Low Int & Intermediate Bohinj 10-17 June
with Diana, Lorraine & Madeline

10th June

We all arrived in Ljubljana, mostly on the same flight from Stansted, and were driven to beautiful Bohinj lake in the Julian Alps.

Here we were welcomed at Pension Bohinj by Mirica and her staff - this is now the 3rd time we've stayed her - and settled into our rooms (all ensuite singles, which is very nice)!

Before supper at the pension, we talked about some of the walks we'd be doing; and after supper some of the group strolled down to Ribcev Laz for an explore and a night cap.

The rest of us were glad to just head to bed early!

11th June

Yesterday we'd arrived to showery weather, but today we woke to mist on the lake beyond the trees and meadows, and blue sky overhead.

Our first walk took both groups in a similar direction with a possibility of swapping groups at the first viewpoint.

The Intermediate walk would be to climb Rudnica - the wooded hill immediately behind the pension separating the Ribnica and Bohinska valleys.

The Low Intermediate walk would start up Rubnica as far as the Pec viewpoint.

From here our route would take us from planina to planina on a horizontal path before descending into the Rubnica valley.

A 'Planina' is an upland meadows full of flowers, used for hay, or for summer grazing in the mountains.

The Intermediate route up Rudnica gave them views to the valleys on both sides, and the mountains beyond.

They walked up through the beech woods and planinas, climbing steadily towards the summit of Rudnica.

The views between the trees just got better as they climbed, and on reaching the top they signed the summit book (kept in a tin, and replaced each year).

After a stop for 1st lunch at a (closed) refreshment hut below the summit, they descended towards Stara Fuzina, Strudor, and Stredna vas - three pretty traditional villages in the Rubnica valley.

The Low Intermediate group had already passed this way, heading for the bar in Stredna vas which serves ice cream and hot raspberry sauce!

In Strudor they saw some very fine example of traditional Slovenian hay barns (the finest examples of these are to be found in Strudor).

Stredna vas was having a large fund raising village party that day. There were people from all the villages, some of them in national costume.

There was still some hot raspberry sauce left for the intermediate group when they arrived, having been delayed by an invite to the village party!

Both groups took the same route back through Strudor village to Stara Fuzina.

The Low Intermediate group additionally strolled down through the meadows to Lake Bohinj, and indulged in a paddle followed by juice or a cup of tea beside the water.

12th June

Another beautiful day greeted us this morning. What a stunning day for a trip by boat over Lake Bohinj!

The lake was still, and the reflections of the mountains were superb.

We all took the electric launch to the far end of the lake.

From there we most of us went up in the cable car to the Vogel ski station, with the lake receeding below us.

On such a beautiful morning the views of the Julian Alps, and of Triglav in particular, were magnificent.

We strolled around at the top, taking photos, looking at alpine flowers, then sitting in the sun at the refuge, looking at Vogel which will be the intermediate walk on Thursday.

We then took the cable car down, and the Intermediate group now had a lift by minibus to the start of the Slap Savica walk.

Slap Savica is a striking waterfall at the head of the valley, and there are 552 steps up the path to get there! The water exits from the mountain at this point - having travelled from one of the Triglav Lakes.

From here we descended the steps, then walked through the valley to the lake.

The Low Intermediate walkers had meantime walked down into the valley, and spent some time looking at the meadow and riverside flowers with Madeline and Lorraine.

They had lunch by the river, then walked down to the lake shore....

... only to be spotted by the intermediate group when they reached the lake.

Paddling, swimming, and sunbathing followed before we all walked back along the lake in small groups.

That evening we ate at the pension again, following which some went bat-watching with Madeline.

13th June

Clear blue skies again this morning as we set off on our two different walks after breakfast.

The Intermediate walkers were driven by minibus to Bohinska Bistrice, passing the minibus driver's house where they were offered a blueberry liqueur before their walk!

Finally, setting off, they headed up the hillside and along to the permanent Bistrice springs. From here it was a relatively short distance to the Bistrice river.

No one swam this year - the water was very cold, but some women played pooh sticks from the bridge while others judged the winner from downstream!

Crossing the bridge, they now entered the lovely beech woods and walked to beautiful waterfalls up stream.

After another break here, they climbed a zigzag path up through the woods, exiting into a meadow with a stunning vista of the mountains.

It was a simply glorious view, and Becky was moved to song (the ''Sound of Music", of course!)

They rested for a while under the trees taking in the view....

....then they walked down though the meadows to the Sava Bohinska river, and back along the river path to Pension Bohinj.

I had meanwhile taken the Low Intermediate walk, also starting by minibus, to Koprivnik - a mountain village above the Ribnica valley.

First we walked to what is probably the best view point over the Bohinj valley, Vodikov Razlednik.

We had to stop here for an early break just to take it all in (and to sign the 'summit' book).

Dragging ourselves away, we now took paths, then small lanes via Koprivnik to a stunning balcony route along the hillside with superb meadows to either side.

The flowers were simply magnificent. At one point we found a wonderful orchid which later proved hard to find in Madeline's orchid book.

Our route then descended to the valley - lots of down which we broke up with lunch under a tree in a meadow.

We walked back via the valley villages, stopping for ice cream as the day got hotter, and finishing with a walk beside the Ribnica river.

In the evening we went out to eat - some at a hotel restaurant close by, others in Ribcev Laz at the foot of the lake.

A delicious meal was had by all.

14th June

Today, the middle day of the week, we had a more resting day out in Bled.

There were still two short gorge walks on offer

Women could choose between beautiful Vintgar Gorge (low intermediate) or more adventurous Pokljuska Sdteska gorge (Intermediate).

We were picked up from the pension by our coach, and dropped off in different places.

The Low Intermediate route took some of us from Zasip via St. Katerina's church into the beech woods above the Vintgar Gorge.

Walking down through the woods we reached the waterfall at the bottom of the gorge, and started up.

This superb gorge has a path to one side, and then a board walk cleverly constructed over the rushing water.

We made our way up the gorge, admiring rapids and pools, spotting dippers, and marvelling at the construction of the board walk.

At the other end we stopped for ice cream or tea, then walked along lanes and paths back to Bled.

The Intermediate group had meantime started up the lesser known Pokljuska Sdteska gorge - a stunning dry gorge with many limestone features.

At one point the gorge narrows dramatically, and a board walk takes you to a cleft higher up in the narrowest section.

Exiting the eye of the needle, so to speak, you enter a stunning fern forest.

Now the path climbs the wooded valley sides, and doubles back to recross the narrowest section on a rock arch.

Further down, the path enters a 'cave' or huge water-carved passageway in the rock. There are several openings to the light as you walk through.

Exiting the gorge, they found the public bus to Bled virtually waiting for them. Such a temptation!

Back in Bled, Laura and Madeline went for a swim in the lake, and tried the floating climbing wall.

Two of the low intermediate group had taken a gondola to the island in the middle of the lake to visit the church there.

Others shopped for presents, sat eating cake and drinking tea by the water, strolled around the lake, or lay on the grass reading and relaxing till our bus took us home.

Back at Pension Bohinj there was time for showers, and a drink in the garden before dinner.

15th June

While Madeline took the Low Intermediate walk to Bistrice Springs, Lorraine and I both accompanied the Intermediate group for a walk up Vogel (1922) - a wonderful summit above the cable car station.

We had minibuses to the cable car to then reach the Vogel ski station. Our path now took us down into a valley to the west of the ski resort.

We were seeing lots of alpine flowers all around us - anenome, crocus, snowdrops, gentian, and plenty more.

Topping a rise we then reached the main valley that we'd be walking up, and found it full of old snow.

We'd been warned that this might be the case, but that the snow was minimal higher up where it mattered.

So, stamping our boots into the snow, up we went. At times we were on snow, at times on path.

We reached the first saddle on the ridge with stunning misty views south towards the Adriatic, and back over the Julian Alps.

Contouring then ascending from here, we reached the next saddle with Vogel above us.

Now came a short, easy but exposed scramble. We took it carefully and were soon on another contouring path around the face of Vogel to our final 100m of ascent.

Here however, we encountered more snow across our path, and one small patch was icy at the edge. When someone slipped we decided it was not worth the risk and that we should change our destination.

Back along the ridge, Sija at 1800m was largely free of snow, so after lunch on a sunny promontary we retraced our route to the Sija turn off.

An easy scramble brought us to a gently ascending path up Sija, with virtually no snow and stunning views back to the mountains at the head of the Bohinj valley.

We had a second lunch just below the summit, then started down towards the ski lifts, crossing more old snow on the ski runs.

Back at the refuge there was plenty of time for a well-earned cold drink or ice cream.

It had been a big day and a great achievement, coping with the snow and a change of destination. For many women in the group it had been their first walk in the mountains.

Madeline had meantime taken the low intermediate walk to the Bistrice Springs.

They had wonderful shade in the woods, then were more exposed walking back through the meadows.

In the woods they spotted a Dark Red Helleborine (orchid) - very exciting!

They took a good break for lunch at the river, then crossed the bridge and climbed the woodland path to the top for some stunning mountain views.

After the meadows they reached a shop selling drinks and stopped in the shade to cool off.

The final walk was back to along the river, through more meadows then deciduous woodland back to Pension Bohinj.

The flowers on this holiday have been simply amazing. Here are a few of the ones we've seen....

16th June

Today, our last walking day, we all set off from the pension in the same direction for the Mostnica Gorge.

This stunning gorge runs into the mountains from Stara Fuzina. It is a deep gorge with a path running above it on each side.

Everyone walked at whatever pace they preferred, and we met up again at the last bridge, then the refuge above the gorge.

Beyond the refuge lay a lovely planina full of flowers and small huts.

At the end of the valley we reached a striking waterfall falling into a pool. No one swam here this year, the water was a 7-8 degrees!

We stopped for lunch at a second refuge near the waterfall, then walked back to the gorge again, stopping to cool our feet at an inviting pool.

For our last evening we went out to eat at the Triglav Hotel close by, and had another delicious meal.

Amongst the general festivities, it was also Jane's birthday (one night early), and the restaurant produced a candle for her strawberries and cream! It was a great last evening.

16th June

Last morning, and women spent it in a variety of ways - kayaking and messing about in boats on the lake, shopping at the market for last minute presents, strolling down to the lake for a coffee....

Finally, sadly, our coach arrived at 13.30 to take us to Ljubljana Airport. There were lots of hugs when it came to say goodbye, and many new friendships made...

Women's Feedback

"Just got back from Slovenia yesterday - had a great time and just wanted to say thank you for all of the work arranging everything. I've been so impressed with how well and efficiently everything was arranged - both Melanie's admin and Diana, Lorraine and Madeline's leading of the holiday itself, so thanks again, and I'll look forward to another holiday with WW before too long!" Fiona

"The location was excellent for scenery, activities and the walks from the doorstep. The accommodation was clean, comfortable with friendly staff and good food. Going out to eat a couple of nights provided a good variety of cuisine. I also appreciated the expertise on the wildlife!" Margaret L.

"I knew I would enjoy the holiday having been with WW to Slovenia last year. The memories of the flower filled meadows with valleys and majestic scenery stayed with me all year. I was not disappointed, the walks were interesting and varied that we all gained the maximum pleasure from the area from every view point, be it up a mountain, through a gorge or passing through a flower filled meadow. I did not realise it was possible to enjoy a country even more on a return visit. I had absolute faith that we would be safely guided and the experience was one I will never forget".

"Exceeded expectations and I will definitely come again". Karen

"Brilliant holiday, and I particularly enjoyed the Vogel walk (thanks to Diana and Lorraine for getting us over the tough parts). I also enjoyed the meadows, gorges and 'slaps' and the company of women was fantastic".

"I don't have many expectations so holidays usually exceed them, as did this. I felt a great deal of planning had been done, which paid off on the walks which were excellent and very varied. Diana and Lorraine hit the right tone; not too bossy yet ensuring we had the necessary information".

"Loved it! Great fun to walk with women of all ages. What a friendly and diverse bunch!" Laura

"I thought the guides on the Vogel day were incredibly supportive and I really appreciated the opportunity to see the mountains. Slovenia is a beautiful place and perfect for walking - I liked the mix of tourist attractions like the boat trips & cable car and the walking".

"The holiday was great, the pension was lovely with friendly obliging staff, who did really well with meeting all our dietary requirements. The guides hit the right balance of encouragement, friendliness and respect for individual needs and abilities. The walks were fantastic, varied and the scenery was beautiful".

"It was a fantastic holiday due to a combination of great weather, fantastic country, the wildflowers, the variety of the walks, good accommodation and a nice group of women. I couldn't have asked for more". Bridget

"What can I say about this holiday? Beautiful place, amazing walks and wonderful company. This was my first holiday on my own and I was apprehensive, but I needn't have worried. The talking and laughter started on day one and ended at Stansted Airport one week later and I feel fortunate to have met some very interesting and special people along the way. I look forward to more WalkingWomen holidays". Sue

"Another great WW holiday - fantastic scenery, especially the flower meadows; good accommodation with helpful, friendly staff; great guides and a lovely bunch of women. The guides were all great and we appreciated the way they were helpful, supportive and joined in with the group. Good choice of walks and good level of knowledge". Jane

"I have had the most wonderful holiday I could ever imagine. Everyone has been so kind, met a great group and I had the best fun I have had for a while. The walks were varied and very interesting and the meadows were a special site to see. I was also pleased to see the various ages of the walking women in the group all joining in and mixing very well. Expect to see me again!" Ann

"Thank you all and especially Diana for organising such a well-planned and balanced holiday that enabled everyone to enjoy it at their own level"

"My first holiday with WW and what a treat. The area, hotel and walks could not have been researched more thoroughly; so making a week of walking in spectacular scenery with stops at wonderful little local cafes when we were flagging in the heat, not only met my expectations, it surpassed them! Thank you WalkingWomen". Jean

"I thoroughly enjoyed the holiday, the walks were varied, flowers beautiful and a beautiful country. I couldn't get on to the holiday in 2005 so was well worth the wait. I would recommend this holiday. I thought the varied walks of gorges, alpine meadows, mountains and lakes appealed to all. It was one of the best holidays I have had". Becky