The Tolmin Gorges of Slovenia offers visitors some of the most picturesque natural landscapes you can for. All along the hiking trail you will come across turquoise waters, thermal springs, narrows gorge walls, swimming spots, and views from above.
This is a perfect place to add to a Slovenia road trip as you are making your way through the country and visiting some of the top highlights along the way.
Read on to learn more about getting to the Tolmin Gorges, the hiking trail itself, and plenty more helpful info to prepare you for the trip.
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1) Tolmin Gorges Overview
Below are some helpful details to know about the Tolmin Gorge (also known as Tolminska Korita), which I will be talking more about throughout the remainder of the guide:
- Hiking Trail Length: 2 KM / 1.2 Miles
- Trail Terrain: Mixture of boardwalk, dirt/rock, staircases, & roads
- Walking Time: 1.5 Hours
- Gorges: Tolminka & Zadlascica
- Highlights: Confluence of Tolminka & Zadlascica Rivers, Thermal Spring, Bear’s Head, Dante’s Cave, Devil’s Bridge
- Ticket Price: 6 Euro – 10 Euro (varies by season) -> purchase ahead of time
- Opening Hours: 8:00AM – 7:00PM (varies by season)
Slovenia Hikes: If you enjoy hiking around the area, be sure to check out some of the other top hikes in Slovenia during your trip.
2) Tolmin Gorge Parking & Location
Getting to Tolmin Gorge is pretty simple if you have your own rental car. At the gorge, there are two different parking areas.
One lot is directly near the entrance of the gorge (P1) while a second larger lot is located 1.5 km away near the Tolmin town center (P2).
The P1 parking lot is a paid parking lot, while the P2 parking lot is free. Since the P2 lot is located further away (~20 minute walk), there is a free shuttle bus that goes between the lot and the gorge entrance in July and August.
Another thing to note is that near the entrance of the gorge, there is a restaurant with some parking spots in front of it. If you eat at the restaurant, you are allowed to park here as well.
If you are wondering how to add Tolmin to your overall itinerary, I ended up stopping there along the way between Bovec and Piran. There are certainly other ways to go about adding it in depending on what your route looks like.
→ When renting a car in Slovenia, I would recommend checking out Rentalcars.com for potential options. You will be able to browse through cars based on price, category & other filters, to find the perfect car for your trip.
Below you can find a map of the location of the gorge and the parking area options:
Now, if you do not have your own car while visiting Slovenia, you can head on busses that travel to the town of Tolmin either from Ljubljana or Kranjska Gora (seasonal).
From Tolmin you can make the walk to the gorge or hop on the shuttle bus from the P2 parking lot.
3) Tolmin Gorge Opening Hours
The Tolmin Gorge has different opening hours depending on time of year. It opens between 8:00AM – 9:00AM in the morning and closes between 3:00PM – 7:00PM. During the winter months, the gorge is closed.
Below you can find the detailed opening hours of the Tolmin Gorge for 2023:
4) Tolmin Gorge Tickets
Similar to the opening hours, ticket prices vary by time of year. There are also different prices for adults, children, students, family, and groups. For a regular adult ticket, prepare to pay between 6 Euro – 10 Euro.
You can purchase your ticket ahead of time by visiting the Tolmin Gorge ticket site. I would recommend doing so as tickets are limited by time slot. If you wait until the last minute, you risk not being able to enter if the tickets are sold out.
Below you can find the detailed ticket prices of the Tolmin Gorge for 2023:
5) Tolmin Gorge Map
To better understand the layout of the Tolmin Gorge, below is the map that shows the route to take around the area. The recommended route to take will look something like this:
- Entrance (1) to Thermal Springs (2) as you head through the Tolmin Gorge and pass by the Confluence of Tolminka and Zadlascica rivers (3/4)
- Retrace your steps towards the Confluence of Tolminka and Zadlascica rivers (3/4)
- Head up the stairs along the Zadlascica Gorge and toward Bear’s Head (6/7)
- Retrace your steps partially down, before making two right hand turns to reach Dante’s Cave (8)
- Turn around and continue along the road, wrapping around the top of the gorge to Devil’s Bridge (9)
- Continue to follow the road back to the entrance
6) Helpful Tips
Below are just a few helpful tips and things to know before you visit the Tolmin Gorges.
» Be sure to come prepared with good walking or hiking shoes when visiting the gorge. At some points of the pathway it can get wet and slippery so your footwear will be important. Footwear will also be helpful when it comes to the stairs and elevation gain for the hike.
» Speaking of elevation gain, there will be a good amount of it throughout the 2 kilometer trail. However, much of the elevation can be avoided if you do not head to Bear’s Head, Dante’s Cave, and the Devil’s Bridge.
» During peak season, the gorge can get busy during the day. To avoid the crowds it is best to visit Tolmin in the earlier on in the morning or later on in the day closer to closing time. This can also better guarantee parking at the main lot by the entrance.
» If you would like to spend more time at Tolmin, be sure to bring a towel and bathing suit as it is possible to set up a nice spot by the riverside.
» You can add the Tolmin Gorge to a longer Slovenia itinerary that will go to several different places around the country
7) Tolmin Gorge Trail & Hike
Now, to go into some more detail about the hiking trail, let’s dive into what to expect as you make your way along the Tolmin Gorge area.
After parking your car, getting to the entrance of the gorge and purchasing your tickets, it is time to hit the trail. From there you will walk down a mixture of stairs and dirt trail until you reach the gorge area.
Confluence of Tolminka and Zadlascica Rivers
At first you will pass by the Confluence of Tolminka and Zadlascica rivers. Here is the only spot in Slovenia where two gorges meet, and it is the lowest part of Triglav National Park at 180 meters in elevation.
Read more: if you want to get to the highest point of Triglav National Park, then learn more by taking a look at the Mount Triglav hike
The confluence area is a great area to relax and enjoy the turquoise colors of the water down below. This is a spot, where many people like to head down closer to the river and find a nice place to sit down at. It is also a popular swimming location when the weather is nice, as the river is shallow and calm around here.
Tolmin Gorge
As you pass by the confluence, you then will want to head straight towards the thermal spring area and along the Tolminka River.
Here is where the gorge will be at its prominence. The gorge is about 200 meters long, 60 meters deep, and 5-10 meters wide.
The dirt pathway hugs one of the massive gorge walls, as you get to enjoy the beauty of the water down below surrounded by the greenery up above.
If you take a look up, you will also see the Devil’s Bridge hanging above the gorge that you will get to visit later on.
After a few more minutes of walking further down the valley you will reach the end of the walking path at the thermal spring.
Thermal Spring
Below is a quick background of the thermal spring taken from the signboard on the trail:
“There is a thermal spring in a short horizontal cave under the devils bridge, with an average temperature of between 18.8 and 20.8 C (the temperature of the Tolminka river is 5 to 9 C). The surface water penetrates underground where it is heated by the geothermal energy and then it resurfaces through the crevasses and cracks.”
You can see the small entrance to the cave here with the very narrow and tall gorge walls surrounding you at the end of the pathway.
From the end of the pathway, turn back around as you get to enjoy the gorge once more as you follow the pathway back to the confluence area.
Bears Head & Zadlascica Gorge
Once you reach the intersection near the confluence, you will now head up the stairs towards Bear’s Head (near 6/7 marked on the map).
As you gain some elevation you will come across an intersection. To your right will be Bear’s Head and to your left will be Dante’ Cave.
Head right here as the trail goes up through the greenery filled walls of the Zadlascica gorge. Soon you will reach a viewpoint where you will get to see a view of the gorge with a large rock wedged between the walls of the canyon – Bear’s Head.
There are a few other viewpoint areas of the gorge to enjoy along the trail here as you then turn back around and towards Dante’s Cave.
Dante’s Cave
The trail after Bear’s Head reaches a dead end. So, you will need to retrace your steps back a bit, where you will come back across the intersection from earlier. Now it’s time to head up towards Dante’s Cave.
The trail continues as you reach a road, where you will make a right hand turn and follow the signs to the Zadlaska Cave, also known as Dante’s Cave. It got its second name after the poet Dante Alighieri.
You can actually walk through a short portion of the cave, which is quite a different type of experience to enjoy while on a visit to the Tolmin Gorge.
Devil’s Bridge
After visiting the cave, turn back around and continue to follow the road towards the Devil’s Bridge. This should look familiar as you got to see the bridge from the riverside before.
Now it is time to enjoy the view from 60 meters above the Tolminka River. You will be able to see the turquoise colored river down below and see the scale of the gorge’s walls on either side.
From there you can continue to cross the bridge, head on over to the other side and then continue on the road, which ends right back at the entrance.
After getting back to the entrance, it is back to the parking lot and onto your next destination in Slovenia.
With that all said, you should be in a better spot now to enjoy a trip to Tolmin Gorges. If you have any questions or comments about it all, be sure to add them in below.
Also, don’t forget to check out the other Slovenia itineraries and guides up on the site like a visit to the Vintgar Gorge near Bled. Have fun out there and safe travels.
