One-Day Nature Tour in the Snežnik Forest

Guided by: Paul Veenvliet, Licensed Guide and Biologist

This forest is my home. It is also at my home: it starts right behind the village where I live. I am in the forest practically every day, but it’s magic never fades to me. Perhaps the most meaningful part of this forest is the silence: I can be here for hours without hearing any man-made sound. This certainly has to do with the vast expanse of the forest. This is the largest forest of Central Europe. And when we look at individual tree species, it is also the largest European beech tree forest in the world!

Because the forest is so large, it has become a refuge for large mammals. Brown bear, wolf and lynx all live here, as do red- and roe deer and wild boar. They are shy and not easy to see during our excursions, but we can often find their footprints. 

In order to give you a first-hand expression of this area, we drive to several sites that are quite far from each other. Or it least it feels like that, because the gravel roads are winding and we cannot go fast. I also do not want to go fast: I am constantly watching out for animals and we may suddenly stop when a deer crosses the road or a forest bird seems unaware of our presence. I vividly remember being our with my guests and seeing a cuckoo searching for a birds nest to lay it’s egg in, while a pair of robins attacked the cuckoo and plucked feathers out of her head! Another time a buzzard flew from the forest road with a dormouse in his talons. Of course we stop at such fantastic, but unpredictable experiences!

At stopovers, we have several shorter and a longer hike. That longer hike takes us to a mountain top where we have a panoramic view. I especially enjoy how the landscape changes on the way: the heavy beech forest makes way for lighter Mediterranean species and those in turn are replaced by a meadow full of flowers when we are close to the destination. 

Somewhere along the way, around midday, we stop for a delicious picnic lunch, made with products from a local ecological farm. To me this is an almost essential part of the tour too: to not only experience the area, but to taste it as well. 

Contact me for booking biologist.paul@gmail.com                                      or tel ++386 41 902 110