Divača, the Karst village that lives in Škocjan's shadow

The village of the Škocjan Caves

Divača, with 1,983 residents, heads a Karst municipality of 4,604 covering 145.1 km². Within it lie the Škocjan Caves, a World Heritage Site since 1986, where the Reka river has carved one of the largest known underground canyons. A waymarked path of about 4 km, some 50 minutes on foot, leaves from the railway station, and the Divača Karst Nature Trail crosses the woods beside great collapse dolines.

Divača Cave

Beside the road from Divača to Lokev lies Divača Cave, set up for visitors since the late 19th century. It belongs to the same system of dolines, shafts and caves shaped by the Reka, and is known for its sinter formations. Its visitors included Crown Prince Rudolf, after whom it was for a while called «Rudolf Vilenica», and Sigmund Freud. The lit path is about 500 m long, it is 8°C inside and the tour takes an hour and a half.

From 1 March to 30 November there are tours on Saturdays and Sundays at 10am and 12pm. From 1 June to 30 September they run daily, and in July and August extra tours are added at 2pm and 4pm.

The Škratelj homestead and Ita Rina

In the centre, near the baroque church of St Anthony, stands the Škratelj homestead, from the 17th century, the oldest surviving farmhouse in the Karst. It was an inn for carters, with an enclosed yard and a well. Today it holds two permanent exhibitions. One is devoted to Ita Rina, born in Divača in 1907, the first star of Slovenian cinema, who made her name in Europe in the 1920s and 1930s, and the other to Slovenian film actors. From October to April it opens on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays from 10am to 5pm.

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

Senožeče and its old tollhouse

In Senožeče, also in the municipality, a medieval tollhouse on the old trade route to the Adriatic houses the Rural Transport Museum. It tells the story of carters, toll collectors and smugglers through original objects and interactive screens. It opens Wednesday to Sunday from 10am to 5pm, and adult admission is €7.

Getting to Divača

The motorway from Ljubljana to the coast has a Divača exit. Buses are few, seven on Monday 19 October 2026 and three on Saturday 24 as listed by the Ljubljana planner, taking 1 h 16 to 1 h 40. To combine it, see Sežana, with Lipica close by; the wider area is covered in the coast and Karst. To the south, Hrpelje-Kozina leads into the fruit-growing hills of Brkini.

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