Well maintained cross-country-skiing tracks can be found in the Lipni{ka valley and in the surroundings of Radovljica and Lesce.
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The ice-skating rink in Radovljica’s Sport Park is open all winter. Indulge in some recreation on ice with a view of the
Julian Alps or in some swim in the indoor swimming pool nearby. “Fat Thursday” on 11th February, invites you to the preCarnival comedy, which will take place at the Radovljica castle and will include the unveiling of giant beehive panel. This year Carnival Saturday, on 13th February, the traditional carnival procession will again be organized that will end with a mask ball in the baroque hall Baroque hall in Radovljica Manor. The maskers will receive tea and doughnuts. The first carnival procession through Radovljica was organized 1996. The leaders of the procession are the mayoress and the mayor of the carnival. The special features of the event are “the lively decorated beehive panels”, with their traditional and current motifs and the Carnival band, the Lesce Brass Orchestra. Order is kept by the “Zakotar” and the “kurents” from Ptujsko polje who are always regular guests.
Today, children make different models out of paper, wood and other materials, place a burning candle inside and then send them down the stream. Creating these small decorated lanterns and sending them downstream is something that generations grew up with. The lanterns will be cast downstream in the evening of the 11th March, 2010. A visit of the events, the sporting activities, the walks down thematic paths, which during winter take up a magical charm or to sit in the company of friends in the numerous traditional local pubs across the municipality of Radovljica will most certainly leave a ple- Carnival procession in Radovljica asant impression on your memory.
RADOVLJICA
The traditions and customs have accompanied the inhabitants of iron forging centres Kropa and Kamna Gorica for centuries, passed on from generation to generation. One of these traditions is the “sending of lanterns” down the stream of a river on St Gregory’s Day. This event has a centuries long tradition and is an important contri-butor to the preservation of cultural and historic heritage of Kropa and Kamna Gorica and belongs among the customs, which are connected to the ending of winter and the arrival of spring. In the past, when the settlement was without electricity and the sun’s raise failed to reach the valley for four whole months, the 12th March, the name day of St Gregory, it meant the turnaround in the lives of the people of Kropa. After this date they no longer needed artificial light to illuminate their workplaces. With the throwing of different burning The Linhart square in Radovljica objects: old clogs, baskets and hampers they welcomed in the arrival of the sun and spring.
Sending decorated lanterns down the stream in Skating rink with a view to Julian Alps and Karavanke mountain range Kropa and Kamna Gorica in Radovljica Information: TIC Office Radovljica, Gorenjska 1, ++386 4 531 53 00, Fax: ++386 4 530 07 59, tdradovljica@siol.net, www.radovljica.si
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CARINTHIA
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BLED