If you are lucky enough to drive through the stunning green Vipava wine valley, but mistakingly take the motorway instead of the beautiful local roads, then you will probably feel you have had a lucky escape as you drive straight past the largest town in the valley, Ajdovscina.. (I still had to check 3 times if I spelt it correctly)!

The biggest feeling of relief will probably be that you didn't have to attempt saying the name of the town and secondly, let's face it, compared to the rest of stunningly beautiful Green Slovenia, this town is not exactly an oil painting from the edge!

The Hubelj river flows from the mountain springs along this path into Adjective..

Also take into consideration, you have most probably completely underestimated the amount of time you need to spend in the most beautiful country in Europe.. only realizing when you get here too late that there are so many more amazing, beautiful places to see..

Then there is very little chance that you would think to or have the chance to stop in Ajdosvcina at all, particularly when the stunning little old town of Vipava is just down the road!

yep.. this is the one of the secret spots where you can swim..

But don't worry, we will help you get over these few problems!

Firstly with the unpronounceabubble name problem.. we just call it Adjective and you can see the look of relief on our guests faces when we establish this pronounceabubble name for this place with them! So from now on, with your permission, we will call it Adjective!

We spent our first few years in Green Slovenia pretty much enjoying the rest of the amazing Vipava valley and ignoring Adjective.. maybe popping in to buy some floor tiles or electrical supplies, but certainly not to actually visit there!

But then at the end of a lovely day out in the Vipava valley, an even lovelier guest family happened to ask a local wine producer where was a good place to swim and when they came back from their day's adventures they told us all about it.

The Hubelj spring literally pops out of the mountain side..

We are used to not being surprised at how many amazing Secret Places there are around this beautiful little country, but even we were shocked to find out there was another place so close to the Lodge where you could swim, that we didn't know about!

So we took the very next opportunity to go visit the town we know as Adjective and followed the directions given to us by our guests and wow, we found even more than just a place to swim, we found a stunning river spring, a nature walk, a river with crystal clear water flowing down the mountain, a series of small waterfalls and an ancient Roman town wall with towers everywhere!!

we look forward to a tour starting for af all the Roman stuff here in Adjective.. in fact the Vipava valley has a real Roman history, just waiting to be told..

We were absolutley gobsmacked! Entering Adjective, we drove past the ugly factory and commercial buildings and the modern, but bland new town, as usual, but then we found the Hubelj river just off the new town centre and explored the road leading up out of town up the mountain, only about 4km to the source or spring, where water comes gushing out of the side of the thick rock.

The view of the springs is slightly spoiled by there being some sort of water treatment station there, but even then it is a very special place and very photogenic. So this is where the Hubelj river starts it journey and it help explained a bit why we had seen so may local people walking or cycling up the wiggly, narrow road as we drove here.

there is a lovely secret path from the river spring all the way to the bottom..

There is a really lovely local resturant up here too, next to the springs and we have returned there several times to eat.

You will be sitting outside with the siund of the springs thundering out of the mountain, surrounded by trees and a sheer cliff rising up above you into the blue sky.. This is a nice place to go try some really local Vipava Valley food..

If you want to eat "local" Slovenian food, then this is one of those restaraunts to try, next to the Springs called, wait for it, Gostilna pri Izviru Hublja, keep your teeth in..

There are a few small car parks up here and you can also go for a more epic hike UP the steep looking mountain cliffs, past the springs on safe paths to a massive natural stone window, called the OKNO..

Indeed there are walks going off in every direction up here and it is very green and rocky.. add the water to this and you have a very beautiful secret place.

A bit of rain the day before can turn the Hubelj river into an Amazonian torrent..

We also saw noticed a nature trail going down into the forest at the side of the river and realised this was the top of the trail that our lovely family had tipped us to walk up, but from the bottom. So we explored the trail and found it went all the way alongside the river and there were several "exercise stations" all along for the locals.

Along this main river path there are lots of little side paths leading directly to the river and one particular one lead to that magical place the family had told us about..

Top of the river, near the restaurant and top of the riverside walk..

A Secret Oasis, where a couple of waterfalls spilled icy cold crystal clear water into a small lagoon area and you could swim, (on a hot day).

You can see from the photos here that the secret oasis and the whole river form such a very beautiful place and it is so quiet and peaceful. Slovenians are generally very fit and like to go out in nature, so this whole mountain side river park area is absolutely perfect for the towns people of Adjective.

the locals are so lucky, they also get to do fitness activities on the walk up the river!

So that was an impressive discovery indeed and when we went down below into the old town of Adjective we found a lovely restored central square leading to a crumbling Roman wall protecting a large fortress and several really well preserved Roman towers all over the place!

The river flows directly past this fortress and so it totally makes sense that Adjective was chosen as an important fortress location in the heart of the ancient Roman Vipava valley..

You really get the feeling this place is ready to embrace a few more visitors now that the central square has been properly renovated to show the Roman heritage..

very nice spot for the Tourist Info Office.. behind here they are renovating a huge Roman square.. it's gonna be great!

Getting to the Oasis..

There are two ways to park and approach the oasis, which is in the middle section of the steep river path, from the top or bottom!

Whichever place you park at, find the road that leads up from just off the middle of the town centre, marked HUBELJ RIVER and a massive clue is to see the river running under a bridge next to the main road..

there is a small element of rock climbing involved in getting to the secret swimming place, so maybe don't turn up in flip flops..

Either park at the top of the river by the source and walk down, or better still park at a little car park behind the youth hostel, which is half way up the road from the town and then walk up the trail..

This way you can visit the oasis on the way up and then if you want to walk further up the mountain to reach the springs and the nice restaurant there you have that flexibility, with an easier walk back downhill to the car rather than up!

Top of the "educational trail" forest path..

Adjective really is an unexpected bonus destination for you to put on your bulging list of secret places to visit in the Vipava valley!

We have long been telling people this Vipava Wine Valley is Slovenia's biggest secret place, so you could easily combine a visit to the Hubelj springs and river with some  elec biking, kayaking, wine tasting, hiking or trying the really excellent restaurants in the valley.

Oh yes and just one last thing.. did you know that they also make an ancient beer in the Vipava valley and its main resource is the crystal clear water that flows down the Hubelj river.. the beer is called Pelicon and you can also do a tour of the brewery (next to the Youth hostel where you might have parked) if you can fit it in!