Slovenia's national park and nature parks, from Triglav to Goričko

Triglav, the only national park

The hierarchy is simple. Slovenia has a single national park, Triglav National Park, named after the country’s highest peak at 2,864 m. The government gives it 83,982 hectares, by far the largest protected area. Below it sit three regional parks, Kozjansko, Notranjska and Škocjan Caves, and the tourist board also lists Pohorje Regional Park, about 52 km². Then come 47 landscape parks, 57 nature reserves and 1,275 natural monuments.

Don’t read too much into the word “landscape”. Some of these parks are big and wild; others are practically urban. Ljubljana has its own, Tivoli, Rožnik and Šiška Hill, which you can walk into from the city-centre streets. Not many capitals can say that.

Which landscape parks are worth the drive?

Of the 47, I’d single out four. The Logar Valley is a glacial valley hemmed in by the Kamnik-Savinja Alps, with the 90-metre Rinka Falls at its head. The Kolpa park follows the warmest river in the country along the Croatian border. Strunjan, on the coast, has the only lagoon on the Slovenian shore and, according to the tourist board, the highest flysch cliff on the Adriatic. And Goričko, in the far north-east, brings together vineyard hills, Lake Bukovnica and the huge castle at Grad.

The rest each have a following. Sečovlje Salt Pans if you want to see salt made by hand, the 17 intermittent Pivka lakes if you like your geography odd, and the Ljubljana Marshes for pile dwellings and birds.

Three regional parks that have nothing in common

Notranjska revolves around Lake Cerknica, an intermittent lake that fills and drains with the rain. Škocjan protects caves the tourist board describes as the deepest and largest underground canyon in the world. And Kozjansko Regional Park, out east, protects 206 km² of old orchards, dry meadows, beech woods and castles such as Podsreda.

If you’ve already done the Alps, Kozjansko is my pick. It has no summits, but it has something Europe is running short of, a working farmed landscape that has barely changed. That’s why UNESCO made the wider Kozjansko and Obsotelje area a biosphere reserve in 2010.

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The two UNESCO geoparks

The tourist board explains that part of Slovenia sits where the Eurasian and African plates meet, which leaves rocks and minerals you won’t find elsewhere. Idrija Geopark grew out of the mercury mine and its unusual ground. Karawanken Geopark runs from Mežica to Mount Peca and over into Austria, with old mine tunnels you can now explore by kayak or mountain bike.

Camping and other rules that get fined

The rule that catches most visitors out is camping. The FCDO is clear that wild camping is illegal across Slovenia, with fines of €40 to €500 and strict checks in Triglav. I’d always plan nights at a campsite, an official motorhome stop or a proper room, never in a trailhead car park.

Seasons matter too. Many visitor centres and show caves open only from spring to autumn, and winter in the mountains calls for kit and experience. If you want several parks in one trip, my combination would be Triglav for the mountains, Škocjan for the underground and Kozjansko or Goričko for the countryside.

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