Kočevje, the kingdom of the brown bear

Kočevje, Slovenia’s largest municipality

SURS gives it 555.6 km², the largest municipal area in Slovenia, and 15,595 people on 1 January 2026, 8,008 of them in town. It recorded 12,393 tourist arrivals in 2025. The tourism area, Kočevsko, joins the municipalities of Kočevje and Kostel, and the tourist board gives it the gold green destination label.

Around 90% of the area is forest, among the most wooded places not just in Slovenia but in Europe, according to the tourist board. The karst river Rinža runs through town, and on the outskirts lies Lake Kočevje, also called Rudnik Lake, which formed in an old lignite mine pit. Today it’s a fishing spot with a nature trail around it.

Can you see bears in Kočevje?

With luck and a guide, yes. The tourist board says these forests hold Slovenia’s largest brown bear population and that bear, lynx and wolf share these woods, something few places can claim. Visit Kočevsko runs guided outings from observation hides and stresses that it’s safe in an organised group with guides who know the forest. There’s more in my guide to bears in Slovenia.

Krokar and Kočevski Rog

In the south of the municipality lies the Krokar primeval forest, a beech forest that UNESCO listed in 2017. It’s one of six remnants of primeval forest in the area, and you view it from the Borovec trail, which fills with daffodils in May.

Close by rises Kočevski Rog, which Lonely Planet included in its top 12 places to visit in Slovenia. That’s where the Queen of Rog grows, a fir around 500 years old and 51.5 m tall, and where the Roška pešpot runs for 64 km, waymarked with a bear’s paw.

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

The Cold War bunker and the museum

History hides underground here too. The Cold War bunker at Škrilj was one of Slovenia’s best-kept secrets for years, and the guided tour covers 500 m of corridors and six chambers with their own water tank and generators. In town, the regional museum occupies a building tied to the story of Slovenian statehood, and a themed trail past 23 buildings and 2 bridges tells Kočevje’s history, with an app that rebuilds its lost castle in 3D. For more than six centuries Slovenes and Gottschee Germans lived side by side here, and it shows in the local heritage.

What to combine it with

To the south, the Kolpa river valley is ideal in summer for swimming, paddling or rafting, and Kostel Castle stands there. To eat and take home, Kočevje forest honey was the first Slovenian honey with Protected Designation of Origin, and it’s used in little beehive-shaped sweets.

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

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