The Way of St. James: Vrhnika - Planina

From the crossroads in Vrhnika with the monument to the writer Ivan Cankar, you walk in the direction of the writer's birthplace, which has been converted into a museum. A little way before you reach it, the path begins to ascend – you are now on the famous hill, scene of one of the central stories in Cankar's famous novel, On the Hill.

A short but very steep ascent takes you to a well-kept park, at the end of which you find the late-Renaissance Church of the Holy Trinity, surrounded by chapels of the Way of the Cross in the shade of the surrounding trees. This is what Cankar wrote about the church: "White as a bride, the Holy Trinity shines on the hill, looking out over the sunny plain, over the silent, dreamy marsh, towards Žalostna gora and Krim."

The path continues mainly along forest trails until it joins the old "tank" road, which was once used to drive the tanks of the then Yugoslav People's Army (JLA) from the Vrhnika barracks. If you see a lot of parked cars next to it, it will be because this is one of the starting points for Planina nad Vrhniko, a popular hiking destination with a lookout tower and mountain cottage.

After descending down the "tank" road, you will reach a wide gravel road. You will soon be walking in the pleasant shade of trees along the Bela stream. The road is mainly flat, ascending only gradually at times. At the turnoff for Star maln, we recommend a short "detour" to the cottage (when open, it offers food and drink) and the "pool", which is a popular natural swimming pool in the summer.

From here you will encounter a relatively steep climb to the village of Strmica. The path through the settlement quickly has you back in the forest. Until Logatec, the trail leaves the forest only once, when you cross the road between Logatec and Vrhnika. You will be walking either on comfortable gravel roads or on winding forest paths.

In Logatec, the Way of St. James will initially take you through streets among residential buildings, and past the Church of St. Nicholas; its architecture showing an interesting transition from baroque to classicism. From here you will walk along the road in the direction of Rakek until the path invites you back into the forest. You will walk on paths, carriageways, and macadam roads, with gentle climbs and descents. The forest will be your companion for a long time, especially if you choose a variant of the Way of St. James that avoids Planinsko polje due to flooding.

You will be alerted to this variant by the signposts for the Way of St. James at the crossroads of the macadam roads above the village of Grčarevec.

If you go straight, you will follow the original version of the route that takes you towards Laze and across the Planinsko polje field towards Planina. This route offers a pleasant walk on the plain and the experience of one of the most beautiful short fields in Slovenia. Due to the extraordinary variety of flora and fauna, the Planinsko polje field is included in the European network of Natura 2000 protected areas.

If you go to the right (notation on the Way of St. James singpost: variant), you will descend towards Grčarevec, from where you will climb into the forest above the road that leads to Planina. This way you bypass the Planinsko polje field. This route is slightly longer and ascends higher, with some quite steep climbs on fairly demanding terrain. It is also less scenic, as it is mostly covered by trees. It leads primarily along macadam roads, and partly along forest carriageways and narrow paths. Grčarevac is also one of the entry points to the Planinsko polje Landscape Park, which will be pointed out to you by an interpretation board by the side of the road. With this variant, the Way of St. James ends at the Church of St. Mary; you descend to Planina along a well-kept and marked mountain trail.

Regardless of which route you take to Planina, you end the Way of St. James at the baroque Church of St. Margaret, the special feature of which is that the bell tower is separate from the church building.