Tolmin Gorge to Brda Slovenia wine country
We took our time at the tourist farm in the morning, having breakfast and talking to a few folks. We met a lovely couple from England and chatted with them for a while. Breakfast was quite nice this morning with some poached eggs and bacon. After a chill morning and more exploring tips from our glamping hosts, we were ready to explore.
We then headed out for Brda, the Slovenian wine country. We stopped at the Tolmin Gorge for about a 3-mile hike. The gorge was well, gorgeous!!! There were walls of ferns and flowers along a steep canyon that was carved by a blue alpine river.
The water looked so appetizing and was the prettiest shades of light blue that bounced between the rocks. The lower trail took us to the source of a thermal spring. This area is the lowest section of the Triglav National Park. We filled a bottle up with water from the spring. Thanks to Monika at the glamping site, who told us exactly where to look for the spigot. We took our time visiting the viewpoints and then hit the road again.
Entering Brda Slovenia Wine Country
It was only a 30-minute drive from the mountains to the hilly area of Brda Slovenia wine country. We were greeted by vineyards, fruit trees, and olive trees all around. We made it to the tourist farm, Turistična kmetija Štanfel, and checked in. We asked if there could be some relation to Stanfels in my family tree but were told no by a grumpy old man, Stephan.
His wife, Ester, was our host and very nice. Ester loved to chat and told us all kinds of stories. At the entrance, they have a little memorial for a cyclist who was a neighbor and friend of Stephan, Jurij Uršič. He was not too well known and raced at a time when the area was in dispute between Yugoslavia and Italy, thus was not warmly accepted in Italy.
The memorial was there to help him live on. He did win a silver medal in the 1964 Olympics in the individual pursuit track race. Unfortunately, he died young at 40 years old due to diabetes.
Off to Šmartno
We then toured the small town of Šmartno located in Brda Slovenia wine country. It was a camping-style settlement from around the Roman times, with the village first mentioned in 1317. We took in the stone walkways lined with grape trellises and ancient, twisting olive trees. The trees had green fruit on them, which won’t be harvested until this fall. We saw farmers driving around with their tractor buckets filled with grapes.
To finish off the night, we made our way to have dinner at Belica, which had a beautiful view of the rolling hillside. The food was quite good, and their wine was pretty good too. It started to get busy, and it felt like we just got lost in all the tables. Sad to say, but the service wasn’t great.
We are noticing that dinners are a long affair here. It seems like it takes about 1-2 hours. It is definitely something we aren’t used to. It is rare for us to spend an hour at a restaurant in the US. Maybe also we are having really long days full of activities and are ready to get back to our resting spot.
For Tomorrow
We are expecting quite a bit of rain, but it is hard to tell how the weather will shake out, especially if you aren’t from the Brda Slovenia wine country area. We were hoping to get a little bike ride in to explore, but that isn’t looking very promising. Besides that, we will do a wine tasting, visit a museum, and experience a local dinner provided by our tourist farm host.
SUPPORT JAYLO CYCLING
Did you enjoy this blog? We will be exploring Slovenia and Croatia for 14 days. Make to follow along for the rest of our journey. If you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment below. If you have any suggestions of reviews or things you would like to see in the future contact me.
Please consider checking out my Instagram, YouTube, and Facebook accounts to show me support there. If you feel generous and have the ability, consider buying me a coffee to help support this site. Thank you for taking the time to check out my website and don’t forget to subscribe to my newsletter too.
Day 5 – Soča Valley Slovenia Adventure: Epic E-Bike Rides, Unreal Views
