Plave - Sveta Gora (via Paljevo and Vodice)

Access to starting point:
A) First, we drive to Nova Gorica, then we continue driving in the direction of Bovec and Tolmin. Further on, we drive through the Soča Valley but stay on the main road to the settlement of Plave, where at the crossroads, where the road to Paljevo branches off to the right, the described path begins. Since there are no arranged parking spots at the starting point, we have to park somewhere else, preferably at some suitable place along the road before or after the settlement, or on the other side of the Soča River near the little church or somewhere on the outskirts of the village.
B) We drive to the settlement of Most na Soči, from there towards Nova Gorica. When we arrive at the settlement of Plave, or at the crossroads where the road towards the settlement of Paljevo branches off to the left, we are at the start of the described path. Since there are no arranged parking spots at the starting point, we have to park somewhere else, preferably at some suitable place along the road before or after the settlement, or on the other side of the Soča River near the little church or somewhere on the outskirts of the village.

Route description:
From the settlement Plave we continue along the asphalt road in the direction of Paljevo. The path first leads past a few houses, then quickly brings us to the left hairpin bend, where there is a NOB marker on a small structure. We continue along the fairly panoramic road, which brings us past a bench to the right hairpin bend, where straight ahead a footpath continues to Prižnica (elevation 383), while we continue right, further along the road. Further on, we cross the slopes to the right for some time, then, shortly after crossing a torrent stream, in the hairpin the road turns sharply left. From the road along which we continue walking, a nice view opens up towards Korada and Prižnica. When the road from the slopes almost transitions to flatter terrain, on the right side we notice a cart track and beside it unofficial signs for Kuk.
Here the first path to Kuk branches off to the right, while we continue along the road, along which we soon arrive at a few houses in the settlement Paljevo. We continue along the asphalt road that crosses a strip of forest, then, when the forest ends, before the power line route we continue right onto an initially grassy cart track, which after a few metres becomes a poorer forest road that enters the forest. Further on, we ascend along the aforementioned road for some time, which runs close to the power line the whole time, and higher up we join a wider road that leads from the upper part of the settlement Paljevo.
Immediately after the roads join, they split again at the information board. We continue along the right road, which then mostly ascends gently to moderately along the northwestern slopes of Kuk. A little higher, at a small junction we continue straight, then along a slightly steeper road all the way to the marked junction located south of Kuk.
From the junction a road branches sharply right, along which we can reach the settlements Zagora and Zagomila; sharply right a path branches to Kuk, while we continue straight past the monument erected in June 1916 to the commander of the 1st Mountain Brigade FML Guido Novak von Arienti. Behind the monument the road turns slightly left, then after a few minutes brings us to the hamlet of Vodice. Behind Vodice we leave the road and continue right in the direction of the monument (inscription on the sign). The path then turns even more to the right and brings us from the forest onto a grassy meadow, where it continues along the outer edge of the pasture fence. With nice views of the surrounding hills and the Julian Alps, we return to the forest in a few minutes. The path continues through the forest, mostly ascending only gently, then levels out even more and brings us to a forest road, which we reach near the information boards.
At the information boards, to the left the forest road continues towards the saddle Preški vrh; a little further on and then right a path leads to the nearby monument at the eagles; along the poorer road further ahead the path continues towards the summit of Vodice and the mausoleum on top. From the information boards to the summit of Vodice it is only about 2 minutes' walk.
From Vodice we continue along the marked path, which begins to descend towards the southeast. The path, which descends moderately, only occasionally more steeply, brings us after about 15 minutes of descent to a poorer forest road, which we follow to the right, and in a few steps we arrive at the marked junction on the saddle Preški vrh.
On the saddle there is a marked junction of several roads, and we continue straight in the direction of Sveta Gora (left Grgar, right Zagora). This is followed by about 20 minutes of ascent with occasional nice views, and the path brings us to the large parking lot below Sveta Gora. From the parking lot we continue along the stone steps and ascend to the summit of Sveta Gora.
Plave - Vodice 2:10, Vodice - Sveta Gora 45 minutes.

Along the route: Paljevo (270m), Vodice (555m), Vodice (651m), Preški vrh (504m)

We recommend: trips from the same starting point, similar trips, panorama, summit register