
Nordic Sport & Alpine Valley
Planica Nordic Centre and Tamar Valley
Kranjska Gora · Alpine Slovenia
QUICK INFORMATION
- CATEGORY
- Nordic Sport & Alpine Valley
- COUNTRY
- Slovenia
- REGION
- Kranjska Gora · Alpine Slovenia
- DURATION
- 1–2 days
ABOUT THIS ATTRACTION
Planica is the most famous three kilometres of Slovenian sport. A side valley above Rateče, it became the cradle of ski jumping and then ski flying: the place where jumps beyond one hundred metres were first conceived and built, where world records fell decade after decade, and where the modern Nordic centre now gathers the jumps, the cross-country trails and the training facilities of Slovenian Nordic sport into one year-round venue. For a visitor, Planica comes in two distinct sizes. The Nordic centre itself is the compact visit: the giant ski-flying hill, the family of smaller jumps, the story of the valley and the trails around the base — an hour or two of orientation in a place that feels like a stadium built into a mountain. The Tamar valley above it is the mountain version: a glacial trough running on toward the walls of Jalovec and the border peaks, walked on a marked trail from the centre toward the hut at the valley’s head. The two should not be confused in an itinerary: the centre is a visit, Tamar is a walk, and the second is conditional on weather, footwear and the season.
HISTORY & BACKGROUND
The story behind it
Planica’s story begins in the early 1930s, when the first ski jump was built in the valley and the first jumps beyond one hundred metres followed within a few years — the birth of ski flying as a discipline. The giant hill of the 1930s carried the world record through the pre-war and post-war decades and made “Planica” a word of its own in the sport’s vocabulary; the later flying hill at the valley’s head carried the record era onward, and the modernised venue continues to host World Cup ski flying and Nordic competitions. The Nordic centre that now organises the valley — the jumps, the cross-country trails, the training and visitor facilities — was built to give Slovenian Nordic sport a permanent home in the place where it began. The Tamar valley above the jumps is older than all of it: a glacial trough under the north faces of Jalovec and the surrounding border peaks, with the hut at its head and the marked trail that continues into the high mountains of Triglav National Park.
WHAT TO SEE
What to see here
The ski-flying hill — the giant jump at the head of the venue, the structure that made Planica a world-famous name in ski sport.
The jumps and the venue — the family of hills and the cross-country trails of the Nordic centre, seen from the paths around the base.
The Nordic-sport story — the heritage of records and pioneers the valley carries, from the first flights of the 1930s to the modern World Cup calendar.
The Tamar valley — the glacial continuation above the centre, walked on a marked trail toward the hut below the walls of Jalovec.
Jalovec and the border peaks — the pyramid of Jalovec and the surrounding summits that close the valley’s head.
WHY IT MATTERS
Why it matters
Planica is the cultural identity of the Upper Sava Valley in one place: a small alpine valley that became one of the most significant venues in the history of ski sport, and that still runs its year around Nordic training, competition and memory. For the visitor it is also the clearest example of the destination’s two-speed structure — a compact, weather-independent venue visit at the base, and a genuine mountain walk above it — and the place where the valley’s sport history and its high-mountain landscape are the same view.
PRACTICAL INFORMATION
Before you go
MAP & LOCATION
Planica Nordic Centre and Tamar Valley
Planica Nordic Centre and Tamar Valley, Kranjska Gora, Alpine Slovenia, Slovenia
46.4758, 13.7240
FOOD & DRINK
Where to eat nearby
The restaurants and cafés of the Kranjska Gora centre — the busiest tables of the valley, concentrated around the resort core and the pedestrian stretch of the village
The mountain huts of the surrounding valleys and the Vršič road — homemade mountain food in the season, each hut with its own schedule; check current opening arrangements directly
The traditional fare of Upper Carniola — the dumplings, stews, sausages and buckwheat dishes of the region, and the alpine dairy tradition of the high pastures
The smaller settlements — Podkoren, Rateče, Gozd Martuljek and Mojstrana — quieter tables, fewer choices and a slower pace than the resort centre
HOTELS & STAYS
Where to stay nearby
Kranjska Gora centre — the resort core, walkable to the shops, restaurants and the trailheads of the local slopes and paths
Podkoren and Rateče — the quieter villages at the western end, closer to Planica, Zelenci and the Nordic world, with a slower rhythm than the centre
Gozd Martuljek — the calm village below the Špik group, the natural base for the Martuljek waterfalls and the northern-side paths
Mojstrana and Dovje — the eastern gateway villages, closest to the Vrata valley, the Alpine Museum and the D-2 trail toward the valley
The mountain huts — the huts of the surrounding valleys and the high routes, an accommodation category of their own with seasonal schedules and simple conditions; check current arrangements directly
Camping — the valley’s campsites as an accommodation category, from the resort-adjacent sites to the quieter ones near the villages; the individual sites are covered by the dedicated campsite registry
ITINERARIES
Day-by-day routes
NEARBY DESTINATIONS
Continue the journey
ROUTES
Routes through here
Upper Sava Valley D-2 Cycling Trail
The official D-2 cycle route of the Upper Sava Valley — roughly 28 km from Jesenice to Rateče via Mojstrana and Kranjska Gora, largely on a former railway alignment.
28 km · easy
VIEW ROUTEVršič Pass — Kranjska Gora to Trenta
The Russian Road over the Vršič pass — fifty numbered serpentines from Kranjska Gora across the highest road pass in Slovenia and down into the Trenta valley.
26 km · moderate
VIEW ROUTEPART OF
Keep exploring
The atlas goes on — more attractions, destinations and stories from every corner of the world.






