Text description provided by the architects. The new kindergarten in Bohinjska Bistrica is situated on the outskirts of the largest settlement in the Bohinj Valley It forms an entrance vedute together with the building of Dr Janez Mencinger School and the Church of St It was designed as a response to the programmatic and spatial challenge of how to provide children with spaces for social interaction and free choice while enabling them to actively admire explore and experience their local surroundings The building itself is conceived as a continuous playground seamlessly integrating indoor and outdoor spaces and organized around a series of interconnected technical cores Each of the three buildings within the complex serves a distinct purpose The first two buildings primarily accommodate service areas and classrooms while the third building is conceived as a multipurpose space for the wider community This multifaceted structure aims to provide a gathering place for the village By serving as a focal point for the local community this essential building establishes a vital connection between the entire project and the surrounding village fostering a new collective space for the area's residents You'll now receive updates based on what you follow Personalize your stream and start following your favorite authors If you have done all of this and still can't find the email HomeDestinationsInterestsTop Places to Travel by MonthSearchMenuBest time to go to Slovenia Celebrate the return of the cattle from pastures in anticipation of winter together with locals around Lake Bohinj Save Visited Rate Review SharePreviousNextSee all Mitja Sodja Turizem Bohinj | slovenia.info{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https://rove.me/to/slovenia/cow-ball#cover","author":{"@type":"Person","name":"Mitja Sodja This festival celebrates the return of cattle from their summer pastures Whether you're interested in witnessing the decorated cattle parade or exploring the stunning landscapes of the Triglav National Park the event provides a memorable experience for all visitors The primary goal of the event is to introduce visitors to life and work on the mountain pastures and to welcome the livestock and herdsmen the decorated cattle parade through the scenic routes of Govic waterfall and Ukanc settlement This picturesque spectacle showcases the beautifully adorned cows with wreaths The Traditional Cow's Ball is a multifaceted event and a market offering local crafts and agricultural products From 10 am to 6 pm visitors can engage in various traditional activities It promises a rich cultural experience with live performances by local folklore groups Take advantage of an opportunity to taste the renowned Bohinj cheese paired with locally produced wines Caterers will provide a variety of cheese and dairy specialties enhancing the gastronomic experience of the attendees Ticket prices for the Traditional Cow's Ball are structured to be accessible for families Adults aged 15 and above can purchase tickets for €8 while children aged 7 to 15 years can enter for €2 Admission is free for children under seven Tickets can be bought in advance at the Info Centre Bohinj in Ribčev Laz until noon on September 14 The festival takes place in the picturesque village of Ukanc Ukanc is situated within the Triglav National Park offering visitors an opportunity to explore the natural beauty of the area Lake Bohinj provides stunning views and various outdoor activities The closest town to Ukanc is Bohinjska Bistrica Bohinjska Bistrica offers additional amenities making it a convenient base for visitors attending the festival The Traditional Cow's Ball is the oldest event of its kind in Bohinj the event marked the end of the tourist and grazing season the Bohinj Tourist Association has been organizing this festival transforming it into a significant cultural event the event was attended by mountaineers who brought decorated herds of cattle down from the higher mountains carrying "basenga" on their shoulders—a bundle containing everything needed to make cheese and other essentials for mountain life preserving the cultural heritage and agricultural practices of the region Ukanc Govic WaterfallUkancGovic WaterfallLast updated: June 6, 2024Authors: People interested the largest settlement in the Bohinj Valley stands this school promoted by the local community to orient education towards a closer connection with nature The fruit of a collaboration between the Slovenian firm ARREA and the Spanish practice KAL A it fosters interaction among children while makes them explore and experiment with the rural environment While organized around a succession of interconnected technical cores the building is thought out as a continuous playground The horizontal composition of the scheme is emphasized by three large gable roofs a result of the program’s fragmentation into three distinct volumes that gradually diminish in scale and give rise to an open plaza serving as the main entrance The actual construction draws from the local tradition of building with wood where the kozolec (drying shed) and the farmhouse are the most representative elements The same strategy is applied in all the volumes: three main longitudinal beams of laminated timber which are reinforced by a secondary structural wooden framework in holding up roofs of corrugated metal sheets Everything rises on cores of reinforced concrete that come from a common slab The untreated larchwood cladding provides plenty of natural resistance to deterioration The central organizational element inside is based on the vernacular Slovenian gank (wooden balcony) which constitutes the project’s functional and structural backbone there arent any match using your search terms Our slow travel expert takes in the undiscovered charms of the Soča valley and Julian Alps … in a country where train tickets have just got cheaper Ian Fleming writes that in Sežana “the hard-faced Yugoslav plain-clothes men came on board” The Simplon-Orient-Express used by James Bond hasn’t run since 1962 and the border antics on the frontier between erstwhile Yugoslavia and Italy disappeared with the accession of Slovenia to the Schengen zone in 2007 The railway station in the Slovenian town of Sežana is nowadays a sleepy outpost The most exotic departure of the day is the early-afternoon Eurocity train that rumbles east along the main line to Ljubljana but closer to hand is a remarkable rural railway which deserves to be far better known And the good news is that train fares in Slovenia were reduced in August Our journey follows a railway that runs north for 80 miles from Sežana through magnificent scenery to Jesenice in Slovenia’s north-west corner With the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 the Adriatic port of Trieste became a key asset in expanding the Austro-Hungarian empire’s maritime trade Existing rail links between Trieste and central Europe were so Habsburg planners got busy devising new railways from Trieste The idea of traversing the Julian Alps was ridiculed in some quarters and there were squabbles over preferred routes so it was not until 1906 that the first trains ran on the line from the coast to Jesenice By then the fragile bonds that held the Habsburg dynasty together were already weakening and in just a dozen years the entire Austro-Hungarian Empire was gone The expensive railway through the Julian Alps remains as a legacy of Habsburg ambition and these days it offers a wonderful excursion through some of the finest scenery in the eastern Alps it is often referred as the Bohinjska proga (Bohinj railway) View of the Soča river at Kanal ob Soči Photograph: Nova Rizal/AlamyTo the Soča valleyI watch the modern electric trains to Villa Opicina and Ljubljana leave on time then wander over to the platform where a graffiti-covered diesel unit waits I travelled the route as part of a four-day journey from Rijeka in Croatia to Ribe in Denmark relying entirely on slowish trains where there was no need to make any advance reservations Few who board the 10.10 from Sežana to Jesenice have such ambitious itineraries for this is a route that serves local communities and most passengers are making short journeys Soon we are rattling north through vineyards with distant views of forested mountains The single-storey station building at Kreplje is a study in dereliction but all is spick and span around the handsome limestone villa at Dutovlje station The station at Nova Gorica straddles the Slovenian-Italian border Photograph: Hidden Europe“This is Slovenia’s garden of Eden,” says the train guard as she checks our Interrail passes where a 15-minute scheduled stop gives ample time to set foot on Italian soil; the international frontier bisects the neat piazza in front of the station building the longest stone-arch railway bridge in the world traverses the River Soča a dramatic prelude to a glorious ride north up the Soča valley where the river’s turquoise waters contrast with bare white limestone cliffs and chasms there’s a hint of Alpine style in the green-shuttered station and a fine view over the river to the slender clock tower of the parish church The longest stone-arch railway bridge in the world traverses the River Soča a dramatic prelude to a glorious ride north up the Soča valleyThen the hillsides tilt ever sharper as we climb the narrow Bača Valley we plunge into the four-mile Bohinj Tunnel This tunnel is one of Europe’s great divides Until the tunnel we have followed valleys which drain south to the Adriatic Emerging from the northern portal of the tunnel which flows down to join the Danube in Belgrade en route to the Black Sea There is a dramatic change in the landscape too its demeanour beyond the tunnel now altogether more Alpine the land rises up steeply to mighty Triglav at 2,864 metres the highest summit in Slovenia This railway is a lifeline for remote communities Year-round special trains shuttle through the Bohinj Tunnel ferrying cars in a region where roads are challenging in summer and impassable in winter snow the railway station at the north end of the Bohinj Tunnel it’s a superb 20-minute ride on the slow train down the valley with a touch of drama as Slovenia’s famous lake suddenly appears off to the right featured trips and local tips for your next break as well as the latest deals from Guardian Holidays A stop at Bled Jezero station allows you to see picturesque Lake Bled Photograph: Jon Wilson/AlamyThis is a captivating approach to Lake Bled a station architecturally enhanced by Alpine nuances and follow a footpath down through the woods to the lakeshore This is a captivating approach to Lake Bled and we hop off the train and follow a footpath down through the woods to the lakeshoreLater we continue for the final 15 minutes on to the terminus at Jesenice where this secondary rail route joins the main line from Ljubljana to Villach in Austria’s Carinthia region The furnaces and smelters of industrial Jesenice are silent these days was once acclaimed as a bold modernist statement it was the first stop in Yugoslavia for travellers arriving on the international express trains from Austria All those with lives straddling Europe’s cold war divide passed through Jesenice at one time or another ‘The graffiti-strewn train seems at home in Jesenice where the station tells of architectural ambition eclipsed by political change.’ Photograph: Hidden EuropeThe graffiti-strewn train from Sežana seems comfortably at home on the platform at Jesenice where the station building tells of architectural ambition that was eclipsed by political changes – just as the commercial ambition that once inspired the Bohinj Railway was subverted by the demise of Habsburg power The journey from Sežana to Jesenice is best done on a weekday as at weekends there is only one departure a day Leaving at 10.10 – one could stop off in the Soča Valley and at Lake Bled and still reach Jesenice by early evening The end-to-end travel time without stopovers is three to five hours The author travelled the route as part of a longer itinerary ticketed with a four-day Interrail pass (€258 for an adult with discounts for anyone under 28 or aged 60 and over) Train fares in Slovenia were reduced on 11 August A one-way ticket from Sežana to Jesenice is €10.70 and for anyone making an out-and-back trip in a day (which is just possible) the return fare is now just €14 Tickets can be bought on the day of travel at station ticket offices or on the train buses may replace trains north of Bohinjska Bistrica until 13 October This article was amended on 29 September 2023 a picture caption misidentified the river Soča as the Vipava Nicky Gardner is a Berlin-based writer. The 17th edition of her book, Europe by Rail: the Definitive Guide, celebrates slow train journeys across Europe. It can be ordered from the Guardian Bookshop The smallest of countries have the power to amaze and educate in ways that you could have never guessed Take this example of the car train in Slovenia Back in the latter part of the last century here in the UK there used to be a car transport system called ‘Motorail’ A great way of transporting you and your car on long distance routes like from London to Inverness in Scotland or London to Penzance in the far west of Cornwall Those services finished at various times and areas around the UK and finally came to an end in 2005 Some 50 years after the idea was introduced by the then British Rail on the London to Perth route around 1955 I was rather pleasantly surprised on a recent visit to Slovenia that such a service is still in use With around 12 trains operating daily on the route between Bohinjska Bistrica and Most na Soči Arriving at Bohinjska Bistrica for the journey to Most na Soči Slovenia Not the 400mile routes as in the UK but a mere direct route of around 15 miles taking about 35 minutes However what the service does do is to cut out a two-hour drive around a high mountain range pass Therefore the decision is really easy…let the train take the strain A quick drive up onto the platform and a drop down ramp provides access direct onto the flat bed open rail car There is the option to stay in the vehicle or ride in the 30-seater carriage at the front of the train Not long before you are in the dark of 6 kilometre Bohinj Tunnel under the Julian Alps On the route from Bohinjska Bistrica station within seconds you are in a six and half kilometre long Bohinj tunnel Cut out over a hundred years ago by engineers working for the Austria Hungarian Empire who ruled over this area at that time Their plan was to connect its only seaport of Trieste on the Adriatic to the north and the western part of Austria allowing easy onward connection to Germany with both imports and exports As the Suez canal had opened recently at that time the port was in a good position to reap the benefits Ready for the vehicles the unique train at Bohinjska Bistrica station waiting to be transported on the car train Slovenia With a huge mountain range of the Julian Alps in the way the tunnel was conceived and built It runs under the 1,498 metre high Mount Kobla Travelling this way was for me a first but it was charming and enjoyable Once through and out of the tunnel the views of the mountains Just one of those experiences you come across whilst travelling that show how you learn not only about where places are but their history http://www.bovec.si https://www.facebook.com/bovecslovenia/ www.hotel-mangart.com https://wizzair.com/ Award winning blogger and travel writer/photographer I have travelled the world in one way or another for 30 years I am a member of the British Guild of Travel Writers for over 13 years In the ever-changing world of publishing and online media it now requires that I have media skills across all areas newspapers and publications all over the world I am now blogging about all aspects of travel The largest car museum in the UK has just had a £5million valet and brush… As a frequent visitor to Vienna I have to say that I do love visiting… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YB0nUE6cuFI Δdocument.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value" Get the latest news and updates from The Travel Trunk direct to your inbox with my FREE email newsletter Get the latest news and updates from The Travel Trunk direct to your inbox with my FREE email newsletter You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. For information about our privacy practices, please click here to view our privacy policy We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing Learn more about Mailchimp's privacy practices here. All website content and photographs copyright © 2025 The Travel Trunk unless otherwise stated Privacy Policy  |  Terms & Conditions  |  News Feed  |  Site Map  |  Contact Text description provided by the architects. The initial task from the client was to build a new shopping mall on the plot of the existing one. Furthermore the new project proposed use of the shopping roof for additional volume-as new apartments. The organization of the housing and the envelope of the apartments open towards mountain views and the sun. Therefore the front, wooden facade is mostly transparent with panoramic windows. The side facade is closed - the windows open towards the balcony that is cut into the volume. From side windows also view open to the mountains. The stepped volume of the building follows the silhouette of surrounding landscape. On top of the shopping mall apartments are set in the form of stepped L-volume. >From the west strong wind and snow arrives the facade is opened only towards enclosed balconies and its material is gray slate - it is designed as a vertical roof. L-shape volume encloses inner communal garden that is the roof of the shopping mall. The front and courtyard facade is warm and opened, made of wooden verticals with different rhythm. Wood - local larch is used and slates in diagonal pattern are traditional materials used for roof and facade. Play of transparency formed by wooden verticals that form balcony fences, facade panels or mask characterizes the north and south part of the building. On the east and west pitched rhomboid-textured roof interpolates into vertical surfaces that protect apartments from snow and wind. Shopping mall facade is combination of steel and glass panels. Apartments are of different sizes - from 40m2 studio flats up to 120m2 apartment with gallery. They are made of local materials such as wooden oak floors; granite tiled bathrooms and mainly has large windows with metal blinds. The concept of structure is made in a way, that floor plans are flexible, since only structural walls are those, that separate apartment shell from the rest of the building. All other inner walls are non-structural. The structure is made as combination of columns in the shopping mall area and structural walls in the area of shopping storages and services. The same structure is adapted towards the cellar, where parking is located and towards the upper floors where apartments are. The slabs are of reinforced concrete, the rest of walls are brick. Pitched roof is made as combination of flat roof at the top of the building The purpose is to hide all installations such as chimneys Soriška planina.Smučarski center Soriška planina.Foto: Bor Slana/STA 27 February - Climate change is increasingly affecting winter tourism The warm winter with above-average temperatures meant another season without natural snow for many Slovenian ski resorts They are becoming increasingly dependant on year-round tourism and activities which can increase the load on the already vulnerable areas The Soriška Planina ski resort in northwestern Slovenia which lies at between 1,300 and 1,500 metres of altitude is one of many ski resorts that have faced the challenge of winters growing warmer and skiing seasons shorter "Even though this winter is much better temperature-wise than the previous one we did not have enough natural snow to prepare the ski slopes but the temperatures allowed for the production of artificial snow," head of the Soriška Planina tourism centre Polona Golija told the STA In 2023 the ski resort invested nearly EUR 2 million in the system for artificial snow the ski resort would have likely closed down In the last decade the ski resort was open between 75 and 115 days per season while they are aiming for around 90 this season If artificial snowmaking became impossible because of rising temperatures skiing at Soriška Planina would not be feasible any more No-snow winters to become more common in low-lying areas The challenges ski resorts face are not just the result of individual warm winters but part of a wider trend of climate warning data by the Environment Agency (ARSO) shows The year 2024 was the warmest on record in Slovenia The average temperature was 1.8 degrees Celsius higher than the 1991-2020 average Last year also broke temperature records in Europe and at the global level In the last 60 years winters in Slovenia got warmer by around 3 degrees Celsius with the 2023/24 being the warmest winter yet "The current winter season is also above-average in temperature but it will not be among the warmest," Vertačnik said Because of climate change snow cover in the low-lying areas has been halved in the last 20 years compared to the snow cover before 1988 It also decreased by nearly half in Alpine valleys and in the mountains up to the altitude of around 1,500 metres The frequency of snowfall will continue to decrease at all altitudes and especially in low-lying areas winters with little or no snow will become more common Year-round tourism important for survival of ski resorts Ski resorts are becoming more and more dependant on alternative forms of tourism said researcher Maja Turnšek from the Tourism Faculty at the University of Maribor "They are aware of the challenges of climate change so they are developing activities outside the winter season hiking and scenic chairlift rides," she said Soriška planina.Sistem zasneževanja na Soriški planini.Foto: Bor Slana/STA Sport and Tourism allocated EUR 55.4 million to transform nine ski resorts into year-round mountain tourism centres This initiative led to investments totalling EUR 76.5 million to update ski lift infrastructure and develop year-round outdoor activities "The success of these investments has to be monitored in the future as it is the first major national measure of adapting Slovenian tourism to climate change," she said The Soriška Planina ski resort has also been undergoing a transformation into a year-round mountain centre in the last decade The ski resort has been taking part in the international project BeyondSnow which aims to adopt sustainability measures to increase the resilience of winter tourist destinations in the Alps to climate change It brings together ski resorts at low and medium altitudes in six Alpine countries The practice of artificial snowmaking that requires the use of energy and water can be environmentally problematic in some areas and can contribute to the negative effects on the environment That is why sustainable alternatives should be developed said Slovenia's coordinator of the project Jelka Popović Gužvić In Slovenia the project activities are focused on the area of Bohinj as a winter skiing hub with two large ski resorts "In the last 10 to 15 years the share of visitors to Bohinj in the winter months has decreased from around 35% to between 18 and 20% of all visitors," she said Bohinjska Bistrica.Zapuščeno smučišče.Foto: Bor Slana/STA A strategy is being drafted to adapt Bohinj's tourism to climate change by developing new spring and autumn activities they are trying to better manage the tourism rush in summer by directing visitors from more busy areas to less visited ones with thematic trails A digital tool is being developed by Arctur to estimate the vulnerability of destinations to climate change and propose guidelines on how to adapt them Transforming winter tourism increases load on already affected areas transforming winter tourism in mountainous areas into year-round tourism will increase the load on the already affected areas in the busy summer months The post-pandemic growth of tourism in the Slovenian mountainous areas was almost exclusively due to higher visitor numbers in summer "In addition to the transformation of winter tourism the summer season will grow longer because of warmer weather and the numbers of visitors going to higher altitudes to stay away from the heat will increase as well," she said That is why different measures have to be implemented to develop and promote tourism activities in less busy seasons to redirect tourists from the most visited areas and to protect the environment such as measures to prevent the erosion of hiking trails