Velika Planina - shepherds, seasons, silence

Velika Planina – shepherds, seasons, silence

olaf
Mountains, Roadtrip
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The next day took us to Velika Planina, one of Slovenia’s oldest high-alpine shepherd settlements. Cable car up, then on foot across a wide plateau that has been used for grazing for centuries. The wooden huts aren’t decoration. They’re functional, built low with shingle roofs to survive heavy snow and brutal winters.

Every summer, shepherds still bring their cattle up here, following a rhythm that hasn’t changed much since the Middle Ages. You walk through living history.
Cowbells, smoke from small chimneys, rough paths shaped more by animals than by people. No fences, no drama. Just land, weather, and time doing their thing.

Velika Planina was almost destroyed during World War II and later rebuilt, hut by hut, by locals who refused to let the place disappear.
That’s why it feels real. Nothing polished, nothing staged. The clouds rolled in and out, cutting the views, opening them again.Colder wind, sharp air, slow steps. We really escaped the thick valley heat down below.

This isn’t a place for ticking boxes. It’s a place that forces you to slow down. By the time we went back down, our legs were heavy, and our heads were light.

Velika Planina doesn’t overwhelm you, it grounds you.