Reka Soča

Reka Soča

This page is far to be complete, it is a short presentation with a small gallery of photos of the Reka Soča, the "Sotsha river" (pronounce it like this) in Slovenia.
You are welcome to attach your Soča pictures to this page if you have some.

Soča is the most beautiful river I have seen in my life. This is not exactly a "Canyon" if we consider only the shape (the Soča valley is deep and steep through), but Reka Soča is one of the main capital of water sports in Europe, such as kayaking, canoeing, rafting, hydrospeed, canyoning, etc...
For all the historical background, since the Soča Path was one of the first path marked in the Triglav National Park, I thought it was another good reason.

The Soča ("Isonzo" in Italian, "Lusinç" in Friulian) is a 140 km long river whose source lies in the Trenta valley in the Slovenian Julian Alps, which later goes in Italy from the city of Gorizia, and finish in the Adriatic Sea close to the Italian town of Monfalcone.
Its most famous part lies from the beginning, where it flows near the famous Triglav, to Tolmin.
Surnamed "the Emerald Beauty" because of its emerald blue waters, this rivers has the faculty to retain its colorized tone due to altitude oxygen throughout its length.
It inspired many Slovenian poets like Simon Gregorčič, who wrote the masterpiece Soči (To the Soča).

The Soča hosts some endemic trouts species like the Salmo trutta marmoratus ("marble trout"), which lives in the upper part. They are threatened by the introduction of other non-indigenous species some decades ago. Soča also witnessed some key episodes of the 2nd war, like the famous Battle of Isonzo.
Some scenes of the recent Dysney film "Chronicles of Narnia 2 : Prince Caspian" where also filmed in the Soča valley.

How to get there

By car
* From the North (Austria) :
Reach Kranjska Gora, and take the pass to the Vršič Pass, 1611m, highest road pass in Slovenia. South from this pass begins the Soča.

* From The South (Istria, Croatia, southern Italy):
The Soča can be reached easily via Gorizia (nova Gorica in Slovenia).

* From the West (North-East of Italy):
Even more directly taking the road via Cividale Del Friuli after Udine, taking us directly to Kobarid. There is also a high pass of Predl that links the Italian Julian Alps.

* From the East (via Lubljana):
The most direct is by the road via Logatec-Idrjia-Tolmin, but it all depends what part of the Soca you plan to go. The Vršič Pass might be more convenient for the upper part of the river.

By public transports
Nova Gorica, Kanal ob Soči, Most na Soči are served by train. Upper, Bovec, Kobarid, Tolmin, can be reached by bus.
I haven't used public transports myself to get there, so any further advice is welcome.

Soča Pot

No, this is not the pot in which we cook the water to make it blue, "Pot" means path in slovenian, and Soča Pot is the trail that goes along the river. This is triglav's park oldest trail, with a great historic background. It goes basicly along the river with fine views on many spots, most of the time going on the opposite shore than the one where the road is located. With, occasionally, some fine (and vertiginous) pedestrian suspended bridges.

More information about this path on this link (www.slovenia.info).

There are also many other ways to "visit more closely" the Soča, rafting/hysdrospeed/kayak agencies abound in every locality in the upper part of the river (mostly around Bovec, the main resort)

Campsites

These are 2 campsites in Bovec I have seen, but there are many others in
Nova Gorica, Kanal ob Soči, Most na Soči, Kobarid, Tolmin, and even more on the upper part of the river.


* Kajak kamp Toni, Bovec
http://eng.kajakkamptoni.com

* Camp Vodenca, Bovec
http://www.camp-vodenca.com

Maps

On the Czech website http://mapy.mk.cvut.cz is a huge amount of hiking maps of all countries, including the Julian Alps.
Below is one part of the Soča river :

External Links

My page about Reka Soča:

http://h.visentin.free.fr/alpes/soca.html

Images

View Reka Soča Image Gallery - 88 Images