Forests of Kočevsko are full of life! Get to know the wildlife and its inhabitants up close during forest adventures with an experienced local tour guide who will lead you in following their tracks.

An endless palette of green shades merging with the landscape, the rustling of leaves in the wind in the treetops high above us, birdsong… a symphony of nature that calms our thoughts, relaxes our senses and with the absence of WIFI, allows us to connect on a completely different level. Kočevsko - the Secret Forest of Slovenia offers you to connect with nature, your thoughts, and reconnect with yourself. More than 80% of Kočevsko is covered in forests and nature here is "wild", but nice and accessible to everyone. It is also one of the few areas in the world where we can still observe all three large beasts in the wild in their natural environment - the brown bear, wolf and lynx. In Slovenia, around 500-600 bears are still present, which places us among the countries with the highest density of bear population in the world. Most of these bears are found in the forests of Kočevsko. As locals, we are used to living in coexistence with them, and we know how to show our visitors a friendly and safe way to observe and watch them, without interfering with their lives.

Slovenian Tourist Board has awarded the experience "Observing and Discovering Bears in Their Natural Habitat" with the label Slovenia Unique Experience as one of the most unique 5-star tourist experiences in Slovenia, ensuring guests that our program is local, authentic, unique, experiential, boutique, sustainably green, and of premium quality.

Program duration: 1 day
Season: April - October
Difficulty: medium difficulty
Suitable for: families with older children, couples, individuals, small groups (up to 8 people)
You can observe: the brown bear, wolf, lynx, deer, roe deer, forest birds, owls, waterfowl

Package description:

• An experienced local guide will introduce you to facts about bears,
• You will learn the correct behavior when meeting a bear,
• You will look for and observe bear tracks in the forest,
• You will have a forest picnic with local delicacies in the clearing of the woods,
• You will visit the »Bear Room«,
• You will enjoy in a refreshing late lunch,
• You will await the evening arrival of the bear from the safe shelter of the observation stand.

Program Schedule:

Your adventure begins in the town of Kočevje, located in the heart of Kočevsko, at the Hostel Bearlog. An experienced local guide will first present you the entire program, the schedule of the day and locations you will visit. The guide will also explain to you everything you need to know before visiting the forest. The path will then lead us deep into the heart of the Kočevsko forests until we find the first tracks and traces of wild animals. This is an ideal place to stop and start exploring the secret forests. Here we can see the tracks of different animals, and each has a different interpretation and a different story. With the help of the guide, you will follow the animals and explore the various signs of the presence of wildlife in their natural environment, and learn a lot of new interesting and useful information. While exploring, you will also stop at a clearing in the woods where you can rest and refresh yourself with a prepared forest picnic with local delicacies, including various edible plants and herbs.

After a short refreshment, you will drive to the "Bear Room" in Kočevska Reka, where you will refresh your knowledge about bears and everything related to them. Here you will also learn the rules of behavior at the observation stand during the observation in order to make your experience as pleasant as possible and at the same time undisturbed for the wild animals. Before the evening observation, you will refresh yourself with a local dinner at a nearby inn in the vicinity of Kočevska Reka, and then meet a local hunter who will accompany you to the evening observation at the observation stand in the Kočevsko forests.

There you will sit in complete silence and indulge in the sounds of nature and observe the animals. With a little luck, a brown bear will also show up. Bears mostly roam on established paths, so the probability of seeing a bear is high. Nevertheless, we must be aware that nature is unpredictable which makes it even more enchanting.

We have developed this program in accordance with the standards of sustainable tourism and with the least possible impact on the environment, especially on wild animals.

Approximate timeline:

13.00 - 13.20: Meeting with the guide, short intro to the day and learning about the rules of behavior in the areas where bears are present (Hostel Bearlog, Ljubljanska cesta 4, 1330 Kočevje)
Short drive (approx. 20 min)
13.40 - 15.40: Forest picnic and following the signs of the presence of bears and other wild animals in their natural environment (Kočevsko forests)
Short drive (20 min)
16.00 - 16.25: "Bear Room" - refreshment course about bears and presentation about the rules of behavior at the observation stand during the evening observation (Bear Room, Kočevska Reka 40, 1338 Kočevska Reka)
Short drive (5 min)
16.30 - 18.00: Late lunch and meeting with the hunter (Ranch Marina, Koče 2, 1338 Kočevska Reka)
Drive (approx. 20 min)
18.20 - 21.30: Evening observation of the brown bear from the safe shelter of the observation stand (Bear Observation Stand in the middle of the Kočevsko forests)

Price list

• 1 person 500 EUR
• 2 persons 300 EUR/person
• 3 persons 220 EUR/person
• 4 – 8 people in a group 180 EUR/person