The Kolpa, Slovenia's swimming river

A border river

Its 292 km start in Croatia, in Risnjak National Park, according to Kočevsko tourism, which calls it the area’s largest watercourse and notes its 2010 European Destination of Excellence award. For the tourist board, the Slovenian stretch leaves the Kočevje forests and carries on through Bela krajina, the land of silver birches.

From the Osilnica gorge to Bela krajina

On its upper reaches, near Osilnica, the Kolpa winds between sheer walls, and beyond Fara it squeezes between steep wooded slopes. There, in the municipality of Kostel, the rapids draw rafts and canoes. Further downstream the scenery changes. In Bela krajina, the valley opens out among meadows and birch woods with bracken, and the natural pebble beaches appear.

In Bela krajina, most of the river lies within the Kolpa Landscape Park, in the municipality of Črnomelj, and Bela krajina tourism asks visitors to leave rubbish only at the designated points. Upstream in Kostel, a century-old white willow holds the bank together at the village of Vas.

Swimming in the Kolpa, rafts and canoes

The clean, warm water makes the Kolpa a hugely popular summer swimming river. Rafting season runs from June to September, and the campsites and glamping sites offer rafts, canoes and paddleboards. For anglers, Kočevsko tourism describes oxygen-rich water with huchen in winter and brown trout and grayling on the fly the rest of the year, alongside barbel and chub. The tourist board’s page on the Kolpa Landscape Park presents the river as its main artery, clean, warm and biologically diverse, and suggests discovering the land of silver birches from the water or on foot along the banks. Bela krajina also has 15 marked cycling routes for exploring the wider area.

Once your dates are set, check which hotels are still free in Kolpa, Slovenia before prices climb.

On foot and by bike

The tourist board lists waymarked riverside paths such as the Mill Path, the Market Trail and the Fair Path, the southernmost trails in the country. Near Kot pri Damlju, Slovenia’s southernmost village, the Southernmost Slovenian Trail follows the canyon between Radenci and Damelj and passes the Trpotec spring, the source of eternal youth according to local lore. On a rented e-bike, the river can be ridden between Metlika and Stari trg.

Two or three nights by the river

I’d come in July or August, stay two or three nights by the river and combine swimming with Metlika or Črnomelj. Outside summer, I’d come to walk the banks rather than to swim, and in any season I’d take my rubbish home or to the marked bins, as the locals ask.

If you would rather have a local show you round, book a guided tour in Kolpa River and choose by the reviews.

Once your dates are set, check which hotels are still free in Kolpa, Slovenia before prices climb.