Cerklje na Gorenjskem, between the airport and the Alps

Krvavec, Cerklje’s mountain

From Cerklje you head up to Krvavec, the resort the Slovenian Tourist Board places 10 minutes from the airport and describes as the closest to the capital. In winter it has 30 km of slopes, a giant slalom course and a snow park, and in summer an adventure park, mountain go-karts and a 27 km bike park. It’s also a very popular take-off point for paragliders. At the top, at 1,700 m, stands the Mary of the Snows chapel, which the tourist board says is the highest work by Jože Plečnik, the architect behind Plečnik’s Ljubljana.

What to see: Strmol Castle and Hribar’s Villa

Strmol Castle, which the tourist board counts among the oldest and best-preserved in Slovenia, keeps the art collection of the Hribars, its last private owners, and has the Hribar golf course next to it. In the village stands the villa of Ivan Hribar, the patriotic mayor of Ljubljana in the late 19th century, who used it as his summer residence and whose home reflects the refined way of life of the period.

Churches and houses with a story

The Church of the Annunciation at Velesovo, beside the Dominican convent at Adergas, is according to the tourist board the best-known church with catacombs in the country, and it holds the oldest statue of the Virgin and Child in Slovenia, a reason in itself for the short detour from the village. In the centre of Cerklje, Petrovc House contains a small ethnological and archaeological museum and the Beekeeping and Agricultural Museum, which show how wealthy townspeople, innkeepers, farmers and beekeepers once lived. The 200-year-old birth house of the actor and director Ignacij Borštnik remembers the man who gave his name to Slovenia’s most important theatre award, the Borštnik Ring.

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Trails, festivals and food

Marked trails lead up Štefanja Gora, Šenturška Gora, Ambrož and the summit of Krvavec, and there are more than 130 km of cycling routes. Every year Cerklje holds Fest po Rokovem, with craft stalls, workshops, home-made produce and a festival of folk groups from across Slovenia. For a special meal, the tourist board singles out the Dvor Jezeršek restaurant, and on Krvavec the cable cars turn into small private dining rooms for cable-car dinners. The municipality holds the Entente Florale designation and the silver Slovenia Green Destination award. From 1238 the Dominican monastery at Velesovo held authority over the neighbouring village of Šenčur, on the plain running down towards Kranj.

So you do not lose the morning at the ticket office, browse tickets and tours in Cerklje na Gorenjskem on GetYourGuide.

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