I love to hike. I think hiking is one of the best ways to explore a new country or destination.
That was why I was extremely interested in Hedonistic Hiking’s 9 day tour of Slovenia and Friuli–Venezia Giulia, the most north-eastern province in Italy. Even better, I hadn’t heard of most of the places on the itinerary. That was a huge plus for me, since I like exploring off-the-beaten-path places. Still, I had my reservations. Normally I am not a fan of organized group tours. And 9 days, would it be too much?
Our lunch spot one day while hiking in Triglav National Park
Fortunately it wasn’t. It was just right. In fact it was the best tour that I’ve ever done! Here’s why:
Off-the-beaten-path places. This was important to me. I don’t see the point in going on a tour to a popular place that I can easily visit by myself. I like discovering the so-called undiscovered places. The places that only locals, or someone has done extensive research knows. In Slovenia, this meant stopping at the historic medieval village of Skopja Loka for lunch and a stroll through town, followed by a quick photo stop at Bled. But we didn’t stay there. We stayed at the much quieter, but still beautiful Lake Bohinj – a place I had never heard about before, but was still located in Triglav National Park, Slovenia’s only national park. Despite visiting off-the-beaten-path places on our tour, it started in Ljubljana and ended in Venice. Jackie and Mick, the owners recognize that people may still want to explore these popular destinations, and can do so on their own time. They’re also easy to travel to/from, each equipped with an airport, and numerous buses and trains – something the smaller places wouldn’t be.
Just the right amount of hiking.
Franja Partisan Hospital. A secret hospital run by Slovene Partisans during WW II.
Hedonistic Hiking trips are planned in such a way to recognize that while people do want to hike, they don’t only want to hike on their vacation. Some days of hiking are longer than others, but there was always a lot of variety within the hikes themselves. On our tour we hiked through gorges, a WWI trench, rural country side, discovered a hidden waterfall, did a cross-border trail which started in Slovenia and ended in Italy and vineyards – with wine tastings along the way. On many of the walks there was also a shorter option, or a van that could pick you up. In addition to the hiking, there were other activities artfully woven in. My favorite was the Franja Partisan Hospital. It was a secret WWII hospital, hidden in a gorge in German occupied territory operated by the Slovene Partisans. I’m not really into war history, but this was absolutely fascinating (post coming soon)! On our last day, we didn’t hike at all. It was reserved for sight-seeing in the UNESCO World Heritage Italian town of Aquileia and Grado. We also had free time each day to explore on our own.
Incredible local food and wine.
Picnic lunch waiting for our group of hungry hikers. Prepared with local Slovene ingredients.
Food and wine are a BIG part of Hedonistic Hiking’s tours. Especially locally sourced food. Dina, who was in charge of the tour I was on, would often buy cheese from the local village that we were in and serve it for lunch. The cheese I ate on this trip was incredible! I’m still thinking about it. We only drank regional wine. I had no idea that Slovene wine was so tasty – probably because only a small portion of it is exported. The rest the Slovene’s keep for themselves. Believe me, I totally get it. Although they could export a wee bit to Munich, just for me, couldn’t they? While, all the food we ate was local, we ate in a variety of settings. Everything from picnics prepared by Dina herself, to Gostilnas – typical Slovene restaurants, to trattorias in Italy to lunch in a local’s house to multi-course gourmet meals. Naturally each course was served with a matching wine! They also aim to break stereotypes. Although Italy is known for its pizza and pasta – at least to tourists, we did not eat either while in Italy. Dina’s goal was to show us that Italian cuisine goes way beyond pizza and pasta.
Owner led trips
Repeat Clients
Hike to Mount Matajur, the cross-border hike from Slovenia into Italy
Perhaps the best endorsement are all the repeat clients. Approximately half of our group of 15 had hiked with Hedonistic Hiking before – some of them even knew each other and had kept in touch from previous trips. After our trip finished, more than half were already actively planning their next trip with Jackie and Mick. I totally get it. My trip with Hedonistic Hiking was the best tour I’ve ever done. Even as a non-tour kind of person, this was an exceptional trip!
More info on Hedonistic Hiking:
- All meals and accommodation are included in Hedonistic Hiking’s prices. You are responsible for anything you do/purchase in your free time.
- Hikers are nice people. OK being a hiker, I’ll admit I’m a bit biased, but it was a really nice friendly group.
- The group was between 55 -78 years of age (excluding me). I felt privileged to meet such an interesting, well-traveled group of people. We had lots to talk about.
- Our group was very international. There were quite a few Australians, an American, English, Swiss, Japanese and me – Canadian.
- There are a variety of trips available with different levels of hiking. These are clearly outlined in their brochure. But it is important to have a reasonable degree of fitness before your trip. If you’re in doubt, just ask Jackie, who will be honest with you.
Thank you to Hedonistic Hiking for the opportunity to explore Slovenia and Friuli. As always, all opinions expressed are my own.
