When I look back on our time in Slovenia, there is one day that really makes my heart sing. On this morning, we woke up for a sunrise hike at Golica ridge in the Karavanke mountains on the border between Slovenia and Austria. We had seen that the wild daffodils had been in bloom just two weeks before our arrival, so we were hoping to see them kissed by the sunrise. The little white daffodils carpet the whole of one side of this ridge, making it look almost as though it has snowed in the middle of spring. It turned out, we missed the best of the white flowers, but we found out that this hike was stunning even without the dusting of daffodils.
Hike information
Starting at: Suha Saddle 46.486650, 14.080350
- Short hike: 2.35 miles circular, 346 m continuous gain
- Longer hike: 4.64 miles circular, 541 m continuous gain
Starting at: Planina Pod Golica
- Short hike: 5.33 miles mostly circular, 850 m continuous gain
- Longer hike: 7.39 miles mostly circular, 1020 m steep gain in 2 main sections
Bring: Water, refreshments, hiking boots, hiking poles, appropriate clothing
Refreshments: yes, at Golica mountain hut when open
Transport: car, 4 x 4 preferable to start at Suha Saddle.
Getting to the Golica hike trail:
This hike starts right on the Austrian border and makes the presumption that you have a car. The road to this point is unpaved, and in an ideal world you’d have a 4×4. We didn’t. You should ensure you have a spare tyre, which we didn’t have. And if you’re driving a hire car you might want to check your terms and conditions for information about unpaved roads. We didn’t do that either. We failed on all three counts because we didn’t know the road was unpaved until we got there, so that’s partly why we wrote this blog! If you don’t have a 4×4, take the road very slowly. It added about 25 minutes onto the estimated journey time and we ended up in a rush for sunrise.
As you drive up this stoney road, you’ll get to a metal gate with a sign on it. Presuming this said ‘private property’ we thought it was all over and that we’d traversed this path for nothing. But thankfully I had signal and google translate told me that the sign just said to close the gate. Phew! You’ll be driving through a grazing area. On our way back we discovered many cars had come to this point and stopped, parking along the lane just before. It’s worth noting that the path through the grazing area is very potholed, so stopping before this is certainly an option but will add around 1.5 miles onto your hike one way. Be physically and mentally prepared for this to be a possibility anyway, as the road may get closed due to weather or other reasons.
Avoiding unpaved roads – Planina Pod Golica
If driving on unpaved roads isn’t an option, or you don’t like the uncertainty, the hike is often started at Planina Pod Golico. It’s a 1.5 mile hike from here up to the mountain hut, 565 m gain, from where you can choose which hike to do, just from the different starting point of the mountain hut. So you’re adding around 3 miles on to the described hikes. The route would be like this for the long hike:
- Planina pod Golico – Mountain hut – Jekljevo sedlo – Golica peak – Suha saddle – Mountain hut – Planina pod Golico.
If you went from Planina Pod Golico straight up to Golico peak, you’re looking at 845 m gain over 2.2 miles.
If you’re hiring a car and your budget allows, I’d recommend a 4×4 for Slovenia. The country has excellent roads in very good condition. But if you want to explore off the beaten path at elevation, you may encounter unpaved roads at other times.
Golica Hike outline from Suha Saddle
From Suha saddle the hike starts steeply up the ridge to the left. Once on the path, you’ll look out on Austria to the right and Slovenia to your left. Triglav mountain sits in the distance. The path even diverges between the countries at one point. After 0.17 miles, you’ll have the option of heading up the ridge to the right first taking an anti-clockwise loop, or through the grassy path which, at the right time of year, will be full of daffodils. As we were there for sunrise, we went up the ridge first, for better views of the rising sun. The daffodils spend some time in shadow as the sun rises.
From here it is a simple but steep path up the ridge line towards the smaller Mala Golica and Krvavka peaks. We saw water pipits noisily defending their nests, so be sure not to venture off the path. The nests of these ground-nesting birds will be hard to spot. What’s more, you’ll be disturbing the wildflowers and other plants. We also saw chamois off to the Austrian side, so take some time to sit and watch for them.
After Krvavka peak, just a mile in total, you’ll have another choice: continue along the ridge and up to the peak to Golica for the longer hike, or zig zag down the south side of the ridge towards Golica mountain hut for the shorter one. Continuing, you’ll have another 57 metres to gain in elevation before you start descending – keep along the path and then turn left after about 1.2 miles. This will bring you back along the tree line, and through extra fields of daffodils or lush grassy slopes before arriving at Golica Mountain hut.
If you choose to zigzag down, you may see swathes of daffodils on either side of you. When we came, this is where we saw large numbers of them – they were hanging on much longer than the ones towards the end of the hike. After stopping at Golica mountain hut if you choose to, you’ll be heading back towards where you parked. Take the slightly higher path rather than the lower one which goes through the trees. This slightly higher one will have you passing through grassy slopes, or fields of daffodils if you’ve come at the right time.
When do the daffodils bloom at Golica mountain?
This will depend on the weather and when the snow melted. In 2023, the daffodils were in full bloom at the end of May. They likely started to bloom a bit before this, but by the time we were at Golica on the 17th June they had gone over on the first part of the hike and were looking straggly but still nice to see on the second part. However, we were greeted by many other wildflowers, which were equally as beautiful in themselves, they just don’t put on quite as much of a show as the daffodils do.
This hike is absolutely worth doing even when the daffodils aren’t in season. I’d especially recommend getting up for sunrise.
