Tour description:

From the starting point at the parking lot next to the administration building of the Lipica estate, we will follow the forest path on the edge of the golf course in the direction of Sežana. Soon we will turn into a pleasant forest, where the karst sights are lined up one after the other. Of course, the giant stone mushrooms gain the most enthusiasm. After crossing the “main” road between Sežana and Bazovica, we go to see the natural Forma-viva rock megaliths.

Our next stop is Napoleon’s oak, a tree that has been sheltering travelers for hundreds of years at the crossroads between Gropada, Bazovica and Sežana. Tradition says that it has a special healing energy that invigorates passing travelers. So that it will be so much easier for us to walk the path to the mysterious valley attributed to the Celts. Along the way, a few dry wall shelters for shepherds – hiške will greet us.

The Celtic Valley fills the visitor with questions about who lived here and what was its purpose. Stone terraces, steps and numerous carved megaliths show in every way that it was an important gathering place for its users.

We will return to Lipica along the Trail of the Josef Ressel, a Czech-German forest ranger who had a significant impact on the image of the nowadays Kras landscape. Just before the end of the trip, we also visit the Valley of Our Lady of the Lourdes, a sinkhole in which the former manager of the stud farm Karel Grünne was healed, and which has been a popular gathering place for many who hope for their own healing since that time.

From the valley to the parking area with our vehicles, it is only few steps.

.Overall Tour Level::

Irena Hlede is an architect by education, but has also worked in the fields of graphic design, journalism and sustainable mobility. She has been engaged in many sports activities, from sailing to skiing or badminton, but the common thread throughout remains cycling. She regularly collaborate with the non-governmental organization Slovenian cycling network and with the European Cycling Federation ECF, lectures on cycling and remains loyal to long-distance cycling at all times. In this field, she completed trainings for the Assessor under the scheme “Cycling-Friendly Employer”, Development of Mobility Plans and for the EuroVelo Route Inspector. She obtained as well the title and knowledge of a tourist guide at the national level and is the founder and owner of the travel agency GremoZeleno – GoGreenWay. In addition to “her” areas of architecture and art, she is also keenly interested in ethnology, geography and history with an emphasis on everything related to our tradition, especially some “silent” areas, such as the existence of pagan religions. She researches as well many “borderline” skills, such as dowsing or geomancy. She is a convinced environmentalist and an opponent of violence and wars.

She speaks English and French and, of course, Croatian and Serbian.