Winter Sports & Ski Slovenia

If you are planning to ski Slovenia in style you have come to the right place - our Retreats are within 5 minutes drive of Kranjska Gora - Slovenia's most famous resort…

If you are coming to ski Slovenia you will be happy to hear that our Retreats are only five minutes drive to Kranjska Gora, Slovenia's most famous ski area, in a beautiful setting in the heart of the Julian Alps..

Kranjska Gora is mainly a beginner-intermediate oriented resort with excellent family friendlly facilities, very easily accessible pistes, excellent multilingual ski school and lots of easy nursery, blue and easier red slopes.

For more advanced skiers there are a number of nice red slopes and forest runs on the Kranjska Gora side as well as the steeper red and black runs comprising the World Cup runs on the Podkoren side of the resort. More advanced skiers will also enjoy the range of skiing in other resorts in the area - Skiing 7 resorts in 3 countries in a week, for example, is easily possible from Villa Planina & Nebina! More info and maps on the various resorts in the region can be found below. Many first time skiers to Slovenia and the Julian Alps who have only skied in alpine destinations in the Western Alps previously enjoy discovering a completely new region of the Alps with a distinctive alpine culture.

In March 2011 we hosted Simon Yeend, a journalist from the Uk's Sunday Express newspaper at Villa Planina and showed him around some of the area's ski resorts and restaurants. He had a great time and wrote about his experience with us here:

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KRANJSKA GORA'S STRONG POINTS: Excellent beginner-intermediate slopes Family friendly facilities including child care and ski kindergarten Quality Multilingual ski school Authentic alpine feel and culture Excellent value passes, hire, eating and drinking Short airport transfer times Wonderful mountain setting / views Easily accessible slopes from the town Charming town centre Great pools, saunas, restaurants, bars and apres ski facilities Annual world cup slalom and ski jumping events Great base for exploring other ski areas in the region - ski 3 countries in a weekend! Night skiing Snowboard park Artificial snowmaking

VILLA PLANINA:   VILLA NEBINA::

For those who are used to skiing in bigger, better known resorts, prices of lift passes, equipment hire, eating and drinking, not to mention accommodation at Villa Planina and Nebina will come as a very pleasant surprise. A week of skiing at Kranjska Gora will be considerably cheaper - and especially for beginner - intermediate level skiers we think better value than most resorts in the Western Alps.

Click here for Kranjska Gora piste map

Kranjska Gora Weather Forecast (click to open / close) More Detailed Snow Conditions & Webcams for Kranjska Gora at snow-forecast.com

Whilst it is relatively low, Kranjska Gora has full artificial snow making facilities making a reliable ski season from late December to mid-late March.

Transfer times to local airports are short - less than an hour from Ljubljana airport in Slovenia or Klagenfurt in Austria - and there are a range of other airports including Trieste & Venice in Italy, Graz & Salzburg in Austria and Zagreb & Rijeka in Croatia that are 2-3 hours drive.

Illuminated night skiing on several pistes is another attractive feature of the resort - especialy for those looking to squeeze the most skiing out of a short break.

The town itself is an attractive alpine place with plenty of restaurants, bars, shops, pools, spas, ice rink and various other apres ski activities to keep you occupied when you are not on the pistes.

In addition, the Kranjska Gora area offers an abundance of other Winter Sports, notably outstanding cross country skiing, the best of which which can be accessed by foot from our Retreats in Ratece.

Every year in late February / early March the Podkoren side of the Kranjska Gora ski area plays host to a World Cup slalom and giant slalom event called the Pokal Vitranc, which is a great spectacle. In 2011 the dates for Pokal Vitranc are 5/6th March. Please note that on these dates the Podkoren side of the resort is closed to the public although tickets to watch the skiing can be purchased.

Following hot on the heels of the Pokal Vitranc is the Planica ski jumping world cup in mid-late March . Planica is a ski jumping centre just a couple of kilometres from our Retreats (the village where our Retreats is located is the closest to Planica). Arguably the worlds most famous ski jumping event it is a fantastic event and great fun to come and watch as a spectator. Please click here for more info. Dates: Planica ski jumping, Slovenia 2010: FIS world championships – 17-20 March 2011

Click below or scroll down for information on the following resorts within circa an hour's drive of Kranjska Gora and our Retreats:

SLOVENIA: Kranjska Gora / Vogel / Kobla / Soriska Planina / Krvavec / Bovec Kanin & Sella Nevea

ITALY: Tarvisio-Monte Lussari

AUSTRIA: Arnoldstein Dreilanendereck / Gerlitzen / Nassfeld / Bad Kleinkircheim

Kranjska Gora is Slovenia’s most famous mountain partly due to the fact that it hosts annual World Cup skiing (Pokal Vitranc) and ski jumping events (Planica ski jumping). The skiing is mostly orientated towards beginners and families with extremely accessible and high quality nursery slopes and easy blue runs within a couple of minutes walk from the centre of the resort. A chairlift over the mountain takes you to the long, steep Podkoren pistes where the World Cup races are held and which will appeal to intermediate and advanced skiers. The resort is relatively low so it is worth checking snow reports but artificial snowmaking means snow is almost guaranteed between late December and late March. The resort itself is a pretty alpine village in a lovely mountain setting, centred around a square with an old church with a wide range of restaurants, shops, bars, spas, pools and other amenities in easy reach not to mention the stunning Lake Jasna 10 minutes walk from the town centre. In the charming village of Ratece (home of Villa Planina & Nebina) just a few minutes drive from Kranjska Gora there is a picturesque cross-country skiing centre as well as the famous world-cup Planica ski jumping centre and an additional long intermediate downhill piste. Kranjska Gora - a great base to ski Slovenia and the surrounding regions of Austria and Italy!

Vogel is without doubt one of Slovenia's best all round resorts, in a beautiful position overlooking Lake Bohinj offering a superb beginner / family ski experience but also offering some harder and longer pistes to suit more experienced skiers as well as outstanding off piste potential. With slopes up to 1800m it is one of Slovenia's higher resorts and its position as one of the first mountains in the range ensures consistently good snow with skiing usually until late April even without artificial snow making. New lift infrastructure in recent years has greatly improved queuing times and the overall resort experience.  The resort is accessed via gondola from the shores of Lake Bohinj. The gondola can be busy so it is worth arriving early at peak times. The resort is served by a ski Slovenia bus running through from Bled to Bohinj and offers a number of good places to eat and drink on the mountain top or dotted around beautiful Lake Bohinj.  Ski Slovenia from Vogel for unforgettable views, reliable snow and great off piste!

Click here for Vogel piste map

Located in the town of Bohinjska Bistrica just 5 minutes from Lake Bohinj, Kobla may be the lesser known of the Bohinj ski areas, but it offers a lot for skiers of all abilities. The resort has a range of beginner slopes and steeper, more advanced slopes higher up the mountain and an impressive amount of vertical descent from top to bottom for a small resort - so certainly offers enough to keep you entertained for a day or two. However even though largely covered by artificial snow making the resort is relatively low so snow quality can be a problem at times – so worth checking before visiting. There are rumours that Kobla is going to see significant development in coming years, but in the meantime we would recommend it mainly as a resort for a couple of days skiing out of a week at bigger resorts such as Vogel, Kranjska Gora or Krvavec. The town of Bohinjska Bistrica offers an excellent modern water park plus a variety of restaurants, shops, bars and other useful amenities. 

Click here for Kobla piste map

Located in the mountains above Bohinjska Bistrica, circa 20 minutes from Lake Bohinj, Soriska Planina is a small but fun resort in a pretty forest setting mostly orientated towards beginner - intermediate level skiers. Some new lift infrastructure in recent years has greatly improved the resort experience and like Kobla, offers a great option for a day or two of skiing out of a week based at one of the bigger ski Slovenia resorts such as Vogel, Kranjska Gora or Krvavec.

Click here for Soriska Planina piste map

Krvavec is without doubt one of Slovenia’s best resorts and its proximity to Ljubljana airport makes it the closest ski resort to an international airport in the world. Situated circa an hour from Villa Planina & Nebina, Krvavec is reached by gondola where a range of slopes to suit all abilities awaits. With a top altitude of just under 2000m and artificial snow making facilities, the snow record at Krvavec is very good with the season usually running from mid-December to late April. Recent years have seen continual improvement to lift and resort infrastructure meaning queuing times are much reduced and the general experience of skiing at Krvavec is extremely enjoyable with a sunny outlook and beautiful views of the Julian Alps and across the hills South to Ljubljana and beyond. In good snow years the off piste potential at Krvavec is good with lots of off-piste forest trails to explore.

Click here for Krvavec piste map

The highest ski resort in Slovenia at 2200m, the resort of Bovec Kanin is in a simply stunning mountain location above the beautiful Soca Valley with views over the Julian Alps and Triglav National Park in one direction and down to the Adriatic sea in the other. The skiing is mostly intermediate-advanced level and offers some superb off piste and ski touring opportunities with the valley of Krnica being one of the best off piste valleys in Slovenia – although guides are a must off piste due to the nature of the terrain. In 2009-2010 the resort is to be connected to the Italian resort of Sella Nevea on the other side of the mountain, adding a wide range of additional pistes, mostly intermediate-advanced level and making it one the best all round best ski destinations in the Julian Alps. The snow record at Kanin is superb due to its altitude and geographic position, although at times high winds running down the valley can mean that the gondola is unreliable. Bovec is a charming resort town with a good selection of places to eat and drink and plenty of outdoor companies who can offer anything from kayaking to ski-touring.

Click here for Bovec Kanin piste map

Click here for Sella Nevea piste map

Just a short drive (cca 15 minutes) into Italy from Villa Planina & Nebina lies the town of Tarvisio and the resort of Tarvisio – Monte Lussari, home of annual world cup super giant slalom event. On the Monte Lussari side of the resort a long double gondola takes you to a charming mountaintop village and pilgrimage site with stunning views of the Julian Alps. From here there is a nice red-black piste and a superb steep, wide 4km run down to the bottom of the gondola. A connection at the bottom of this piste takes you to the Tarvisio side of the resort which has a wider range of pistes, mostly intermediate—advanced level orientated. As you’d expect in Italy there is a good range of places to eat on the mountain and in the town of Tarvisio itself. There is a wide range of cross country skiing pistes available in the Tarvisio area.

Click here for Tarvisio-Monte Lussari piste map

Just 25 minutes from Kranjska Gora and Villas Planina & Nebina lies the small and pretty Austrian resort of Dreilandereck above the town of Arnoldstein.  The resort is situated on the border with Slovenia and offers a good range of beginner – advanced level skiing with an excellent 3km long piste running from the top of the mountain to the bottom of the lifts, some good steep run-black runs and a selection of gentler beginners runs both at the bottom of the mountain and at the top, where there are a couple of good restaurants and magnificent panoramas of the Julian Alps. Due to the unusual feature of having a selection of gentle blue runs at the top of the mountain it is a great resort to come to with a mixed group of beginners and more advanced skiers. Although the resort has a maximum altitude of 1600m2, artificial snow making equipment means snow is reliably good from late December until early April.

Click here for Arnoldstein-Dreilaendereck piste map

Click here for Arnoldstein-Dreilaendereck weather and snow

30 minutes drive from Kranjska Gora and Villas Planina & Nebina is the popular resort of Gerlitzen. Significant investment in lift infrastructure in recent years has turned Gerlitzen into an excellent all round resort and one the bigger options in the region. With an altitude of 1900m and artificial snow making, snow levels are reliable from late December to early April. The resort is accessed by gondola which takes you to an excellent beginners area. A chairlift takes you from there to the top of the resort from where around 10 mostly intermediate-advanced level pistes radiate. Although most runs are reds, intermediate and advanced skiers alike will enjoy the outstanding 3km long steep red piste from the summit down to Klosterle and there are some more challenging pieces of off piste dotted around the resort. With no resort town as such at the bottom of the mountain, eating and drinking is limited to the on-mountain options which are plentiful and good.

Click here for Gerlitzen piste map

Nassfeld (sometimes also called Nassfeld-Hermagor or Passo Pramollo) is the region’s premier ski area on the border between Italy and Austria with well over 100km of pistes stretching across three valleys and boasting a fantastic 8km piste from one of the summits to the valley floor. Extensive snowmaking, high altitude (2000m), ultra modern lift infrastructure and immaculately groomed pistes make Nassfeld an outstanding ski experience for all standards and is easily reached as a day trip from Villas Planina and Nebina. As you would expect from a resort of this size there is a wide range of on-mountain choices for eating and drinking and new in 2009 on-mountain ski servicing for 5 EUR in 10 minutes! There is not a resort town as such, but with so much outstanding skiing to explore you won't mind!

Click here for Nassfeld piste map

Bad Kleinkircheim is a favourite resort in the region and one of the biggest with 90km of pistes to suit all abilities. Extensive snowmaking and pistes up to an altitude of 2055m mean that the snow is reliable and modern lift infrastructure ensures limited queuing times. The village at the bottom of the mountain is charming and offers a number of thermal spas and pools. Bad Kleinkircheim was the home resort of the legendary Franz Klammer and we don’t suppose he’d put his name to it if it wasn’t a great resort! Bad Kleinkircheim is an easy day trip from Villa Planina and Nebina.

Click here for Bad Kleinkircheim piste map