The Otlica window, the Vipava Valley through the rock

Getting there: from Otlica or from the Hubelj

The nearest starting point is the village of Otlica itself, from where a pleasant walk takes you to the window. Another popular route, a little harder because it’s uphill all the way, starts at the Hubelj spring above Ajdovščina. The area is full of trails, and along the rim of the Trnovo plateau, passing the window, runs Pot po Robu, the Trail along the Edge, which starts in Col and ends in Predmeja. Times are in the table, and for more routes like this see the guide to hiking in Slovenia.

A few minutes from the window is the Stone Snail, a spiral-shaped stone installation that’s also worth a stop.

What is the Otlica window?

The window is a natural bridge that began with an intense tectonic fault and was enlarged by weathering and erosion. The opening is 12 m high and 7 m wide, and below it is a smaller one. Local legend explains it differently. The Devil stumbled because he couldn’t manage the load on his back, and as he fell his horn punched through the rock and left the hole.

The name has a story too. Otlica comes from «votel» or «otel», as the word for hollow is pronounced here, and «otla gora» or «otlica» would translate as something like hollow mountain.

The Trnovo Forest foothills

The window belongs to a protected area, the southern foothills of the Trnovo Forest, which close off almost the entire Vipava Valley to the north. They are tiered sheer walls, inselbergs, natural bridges and rock shelters shaped over millennia. This is where the Dinaric world meets the Submediterranean, and the dry, windswept meadows hold edelweiss and hladnikia, a plant that lives on only about 4 km² of this forest. The Vipava Valley Tourist Board notes that these slopes are best explored on foot.

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What else to see nearby

On the same plateau edge is the other famous window, the Skozno natural bridge above the Lijak stream, and below the walls rise the Hubelj, the valley’s largest water source, and the Lijak, a special type of karst spring. Down in the valley, Vipavski Križ and its walls are a short drive away.

The valley’s tourist board also points to two quieter sights along these foothills. Near St Mary’s Church above Vitovlje lies Lake Vitovlje, the highest and the only natural lake in the whole Vipava Valley, held on a layer of impermeable flysch, and above the village of Črniče the Konjščak stream has carved a gorge with steep, sheer cliffs.

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