The Slovenian waterfalls worth the walk

Soča Valley waterfalls: Boka and Kozjak

My two favourites are both in the Soča Valley. Boka waterfall, beside the road between Bovec and Kobarid, has a total height of 144 metres and a width of 18, and the tourist board says it carries more water than any other fall in Slovenia. You can see it from the road, but the viewpoint above is what gives it scale.

Near Kobarid, under the Krn range, is Kozjak waterfall. It’s only 15 metres high, but it drops inside a sort of hollowed-out rock hall, which is why it keeps turning up on social media. It’s my personal favourite.

Peričnik, Savica and Martuljek in the north

At the entrance to the Vrata Valley, with Triglav overhead, Peričnik waterfall has a 52-metre lower fall that the path runs behind, and a 16-metre upper one. Close to Kranjska Gora, the Martuljek waterfalls come down in three tiers over a 110-metre cliff and drop again, 50 metres this time, into a narrow 400-metre gorge.

At Bohinj there’s Savica waterfall, on the slopes of Komarča. Its watercourse splits in two before it reaches the rock face, and it feeds the Sava Bohinjka, which flows into the lake. It matters to Slovenes in a way few places do, because France Prešeren wrote The Baptism at the Savica about it.

Which is Slovenia’s tallest waterfall?

It’s the question everyone asks, and there isn’t a neat official answer. The tourist board doesn’t rank its waterfalls by height. Of those it describes, Boka totals 144 metres, Martuljek 110 metres over three tiers and Rinka Falls, at the head of the Logar Valley, 90 metres. I’d steer clear of the word tallest and stick with something more useful, which is that Boka has the most water.

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Waterfalls beyond the Alps

The east has falls worth a walk too. On Pohorje, the Lobnica stream forms the Veliki and Mali Šumik falls deep in old-growth forest, at the end of a fairly demanding path. On the Bohor range in Posavje, the tourist board describes four falls hidden in the woods that drop more than 15 metres. And at Vintgar Gorge near Bled, the boardwalk ends at Šum, which is 13 metres high.

When to go and what to pack

Spring, with the snowmelt, and autumn after rain are the best times. By late summer some falls run thin and lose much of their appeal. I’d wear shoes with proper grip, because the rocks by the water are always slippery, and take a light waterproof for the spray at Peričnik or Boka.

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

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