Gorenja Žaga - Kostel Castle

Access to starting point:
A) We drive to Kočevje, and then we continue driving towards Delnice. Before Colnarji we turn left in the direction of the castle Kostel, and through the villages Delač, Stelnik and Kostel we descend to Gorenja Žaga, where the described path begins at the camp Žaga. We park at a suitable place somewhere nearby.
B) From Vinica or Črnomelj we drive to Stari trg ob Kolpi, where we go left towards Prelesje. A descent towards the valley of the Kolpa River follows, and when we reach the road that leads along the river, we continue right. Along the river we drive to the settlement Gorenja Žaga, where we turn right in the direction of the camp Žaga and castle Kostel. Only about 20 meters further we arrive at the junction by the information boards, where the described path begins. We park at a suitable place somewhere nearby.

Route description:
From the starting point, we head onto the road in the direction of the castle Kostel (we start on the road by which we arrived, if we came to the starting point according to description a), where we first ascend gently, soon quite steeply, on the asphalt road. Higher up we pass some houses, then the road reaches the ridge, where before the gallows we continue sharply left.
The path ahead leads us gently past a cross, some houses and apartments, after the apartments the road turns right and ascends steeply. At the information board of the tourist and sports association Kostel it turns sharply left, the paved path brings us to a few more houses of the settlement Kostel, and before them we continue left towards the castle. The path ahead bypasses the church of the Holy Three Kings in Kostel on the left side, behind the church there follows some ascent on stairs, and with increasingly beautiful views we arrive at the castle Kostel. We continue through the entrance of the castle to the spot where the lookout tower stood, from where a beautiful view opens up.
To visit the castle, an entrance fee must be paid.
The description and pictures refer to the situation in August 2020.

Along the route: Kostel (385m)

We recommend: trips from the same starting point, similar trips