JULIANA TRAIL - stage 12: Tolmin – Kobarid

The stage starts in the center of Tolmin and runs through the town towards the sports park and past the paragliders' landing site, who take off from Kobala above Tolmin. This is one of the most popular paragliding take-off sites, and on nice days you can see over a hundred paragliders flying above the Alpine peaks. We continue on the left bank of the Soča River through the sunny villages of Gabrje and Volarje. The path runs partly on asphalt road, partly on forest trails. At Selišča, we cross the Volarja, a creek from below Krn, which hides some of the most beautiful and highest Slovenian waterfalls at its source. Between Kamno and the small church of St. Lawrence, we wander through fairytale forests and trails laid among ancient, moss-covered walls. The church itself is the last home of Simon Gregorčič, one of the greatest Slovenian poets and a poet of the Soča River. From this viewpoint, the Soča Valley is visible from Kobarid to Tolmin, and the hills with Kobariški Stol and Krn characterize the panorama. Through Ladra, the last village on our route, we arrive in Kobarid, which went down in history during World War I. The Battle of Kobarid (which actually began in Tolmin) in the twelfth and final offensive on the Soča Front brought a breakthrough of the Austro-German army, and the Italian name for Kobarid, Caporetto, still officially stands as a synonym for disaster in Italian terminology. The harsh story of the Great War is told in an excellent Kobarid museum. This pleasant small town is also known today for good cuisine and the exceptional chef Ana Roš.