Vršič Pass & the Soča Valley: Kranjska Gora to Bovec (2 Days)

The Vršič Pass (1,611 m) is Slovenia’s highest road pass — 50 numbered hairpins, several of them cobbled — climbing over the Julian Alps in Triglav National Park and dropping into the valley of the Soča, one of Europe’s most vividly turquoise rivers. The road was built by Russian prisoners of war in the First World War; the little Russian Chapel still stands near hairpin 8. The pass is closed in winter and best driven June–September. You drive on the right.

Day 1 — Kranjska Gora over Vršič to Trenta (25 km)

From the resort town of Kranjska Gora, climb the 24 northern hairpins past the Russian Chapel to the 1,611 m saddle beneath the walls of Prisojnik and Razor. Wind down the 26 southern bends into the Trenta valley, stopping at the source of the Soča and the small alpine museum.

Day 2 — The Soča valley to Bovec (25 km)

Follow the emerald Soča downstream — the Velika Korita gorge, the Napoleon and Trenta trails, and the thundering Boka waterfall — to Bovec, the valley’s adventure hub for rafting and the Kanin cable car.

Costs

Use the cost calculator to price fuel and nights for your exact dates. You need a Slovenian e-vignette only for the motorway to reach Kranjska Gora — the Vršič road itself is a toll-free mountain road. Budget fuel, guesthouse nights (good value), and small fees for the gorges; Triglav National Park has no general entry fee. Go early to beat the tour traffic and take the steep cobbled bends slowly.