Juliana Trail hiking guide: route map, stages & where to stay

The Juliana Trail is a waymarked long-distance hiking trail that makes a loop around the Julian Alps and Triglav National Park in north-west Slovenia. It goes round the peaks, not over them, so every night is in a valley village or town, not a mountain hut. The official basic circuit is 270 km long in 16 stages and starts and ends in Kranjska Gora. Two stages cross into Italy near Tarvisio. Mount Triglav, the highest mountain in Slovenia, is in view from most stages.

The route

This guide walks the loop clockwise from Kranjska Gora, the way most hikers go and the order of the official stage numbers. The first days follow the Sava Dolinka valley to Mojstrana and the ironworks town of Jesenice, then the beekeeping villages under Stol to Begunje and, through Radovljica, Lake Bled. From Bled the trail climbs about 900 m through the Pokljuka gorge to the Pokljuka plateau at Goreljek, then drops through the villages of Bohinj to Stara Fužina and Lake Bohinj and on to Bohinjska Bistrica. It crosses Vrh Bače (1,273 m) to Podbrdo, follows the Bača valley hills to Grahovo ob Bači and Most na Soči, then walks up the Soča valley through Tolmin, Kobarid and Bovec to Log pod Mangartom. The last two stages climb to the Predel pass, drop into Italy past Lake Predil to Tarvisio, and return on the old railway path to Rateče and Kranjska Gora.

This guide follows the route as mapped on OpenStreetMap, about 262 km, and splits it into 16 stages, about 16.4 km each. The official figure is 270 km; the difference comes mostly from where each stage starts and ends in the towns. The total climb is about 7,500 to 7,800 m. The highest point is about 1,330 m on Pokljuka (stage 5), and the lowest about 154 m at Most na Soči.

Two sets of official extra stages are not in this loop: Breginjski kot on the Italian border (Kobarid - Breginj - Podbela - Kobarid, about 42 km, stages 13A to 13C) and the Goriška Brda stages from Tolmin to Solkan (about 60 km, stages 17 to 20).

Highlights

• Lake Bled and Lake Bohinj: Slovenia's best-known alpine lakes, on stages 4 to 7
• Pokljuka: a forest plateau with peat bogs and dairy pastures such as Goreljek
• Radovljica: a walled old town with the Museum of Apiculture
• Vrh Bače: the old pass between Bohinj and the coast, and quiet hill villages above the Bača valley
• The Soča: the emerald river, its gorge below Kobarid, the Kozjak and Boka waterfalls and First World War sites
• Log pod Mangartom and Predel: the Kluže fortress, the Koritnica gorge and Lake Predil in Italy

When to walk the Juliana Trail

The official season is late March to late October, and the trail is at its best in April to June and September to October. July and August are hot in the low valleys and busy. Snow can stay into April on Pokljuka (stage 5), Vrh Bače (stage 8) and the Predel pass (stage 15); the path from Log pod Mangartom up to Predel is exposed to avalanches and impassable in snow, usually December to April.

How many days do you need?

The 16 stages are 8 to 23 km and 3 to 7 hours each, and most hikers take 14 to 18 days, with a rest day or two. You can start at any stage: Bled, Bohinj and Tolmin are good starting points with direct trains or buses. Kranjska Gora to Bohinj (7 stages) or Bohinj to Bovec (6 stages) make good shorter trips.

Difficulty

The trail is not technical and needs no climbing gear, but you must be fit enough to walk 15 to 25 km a day for many days in a row. The hardest days are stage 5 (Bled - Goreljek, about 900 m of climb), stage 8 (over Vrh Bače, about 770 m up and a steep descent to Podbrdo), stage 9 (Podbrdo - Grahovo ob Bači, about 1,000 m of climb), stage 13 (Kobarid - Bovec, 21 to 23 km) and stage 15 (the steep 500 m climb to Predel, partly secured with cables). On stage 14 the path above the Nemčlja gorge is exposed and slippery when wet. Waymarking is good, but carry the GPX track or the free Juliana Trail app with offline maps.

Booking and accommodation

No permit or fee is needed. Accommodation is the one thing to plan early: the official advice is to book at least 3 months ahead, and in spring for late June to late September. Bled, Bohinj, Tolmin, Kobarid, Bovec and Kranjska Gora have plenty of choice, but Goreljek, Podbrdo, Grahovo ob Bači, Log pod Mangartom and Most na Soči have only a handful of beds. Tolmin fills up during its July and August music festivals. The official Julian Alps Booking Centre in Bovec (booking@juliana-trail.si) sells packages with hotels, luggage transfer from stage to stage and transfers back to the start. Wild camping is not allowed in Slovenia, and the ban is enforced in the national park; there are campsites at several stage ends but not all.

There is no shop at Goreljek (stage 5), Grahovo ob Bači (stage 9) or Log pod Mangartom (stage 14), and food is limited at Podbrdo (shop closed on Sundays), Grahovo, Most na Soči and Log. Carry lunch every day.

Getting there and away

The nearest airport is Ljubljana. Buses run from Ljubljana and the airport to Kranjska Gora, and trains from Ljubljana and from Villach in Austria to Jesenice. The Bohinj railway links Jesenice, Bled Jezero, Bohinjska Bistrica, Podbrdo, Grahovo and Most na Soči, so you can skip or shorten stages by train; in bad weather you can take the train through the Bohinj tunnel instead of crossing Vrh Bače. Jesenice station is being rebuilt until July 2027, with occasional replacement buses, so check the Slovenian Railways timetable. Arriva buses serve the Gorenjska side and Nomago buses the Soča valley; in summer a bus links Bovec, Log pod Mangartom and Tarvisio.

Money and phone signal

Slovenia and Italy both use the euro. Cards work in hotels and most shops, but some village inns take cash only; the towns have ATMs, the small stage villages do not. Mobile signal covers almost the whole trail and EU roaming applies in both countries.

What to pack

Hiking shoes, poles, rain gear, a warm layer, sun cream, tick repellent, a first-aid kit, the map or app, and food and water for the day. Carry a passport or ID card for the Italian stages: Italy has temporary checks on its border with Slovenia until at least December 2026.

Safety

In an emergency call 112 in Slovenia and in Italy; in Slovenia it also calls out the mountain rescue service (GRZS). The emergency hospitals are at Jesenice and at Šempeter pri Gorici near Nova Gorica; near Tarvisio the closest are Villach (Austria) and Tolmezzo (Italy). Keep dogs on a lead and take care on the road between Lake Predil and Tarvisio.

History

The trail was created by the Julian Alps Association of municipalities, tourism boards and Triglav National Park, and opened on 18 October 2019. It links old paths: miners' tracks around Jesenice and Cave del Predil, the trade route over Vrh Bače, and the roads of the First World War Isonzo front in the Soča valley. You can collect 24 stamps in the pocket guide; a full English guidebook by Janko Humar came out in May 2026.