The Pohorje-Kozjak Trail is a 174 km circular route through two mountain ranges in northeast Slovenia, opening June 2026. Every year, some publication puts out a “best new trails” list and most of them are trails you’ve already heard of, repackaged with a fresh headline. The BBC’s 2026 list is different. They named five trails. One of them is the Pohorje-Kozjak Trail — a 174-kilometer loop in northeast Slovenia that most English-speaking hikers couldn’t find on a map.

The Pohorje-Kozjak Trail circles the Drava River valley near Maribor, Slovenia’s second city, a place known more for wine and university students than trekking. Twenty stages. Two mountain ranges. Ancient forests that haven’t been logged in centuries, alpine meadows above the treeline, waterfalls tucked into gorges you won’t find in any existing guidebook. And an official opening ceremony planned for June 2026.

It’s the kind of trail that makes you wonder what else you’ve been missing in a country the size of New Jersey.

Quick Facts

Aspect	Details
Total Distance	174 km (108 miles), circular
Stages	20 (10 Pohorje + 10 Kozjak)
Time Needed	10–14 days full loop; 4–6 days for one range
Cost Range	$30–$60/day on trail; $500–$1,200 for the full loop
Best Time	June–October for hiking; December–March for snowshoeing
Physical Demands	Moderate to challenging. Some stages have 700–900 m elevation gain
Planning Lead Time	2–4 weeks; accommodation is limited, book early for July–August

In one sentence: A 174 km loop through two Slovenian mountain ranges that the BBC flagged before the rest of the hiking world caught on.

Why This Makes the List

Slovenia has been pulling off this trick for years: building excellent outdoor infrastructure while the crowds head to the Alps, the Dolomites, and the Camino. The Juliana Trail around Triglav National Park opened in 2019 and slowly built a reputation. The Alpe-Adria Trail crosses from Austria through Slovenia to Italy and remains quieter than it should be. Now there’s this: a circular route that doesn’t ask you to arrange transport back to your starting point, because you end up where you began.

The BBC put it on their list of the world’s five most anticipated hiking trails for 2026. Not five European trails. Five global trails. Alongside routes on different continents, with bigger mountains and bigger marketing budgets. The Pohorje-Kozjak Trail made the cut on merit: two distinct mountain ranges, a circular design that eliminates one-way logistics, and a region of Slovenia that international hikers have basically ignored.

That last part won’t stay true. But for the 2026 season — the first season — it is.

What the Trail Actually Looks Like

The Route

The trail makes a loop around the Drava River valley, starting and ending in or near Maribor. It’s divided into two halves that feel like different trails sharing a name.

The Pohorje half (10 stages): South of the Drava. This is the higher, wilder side. Thick spruce and beech forests that date back centuries, peat bogs on the plateau, and Črni Vrh (Black Peak) at 1,543 meters, the high point of the entire loop. The Pohorje range has a brooding, Nordic quality. Dark forests. Quiet. Moss on everything. If you hiked Scandinavia and wished it had better food at the end of the day, this is your answer.

The Kozjak half (10 stages): North of the Drava. Lower, warmer, and more vineyard than wilderness. Rolling hills, scattered farmsteads, views south across the river valley to the Pohorje ridge you just walked. Wine-growing villages where the trail passes through someone’s backyard and they’ve put out a sign offering glasses of local Šipon for €2. The Kozjak side feels like Tuscany’s quieter, less famous cousin — because it basically is.

Between the two halves: Maribor itself, where you cross the Drava and switch ranges. The city has a population of about 95,000, a medieval old town, the oldest grapevine in the world (it’s over 400 years old, still producing, and yes, they make wine from it), and the kind of cafe culture that makes you add a rest day to your itinerary.

A Day on the Trail

Stages average 8–10 km, which sounds short until you factor in the elevation. Pohorje stages routinely gain 700–900 meters in a day. You’re climbing through forest, crossing alpine meadows, descending to a mountain hut or guesthouse. Kozjak stages are gentler but longer — rolling terrain through vineyard country with less vertical but more horizontal distance.

Start early on the Pohorje side. Afternoons bring thunderstorms in summer, and the forest canopy means you won’t see them coming until they’re on top of you. Hikers who previewed the Pohorje stages in autumn 2025 flagged this as the main practical surprise — not the elevation, but the speed at which afternoon weather arrives. The Kozjak side is more forgiving — open terrain, better sight lines, and the option to stop at a farm for lunch.

Overnights are a mix of mountain huts (planinske koče), guesthouses (turistične kmetije), and small pensions in villages. The hut system in Slovenia is well-established — nothing fancy, but warm beds, hot meals, and enough comfort that you don’t need to carry a tent.

The Real Costs

Money

Slovenia sits in a pricing sweet spot: eurozone country, EU member, but cheaper than Austria, Italy, or Switzerland by a wide margin.

• Mountain hut accommodation: €20–€35/night (most include breakfast or half-board)
• Guesthouse/pension: €30–€55/night
• Dinner at a hut or local restaurant: €8–€15
• Lunch/snacks: €4–€8
• Daily trail budget: €35–€60 (~$38–$65)

For the full 10–14 day loop: roughly $500–$1,200 on trail, depending on pace and accommodation choices. Add flights to Ljubljana or Graz (Austria, just across the border).

Getting there: Flights to Ljubljana from major European cities run €40–€150. From the US, expect $600–$900 round-trip to Ljubljana or Vienna, then a 2-hour train or bus to Maribor. Graz airport in Austria is only 60 km from Maribor — sometimes the cheaper routing.

For context: that’s roughly half the daily cost of hiking in the Swiss Alps and comparable to Via Transilvanica in Romania, though with more mountain terrain and a shorter total distance.

Time

The full loop takes 10–14 days at a comfortable pace with a rest day or two in Maribor at the midpoint. You could push it to 8 days if you’re fit and don’t mind long days. You could stretch it to 16 if you want to linger in the vineyard villages.

The circular design is the key advantage. No shuttles, no train connections back to your start, no leaving a car somewhere. You walk out of Maribor and you walk back into Maribor. Pack a nicer shirt for the last night.

Half-loop options:

Option	Stages	Days	Character
Pohorje only	10	5–7	Mountain forests, peat bogs, Črni Vrh summit
Kozjak only	10	4–6	Vineyard hills, farm stays, gentler terrain
Full loop	20	10–14	Both ranges, Maribor midpoint, complete circuit

Physical Demands

Moderate to challenging, depending on which half you’re walking. The Kozjak stages are manageable for anyone who hikes regularly — rolling hills, well-maintained paths, nothing technical. The Pohorje stages demand more. You’ll gain 700–900 meters in some stages, walking through rooty forest trails that get slippery in rain.

If you’ve done multi-day hikes before — a week on the Tour du Mont Blanc, a section of the Camino with mountain stages, the new hikes opening in 2026 — you’ll be fine on Pohorje. If your longest hike is a day walk in the Peak District, train for a few months first. Especially stairs. Uphill. With a pack.

How to Plan the Pohorje-Kozjak Trail

Step 1: Decide Full Loop or Half

The Pohorje half is the “hiking” half — mountain forests, big elevation days, hut-to-hut walking. The Kozjak half is the “wandering” half — vineyard country, farm stays, wine tasting that you didn’t plan but that happened anyway.

If you have two weeks: do the full loop. It’s what the trail was designed for.

If you have one week: pick the half that matches what you want. Most serious hikers will gravitate to Pohorje. People who want something gentler and more gastronomic will prefer Kozjak. Neither choice is wrong.

Step 2: Get to Maribor

Fly into Ljubljana (Slovenia’s capital, 130 km southwest). Trains and buses run to Maribor in about 2 hours. Or fly into Graz, Austria (60 km north) — sometimes cheaper, especially from European budget airlines. A bus or train to Maribor takes about an hour.

Maribor has its own small airport with limited seasonal connections, but Ljubljana or Graz are your reliable options.

Step 3: Book Accommodation Along the Route

Mountain huts on the Pohorje side operate seasonally — most open in June and close in October. The Kozjak side has guesthouses and farm stays that run year-round.

For the opening season (June–September 2026), book huts 2–4 weeks ahead. The trail is new and capacity is limited. This isn’t the Tour du Mont Blanc where you’ll fight for beds, but showing up without a reservation to a 12-bed mountain hut is a gamble you don’t need to take.

The Slovenian Alpine Association (PZS) manages most mountain huts. Their website lists availability, contact info, and pricing.

Step 4: Pack for Two Climates

The Pohorje stages go above 1,500 meters. Even in July, mornings are cool and weather turns fast. The Kozjak stages stay lower and warmer — you might hike in a t-shirt through vineyard country while watching clouds sit on the Pohorje ridge across the valley.

You need:

• Trail shoes with good grip (forest roots on Pohorje are ankle-twisters)
• Rain jacket and warm layer for Pohorje
• Sun protection for Kozjak’s open hillsides
• Cash in euros — village shops and some huts don’t take cards
• A daypack (10–15 kg) if staying in huts and guesthouses
• Trekking poles for the steeper Pohorje descents (your knees will thank you on day seven)

What Makes the Pohorje-Kozjak Trail Different From Other European Hikes?

Five things, in order of how much they matter:

1. It’s circular. You start and end in the same city. No car logistics. No shuttle buses. No backtracking. This sounds minor until you’ve spent an afternoon on the Camino trying to arrange transport back to your rental car
2. Two ranges, one trail. Walking Pohorje and Kozjak back to back is like doing two different trails. Mountain forests on one side, wine country on the other, connected by a real city in the middle
3. Year-round use. The Pohorje plateau gets reliable snow from December through March. The same trail is designed for snowshoeing and cross-country skiing in winter — not as an afterthought, but as part of the original planning. Most long-distance trails are summer-only. This one isn’t
4. Maribor as a midpoint. Having a proper city at the halfway mark means you can do laundry, eat at a restaurant with a tablecloth, sleep in a real hotel, and reset before the second half. Most multi-day trails give you a village. Maribor gives you a university town with a thousand-year-old wine cellar
5. Nobody knows about it yet. The BBC list will change that. But for the 2026 opening season, you’re walking a trail that most of the English-speaking hiking world hasn’t heard of. The South Korea coast-to-coast trail and England Coast Path are getting more attention. This one is flying under the radar

Pro Tips

Time your visit around the opening. The official inauguration is scheduled for June 2026 in Maribor. If you’re there for it, you get the ceremony and the energy of a trail’s first days. If you’d rather skip the fanfare, late June or September will be quieter.

Don’t skip Maribor. Spend at least one full rest day. The Lent district along the river is genuinely beautiful — Visit Maribor has a solid city guide if you want to plan ahead. The Old Vine House (Stara Trta) grows wine from the oldest documented vine in the world — over 400 years old. The city punches above its weight for restaurants and cafes. It’s not Ljubljana’s little sibling. It’s its own thing.

The Pohorje peat bogs are fragile. Stick to boardwalks and marked paths on the plateau sections. These bogs have been forming since the last ice age. They’re rare in this part of Europe. Walk on them and they compress in ways that take decades to recover.

Learn three Slovenian words. Hvala (thank you), prosim (please/you’re welcome), and koča (mountain hut). Most Slovenians under 40 speak excellent English. But hut wardens in their sixties appreciate the effort, and the effort gets you the better plate of food.

Weather splits by range. Pohorje catches weather from the north and west. Kozjak is more sheltered. You can have rain all day on one side of the Drava and sunshine on the other. Check forecasts for both ranges, not just “Maribor weather.”

Alternatives to Consider

Lower Commitment Version

Walk just the Kozjak half in 4–6 days. It’s gentler terrain, lower elevation, and the vineyard villages make every afternoon feel like a food tour. Pair it with two days in Maribor and you’ve got a week in northeast Slovenia that doesn’t require serious mountain fitness.

A Different New Trail

If you want a longer walk through Eastern Europe, Via Transilvanica in Romania opened recently with 1,400 km of waymarked trail through Saxon villages and Transylvanian countryside. Completely different character — cultural lowland walking rather than mountain loops — but it scratches the same itch of walking a trail before the crowds find it.

Pair It With More Slovenia

Slovenia is small enough to combine a one-week Pohorje-Kozjak hike with other experiences. Take the train to Ljubljana (2 hours), then head to Lake Bled or the Soča Valley. Or connect to the European sleeper train network from Ljubljana and turn a week of hiking into a broader trip through Austria, Italy, or Croatia.

Winter Version

This is unusual for a long-distance trail: the Pohorje stages are designed for winter use. The plateau gets reliable snow, and sections of the trail are marked for snowshoeing and cross-country skiing from December through March. If you’re the kind of person who thinks hiking ends in October, Pohorje disagrees.

Is This For You?

Probably yes if:

• You want a circular trail that eliminates the logistics headache of getting back to your starting point
• Two weeks is your sweet spot for a hiking trip
• You like the idea of mountain walking and wine country in the same trip
• You want to walk something genuinely new — not a rebranded version of an existing route
• Slovenia’s been on your list and you need an excuse to go

Probably no if:

• You want high-altitude alpine drama above 3,000 meters. Črni Vrh at 1,543 m is the ceiling here
• You need a built-in trail community with other international hikers at every stop. This is quiet walking, especially in the opening season
• You don’t enjoy forest hiking. The Pohorje side is heavily wooded. If you need open views all day, the Kozjak half is better, but even that won’t compare to ridge-walking in the Dolomites
• You want everything bookable on one website with English-language support. The infrastructure is solid but it’s Slovenian-first. Google Translate and a bit of patience go a long way

The Bottom Line

The BBC doesn’t put trails on a global top-five list casually. The Pohorje-Kozjak Trail made it because it’s a genuinely well-designed route — circular, two-range, four-season — in a part of Europe that doesn’t get the attention it deserves. Maribor isn’t Chamonix. It’s not trying to be. It’s a mid-sized Slovenian city where the wine is excellent, the hiking starts from the city limits, and the mountains on either side have been waiting for someone to connect the dots.

June 2026 is the opening. The trail will exist for decades. But the first-season window — before the trail apps, the YouTube documentaries, the “I hiked the Pohorje-Kozjak in 10 days” blog posts (ironic, I know) — that’s this year. The huts are booked by phone. The trail markers are fresh paint. The locals are still figuring out what to make of foreign hikers showing up with trekking poles and broken Slovenian.

That’s the moment. It doesn’t come back.

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Prices and trail details current as of March 2026. The Pohorje-Kozjak Trail’s official opening is scheduled for June 2026 — verify accommodation availability and current route status through the Slovenian Alpine Association (pzs.si) before planning your trip.