SLOVENIA: Mountain trekking in real style

Sep 6 2008 By Peter Beal, Liverpool Daily Post

Bled-jewel of the Julian Alps, Slovenia. Picture: Slovenian Tourist Board _220

Peter Beal walks the unspoilt beauty of the Julian Alps, in Slovenia . . . while his luggage takes the easy route

THE only sound as we followed the narrow hillside path through the firs and pines was that of the sparkling green Soca river crashing its way through the gorge hundreds of feet below.

Glimpses of the foaming waters came into view as we threaded our way down the forest to one of the narrow suspension bridges strung between the rocky banks.

We were walking the Soca Trail, a seven-mile route down from the source of the river through Slovenia’s Triglav National Park – named after the towering 9,396-foot peak that is the highest point of the Julian Alps.

This was the second day of a walking trip through a mountain region that must remain as one of the most peaceful and unspoilt of the whole European Alpine range, of which it forms the south-eastern tip.

No sign here of the hustle and bustle of the French Alpine tourist honeypots, but quiet and picturesque villages and meadows set amid the third most-forested country in Europe.

The remote Trenta Valley, that leads from Slovenia’s highest mountain pass down to the watersports capital of Bovec, is home to golden eagles.

Chamois and ibex roam the higher slopes below the jagged peaks that dominate the snow- capped skyline. Red and roe deer are found lower down the hillsides, and even brown bear and lynx have been known to stray into the area.

Our hotel at the end of the trail in Bovec, the delightful art-deco Dobra Vila, played host for two weeks to the four young stars of the second Chronicles of Narnia film – Prince Caspian. Grateful messages from Georgie Henley, Anna Popplewell, William Moseley and Skandar Keynes, who played the Pevensie children, adorn the reception desk.

The "Battle of the Bridge" scene was filmed just downstream on the River Soca – chosen for the likeness of the dramatic scenery to New Zealand’s South Island, where the first Narnia blockbuster was shot.

Now, I have been on many walking holidays – but never on one where I have my bags ferried from hotel to hotel while I simply get on with the job of walking and enjoying myself.

After the experience provided by Cheshire-based operators Headwater, I decided I could get used to it.

Our walking break started in the tranquil Alpine resort of Kranjska Gora, in winter a skiing mecca, but in the summer a picture-postcard Alpine village with a traffic-free centre where, in the evening, free folk music concerts attract locals and visitors who enjoy them from the pavement cafés and bars.