If you were thinking not to bother visiting Idrija cos there is just a big Mercury Mine there, then may we humbly suggest to think again.. 

Especially when it will now be our pleasure to explain HOW MUCH other Green stuff there is to see in & around this fantastic secret place, less than an hour from the Lodge!

Not the biggest lake in Green Slovenia, but one of the most beautiful settings for Wild Lake..

We often send our guests off packed with tips for a day out in & around Idrija.. There is a really lovely countryside drive from the Lodge which takes under an hour with no traffic..

There are so many other great things to do there, that it is also possible you might not go see the mercury mine at all!

This is the room miners came into to start register new shifts and where you will get a really good short film..

Idrija town & the Mercury Mine..

The whole town is like a big Unesco protected museum and when you arrive it feels a bit like being inside a large bowl, a bit like an island, surrounded by high, green, rocky hills all around. 

For centuries, Idrija paid its way by mining in the second biggest mercury mine in the world.

And while the men were down the mine, the women developed a fantastic lace industry with their ornate products still sold all over Slovenia.

Srecno means good luck and geets all entrants to the mine..

the Mine Tour.. Even better on a hot summer's day..

The mine is now long closed of course, but we thoroughly recommend a tour down this huge constructed hole, particularly on a hot summer's day!

This is NOT a cave, so do not make the mistake to think that cos you have been down one or two or three of Slovenia's amazing & unique caves then the experience will be the same, cos it will be you who will miss out! 

The experience is completely different.. you get dressed up as a miner and your guide brings the history of the mine to life so you see that this is not a story about dripstones and underground rivers, this is a human story and the very history of this pretty town itself.

Tours go every few hours and you get taken into the entrance hall first for a really handy film about the mine and town.

Going down into the second largest mercury mine the world has ever known..

We were so lucky to be taken down the mine by an ex miner on our first visit and you could feel his connection with the mine, town and the culture of this place, but as time goes on getting a real ex miner is less likely as the mine closed in the 1990's..

The trade off is you will almost certainly get a good English speaking guide nowadays and make sure to ask them if they have any family connections to the mine..

All periods of the mine's development are on show..

The tour is about an hour to 90 mins and there is not much climbing up and down stairs or ladders, there is some, but this is more of a walking tour and always a relief to get back above ground!

You can usually choose to have ZILIKROF with a gulasch, mushroom or cheese sauce..

There is a pretty good restaurant directly above the mine where you can get some lovely local food and in this Idrija mini region you should absolutely try the unique pasta filled with potato speciality dish that begins with Z, (Zilikrof), but is so difficult to say, so remember the Z and the locals will know what you mean!

After the main tour there is a whole other list of big and small attractions associated with the mine in what is described as a "Geopark"..

Miner's House..

So later you could go and visit a miner's house in the town that is now a mini museum and see how the miner's families lived in the cramped space and kids slept in drawers!

The mine dominates everything about this Unesco protected town..

This house is absolutely fascinating and remember the town of Idrija could only spread out inside this big Green bowl to accomodate a huge army of workers, so to maximise the cramped space, the houses were built narrow and tall..

Indeed these rows of triple and quadruple storey tall houses might remind you a bit of Amsterdam and there is nowhere else like it in Slovenia!

This cute building is Idrija cinema..

The Biggest Wooden Water Wheel in Europe..

Close to the sports centre is a large square building that houses the biggest wooden water wheel in Europe.. you need to ask the local TIC, (Tourist info centre) to visit.

In the Town..

The old town itself is really quite small, but look around and you can find touches of grand architecture, statues and colour splashed around to see where some of the wealth created from the mine was spent.

The best example of this is the large castle sitting above it all and this is pretty much the only castle in Slovenia that wasn't built to keep undesirable visitors out, but as a glorious office for the mine!

Idrija castle is also a museum stuffed with lots of rocks, the history of the town & mine and a whole floor devoted to the cottage Lace industry..

Nowadays it houses an absolutely huge collection of rocks, befitting a town with a mining history and this is also the place to go to find out lots more details about the mine itself and the development of the town.

Another extremely powerful cultural tradition in Idrija is the cottage lace industry created by the miner's wives to help supplement their meager family incomes.

You can see all types of examples of what the ladies made and Idrijan lace is still treasured and sold all over Green Slovenia..

Somebody was making good money out of the mine..

There are stark reminders of how nature and industry formed Idrija all over the town, but perhaps the most powerful connection between the mine and the town and nature is the Bela Idrija river..

We can tell you that nowadays there is NO BETTER RIVER IN THE WHOLE OF SLOVENIA TO SWIM IN than this one and that is saying something..

The stunning, crystal clear Bela Idrija river:

When visiting the mine or castle museum you get a clear understanding of how vital the river was here in Idrija for delivering the timbers from the forests high above to make the frames for the pit shafts and thus expand the mine.

Brits might get an IK Brunel-like feeling for the huge Victorian style dam built at the top of the river, high up in the forest, which could switch the water flow on and off and the waterflow was used to transport trees to the mine.. clever..

This is where the stone and forest track arrives at the Bela Idrija river from the town..

There is a riverside path too, that leads you ALL the way from Idrija to the Bela Idrija and upriver and this could be a fab option if you wanted to do a hike where you don't have to think about where you are going, cos you follow the river all the way!

We guess not too many visitors will know about or choose to venture further up the riverside stone road up into the forests to actually see this masterpiece of construction, but we recommend you do. 

To drive to the river, just go back out of the town and turn at the sign for "Bela Idrija", (the white Idrija river) then follow the narrow tarmac road up and keep going.. but there is a lot to distract you alongside one of Green Slovenia's most beautiful rivers on the way!

Make sure you do not miss both sides of this little lake, not far after the turn to the Bela Idrija river..

Wild Lake & Slovenia's Shortest River..

You should stop within less than a km at the very first bridge to see Slovenia's "shortest river", which flows just 50 metres into the Idrija river..

We suggest you park in the little parking area after the bridge and do the short walk up this little side river, under the bridge.. at the end is a perfect circle lake, surrounded by steep rock cliff walls and it all feels a bit like an enormous theatre..

The lake is called "Wild Lake" and is a spring for the river, which might be just 50 metres long, but there is a 500 metre deep cavern running directly down under the lake, which sadly accounted for one of Slovenia's leading divers, so you cannot swim there..

In summer local kids jump off this bridge into the crystal clear, cold water.. Maybe you will too..

Do not worry, there are plenty of other places to swim, indeed just a few extra footsteps up the road from the parking will bring you to a beautiful wonky bridge across the Bela Idrija river with a little oasis and white beach..

If you jump back in the car and rejoin the road you will go through a very little village and spot some more little parking spaces next to the river where you could set up camp, find a white beach and go swim!

Combine a visit to Idrija with a swim here in the Bela Idrija river..

The main swimming area is not so far up the river, next to a big gravel car park and camp area which is very good for family swimming..

This is one of the absolute best places in Slovenia to swim in a river.. it's so quiet, green and beautiful here and on a hot summers day the cold water is a real tonic.

Remember that dam? Well, this swimming oasis just continue up the stony forest track alongside the river for about 10 mins and you will find the antique dam spread across the river.. amazing. Maybe you could leave the car at the car park and just hike up & back?

This is one of the reasons we call it all Green Slovenia, Baby..

Other Fab Stuff to do In & Around Idrija..

There are too many things to see in Idrija for just one day, so you will need to make choices, depending on what you want to do..

We already mentioned the hike you can do from the town to the river and back and if you consider Idrija is totally surrounded by forest covered mountains, there are no shortage of short or longer hikes you could also have a go at..

There is a hill, looking like a giant golf ball, towering above the town and a vertigo inspiring church with a little pilgrim's path that leads up to it with stone shrines depicting Jesus's last journey to the cross. How about hiking up there for the view?

short walk up into the main high street with the castle in the background..

The Secret Partisan's WW2 Printing Press..

High above Idrija, deep in the forest is a very special hidden wartime printing press. During WW2 Slovenia was one of the only countries where a free newspaper was printed out of reach and under the noses of the Nazis and it is a fantastic visit, best organised from the Castle Museum with a guide to open up the hidden wooden buildings and show you around!

A secret Partisan WW2 Printing Press is hidden high above Idrija in stunning Green forest..

The Secret Partisan's WW2 Hospital..

A VERY popular combo with Idrija is to visit nearby Cerkno to find the secret hidden wartime hospital, (it's amazing and completely unmissable, but check it has been reopened before you go cos a huge flood washed a lot of the wooden buildings away in 2023)..

The spectacular Franja secret Hospital is hidden half way up a mountain..

Looptastic..

It is perfectly possible to do a fantastic loop from the Lodge to see the Soca River at Tolmin and drive back along the Idrija river to Idrija.

Another stunning green loop back to the Lodge, this time from Idrija, is to do a detour at the village of Godovic (on the road home from Idrija to Planina) and go up & over a very beautiful (not so long twisty or high, but stunning) moutain pass that incredibubbly drops you into the Vipava Wine Valley for a fab choice of some of the best restaurants in Green Slovenia and then you are just 20 mins from the Lodge.. Epic!

Much cooler than a plastic wheely bin..

So, now you know all about Idrija and why we love it so much, it is up to you to try to fit it into your Green Slovenian adventures..