Rateče, the last village before Italy and Austria

The Peč triple border

Above the village rises the summit of Peč, 1,508 metres, also called Tromeja, Monte Forno or Dreiländereck. It’s the triple border of Slovenia, Italy and Austria, and four languages meet here, Slovene, Friulian, Italian and German. That’s why it belongs to an international chain of peace monuments, its memorials are written in all three national languages and every year it brings together representatives of the three countries. From the top you see the Julian Alps, the Gailtal Alps, the Tauern and the western Karawanks.

The 7-kilometre Tromeja tourist route starts in the centre of Rateče at Kajžnk House, passes the Šurc inn and climbs through the forest to the summit, telling the story of the village, its pastures and the border along the way.

Kajžnk House and local traditions

Kajžnk House is a local cultural monument and holds the Rateče ethnological heritage collection. It’s a single-storey brick house with a gabled roof and covered balconies, a black kitchen, a granary, a fresco of St Florian on the east façade and a sundial on the south, and it partly keeps its 19th-century look. Inside there’s also an escape museum running through the whole house, with puzzles on the village’s history, which you visit by booking ahead.

Rateče is one of the few places in Slovenia where the traditional costume survives and is occasionally worn. To see it, come for Village Day, when local women also show how to make žoki, low shoes of local wool, cloth and leather.

Krapi and a mountain climate

Rateče’s speciality is krapi, a potato dough wrapped round curd cheese, served as a starter, as a main course with lard or even as a pudding. There are versions with dried pears too. Only a few inns in the valley make them, and Tourism Kranjska Gora names two in Rateče. The country’s other dishes are covered in Slovenian food.

The climate is alpine. The Rateče weather station gives, for 2001-2010, an annual mean of 6.9°C and −3.8°C in January, and it’s one of the wettest in the official table, with 1,531 millimetres a year.

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Rateče, the gateway to Planica

The Planica valley lies in Rateče and is closed to traffic, so you walk, cycle or take the bus in. There you’ll find the Gorišek Brothers ski-flying hill, the zipline and, at the far end, the Tamar hut. For the March 2027 ski jumping final, the parade of national teams will welcome the jumpers in Rateče on the Thursday, before the competitions start. And if you’d like to cross the borders that meet on Peč, Slovenia, Italy and Austria shows how to join up the three countries in one trip.

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

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