This is one of those very special, very different Slovenian hikes with a tricky local name, Ušesa Istre in Slovenian & Spomoli Veli Badin in Croatian and an even trickier location to find..

Imagine a 2 hour round trip Mediterranean hike in Green paradise to a unique, enormous secret cliff that we have certainly never seen the like of before and luckily for us all, their really handy local nickname translates to "the ISTRIAN EARS", cos they resemble the shape of giant Elepahnt ears!

You probbubly didn't hear anything before about these BIG EARS, let alone finding them, but listen up, that doesn't mean for one second that this could not be one of the epic, unexpected highlights of your Green Slovenian adventures..

When you get to the end of the Ears you can see up to where you were walking to get here..

So now we will help you go on a mystery Slovenian Safari to find the Big Ears and tell you where to park & how to hike to them.. 

Where are the Istrian Ears?

The Istrijan Ears are a stretch of magnificent and unique cliff line at the very end of Slovenia, actually hanging high over the "No Man's Land" between the Slovenian border crossing and the Croatian border crossing.

This is a really quiet, handy, very beautiful border crossing, avoiding the main googled routes and leads towards the picture perfect Croatian Istrian hill top village of Buzet.

View from the Ears of the road in No Man's Land between Slovenia and Croatia..

We have hiked the magnificent Buzet Gorge and visited the beautiful Buzet Hill Top Village several times too, so we are no strangers to this lovely road, which whisks you from the motorway into the heart of the Slovenian Coastal Hinterland and beyond to Croatia.. but it is close to impossibubble to even see some giant ears when driving past, from far below, as you are being enthusiastically told by a friend all about them! 

By far the best and most rewarding way to see them is to do this epic cliff top hike to the EARS directly and see them up close.

You can then decide for yourself if they look like elephant ears, but there is no doubt that they are located on the Slovenian Istrian side of a beautiful "ye olde" region of Europe called Istria, which is shared by Slovenia & Croatia and you will get magnificent views over Croatian Istria into the bargain!

on the trail in the middle of a Green Paradise..

How to find the Big Ears..

How difficult could it be to find a bunch of giant Ears on a marked border?!

But there is pretty much only one way for us visitors to go see them and that is to find the SV KVIRIKA church, park up and go walk to them on a marked path.

So the key to this whole adventure is to make sure you do not miss the narrow turning up to Sv Kvirika in the village of Sočerga off the Kubed (in Slovenia) to Buzet (in Croatia) main road..

This is Kubed Fortress church along the road to the border with a unique 5 walled tower..

It won't help anyone if we anglicise the name Sv Kvirika to St Quirico, cos he is not a famous saint, but it is worth knowing Sveti or Sv means "Saint", so just keep an eye out for the only name that will appear on the signs & maps.. Sv Kvirika.

It is an easy, beautiful 50 min drive from the Lodge down the coastal motorway, exiting at HRASTOVLJE / CRNI KAL, but following signs for BUZET and then probably best to have Sočerga in your navigation and once you hit the village, look really hard for that little left turn that leads steeply uphill on a narrow track to the church, with a little grass car park outside.

This is the top of the very steep narrow road you drive up to park here by the church..

It suddenly all comes up fast, so do not worry if you miss the turn and even leave the village, just go past the empty Slovenian border control and turn around on the wide road in "No Man's Land", cos it is a very easy mistake to make AND you are technically still in Slovenia, so just do a U Turn and come back to find that narrow little church turning when you return to Sočerga village!

Park up and then just follow the grass path that leads off from the church for about an hour hike to the EARS, with one hour back!

This church has the feel of a Roman church, but anyway this is where the hike begins from..

There are actually 2 Stone Tracks to the EARS..

The hike starts high up on the cliffs, with incredible vistas and a very safe path, but after about half way, the path splits STRAIGHT ON or LEFT..

If you choose to go STRAIGHT ON you simply continue along the cliff path and then steeply down to a final corner, where you double back to approach the EARS from what seems far below.

If you go LEFT at this little junction there is a steep forest path down with a right turn for another 10 mins to that same little corner where you continue on to see the EARS.

THIS IS A KEY, KEY JUNCTION.. Straight ahead to go down the cliff to the EARS and also where the Forest route back rejoins this cliff path (Left)..

So it is the SAME path along the cliffs from the church for the first half or so, then you must decide to go FOREST or CLIFF..

We didn't know there were these 2 options when we did the hike and all the signs are just in Slovene, so it can be a bit confusing & unnerving even if you are going the right way and this is very common when doing new hikes in Green Slovenia!

But we can mess up, still have a great hike and come back to try again, whereas this might be your one chance on your Green Slovenian Hollibubbles to see the Ears, so you need a bit of extra help to get it right!

Do you see the circle on the rock marking the way.. This short rock hopping section was really fun..

On our hike, we chose to stay with the cliff path out of common sense & instinct and only realised later that the forest path also goes to the Ears..

We explored a bit extra on our way back and that is how we found the other end of the forest path, deciding to gamble and see if it went back up to the cliff.. but it was a good bet, as the red sign did say Sv. Kvirika!

Having done both ways, we would strongly recommend taking the cliff path all the way TO the EARS to face the incredible views out over Croatian Istria, then returning using the forest path, to experience the loop.

The anticipation is growing here cos you can almost see the Istrian Ears, just one more corner..

Hiking to the ISTRIAN EARS..

OK, let's go through the whole hike.. The road up to the church is one of those where you cross your fingers that nobody is coming down the other way on this steep narrow track, but the chances are you will be alone..

The church is sensationally beautiful and looks to us like how we imagine a Roman church would look in a Gladiator movie. There is a stone cute wall around the churchyard and those tall narrow Italian style trees reacing into the sky around this perfect little church, the like of which we have not seen anywhere else in Green Slovenia..

And there are a lot of pretty churches in Green Slovenia.. Just look up and you will see one!

This has got to be one of the most beautiful little churchyards in the whole of Green Slovenia and that is saying something..

There is only really one direction you could head off from the church, but just to be sure, facing the church, go left, direction Croatia and out into a field that soon becomes a path and even sooner you will pass a big radio antennae with a metal hut.

It really does not feel like you are looking into another country, with massive green forests filling the entire panorama and in the distance you can pick out the pretty village of Buzet perched on top of a hill and the even bigger sihouette of Učka mountain too.

You hardly need the circles when the path is so clear, but extra reassurance is always ok..

Even though you are walking on the top of a cliff, there are no steep drops to be nervous about, despite being so high up and the path is sturdy and safe.

Apart from the vista, you will more likely be concerned about checking out all the different butterflies floating around up here and the beautiful flowers..

We chose a warm May spring lunchtime to start our first adventure here and the spring flowers were starting to show the signs of a hot spring, but there was just so much green on view, which might surprise you, considering this is as hot as it gets in Slovenia in the far south Mediterranean region.

Beautiful spring flowers poking out of the rocks..

We proudly call the whole package Green Slovenia and even our Irish guests are shocked how Green it all is.. Such a special little country, sitting bang in the middle of Europe, but pretty much every direction you go, every 20 mins, everything seems to change a bit and you are constantly getting the strange, warm feeling you are in a different European country!

Even in May this cliff hike could be a hot affair, so bring plenty of water and good shoes and think carefully about doing this walk in the middle of summer, maybe starting earlier or later in the day or even choosing a rainy or cloudy day..

But whatever you decide, don't walk next to a radio mast on top of a cliff in a thunderstorm!

The transmitter is a handy marker and not so far from the church..

So we mentioned if you stay on the marked cliff path and hug the cliff, you will get to the EARS, but it isn't quite as simple as that!

Not far after the radio mast, there is a little sign for "Bunker", (mercifully generic in all languages), where you would need to climb down the cliff a bit to find out whatever the "bunker" is and we decided to do this on the way back..

But by the time we later returned to this spot, high up near the radio antennae the thunder clouds had been rumbling their warnings enough for us to decide to hurry on back to the car.

One of two mysteries to solve on our next visit is what this bunker is.. It might be a secret stone arch or that might be somewhere else here.. next time..

We will find out on our next visit if this "bunker" is actually the big natural rock arch on the side of the cliff that we think, from pictures, it might be, but you will probably only get one chance to do this hike, so keep an extra 20 mins for the "bunker" or end up missing it like we did!

The cliff path stays high and flat at first, so you will enjoy fantastic Green panoramas, but pretty soon after the bunker you will start to descend into much thicker vegetation and some really cool rock paths, where you need to hop across the sharp rocks.

You could be bumping & barging into wise guys in Time Square or Trafalgar Square OR brushing past these leaves on the way to the EARS, your choice..

This rock bit is fantastic, but the cliff path now moves away from the cliff a little and becomes a narrow track scraping through bushes, not all the way, but enough to want to avoid if you would not like this kinda terrain.

You will soon get the opportunity to choose to go LEFT at the little rock crossroads and avoid the narrow, steep cliff path from here with lots of vegetation hugging the path like a jungle.. The signs here at the junction are confusing, both directions say Spodomil, (Rock shelter), but of course now we all know both directions go to the EARS!

Couldn't believe how many butterflies just posed for a photo along here..

Even if you do go LEFT here then there is still a very steep inland forest path with no grand views, but beautiful forest until you reach a track at the bottom and go right for less than 10 mins to reach the same rock corner you would get to if you persevered with the cliff path.

So we strongly tip choosing the cliff path, despite the thick vegetation and odd rustling coming from the bushes to test your nerves, as viewpoints do still pop up and it feels far more like an adventure.

Have you ever seen anything like this rock formation before..

Whichever way you go, when you reach the bottom of the cliff path there will be a horizontal path crossing and you go right.

Now you double back underneath the cliffs to reach the EARS, which tantilise and tease until you are standing right underneath the wierdest looking cliffs you might have ever seen!

Maybe you will "see" the elephant EAR shapes, maybe not.. For us these cliffs looked like a massive sea wall, curved from the top underneath to deflect the incoming waves and maybe this is actually how they formed, who knows?

Wow..

What we do know is we sure have never seen anything like it anywhere before and in a country packed with so many other rare, different & incredible natural rock formations, surrounded by carpets of green in every shade you could imagine, you might now be understanding more how special Green Slovenia really is.

The sensational colours and grains in the rock surface will also transfix, but observe the signs, respect the rare birds that nest here and enjoy the moment, enjoy the views and then begin your hike back..

Approaching one of the natural Green Wonders of Europe..

We kinda found that forest track back by mistake, so if you want to do it, just ignore & walk past the cliff path you came down and in a few minutes the forest track will reveal itself with a red plastic sign for SV KVIRIKA and your loop back to the church begins.

Give a round 2 hours or so for the hike, with extra time for photos and maybe that bunker too might push you to 3 hours in Green paradise, so maybe you will pop into Croatia after to go see the Buzet hill top village, for a truffle dinner and look back to these cliffs!

Another corner conquered and now you can see what all the fuss was about..

We always hide our little smile, when we hear first time visitors who have spent maybe just 3 days in the Greenest country in Europe in places like Bled, Postojna Cave and Ljubljana, suddenly becoming experts on tourism here and exclaiming how "busy" Green Slovenia will become..

Well upon writing this article we have lived here for a dozen years and Slovenia still remains a relative mystery to the rest of the world and we have seen the patterns of tourism not changing one little bit..

We did not see ONE other hiker the whole 2 hours here in Green paradise on a sunny May afternoon..

On this particular epic hike in Green Paradise, we can only tell you we saw NADA, ZERO, ZILCH other people and that will be the case for dozens & dozens & dozens of the other SECRET PLACES TO VISIT we know about and constantly recommend to our guests to mix into trips to those better known ones too.. 

So just box clever and choose the best day & best logistics for YOU to go see your preferred Green Wonders for tomorrow, cos we can promise the next day after that and after that and after that, can be just as unique & amazing here!

You are in control of your Slovenian adventures.. You do not need to follow the herd to have the best Green holiday in Europe you might never have known you could still have in modern day Europe!!

This is the turn 10 mins from the EARS Spodmoli, for the forest path back to the church Sv Kvirik, 50 mins..

Maybe you will stop off on the way to the ISTRIAN EARS at the sensational Hrastovlje Fortress Church with the Dance of Death Fresco, then do the EARS hike after and maybe head back into the Slovenian Coastal Hinterland to explore some more.

Maybe you will simply head back to the Slovenian coast to chill out in Piran or Izola for a swim and a sunset supper, there are a huge amount of options to experience between here and the Lodge.. the choice is yours.