Route 3: Ljubljana–Vrhnika

You begin your walk at the Church of St. James on the edge of Ljubljana's old town, which is the first Jesuit church in Slovenia and the first example of a Baroque hall with chapels. The interior was decorated by renowned artists such as Francesco Robba (altars and the main altar), Janez Šubic (ceiling paintings), and Luka Mislej (stone altars). At the church, there are two signposts for the Way of St. James: one pointing to the route towards Vrhnika, and the other to the route through old Ljubljana towards the start of the "Svetovišarska pot" route.

The route initially takes you along the Ljubljanica river, but soon leaves it behind and eventually joins the Pot spominov in tovarištva (eng. Path of Memories and Comradery) – a pleasant walking and cycling path that circles the city along the line where it was surrounded by barbed wire during the Second World War.

You will leave the Path of Memories and Comradery route on the outskirts of the city where it continues on towards the settlements on the edge of the Ljubljana Marshes. Don't be alarmed by the brief messy section as you make your way to the marshes. This is also part of the Way of St. James – it does not always lead through the most beautiful areas in order to "chase" beautiful nature and stunning views. However, as soon as you reach the Ljubljana Marshes, it captures just that! You find yourself in the middle of a wide plain, bordered on one side by the Krim mountain chain and on the other by the foothills of the Polhov Gradec hills, where you are constantly at the intersection of natural and cultural landscapes. The marshes are a treasure trove of nature, but also of archaeological finds and cultural heritage, which bear witness to its many thousands of years of settlement history. You will travel long, wide dusty roads that sometimes have no end in sight. Here, your walking almost produces a meditative state, step by step, in the middle of an overwhelmingly quiet landscape where you’ll only occasionally pass through settlements.

In this area, the Way of St. James partially overlaps with two interesting marsh-themed trails: the Bevke Learning Trail and the Beaver Trail; the former running through the surrounding area of the village of Bevke (near the Kostanjevica solitary mountain with its Mali Plac nature reserve), and the latter circling the village of Blatna Brezovica. Both showcase and teach you about the cultural, historical, and natural attractions of the marshes.

Approaching the village of Blatna Brezovica, the path becomes more frequented and begins to gradually lose its mostly solitary character. In the village, you climb up the hill towards the Chruch of St. James, where monks from the Carthusian monastery in nearby Bistra were once buried. Nowadays, the former monastery houses the Technical Museum of Slovenia. From here, the route continues over a panoramic hill (the only one on the entire route), where you can admire the local village architecture and from which you can enjoy a beautiful view of the marshy plain and the hill ranges surrounding it.

After you pass one more settlement on the way, you arrive in Vrhnika, the birthplace of famous Slovenian writer Ivan Cankar. The route ends at the crossroads adorned with the writer's monument. If you still have some energy left, Cankar's precise birthplace, which has been converted into a museum, is only a few hundred metres away – the house is also part of the Way of St. James towards Trieste.