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Ninety seconds on Velika Planina
Velika Planina is reached by cable car, the fastest way up, from a valley station that is a 45-minute drive from Ljubljana. At the top station a chairlift takes over for the last stretch to the plateau, a ride of about seven minutes.
No. The cable car and the chairlift are both ticketed. The free alternative is to drive the gravel forest road to the high car parks, which takes about 40 minutes longer than going up by lift.
No. As of October 2026, the Preskar museum on Velika Planina is closed. The museum is housed in one of the huts, so that stop is off the plateau visit for now.
No. Once the lifts have brought visitors up, the plateau and its huts are walked independently. Guided tours around Velika Planina are offered to groups by the operator, Velika planina d.o.o.
You come up here for a working summer settlement, so time the trip for the months the shepherds are living in their huts.
Velika Planina is a high pasture above Kamnik, more than 850 m above the cable car's valley station. On it stands a herders' settlement of some 140 huts, and the huts are what you have come up to see.
Each one is covered by a roof of traditional spruce shingles that reaches almost down to the ground. From the paths you see mostly roof, a sweep of spruce over each hut, repeated again and again across the grass.
The settlement is still used. It comes alive each summer when shepherds move up and occupy the huts for the grazing months.
By mid-September the herds may already have left the pasture. Kamniška Bistrica rounds out a day here.
The ride up is part of the visit. The cable car is a short, scenic climb, so stand at a window for it.
At the top station, change to the chairlift and let it carry you on to the plateau. From there everything is on foot.
Walk out among the huts and take the settlement at your own pace, wandering from hut to hut rather than marching to one end and back. Keep enough of the day in hand for the two rides back down to the valley.
Pack a warm layer, even in summer, for the walk across the open pasture.
There is no drinking water on the trails, so fill a bottle before you ride up and carry it with you for the whole of your time up on the plateau.
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