One of the most remarkable days in our Slovenia 10 day tour. It was an amazing day of hiking and great scenery with fresh air and amazing views! We used the cable car taking us around "Grandische" from where we headed off to Velika Planina as a start of our hike. We have taken the long hike around Velika down to Mala Planina and back again. I have to admit and recommend that once at Mala Planina, the views and hike get less remarkable whilst the hiking directions get less and less clear which we ended up losing precious time (Point 7 to Point 9 on the shared trail was not properly marked)!
Other that that it was a unique experience at and around Europe's largest pasture settlement with amazing views around the settlement from a distance and closeby, amazing trails and scenery and gorgeous cows everywhere :)) I strongly recommend hiking around between Grandishe and Mala Planina but visit the actual Velika settlement earlier as late afternoon we found the church closed and limited tasting options.
This is truly one of Slovenia's hidden gems (not crowded in September) which makes me even more willing to come again as it was...
Read moreVelika planina ime zakrasele visokogorske planote v Kamniško-Savinjskih Alpah SSV od Kamnika, ki se razprostira na površini 5,8 km² in povprečni višini okoli 1500 mnm z najvišjim vrhom Gradišče, ki doseže višino 1666 mnm. Velika planina, ki obsega Veliko, Malo in Gojško planino ter Dovjo in Veliko gričo, je največja visokogorska pašna planina na Slovenskem. Na njej so pastirji zgradili več pastirskih naselij s preko sto pastirskimi stanovi (kočami, bajtami) posebne oblike, ki so zaščitni znak planote. Na planoti sta tudi naravni znamenitosti, imenovani Velika in Mala Vetrnica. To sta jami, ki se jima je zaradi preparevanja porušil strop in sta nastali udornici. Danes je Velika planina obdana z redkim smrekovim gozdom ter ruševjem in posejana z značilnimi kraškimi vrtačami. Na zložni planoti se je gozd že pred stoletji umaknil pašnikom. Mehke zelene trate med vrtačami in kotliči so dale idealne pogoje za letno pašo govedi. Človek je bil na Veliki planini navzoč že v prazgodovinskem času, na kar opozarjajo arheološke najdbe. Pastirji pa so planino naselili v srednjem veku, na kar opozarja najdeni in raziskani tloris do sedaj najstarejše najdene pastirske koče iz 16. stoletja, ki je po merah in obliki skoraj identičen s sedanjo »Preskarjevo bajto«. »Preskarjeva bajta«, ki stoji na robu planšarskega naselja na Veliki planini, se s svojo značilno ovalno streho, do tal pokrito s šinklni (skodlami), brez oken in vrat in dimnika ter s kamnitimi lopniki, že od zunaj razlikuje od sosednjih modernejših koč. Bajta, takšna kot je sedaj, je bila postavljena po koncu druge svetovne vojne, kajti nemški okupatorji in domobranci so v zimi 1944/1945 požgali vse pastirske koče na planini, vključno s kapelico Marije Snežne, postavljene leta 1938 po načrtih arhitekta Plečnika. Kapelica je bila ponovno postavljena 1988 po predlogi velikega ljubitelja Velike planine arhitekta Kopača. Med etnografske značilnosti Velike planine pa poleg pastirskih koč in raznovrstnih lesenih izdelkov za vsakdanjo rabo (žlice, noži, zajemalke različnih oblik, šprudle, ogrinjala za zaščito pred dežjem itd.) sodijo tudi trniči, to je posušen hruškasto oblikovan sir. Na Veliki planini se je v zimi 1931-1932 pričela nova oblika zimskega turizma, tako imenovano »bajtarstvo«, to je najem pastirske koče v času, ko se na planini ni pasla živina. Prvi najemnik in začetnik je bil Rajko Gregorc. Leta 1963 je podjetje Ljubljana transport odkupilo tuje deleže pri investiciji za izgradnjo nihalke na Veliko planino, ki je bila predana svojemu namenu 13. septembra 1964. Leta 1966 sta se podjetju pridružila hotel Šimnovec in gostišče Zeleni rob, podjetje pa ju je dokončno odkupilo dve leti kasneje. Kmalu zatem se je pričelo tudi širjenje smučišča s postavitvijo novih vlečnic. Tako je danes Velika planina letno in zimskošportno središče z gondolsko žičnico, dvosedežnico, vlečnicami, gostišči in planinskimi domovi ter zasebnimi turističnimi kočami, zgrajenimi po vzoru pastirskih stanov. Velika planina je tudi eno izmed naselij v občini Kamnik, po popisu prebivalstva 2002 so na planini stalno prebivali...
Read moreWe started at the gondola instead of the car park on the other side because we heard it was closed and would have taken an additional hour and a half drive. We took the first gondola up and decided to walk instead of using the second chair lift. In hindsight, we would have chosen the chair lift since there's not much to see until you reach the top.
Walking around the settlements was very cool, and we loved seeing the cows and all the wildflowers. The mist was thick, so we missed out on the panoramic views, but it didn't matter much. It wasn't too busy, and the wildflowers were beautiful.
I wish there had been more signs and information about the history. There are a few signs, but they are hard to find and not very informative. More historical information would have made the place more special.
All in all, it was a great half-day trip that was worth the money for the gondola ride. If I were to do it again, I'd still opt for...
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