Kamnik, the medieval town at the foot of the Kamnik-Savinja Alps

A town of counts and merchants

The first written records of Kamnik date from 1229, although its two castles appear earlier. It was a thriving trading town and the seat of the Bavarian counts of Andechs, and at that time it was the capital of Carniola. In the 15th century it was ringed by walls three to ten metres high with a moat, and four gates led in.

On the hill in the centre stood a large castle complex in the 11th century. What survives is the Little Castle (Mali grad), a two-storey Romanesque chapel with a crypt that is the town’s emblem, looking out over the rooftops and the Alps. Across the river, the Old Castle (Stari grad, Oberstein) is recorded in 1207 and controlled the trade route through Kamnik. Today it is a ruin, about thirty minutes up an easy path, with a viewpoint and terrace at the top from which, on a clear day, you see the Julian Alps, the Karawanks and the Tuhinj valley.

What to see in Kamnik

Šutna Street is the favourite. Visit Kamnik calls it the most beautiful in town, with signboards from the old workshops, the birthplace of General Rudolf Maister, the parish church of Mary Immaculate with its free-standing Gothic tower and the Sadnikar museum. It ends at the Samec pass, once a natural slope dividing Šutna from the medieval town.

The Franciscan friary holds St James’s church, recorded from 1423, and inside it the chapel of the Holy Sepulchre, a work full of symbolism that Jože Plečnik made in his last years, when he left several monuments in the area. The friary’s treasure is its library, with about 10,000 books printed before the end of the 18th century, incunabula and Dalmatin’s translation of the Bible, printed in Wittenberg in 1584. If Plečnik interests you, his work is set out in Plečnik’s Ljubljana.

On another hill stands Zaprice Manor, home of the Kamnik Regional Museum, which has two more branches, the Miha Maleš Gallery and Maister’s birthplace. Above Mekinje sits the Ursuline convent, more than seven hundred years old, which the nuns gave to the municipality in 2016.

The legend of Veronika

The best-known legend in Kamnik is that of Countess Veronika, already told by Valvasor. Three brothers, triplets, wanted to become priests and needed money for a church. The countess threw them out of the castle, shouting that she would rather turn into a serpent than give them a penny, and struck the wall with her fist. The heavens heard her; she became half woman, half serpent and the earth swallowed her. According to the legend she still lies under the Little Castle hill guarding her coins, and today she appears on the municipal coat of arms and lends her name to a children’s festival and an autumn race.

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Velika Planina and Volčji Potok

Kamnik is the gateway to two visits that justify the trip on their own. The first is Velika Planina, the herders’ plateau, reached by cable car from the Kamniška Bistrica valley. The second is the Volčji Potok arboretum, which the Slovenian Tourist Board calls the largest in the country and which lies just a few minutes away. Nearby are also the Snovik spa and, on the way to Ljubljana, Domžale.

Getting there from Ljubljana

Visit Kamnik counts about 60 daily bus connections with Ljubljana and 18 by train. Ljubljana bus station listed 84 departures to Kamnik on Monday 19 October 2026, taking 43 minutes to 1h10. By car it is about 25 km and half an hour via the A2 motorway, leaving at Vodice, or the A1, leaving at Domžale. The tourist office rents bikes at €14 for up to four hours and e-bikes at €20. To combine it with other outings, see day trips from Ljubljana.

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What I make of Kamnik

I would give Kamnik a full day with Velika Planina, or half a day with the arboretum. The town itself takes two or three hours and needs no more. What makes it special is the mix, a medieval craftsmen’s street with the Alps behind it, less than an hour from the capital.