Bela krajina, the white land by the Kolpa

What Bela krajina is

According to SURS, Črnomelj has 14,170 residents, Metlika 8,552 and Semič 3,780 on 1 January 2026, 26,502 in all. Silver in the Slovenia Green scheme, it also holds the EU’s European Destination of Excellence title, and the tourist board speaks of five ethnic groups and three religions over thousands of years. Two places sum it up well, the Šokčev dvor open-air museum, a farmhouse of the Serbian community, and the Tri fare shrine at Rosalnice, three churches inside a single wall. Near Otovec stands a 2,000-year-old temple to the god Mithras.

Things to see in Bela krajina: Črnomelj, Metlika and Semič

Črnomelj is the largest town, and in August its old centre hosts Črnfest. Metlika has a castle, a cultural programme from June to August and, in May, Vinska vigred, the country’s biggest wine festival according to the tourist board. Semič is the gateway to the forests and the vineyard on Semiška gora. Near Semič the Krupa rises beneath a 30 m rock wall, pouring out up to 1,000 litres a second, and in the middle of the area the Lahinja runs through woods, marshes and wet meadows.

The Kolpa and the birch meadows

Some 40% of the territory lies in Natura 2000, with 13 special protection areas. One of the largest populations of the endangered European pond turtle lives here, as does the black olm, found nowhere else. To the south, the River Kolpa, one of the warmest and cleanest in the country, has riverside trails and can be explored by boat. To the north, the forests of the Gorjanci and Kočevski Rog close it off. At the edge of Kočevski Rog, Mirna gora has four marked trails leading to the remains of a forest railway with an open-air museum, and along its shepherds’ paths you learn about the former life of the Gottschee Germans.

If you are staying the night, see the best hotel deals in Bela krajina for your dates: the well-placed rooms go fast.

Wine, food and festivals

Belokranjec and Metliška črnina have protected origin, and Portugalka ripens more than a month ahead of the other wines. For centuries the community vineyard cottage has worked as a wine bank shared between neighbours. At the table, belokranjska pogača rules, a flatbread with egg, caraway and coarse salt torn apart by hand. June brings Jurjevanje with Zeleni Jurij, and through the Open Doors of Bela krajina project you can learn to bake pogača or decorate drsanke Easter eggs.

How many days and when to go

I’d base myself by the Kolpa for two or three nights and explore by bike, with 15 marked routes and e-bikes for hire to follow the river from Metlika to Stari trg. Novo mesto is about 37 km away, according to the tourist board.

So you do not lose the morning at the ticket office, browse tickets and tours in Bela krajina on GetYourGuide.

If you are staying the night, see the best hotel deals in Bela krajina for your dates: the well-placed rooms go fast.