In search of my next adventure, I ended up in Slovenia.
I had often heard how beautiful and pristine the nature there is – green forests, rugged mountains, crystal-clear lakes. And as I wanted to get out into the mountains again anyway, preferably on a long, continuous route, I ended up on the Slovenian High Alpine Trail.

You can’t find much about it online – at least not in German. That made it all the more exciting for me. The High Alpine Trail, or Slovenska planinska pot in Slovenian, is the longest long-distance hiking trail in the country and runs for around 600 kilometers right across the Slovenian Alps – from Maribor to Ankaran on the Adriatic Sea. This time I wanted to take it a little easier: without a tent, with reduced luggage, from hut to hut. I was in the mood for the mountains, but also for a little more spontaneity and lightness on the road. No meticulously planned stages, just see how far I get – and how it feels to just keep going day after day.

Day 1 – The arrival

Although the journey was uncomplicated, it was quite lengthy. I flew from Frankfurt to Graz and then took the train to Maribor in Slovenia. I left Ludwigshafen at 9am and arrived in Maribor at around 5.30pm. As there was no direct connection after the flight, it took me over 8 hours to get there. Next time I would prefer to take the overland route. It would also be more attractive in terms of price and it probably wouldn’t have made any significant difference in terms of time.

In my opinion, flying has rightly become much more expensive. I spent €280 on the flight alone. If you have hiking poles with you, you have to check in your luggage. Plus almost €60 for trains. When I lived in Portugal – that was 15 years ago – I used to fly to Porto for €25. A distance that is certainly twice as far as Graz. Times have changed – but even then I wondered how such prices could be possible.

When I arrived in Maribor, I headed straight for the first hut that I had chosen as a stage destination. I didn’t want to spend any more time in a city, although the brief impression I got of the river promenade was promising. There were a few bars and restaurants full of people enjoying the evening sun. But all that sitting around during the day drove me on. Out into nature.

After about 3 hours, 10 km and 1000 meters in altitude – a decent distance for the first day, especially with a full rucksack – I arrived tired at my destination for the day, only to find out that the hut was closed on Saturday. I had tried the phone beforehand but hadn’t been able to reach anyone – probably because of the family party that was going on. The landlady was kind enough to call a hut 3 km away and secure me a bed.

After another hour through the forest, I got a bed there for €23. After an excellent venison goulash, I fell into bed very satisfied but tired. I learned my first bits of Slovenian from a man at the bar who spoke German, and I was only to learn a few more over the course of the trip.

Despite detours, a closed hut and tired legs, I had arrived – in both senses of the word.

Day 2 – Hail

Breakfast was included, but 8:30 am is simply too late for me. My rhythm usually wakes me up before 6 a.m. – and by the time I’d actually set off, it would already have been 9 a.m. The two girls from my room, who had slept the night before, were also awake early and were getting ready. However, they were walking in the opposite direction. After a brief small talk, we parted ways.

The landscape remained largely hidden from me throughout the day. The path leads through dense forests – beautiful, but without any great views. Far viewing (Fernsehen = Television in German) is something for the living room, not for this section of the trail. I’d like to give you a better feel for the surroundings with my camera: dense, lush coniferous forest, punctuated time and again by rays of sunlight that conjure up a play of light and shadow on the soft forest floor.

Less than half an hour after arriving at the hut for the night – I was just about to hang up my “laundry” outside and treat myself to a non-alcoholic beer in a deckchair – it started to rain. I helped the staff to bring the last tables under cover when it started to hail without any warning. We took refuge in a small pavilion, which at least managed to keep out the worst of it. The hail was a good centimeter in diameter and piled up around the pavilion. If I had arrived half an hour later, there would have been no escape. An impressive spectacle – and a good indication of how quickly the weather can change in the mountains. Only a short time before, I had been roasting in the sun and had barely filled up with enough water.

The route for the first few days mostly leads through wooded terrain reminiscent of the Black Forest or the Vosges mountains. There are hardly any views, only occasionally a clearing opens up with a view of the valley. Slovenia was completely unknown to me – and I really enjoy the feeling of entering new territory.

I was surprised by the prices, which are hardly cheaper than in the rest of the Alps or in Germany – even though the GDP here is only around 60% of that in Germany. I had rather expected Eastern European prices. Perhaps this is an outdated picture. Life has moved on here too – and with it the price level.

The first accommodation cost €23 with breakfast, the second €22 without – both in a dormitory, not in my own room. At least I get a 20% discount thanks to my membership of the Slovenian Alpine Club. It costs me €38 a year and pays for itself after just a few nights. I paid €13 for my dinner today – a plentiful and very good venison goulash. The prices in the supermarkets don’t seem much lower than here either, but that’s more a feeling than an exact calculation.

I find it astonishing how foreign the language remains to me. I am perhaps ten kilometers from the Austrian border and don’t understand a single word. It’s almost as if there is an invisible border that has never been permeable – despite over 500 years of Austrian rule. I am impressed that the language has remained so independent. The only people who still speak German here are older people who learned it at school – and naturally there are fewer and fewer of them.

Even written language hardly gives me a clue. I read the menu with Google Lens. One of the places to stay today is called “Poštarski dom pod Plešivcem” – which translates as “The Post Office House under the Dancer”. Who is supposed to memorize that? The signposts are numerous and good – I only need the map if I forget the unpronounceable name of my next hut.

Before this trip, I had never heard of the Slovenian High Alpine Trail – and I hadn’t met anyone who knew it on my previous trips either. I don’t know why that is. Maybe this really is a hidden gem.

Day 3 – Repair

The weather forecast for the morning was bad. When I wake up – I’ve spent the night alone in the accommodation – it’s still pouring outside. I turn around again. But it’s supposed to stay like this all day, so I get up at around six o’clock and take advantage of the dry spell to set off.

Maybe I’ll stay reasonably dry for the first hour. Then, on a narrow trail under fir trees, it starts to rain. I had already protected my rucksack in the morning, and now I put on my improvised rain cover – a large plastic bag that works better than my old rain cape. I have learned from this and wear a proper rain jacket again.

At first, I stand under a fir tree for a while, as if hoping that the weather will have mercy on me after all. But no – that’s probably my fate for today.

As if that wasn’t enough, I hit another low point: I walk through the rain wearing sunglasses. And not for style reasons. The day before, I had said to myself: “Be careful.” Then I put my normal glasses on the ground to apply sun cream. The next moment, my rucksack fell over. Whether I stepped on them myself or the rucksack caught them – I don’t know. The result: one of the temples is off and I can no longer wear my glasses.

As I’m dependent on my prescription glasses, I only have sunglasses with prescription glasses left. So now I’m trudging through the pouring rain, half blind, with dark glasses through a dark forest. Somewhere between tragic and comical – life on the trail.

Today’s stage wasn’t the toughest with around 15 km and almost 800 meters of elevation gain, but it was still challenging in the constant rain and limited visibility. I arrived at the hut in the late afternoon – soaked through, but satisfied to have made it.

Perhaps it is precisely these chaotic days that you remember most clearly later on.

Day 4 –

I bought some superglue in the Spar this morning – my provisionally repaired glasses are holding up surprisingly well, even after a whole day of hiking. The weather forecast had predicted continuous rain, but as it was still dry in the morning, I set off.

Breakfast was prepared for me today. Next time, I’ll make sure to ask what’s on offer before ordering — it wasn’t really to my taste. I had instant coffee, greasy sausage, light toast, paté, butter, and jam. Not exactly my kind of breakfast. The yoghurt with fruit was the highlight. Because of breakfast, I didn’t set off until half past seven – and promptly got caught in the first shower before the next hut.

Thunder and a few nearby flashes of lightning forced me to take a break. I sat out the weather for three hours, read a lot and planned the next stages. My plan: a long day tomorrow, as the alternatives would have been either too short or brutally exhausting for that day.

Later it turned out that the hut further away was closed on that day anyways. So tomorrow will definitely be long.

My heels look wild – open, sore over a large area – but the new blister plasters are working well. Removing the insoles also makes the shoes more comfortable, the rubbing has stopped.

The afternoon was a gift: soft forest paths, a gentle breeze, not a soul in sight. I love dense forests – the only thing I missed was the distant view. But I know it will come back tomorrow.