Solkan, the village of the stone bridge over the Soča

Solkan Bridge and its stone arch

Solkan’s railway bridge crosses the Soča on a great stone arch, and the tourist board knows of no longer stone arch anywhere. Trains on the Bohinj line still rumble across it. In 2025, during the Nova Gorica and Gorizia European Capital of Culture, its arches were the setting for piano concerts alongside Europe Square and the Sveta Gora basilica, and an art project in the old Solkan quarry explored the body, artificial intelligence and technology.

I’d look at it from below, from the bank or from the water, which is where you best appreciate the size of the arch. From above, the zipline shows you both Solkan bridges at once, the railway one and the road one.

How long to spend

An hour or two is enough for the bridge and the riverbank. Add kayaking or the zipline and it becomes a good half day out. I’d stay in Nova Gorica and do Solkan and Sabotin in the afternoon, saving the next day for Brda. Flying into Trieste, 34 km from Nova Gorica, puts this corner of Slovenia within easy reach at the start or end of a holiday.

Kayaks and the zipline below the bridge

Solkan is Slovenia’s whitewater kayaking capital. The national centre for the sport is here, doubling as a European centre for younger age groups, beside a top-level slalom course on the Soča River itself. Its 544 m² building has changing rooms, a restaurant and a boat workshop. The tourist board suggests kayaking or canoeing down the river, and for anyone who’d rather be in the air, a 550 m zipline crosses from bank to bank above the course at up to 60 km/h. The rest of Slovenia’s water sports are in Soča River rafting.

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

Sabotin, right above

Over Solkan rises Mount Sabotin, which in the First World War was an Austro-Hungarian bridgehead over the Soča and ended up honeycombed with galleries and trenches. Today it’s a park of peace with an open-air museum and a huge view over the Vipava, Brda, the Karst and the Julian Alps. With an afternoon to spare, the bridge and Sabotin go well together.

The gateway to Brda

The tourist board describes the route from Nova Gorica up the Soča and over Solkan Bridge to Goriška Brda, just over 15 km away, with its hills of vineyards and orchards. In practice Solkan is the way into western Slovenia’s best-known wine region.

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

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