While growing up, this beautiful place that I'm introducing, named Velika Planina, also called "Big Mountain" or "Great Highlands", was a place we visited quite often.
My dad was working at a company that owned one of the cottages (that I believe can still be rented but I could be wrong), and we used to go there during every school holidays and many weekends. It was such an amazing time, simple times, just playing around the other kids and enjoy the nature, scenery and complete silence. We were very lucky to have that available whenever we wanted.
Those cottages are located close to where you come to with a cable car, once you start walking further up, they get replaced by traditional huts.
This beautiful place is located in the heart of Kamnik-Savinja Alps, at an elevation between 1,500 and 1,670 meters. I've mentioned before that the city I grew up in is Kamnik and getting to Velika Planina doesn't take too long if you live there.
First you need to drive to Kamniska Bistrica which is about 10 km North of Kamnik (15 mins drive) and once you get there, you have an option to either hike up or go on a cable car - which is the fourth longest unsupported cable car in the world.
Once you get to the top, you can also use a chairlift (which does't operate all the time by the way) or much better, start walking and enjoying the scenery.
Of course, during winter, this place becomes a paradise for skiers and that's where the chairlift comes in handy.
In 2017, was the last time I was there and it was during summer. It's an amazing time to visit as it's a bit colder up there so perfect when you want to escape the heat.
These beautiful traditional wooden herdsmen's huts, which you can't see anywhere else in the world, have provided shelter for people and livestock since the Middle Ages and sadly in the 20th Century, the whole landscape was almost lost forever. Most of these huts were burned down to the ground by the Germans during World War II.
Only one hut survived (called Preskar's Hut) which they converted to a museum. The rest of them have been restored in their traditional style.
The views are absolutely breathtaking!
The cows are everywhere and they are normally very friendly :)
As you can guess, the herdsmen over there produce dairy products, including cheese, sour milk, yoghurt and butter which you can buy and they also produce and sell variety of wooden products.
There is a place to refresh, have a drink and some food, called Zeleni Rob and you can enjoy some traditional tasty food, me and my dad had Jota (bean and souerkraut hotpot) , Segedin goulash (meat and sauerkraut) and apple strudel.
I hope you like this place (how could you not hey? :D) and if you have a chance, make sure to visit and experience it in person. Any time of the year you go, will be amazing.
See you next time Hive tribe, thanks for watching and have a great day!
Kat