Visiting Kranj, the main town of Upper Carniola

The oldest traces of human settlement in the Kranj area date from the Neolithic period. Many finds also date from the first millennium before Christ.

The steep banks and conglomerate wall above the confluence of the Sava and Kokra Rivers proved to be an excellent means of defense. The town of Kranj began to grow on this very spot and was already an important town in the early middle Ages. It was the seat of the Counts of the Carniola Province, which gave its name to the town. A museum has been opened in the Town Hall, and several old buildings have been preserved in the town core. The old cemetery, where Slovenia's greatest poet, France Prešeren, is buried, has been transformed into a memorial park. The Kokra Canyon, a narrow and picturesque gorge of the Kokra River, runs through the very center of the city.There is a hotel on Šmarjetna gora (651m), an excursion point popular among the local inhabitants, and the other one is Jošt (845m).

Extending from this area is Sorško polje with the village of Stražišče below Šmarjetna gora and the villages of Bitnje and Žabnica at the foot of the Škofja loka hills. This vast plain stretching between Škofja loka and Medvode is almost entirely unsettled. Smaller settlements can be found on both banks of the Sava River, which near has carved the magnificent Zarica George. The River is dammed at Mavčice, forming an artificial lake with an area of 1 square km, called Mavčiško jezero (Mavčice Lake).

In the direction of Kamnik, behind Šenčur, lies the major Slovene airport of Jože Pučnik. To the north is the village of Predovslje with the famous Brdo Castle in the close vicinity. The castle park has eleven lakes. Not far from Kokrica, a village between Kranj and Predoslje, is a natural reserve – the Bobovek fish ponds.

To the east we can find Cerklje, which is the starting point for trips to Krvavec, a high alpine ski resort.Along the Kokra River the valley curves southward and widens into the Jezersko valley (880m) with Planšarsko jezero (Herdsmens Lake). From here the winding road ascends to the nearby Jezerski vrh (1218m) mountain pass, an ex international border crossing to Austria.

From Kranj to Upper Carniola