Soča Trail, Slovenia

This hike has been completed on 9th August 2020, according to the description of Outdooractive.

The Soča trail is probably the most famous part of the long-distance Alpe-Adria-Trail. It begins at the source of the river Soča (Isonzo in Italian), and follows the river up to the town of Bovec. If, like us, you are just doing this part of the trek, we suggest taking the bus in the morning from Bovec and get out at the Izvir Soče bus stop. More information on the public transportation in the Soča Valley can be found here.

From the bus stop, we first walked up to the actual source of the river. The first part of the hike just follows the road up to the small kiosk. From it, the trail goes through a little forest and, to reach the source, it continues in a path equipped with steel cables, to help the ascent. Nothing too hard, we and most of the people there did it in running shoes. Boots can be useful though, in case of rain.

From the source, we followed our steps back up to the bus stop, and, from there, we kept going, following the "Soška pot" signs along the road and then, turning right, on the actual trail. The path goes here down, towards the little village of Trenta, always going aside the river. 

Along the path, there are quite a few beautiful spots to look at. The first is the Mlinarica gorge, which requires a small deviation of five minutes. This is actually one of the deepest gorges in Slovenia, although it can be visited only with help of a professional guide and with special equipments. 

From the gorge, we get back along the river, crossing it for the first time via one of the many suspended bridges. The trail goes often from one side to the other, giving the possibility the walk over the swinging bridges, donating great views all along.

We continued to follow the trail, making a quick deviation to the village of Trenta to refill our water battles. I suggest you to bring at least a 1.5 litre per person, especially in Summer that can be very hot and humid. In Trenta you can find a little grocery shop, which is not open on Sunday unfortunately, a restaurant and a visitor information centre.

Once left Trenta, we got back to the trail in direction of the village of Soča, reaching after few kilometres the Small Soča Gorge. 

Just after the village, we encountered the main attraction on the trail, the great Big Soča Gorge. From one of the bridge, we saw also some people jumping in the water, just in the middle of the gorge. We limited ourselves, to get down to the river and put our feet in the water (VERY COLD!)

The trail then continues following a more placid river, with larger banks. Some sections are also well-known between the locals, that goes there for swimming and sunbathing. The trail then continues towards Bovec. We crossed the last bridge at the Bovec camping, then followed the path in the fields up the town centre.