Culinary experiences

The Govc alpine farm – half a century of tradition in tourism

Recommended part of the culinary journey From the Alps to the Hills of Zagorje

Best time to visit: early April to early July and September to November

Suggested time of arrival: 5 p.m.

Accommodation: half-board at the Govc tourist farm, EUR 45 per person for groups of more than 20 persons

The Govc farm has a maximum capacity of 30 beds. An additional 12 people can stay in apartments in the idyllic house owned by the family's daughters, only 100 m away.

In order to fulfil everyone's wishes regarding the two- and four-bed rooms, please make sure to discuss the details with Marjana Vršnik of Govc farm a few days in advance.

On your arrival, you will receive a warm welcome from Marjana with a shot of fruit or blueberry brandy. After checking into you rooms, your host Matej will guide you on a walk across the nearby pastures and tell you about the 68-hectare farm, the significance of pasture and the breeding Fleckvieh cattle.

After the tour, you will be served a dinner prepared by skilled cooks whose prowess was passed down to them by their mother Nina, herself renowned throughout the valley for her excellent cuisine and long tradition in running a tourist farm. The Govc tourist farm has hosted ambassadors and ministers from foreign countries, high-ranking Slovenian officials, family celebrations, guests from around the globe and hikers and mountaineers on weekend trips to Robanov kot and neighbouring mountains.

Dinner starts with beef soup with home-made noodles or the similar vlivanci. The main course consists of two meat dishes, including hunter-style stewed veal in a vegetable and herb sauce, with cottage cheese štruklji (dumplings) for a side-dish. And for dessert, apple strudel, which is essentially a type of baked štrukelj dumpling made with filo pastry.

Before serving the main course, Marjana will explain a few things about štruklji, who taught her how to prepare them, how they were eaten 70 years ago, the tradition of this dish on the farm and how many dumplings they serve to their guests each year.

After dinner, you may stroll under the starry sky then sit by the bread oven and chat with Marjana about your day's adventures. Nights in the Robanov kot Landscape Park are very calm and quiet. Here, below the over 2,000 m high peaks of the Raduha, Veža, Ojstrica, Krofička and Strelovec mountains, you will get a good night's sleep.

If you visit in the spring, you will awaken to the song of birds and the aroma of white coffee. If you wish, you may take a short stroll before breakfast to the bridge across the Bela stream which flows below the farmstead, and observe the sun rise in the tranquillity of this protected area of nature.

Breakfast consists of home-made meat products made using traditional family recipes to which salt, pepper and garlic water have been added. The difference between the farm's dairy products and those purchased commercially will be obvious. Breakfast also includes cottage cheese made from skimmed, unpasteurised milk according to Mama Nina's recipe, sour cream, home-made butter, milk, plum jams and forest honey. You will be able to choose between white coffee and teas from herbs collected from local meadows.

At breakfast, Marjana will explain how she makes the butter she uses in her delicacies. The difference in taste will be unmistakable!

The bus leaves Govc farm at 9 p.m.

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The Logar Valley Landscape Park

Recommended part of the culinary excursion From the Alps to the Hills of Zagorje 

 

Recommended footwear: light walking shoes

Distance: 2 kilometres

After breakfast, you make your way to Solčava village where a local tour guide will be waiting for you in front of Center Rinka (the large wooden building shown in the photograph below). With the help of a panoramic map, the guide will give you a brief description of the Solčava region, which was awarded the title European Destination of Excellence in protected areas. During your drive to the Logar Valley, he will explain the history of the founding and settlement of Solčavsko. The bus will make a short stop as you enter the Logarska dolina Landscape Park so that you may take some photos of the glacial valley beneath the over 2,000 metres high peaks of the Kamnik-Savinja Alps.

You will be taken to the starting point of the Ethnographic Trail through the Logar Valley and walk through the most beautiful sections of this landscape park, in which man and nature have coexisted for centuries.

On the trail, you will learn many interesting facts about Alpine forests, burning charcoal, the felling and gathering of timber, which a century ago made its way from the Upper Savinja Valley down the Savinja and Sava rivers to Zagreb, Belgrade and beyond. Along the way, you will sample various edible plants, learn about work and life on the Juvanija, Plesnik and Lenar farms, all of which lie within the park, then finally make your way to the 90 m Rinka waterfall, the most visited site in the Logar Valley.

During the hike and drive through the Logar Valley, you will receive many tips on exploring the valley, mountain trails and culinary specialities here in the heart of the Alps. You will be told about the best hiking routes, which mountain huts to visit, which štruklji (dumplings) to try and when Carniolan lilies and the beautiful lady's-slipper orchids blossom.

The guided tour through the Logar Valley takes four hours at a casual walking pace that allows you to fully experience this landscape park.

Bus entrance fee (for the Logarska dolina landscape park): EUR 25

Logar Valley guided tour fee: EUR 80

Information

Center Rinka – večnamensko središče za trajnostni razvoj Solčavskega

Solčava 29

3335 Solčava

Tel.: +386 (0)3 839 07 10

info@solcavsko.info

www.solcavsko.info

Lunch and afternoon: Klemenšek farm (1,100 m), which offers a vista of the Logar Valley

On your way back from Klemenšek farm to the Govc farm, we recommend a visit to Center Rinka where you can buy different products made on nearby farms. In this way, you will bring some of your experiences and adventures from the Kamnik-Savinja Alps home to your friends and loved ones.

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We recommend spending another night at the Govc farm before continuing with your journey. The next morning, you will make your way to the Selišnik farm in Podvolovljek, one of the only three certified producers of the zgornjesavinjski želodec (cured meat) and learn many facts about this delicacy, which is protected with a European geographical indication label.

 

Information and reservation:

Tourist farm Govc - Vršnik

Robanov kot 34

3335 Solčava

Tel.: +386 (0)3 839 50 16

govc.vrsnik@siol.net

www.govc-vrsnik.com

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